The 2011 MASFAA conference at Patriot Place marked my 6th year of attendance. This year, I found a number of items most enjoyable.

The general session featuring Joe Russo, and the breakout session “Career Paths in Higher Education” gave some excellent perspective of the financial aid and higher education overall for those of us who have been in the field only a short while. I still consider myself in this category (insert snide snickering here).

Having Justin Dreager from NASFAA visit the conference provided a clarifying voice on the status of financial aid funding in Washington. It was a treat hearing relevant facts about the current state of our industry from someone in the trenches. What a change from hearing such updates from an annoyingly squawking, overly paid cable-news pundit, who refers to the federal aid application as the FAFAFSHA, the main federal grant program as the Pearl Grant and the federal loan program as the Stratford Loan.

As always, networking with old colleagues and sharing ideas and stories remains always an invaluable tool. My experience is wonderfully enhanced by hearing about the variances in different school’s populations, issues and solutions to problems. A chance to venture out from the “refreshing” recycled air of an office never gets old or taken for granted.

I would like to add some improvements for next year’s conference. While I loved the Patriot Place venue and its decidedly comfortable arena seats, I think using the locals to help lead sessions would be ideal. Some of my topic suggestions would be: “Customer Service: Cheerfulness and Optimism Reigns Supreme” by Bill Belichick, “Verification: Target on Finding the Right Person” by Tom Brady or“R2T4: Get it Done Before the Clock Runs Out” by Rob Gronkowski.

See you all in 2012.