Fort Valley State University News Feb. 1, 2012 Conference trains FVSU student leaders When conference coordinator Annette Burgess asked students to pull out their cell phones and begin "tweeting", it was clear the 2012 Collegiate Leadership Conference would offer a unique approach to motivating young scholars in the digital age. Students were taken aback with the request, but slowly began using 140 characters to describe the proceedings. One student tweeted "If you're not at the #ilead leadership conference your definitely missing out #FVSU." >From the opening session to the conclusion, the workshops sparked debate and questions among 100 FVSU students who rose early Saturday morning to attend FVSU's first student leadership conference entitled, "iLead: Stepping into Leadership and Walking into Greatness." Fort Valley State scholars, attired in business wear eagerly began the one day event. The conference included 30-minute breakout sessions on topics such as finance presented by State Bank Vice President Steve Williams, "What's Your Brand," by Sodexo General Manager Sanford Winfield, and business presentations by Sonya Jenkins Vice President of development and operations for AVPOL international, a company that provides end-to-end business services to clients including staffing, outsourcing, human resources, logistics, and consulting. Guest speaker Basheer Jones captivated the crowd during his keynote speech with a spoken word poem about the struggles of growing up in the inner city and its impact on some students. The NAACP member and Morehouse alum was glad for the conference invitation and discussed the significance of participating in networking events. "People don't even know how great of an impact they are having at this conference, I think this conference is amazing and I'm so glad to be at the first one," said Jones. At noon, students filed into Rooms 102-104 for a banquet style lunch of salad and chocolate cake. What appeared to be a break quickly turned into another teaching moment. Lecturer Kena Torbert reviewed the importance of table etiquette as she glided across the room and used a projector to demonstrate the how to's of using silverware. Torbert's tips included where to place a napkin, basics about utensils in a formal setting and how to be excused from the table. "I wanted to give the students a real world experience. Many of my colleagues attend conferences to learn more. We wanted to give FVSU students the same experience," said Conference Coordinator Annette Burgess who already has ideas about next year's event. "I'm planning to have participation by other schools in the University of System Georgia." SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 404.592.4820 Skype:sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree Street NW Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (Lyrasis) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.