2010 NACDA Convention Takeaways

Highlights from my 3rd NACDA convention held last week in Anaheim

• Whenever you get a chance to listen to Dutch Baughman, do it. He is the Executive Director of the Division 1A Athletic Director's Association. He has a great perspective on the landscape of college athletics because of the number of years he has been in the business, the amount of research his organization compiles and his interaction with ADs around the country. My favorite quote and of the themes of his presentation was "talk about what you know, not what you think." Given the high profile and speculative nature of college athletics, you have to be very careful about what you say and how you say it. He also turned me onto a great resource to find newspaper articles around the country in an efficient manner- http://www.ussportspages.com/


• At the risk of being repetitive, whenever you get a chance to listen to Sandy Barbour, do it. Sandy is currently the Athletics Director at Cal and you can follow her on twitter. Her presentations are always articulate, well organized and she speaks candidly about the tough issues that we face as athletics administrators. She spoke on justifying the importance of intercollegiate athletics to a skeptical campus community. She talked about not getting sucked into the firefights, the importance of "attacking the persuadable middle," using donors to deliver your message on campus, and the vital role athletics can play on "regionally challenged" alumni.


• I'm getting less and less intimidated by these large conventions and as a result I've found ways to get more and more out of each NACDA convention I attend. Click here for my NACDA convention philosophy. I sat in on a few sessions with (CABMA) business managers, (NAACC) compliance directors, (NAADD) fundraising professionals and (NACMA) marketing gurus. It really helps me gain a better perspective on the challenges each of these groups face in their positions. I picked up a few tricks, caught up with old friends and met some new ones. The college athletics administration community is a great group of people that share an amazing, unique work environment. Long hours, below average compensation, high scrutiny, heavy competition and very little recognition- it may not be glamorous, it's definitely a lifestyle and I believe it's one of the best professions in the world. I absolutely love what I do and I can't imagine doing anything else.