February 5, 2012

The ‘no-chairs’ method to campus club and organization recruiting

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Dave Kelly - Recruiting with no Chairs

Listen to Dave discuss this topic on The College Speaker Series on the CampusTalkRadio Network.   "The program designed to teach you 3 things in 30 minutes. Guaranteed!" As a former student leader myself, and as a long-time college student leadership trainer, I have run more than 100 recruitment tables at campus activities fairs and club days and have seen what works and a lot of what doesn't. Something that I do not think works is for members to sit behind a table waiting for students to come talk to them. Unless your club’s name really jumps out at a student, they will not come to talk to you if you are sitting behind the table. Plus, it is very easy for you to not convey interest, excitement, and energy about your organization while you are sitting. Get rid of your chairs! Give … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Student Leadership Tagged With: ,

How to maintain the parental and family bond with your college student

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It’s an inevitable process that your child will grow up and leave home. Whether they go away to college, move out to get their own place or to get married, or decide to travel the world for a year, your relationship with your young adult will change. Now you can decide to facilitate the change in a positive way to grow and nurture the new relationship or you can let it become stagnant. I choose nurturing. Relationships – regardless of whether it’s romantic, parent/child or professional – take more than a little effort and work. It’s better to do the work upfront than to wonder later on what happened to the bond. There are a few simple things you can do to maintain your parental bond, and any family bonds, with your college student. Keep in contact via text, email, … [Read more...]

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Gonzo’s Great Gold Quest – Part 2

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Ok, here’s the thing… I like reaching goals. I am an achievement junkie. I am really into setting an objective, quantifying it, putting together a plan, and then going after it with everything that I have. That is cool to me. It gives me energy and excitement. Provides purpose. When I was in elementary school, I set a goal of being 6’3” tall. I am 6’2”. Not bad. Almost got there. Betcha didn’t know height is controlled by goal setting! Are you short? Raise the bar, set a higher goal! Sometimes, though, it makes me do goofy things. Take for example, “Gonzo’s Great Gold Quest”. This was my attempt to achieve my goal of qualifying as a Gold Medallion member of Delta Airlines Sky Miles program. Why was that important? Because I had missed it by only … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Success In College and In Life Tagged With:

Building Leaders Through Community Service, Pt. 1

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I am a professional speaker because my dad used to toss beer cans out of the window of his car. (letting that sink in) I grew up in Wisconsin, at a time when drinking while driving, or even riding, was not the taboo it is today. I always thought there was something wrong with my dad littering like that. Then I saw a TV commercial with a Native American shedding a tear while looking at garbage along a highway. I knew then that I wanted to make a difference in all of the trash that I was seeing, and later in the world. So, I joined the Scouts and when I got into high school, I joined a student organization dedicated to community service. It was in these organizations that I had my first formal leadership experiences. I found that through serving others, I was learning more about myself … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Community Service Involvement Tagged With: ,

Gonzo’s Great Gold Quest: Delta Airlines and Me

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Here’s your motivation tip: Avoid routines, do something unusual Are you in a rut, bunky? Feeling like every day is like the day before? And you are certain that you are not caught up in a “Star Trek” or “Groundhog Day” like time loop? I have an idea for you! Change things up! Do something impulsive, unusual, or out of your world. Go for a bike ride, take a dance class, or apply to be an astronaut. An astronaut? Sure! You might not make it, but would it not be cool to go through the interview process? Or take a trip. As a professional speaker, I travel a lot. My primary airline is Delta Airlines, since I travel from Atlanta, and I annually qualify as a “Silver Medallion” frequent flyer (25,000 miles flown in a calendar year). Each of the past three years I have … [Read more...]

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A Focus on Strengths or Weaknesses?

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I just had my whole thought process rearranged by my friend, Chris Jachimowicz. Don’t worry about your weaknesses. It will take so much more effort to improve them than it will to improve your strengths. Learn more about your strengths at http://www.StrengthsQuest.com. I recorded this as I was walking down The Tunnel of Lights in Chicago. … [Read more...]

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Do you know more about your gadgets than your brain?

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I'm always amazed that we seem to know more about our gadgets, computers and VCRs than we do our own brains. In order to utilize and get the most from the precious gift you carry around, you might want to learn a little more about it. And who would be the foremost authority? Carl Sagan for one. Never mind that Carl Sagan sounds like Agent Smith in the Matrix, he was one of the most popular and fascinating scientists of our times. He was an expert in astronomy, astrochemistry and other natural sciences, and he pioneered exobiology or the origin, evolution and future of life in the universe. Boy oh boy, was this some heavy dude or what? What I love about Carl Sagan is that he connects the dots like none other. He can talk about the universe and space travel and then bring that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Study Skills Tagged With:

Serving during Welcome Week at Cuyahoga Community College

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In early September I traveled for six days to make three speaking/training engagements. I started out on September 8 flying to LAX from Atlanta, changed planes, and then on to Boise, ID. From there, I drove for roughly an hour across the Snake River into Oregon and to Ontario, OR. I did a leadership/team building day for SGA leaders, Residence Life, and college Ambassadors. When I was done, I drove back to Boise, flew to LAX, and then flew all night, Wednesday into Thursday, to Atlanta. Oh no, I did not get to go home, instead I changed planes and flew to Cleveland. I stayed in Cleveland Thursday night and then drove to Erie, PA and an advisor’s program on Friday afternoon followed by a packed house of around 140 students at Gannon University for a full day leadership retreat. It was … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Community Service Involvement Tagged With:

