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Written by Alli Brooks
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Sunday, 11 May 2008 |
Seeing as how the last blog entry was over year ago, we decided that it was probably time someone posted a
new one, and so I bit the bullet and volunteered to be the first.
As one of the newest members of the Board of Directors, I thought I would write a little bit about my
initial reaction to the position and the things I have come to learn about the AACI over few months.
It has been a fascinating experience, and I am definitely taking all the notes I can on all the business
techniques and management skills that the older and wiser members bring to the table (though I haven’t
quite yet mastered Kurt’s ability to talk on two phones at the same time with a PDA in one hand and
typing in AIM with the other). From my time as a member and leader of All-Night Yahtzee, my experience
prior to this point had been primarily in micromanaging and sheep-herding (and all other collegiate
group Business Managers/Presidents nod knowingly here), but this is a new kind of role, and I love it.
Even as a new member, my opinion and my vote count just as much as each of the other eight members’ do;
I get to express my opinion about all the things I know and love about the AACI, and also the things
that maybe weren’t so great and needed a change.
One of the first things I’ve learned as a Board Member: know thy goals! The nine of us are scattered
across the country, and there is no syllabus to keep us on track with our own duties. This can be
extremely liberating, although I must admit: I’m a hands-on person and a visual learner, and trying to
organize some of our initiatives without being able to sit down with the others and look at tangible
materials can be frustrating.
A second thing I’ve learned: this is much more work than you’d believe! SoJam was not put together in a
weekend; we’re already hard at work planning this year’s event to ensure that it is even better than
last year’s. “Better than Fork, Duwende, and Naturally 7?” you say? Just you wait. One of my duties this
year is working as a member of the SoJam production team, and I am incredibly excited about the
prospect of making the weekend as amazing for all the new attendees as it was for me. You might even
say I’m “freaking psyched.” Having been a newcomer to the conference in 2007, I remember very, very
well the feelings of elation and euphoria that I experienced from the moment we arrived. In fact, I
can probably credit my election onto the AACI Board to my initial attendance at SoJam, since I’m
pretty sure that, in my rapture and complete a cappella geek-out, I sold my soul to Dave Sperandio
and told him that I would do whatever I had to do to make sure that every person I ever came into
contact with would get to experience these emotions as well. Needless to say, my family and friends
are pretty tired of hearing about SoJam, even though I’ve told them all that if they come with me this
year and DON’T have one of the most amazing weekends of their lives, I will personally reimburse
their tickets AND take them out to dinner every Friday night until I die. I am completely confident
in the abilities of the AACI and SoJam production team!
As the event-planning gets underway, I thought I would pose some questions to the readers who have
attended SoJam in the past. What were your favorite parts about SoJam? What did you think the weekend
lacked? Who were your favorite performers? I think it’s important to take the audience feedback into
consideration during the planning stages, and it’s particularly interesting to hear the thoughts of
people who have been many years in a row. Send your ideas, large or small, to
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This is YOUR conference, and we want you to get the most out of it as possible.
That about wraps it up for insight into my first few months in the AACI. Perhaps now that the initial
No-Post barrier has been broken, you’ll be seeing a lot more of these updates in the future. If
nothing else, maybe Matt will take to posting cat macros as filler in the meantime.
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