X-Culture Conference and Networking Event

Wow! It was great! We’ll do it every semester from now on.

But let me start from the beginning.

So, for a long time, I wanted to provide my students with an opportunity to present their reports at the end of the X-Culture project. Unfortunately, I have 150+ every semester, each on a different team. So it’s 150 presentations. Even at 5 min per presentation, it will take two several days of non-stop presenting. That won’t work.

But then I thought it would make sense to do these presentations not at the end of the semester, but at the beginning of the next semester. If I could invite 3-5 of my best students from the last semester to present their work at the beginning of the next semester, their presentations would help the next generation of X-Culturers as they are embarking on this exciting journey.

So the plan was to hold such a conference in January. I ran the idea by our Public Relations folks (thanks, Joe Erba!) and they said (1) January was too tight; we simply had no time to get ready, and (2) Why not do it bigger and invite not only students, but also local businesses, who might be interested in learning what our students have been up to. Good idea.

So we moved the event to April (yes, end of the semester this one time). Invited some of our best students. Invited students and professors from neighboring universities that participate in X-Culture. Invited local entrepreneurs, folks from the Chamber of Commerce, and more.

The program was split into 3 parts.

Project presentation.
Business consulting: Presentations of solutions developed by teams for our business partners.
Working in Global Virtual Teams: challenges, solutions, what we learned, tips for future generations.

It went great!

Regrets/plans for the next time: Did not record the presentations. I am now trying to track down each presenter and re-record their presentations for sharing with the X-Culture community. Definitely record the entire event.

Bonus: Since I teach my course, I don’t have an opportunity to give my students hard copies of their X-Culture certificates. Only electronic. Shipping all 150+ to each student individually would be prohibitively expensive and logically difficult. Not all students could attend the event, but those who did, received their certificates.

Special bonus: One of the former X-Culture participants, J.T. Hinson, attended the event. He was among the students who were invited to the 2016 X-Culture Symposium aboard the cruise ship. He shared, his employer was so happy with his experience and new skills that he offered to cover J.T.’s tuition for the remainder of his studies. AND a member of his X-Culture team got a job offer from his employer and is now moving to the U.S. to join his company. Isn’t that cool?! That’s what makes us working past midnight. What we do matters.

Test results: It works. We should do it every semester. Consider expanding the program. Allow more time for Q&A and networking.

Remaining questions: What to call this event? X-Culture Conference? X-Culture Presentations and Networking? X-Culture Conference and Awards?

Special Thank you: Lisa Mclaughlin, Glenda Lloyd, Joe Erba, Bramley Crisco, Casandra Fletcher, Karen Lynden, Carrie Tolmie. This was the first time when somebody else did all the organizing and all I had to do is to show up. Unusual.

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By Vas Taras