The 4th annual Her Campus Mid-Atlantic Intercollegiette Conference was on April 18th, 2015. This year, it was held in the newly renovated Tucker Hall on the William & Mary campus, and we started the morning off with getting everyone registered and given raffle tickets, signed into our event app, and indulging on Dunkin’ Donuts!
First, we heard from Tracey Johnson, who taught us about media buying in the political sphere, transitioning to a different industry, and going back to school.
Then we listened to Katherine Mize, the U.S. House of Representatives Communications Director, talk to us about some of the realities of being a woman working in D.C.
Then, we had an energetic and informative student-run health and wellness panel and demonstration (including dancing, yoga moves, and psychology experiments).
Katianna Tron, the Head Conference Coordinator, led the raffle and we gave away some great prizes throughout the day.
After that, Alicia of Alicia Tenise gave an amazing presentation of how she got started in the blogging industry, and how she manages it while also working a full-time marketing job.
Then, we took a long lunch catered by El Sabroson and listened to a beautiful spoken word performance by E’Driana M. Berry and several acoustic songs from an on-campus band, Family Vacation.
We all gathered outside to take pictures, and had a long photoshoot session with the various schools that were in attendance. Our group photos are precious!
We headed back inside to break out into two sessions, one for Lydia Mansel, a recent post-grad from William & Mary, who is now a copy editor at Elite Daily in New York, and the other for Parker Sinclair, the author of the adult urban fantasy and supernatural fiction novel, Trust: The Alex Connor Chronicles Book 1.
For an in-depth look at Parker’s session, click here to read about it from an HCWM alum.
Everyone headed back to the auditorium for a video keynote from Katy Bellotte, who spoke about bullying and how to cope with stress (incidentally reiterating some exact points made in the health and wellness panel).
Alicia Chew, Carrie Adams, Lydia Mansel, Parker Sinclair, and Tracey Johnson then sat on a panel with moderated and audience questions, where we learned about the importance of appreciating our moms as we transition into adult life and how to maintain our side hustle.
The final keynote was given by Carrie Adams, the digital director and speechwriter for Congresswoman Slaughter. Carrie delivered a powerful speech that seemed to resonate with most of the attendees long after they left the conference.
After the last of the raffle prizes were given away, we all said our goodbyes until next year.
Click here to view the Facebook album of all the photos from the conference, taken by Abigail Clark, Kayla Sharpe, and Staci Jukes.