Conference aimed to grow leaders

For the 12th year running, the U-Lead Conference was back at Minnesota State’s  Centennial Student Union. 

The three-day event, co-hosted by prominent groups on campus, seeks to, as they put it, help students “gain personal and professional experience that will help them in the future.” 

Nathan Murtaugh, who helped put the conference together, says he has learned a lot from organizing the conference. Murtaugh says working with all the other Registered Student Organizations like the Student Events Team “really opened the door to a lot of other people” and “made me realize how big the campus is.” 

He said he hopes the conference will show attendees anyone can be a leader. 

“You do not have to have a president’s position or a super-high leadership position. … Everyone can develop their leadership skills.” 

Throughout the three-day event, there were a variety of different sessions, speakers and more. Furthermore, attending these activities provided opportunities to be entered into a drawing for multiple $25 gift cards. 

The week started with a social networking session, where student leaders spoke on a panel titled “Been there, done that.” There, the panelists shared leadership tips and advice as well as personal stories with the attendees. 

The next day was kicked off with the keynote address, given by Jayson Davis. Davis represents Phired Up Productions, a company that provides strategies to help college groups grow through recruitment, retention and marketing. 

During his lively speech, Davis explained the philosophy of “social excellence,” which emphasizes the importance of being authentic and vulnerable when recruiting and building connections. After his address, when asked what students could take away from the conference, Davis said it was up to the attendees. 

“They have a choice. They have an active choice. They decided to be here today by whatever means, and then they have a choice to take what they learn here and make an impact on the campus and their local community,” Davis said. 

After the address and subsequent “Networking Social/Complimentary Appetizer Buffet,” attendees engaged in some of the many breakout sessions that took place throughout the last two evenings of the conference. 

On the conference’s final day, attendees spent the whole evening in hour-long breakout sessions,  such as “Launch Your Career by Getting Involved on Campus,” “Elevating the Brand of Your Organization and Your Leadership,” and the cleverly named “Leadership Buffet: Strategically Filling Your Plate.” 

The conference was free and open to all students, however, most of the attendees included students who came for a class as well as RSO and other group leaders. 

Daria Oelkers, vice president of the MSU’s Student Events Team, attended with fellow board members. Oelkers says she and her colleagues were able to “learn and grow as an organization, learn as a human being those leadership skills as a team and an individual.”

Caption: During one of the sessions at the U-Lead Conference, the keynote speaker presented his talk in the Ostrander Auditorium. (MATT MILLER/The Reporter)

Write to ben.livingston@mnsu.edu