In mid-May, most students leave Emory’s campus for the summer and things slow down.
But for Conference Services, summer is high season. With 50 conferences and more than 6,000 individuals who stay on Emory’s campus between May and August, it’s a constantly turning, finely tuned machine.
The largest event is Special Olympics Georgia, which brings 2,500 athletes and volunteers to campus. Emory has hosted the event for more than 35 years. Other conferences range from a sports broadcasting camp and a pre-college program to the International Euphonium Tuba Festival, Explore STEM and beyond.
While conference services and housing operations staff are at the center of it all, perhaps the most visible helpers are Emory graduate and undergraduate students.
Students may work in one of three positions:
- Conference assistants perform a variety of administrative tasks for each conference, ranging from coordinating food services to housing assignments and beyond.
- Conference managers provide logistical support, such as transportation, facilities and building services, and meeting services.
- Conference fellows supervise the conference assistants, interact with guests and handle administrative tasks.
While each student employee juggles many tasks each day — and no two days look the same — they all remain high-energy and excited to work together.
Many paths to the same team
The students working with summer conferences have all taken a unique path to get there. Conference manager Tai Jackson notes that he applied on a whim, initially seeing the position as a way to stay on campus for the summer.
“When I got the interview, I had a great connection with the staff, and was really sold on the idea that we’re a team. We work hard, and we do a lot, but we have staff development and just have a lot of fun,” says Jackson, a rising junior majoring in film and media studies along with theater studies.
Meanwhile, fellow conference manager Azucena Gonzalez has been involved with the team since her first semester on campus. Now a rising fourth-year nursing student, Gonzalez began working as a front desk assistant in housing operations during her second month on campus.
And during his time at Oxford College, Nem Erakpotobor worked as a conference coordinator on Oxford’s campus. The rising junior is majoring in business and minoring in ethics.
“It was a smaller scale, but similar to what I’m doing now,” says Erakpotobor, who is now a conference assistant. “That’s where I picked up the nature of this work. I really liked the people I was working with and knew it was something I wanted to do after I transitioned to the Atlanta campus, too.”
A look behind the curtain
“It takes a lot of moving parts to make our clients happy,” says Jackson, who works as a conference manager. “We’re striving to build relationships and connections with these clients so they can have an affordable and convenient place to stay.
“And our job is to do it so well that people don’t notice it,” he adds.
Mondays, Gonzalez says, start with problem solving for anything that went wrong over the weekend.
Gonzalez kicked off the summer as a manager for Special Olympics Georgia, and now focuses on desk operations — a primarily front-facing role that connects her directly with clients. “I handle scheduling, I do a little bit of work with wristbands and security, and I work with Emory Lockshop in preparation for conferences checking in and out,” she says.
Jackson is specifically focused on linens, transporting clean supplies to groups around campus. As the liaison between conference attendees and housing operations, he says much of his job relies on solid communication and time management.
“Every day can look so different and there’s a lot of versatility to the work,” says Erakpotobor. As conference assistant, he’s specifically assigned to a handful of conferences throughout the summer and coordinates details with other campus services. That can include helping prepare linens, working the front desk and answering questions, handling needs throughout the day and more.
While none of these students foresees a career in event planning, each attests that the skills they’re learning will translate well into their chosen professions.
Gonzalez, for example, is getting first-hand experience with customer service, including occasionally unhappy attendees.
“I’ve learned how to communicate and de-escalate the situation,” she says. “It will definitely apply in my nursing career, since we do cater to patients and their needs, and there will be times they may not be happy. I’ve been doing that all year, and it’s helped me tremendously.”
Erakpotobor echoes that. “Being able to understand different people, communicating in different ways and being able to address situations that may be uncomfortable are skills that are very transferable to the business world.”
That summer camp feeling
Gonzalez describes working with Conference Services as summer camp-esque fun.
“It does feel like summer camp,” she says. “You’re working really hard but also making really good friends. I’ve worked conferences every summer and I’ve always been able to make such great friendships.”
As a bonus, you get to see those friends even after the job ends and classes resume.
But workers are bonding with supervisors and mentors, too.
Erakpotobor was recently awarded conference assistant of the week. “It’s a moment I really appreciated and am grateful for,” he says, explaining that he takes pride in his work but has never expected accolades. “It was such a great moment because my boss recognized my character in such a short amount of time.”
Between fun coworkers, supportive bosses and interesting work, each student encourages other Eagles to apply next year.
“One of my favorite things about this job has been living at Emory not during the school year,” Jackson says. “I work 9-5 Monday through Friday, but then I have no other commitments. I’ve explored new facets of Emory and I go on tons of walks.
“That — and the people I work with — has been my favorite part. You get to meet people you wouldn’t otherwise cross paths with.”