A Wonderful Experience Awaits You.
If you're thinking about attending your first NASFAA Conference, congratulations! You are about to embark on a wonderful experience. The NASFAA Conference is the largest gathering of financial aid professionals anywhere. Each year, more than 3,000 attendees come together to learn, talk, and laugh. Approximately 300 first-time attendees join the Conference each year to replace those who have left the field or retired. Once you attend a NASFAA Conference, you'll want to come back again and again. It's that good.

There are a variety of reasons why people attend the Conference:

• To keep up-to-date on regulations and legislation
• To learn new skills and gain new information and perspectives
• To form new relationships with others in the field
• To build or maintain existing relationships
• To understand current research and trends
• To find out about new products and services
• To discover ways to be more efficient and effective as a financial aid professional

If any of these reasons apply to you, then you've got ample reason to attend the NASFAA Conference.

Meeting Other Attendees.
If you decide to attend the NASFAA Conference, you'll see a lot of people talking in the halls. You may even see some hugging the first day. And you'll begin to think "everyone knows each other and I don't know anyone."  We all started out that way at our first NASFAA Conference. In no time at all you'll have new friends and colleagues, new ideas and knowledge, and plenty of contacts to maintain after you go back home.

We have a special program that will get you started - the New Member and First-Time Conference Attendee Orientation.  The NASFAA President, National Chair, and Conference Chair will say a few words of welcome, you'll receive a light snack or beverage and a special identifier for your name badge, but most importantly, you will be seated at tables with other first-time attendees and be introduced to each other by a current member of NASFAA's Board of Directors. When you leave the room, you'll have a minimum of ten new contacts – faces with names that you can look for at meals and in sessions.

Having meals with folks is a really good way to get to know them. Each of the NASFAA lunches is a sit-down meal, usually with a nationally known speaker. When you are seated, be sure to introduce yourself to everyone at the table. Also, talk to people as you are waiting for a session to start or over a cup of coffee in the morning. The most valuable resources at the NASFAA Conference are the people you meet - you can get great ideas just by visiting with people every chance you get. And when you get back home, they become great resources for future questions or issues that arise.

Visiting the Exhibit Hall.
If you attend the Conference, you will want to spend time in the exhibit hall seeing all the new products and services that are available and asking questions. The exhibit hall is a fun and exciting place. If there is a time slot that doesn't contain any sessions that fit your needs, you can visit the exhibitors then. You'll need to wear your name badge to enter the hall, as well as to attend the meals and sessions.

Near the front entrance to the exhibit hall is the NASFAA booth. Please stop by to meet the NASFAA staff and get your questions answered. We can show you many of the products and services that are part of your NASFAA membership and give you a demo of the Encyclopedia or LearnStudentAid.org, the new on-line learning community!

Picking Sessions to Attend.
It is impossible to attend every session at the NASFAA Conference. We sometimes hear from first-time attendees that it's overwhelming and we offer "too much." When you get to the Conference, we'll give you a program with complete details about each session, but we strongly suggest you start planning now to make the most of this major event. Read through the session lists and pick at least ONE session in each time slot that you want to attend. Then pick a back-up.  In some cases, popular sessions are repeated at different times or days. Once the full program is finalized, you can confirm your picks by reading the detailed descriptions. We'll post an Adobe Acrobat PDF file of the full program on the Conference Web site about a week before the Conference and distribute a hard copy at registration. After the conference, you can download many of the session handouts from the NASFAA Web site. [Not all presenters provide us with handouts to post.]

If you plan to bring other staff members with you to the Conference, we recommend that you have daily meetings to strategize each day – who will attend which session, visit the exhibit hall, etc. It's also important to recap the day's events each afternoon. 

The NASFAA Conference is a unique professional development opportunity that will provide you with a new perspective on the financial aid profession. We sincerely hope you decide to attend. A wonderful experience awaits you.