Tummy HA HA… Laugh your way to team building

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I took this video in Orlando in July, 2009 during a leadership retreat for the SGA leaders of four of Valencia Community College's campuses. This is a team building exercise called "Tummy HA HA". It is a fun activity that helps with a number of the steps or "building blocks" in team building. My role as the facilitator is to determine the size of the groups, explain the rules, moderate the action, encourage open participation, and make sure that the teams play fair in determining a winner. You will hear me calling out one of the team members who busted out laughing and making his team start over. The idea is for the members of the team to have a shared experience, something they can relate to later, joke about, etc. This activity also gets the members of the team out of their comfort … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Student Leadership Tagged With:

The secret to a long and happy life…according to Dr. Andy

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I recently attended a dance that was a culmination of a two-week long Ukrainian festival in Dickenson, ND. Everyone was dancing and having a fantastic time, especially the kids. I noticed an older gentleman dancing to his heart's content. I’m sure he was in his 70s, but the energy he exuded was so youthful. His smile was beaming and he was light on his toes. He just looked thrilled to be on the dance floor. I knew I had to talk with him. I truly value the opinion of elders because they’ve been there and done that and have such a different perspective. I asked him what was his secret for a long and happy life. His advice was simple and profound: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Success In College and In Life Tagged With:

Overcoming your fear of… Hockey?

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You might think that I’d be one of the last people who’d feel fear and apprehension about joining new groups since I make my living as a speaker. My whole career for the past 10 years has centered around traveling to new places and meeting new people and talking to new groups. It seems absurd that I would still be nervous about joining a new group. Even as I write this, I think how ridiculous that is. But the fact is that it’s true. So if it’s true for me, it’s not too big a leap to believe that students, student leaders, and even professional staff often have a fear of joining new groups (and maybe even you reading this article :)). So what can we do about this? Since I’m forced to confront this often, I’ve come up with a couple tips for students and student leaders that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Student Leadership Tagged With:

Climbing the Mountain of Student Success

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“George, the Drobble” is a story for people of all ages. It features a character named George who seeks the secret of life, which can only be found at the top of a mountain near his village. You can watch me perform the story by clicking on the video link above. It was shot by a student at Houston Community College in late June at an SGA leadership retreat. … [Read more...]

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Diversity Programs Gone Wrong

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I was recently asked if I knew any diversity activities and it got me thinking. Diversity activities, and especially the one I was thinking about, can be very powerful and life changing. But they can also be damaging to the individual and the group. Most of the success or failure rides on the shoulders of the facilitator. A common activity I facilitate when I do diversity work with student leaders such as Orientation Leaders, RAs or Executive Boards is called “Cross the line.” It’s very well known and widely used. Usually about 10% of the participants have done this activity before with a different group and facilitator. They often come up afterward to tell me about their previous experiences. Some of the stories are more upsetting than others. Sometimes they say how the last time … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Student Leadership Tagged With: ,

What is your campus organization’s defining statement?

By
The College Speaker Series on CampusTalkRadio

Listen to Dave discuss this topic on The College Speaker Series on the CampusTalkRadio Network.   "The program designed to teach you 3 things in 30 minutes. Guaranteed!" Do you belong to a club or organization on campus? Are you the advisor for a group? Ever have to tell people the name of the organization and then have to explain what it means? I know the feeling. I used to be the District Administrator for the Georgia District of Circle K International. I was responsible for 28 chapters, including helping them to effectively recruit members. I went to campus after campus and watched our student leaders struggle with trying to explain what Circle K was—and what it was not! “No, we are not the Circle K that is the convenience stores.” “We are not a dude ranch with … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Student Leadership Tagged With: ,

Linking Student Success to Co-Curricular Activities

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Some of the best time that students spend is participating in co-curricular activities. I use CO-curricular, because the things that students can be involved in supplement what they learn in the classroom.   My own leadership experiences in clubs and organizations as a student were some of the best times of my life. I had fun, I learned so much, and I got to try things and even make mistakes when the stakes were not that high. My leadership development was through these experiences and interactions with other people. I learned about conflict resolution, motivation techniques, team leadership development, and got to travel all over the country attending educational leadership conferences. Then I would come back to the classroom and apply my experiences to the material being … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Student Leadership Tagged With:

3 Easy steps to stop cramming and pulling all nighters!

By
Millicent St. Claire - Stop Cramming and Pulling All-Nighters

you knew how your brain worked you'd never pull one anyway! All you're doing is blowing the darned thing out! As an accelerative learning specialist, I help you get how your brain works and show you how to use it to learn anything - without blowing a fuse. The next time you think about camping out, overdosing on pizza and making love to your text books all night, try starting with three easy steps IN ADVANCE... Be Active! - Reading and studying are typically a passive activities and bore the brain straight to sleep. To get excellent results, you've got to be ACTIVE as a learner. This means physically and mentally. Don't just sit there like a slug - get your butt moving! That's right - even when you're studying! Before you start - and during a few breaks - do some Brain Gym exercises … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Study Skills Tagged With:
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