Professional Development:: How do you get it?

It’s been over a week since I returned from NASPA in Philadelphia, and a better blogger would have had something up and posted the day they returned about how amazing the conference was run, how great it was to connect with old friends and make new ones (I have to admit the #tweetup was a great addition), and some of the great sessions that were offered.  The conference provided all of those things and more.  The committee did a fabulous job, the facilities were amazing and the educational sessions were top notch.  What more could one ask for?

When I returned to my campus I was reminded of the great number of my colleagues who were unable to attend for various reasons, not the least of which was financial.  It has left me thinking more and more about how we can engage ourselves in professional development when we can’t travel to the conferences.

I have a couple of ideas

1.)    Use Twitter!  I have learned more following such groups as #WLSalt, #SAChat and @sawomentalktech than I have in any presentation recently.  The colleagues involved also want you to be successful and engage you with even silly questions.  Additionally, you can follow the backchannel of any conference and learn a lot about what is going on at the conference from your desktop.

2.)    Speaking of Twitter, there are a number of student affairs professionals who are using that and/or Facebook to promote some great blogs about all things student affairs and otherwise. Try catching up on a few of these for a look into current issues at campuses across the country.

3.)    Engage others on your campus to meet with your staff.  Is there a staff member with a particular expertise?  Or a faculty member that is amazing engaging students?  Invite them into a staff meeting to share their knowledge with your staff.

Additionally I am trying to flush out an idea of how to provide some professional development for the Region via Skype and other forms.  If you have suggestions, let me know.

So – what do you do to continually learn and grow in your profession?