As advisor for the SMWC leadership club, Phi Beta Lambda (PBL), I accompanied several Phi Beta Lambda students (Heather Davis, Jessica McManus, and Bethany Arrigo) to the National Leadership Conference (NLC) in Nashville, TN before taking off to Iceland to present my research paper at the first of seven academic conferences in Europe. Below is an update:
The Phi Beta Lambda (PBL) chapter at SMWC is a professional student leadership club that emphasizes the development of its members into becoming the next generation of leaders. PBL’s mission is to bring business and education together in a positive working relationship through innovative leadership and career development programs. The National Leadership Conference (NLC) is the culminating experience of the academic year, where our officers can develop new skills, engage in leadership competitions with peers, meet other leaders, and take workshops to earn certifications. In past years we’ve gone to Orlando and San Antonio for the NLC.
A student doesn’t necessarily need to be in a certain field or major to engage and benefit from PBL. Leadership is inherent in any area and we welcome all majors.
For more information about the goings-on in Nashville, check out student updates here- http://smwcpbl.wordpress.com
We arrived at the Opryland resort and convention center later in the afternoon.
This year’s conference theme is “Excellence in Action”
You can check out a preview of the conference here:
This hotel is more like an amusement park. It’s huge! I get lost all the time and Heather has stepped up and shows us where to go because she is good w/ directions.
The opening ceremony is always one of the highlights of the conference. Somehow they arranged for our chapter to be seated in the front row.
The Valpo chapter of PBL sat behind us for the opening ceremony.
Here are the students w/ Donnie, the PBL national president.
We met up w/ an old friend of mine from TH, Justin Runyan. He showed us around the famed 2nd Avenue and we saw a bunch of live music acts, including a band in the Wild Horse saloon. We must have passed another 15 places with live music. And this is on a rainy Tuesday night. Nashville isn’t called “Music City” for no reason. “When in Rome”. This picture is outside Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole’ Opry. Great to have a tour guide like Justin who was a history major at ISU.
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A major component of the NLC is competitive events. Students choose from competitive events that most closely are aligned with their major. These events are in front of a panel of judges and students must enter these events in the State Leadership Conference as a prerequisite for the NLC. In most cases, students have not done this sort of thing before and we commend them for pushing themselves to perform outside of their comfort zone.
Ready for their competitive events!
Below is an article about the prerequisite to this conference, which was competing in the State conference:
Another facet of the NLC is workshops. These workshops are voluntary and students can choose the workshop in which they think will help them the most. For instance, a former SMWC student, Erin Pugh, took the GMAT prep workshop during the NLC in Orlando several years ago in anticipation of her MBA. Jessica McManus attended the “Involving the Pros” workshop, which discussed the importance of networking.
We went to the Dukes of Hazzard museum.In a replica of the General Lee.
We took a tour of the famous Grand Ole Opry.
Three PBL members at the entrance to the Grand Ole Opry.On the stage of the Grand Ole OpryWillie Nelson museumAnother adventure included a trip on the General Jackson replica boat for the history of Tennessee music tour.Here is a view from the boat. The Tennessee Titans stadium is on the right.The General Jackson boat has an immaculate Victorian theatre inside and we watched the history of Tennessee music performance.
Overall, a very fun, productive trip. I have to head off to Iceland but the ladies were able to enjoy Nashville for another day before heading back home.
I met up w/ former TH resident Cole Britton, an ISU graduate who works in Nashville. He will show the ladies around downtown Nashville. The ladies are in good hands.
From the PBL National site-“PBL members have the competitive edge, as the best and brightest of PBL convene to compete in leadership events, share their successes, and learn new ideas about shaping their career future through workshops and exhibits. This conference is considered the pinnacle of the PBL experience, especially for those running for national office. PBL has forged partnerships with industry leaders to underwrite competitive events and scholarships for students achieving national ranking.”
