Welcome to your first NACADA Annual Conference!

What to do before the Annual Conference:

• Plan your conference schedule by using the Interactive Personal Schedule Planner! You can see each session's title and abstract, and draft your personal conference schedule. The Schedule Planner can be found on the NACADA conference web page. NOTE: using the schedule planner does not guarantee you a seat in the session you choose. Seats are "first come first serve". The Planner frees up your time on site so that you can move quickly to the sessions you are interested in.
• Dress code is casual and comfortable. Make sure to wear comfortable shoes as the meeting space is spread throughout the Hyatt Regency. Remember, Oct. 2nd is "School Spirit Day" - you are invited to wear a rugby, polo, or T-shirt from your institution!
• Bring your business cards, you will meet people that you want to have contact with after the conference. This is especially critical if you are presenting.
• Have empty space available in your luggage to be able to bring back all of the wonderful handouts made available to you in the sessions!
• Volunteering is a great way to get connected with other participants. There are many opportunities including helping at the volunteer desk and assisting with the evaluation process. Contact Pam Rodriguez to let her know when you are available.
• Visit the annual conference web page for more information.

Conference Check-in

• Check-in location for the conference is in the Hyatt Regency, Gold Level East Tower.
• Check in early: the earlier, the better! Registration opens on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. The sooner you check in, the less chance of standing in line - and that will give you time to become familiar with the program.

• Pick up the appropriate ribbons for Commissions/Interest Groups you have joined, Choir, First Time Attendees, etc.
• Visit the Hospitality Desk on the Gold Level, East Tower next to registration. Volunteers will be waiting to provide information on local attractions.
• Sign up for a Dinner Group at the Hospitality Desk. This is a great way to meet other attendees and share an evening of entertainment. Volunteers will have suggestions for restaurants.

Planning Your Schedule

• If you did not have time to use the Interactive Schedule Planner before arriving in Chicago; take a few minutes to review the program and choose the sessions you would like to attend. We suggest bringing a highlighter and marking your top two session choices for each time slot in the At-A-Glance.
• Turn to the main part of the program and read only the abstracts for those sessions you have marked. You will not have time to read all 350 abstracts! Plan ahead accordingly. Sessions are sorted by advising topic in the back of the program, or a list of topics and corresponding session titles can be found SORTED BY SESSION TRACKS LINK

Don't Miss these Events!

• Plan on attending the Orientation for New Attendees either Wednesday at 3:15 or Thursday at 8:45.
• Join the NACADA Choir for its 10th annual performance. See the brochure or website for details.
• The Poster Session Breakfast (included in your registration fee) on Friday, Oct. 3 from 7:15 to 8:30 a.m. is a great way to meet several people and talk about their presentations one-on-one.

What to do after the Conference:

• Fill out the evaluation that will be in your email at the conclusion of the conference.
• Visit the NACADA website to download session handouts. Presenters are asked to submit their handouts to the Executive Office within 10 days following the conference. You may find the handouts to a session that you wanted to attend but missed.