Thao Nghi Bui, Learning Technologies Administrator with ITS Teaching & Learning, shares her experience attending her first UNC Cause.
As a first-time UNC Causer, I appreciated the opportunity to network with our fellow IT colleagues from the UNC System and learn about how they are using their technologies to provide support to their campuses. A recurring thought I had throughout the conference was that we all face similar challenges, yet it was refreshing to hear different perspectives on how each campus is handling those challenges.
The conference started with the whimsical magician Andrew Bennett, who spoke on the power of transformational leadership and demonstrated these transformational acts through magic tricks. He reminded us to find our inspiration and connect with our team with a sense of noble purpose. We need to create a team of box jumpers (magician’s assistant) to help each other work towards our team’s mission.
Overall, I enjoyed my experience and gained new perspectives, ideas and strategies on supporting our campus. I highly recommend the conference and look forward to seeing (ITS Tech Support Specialist) Richard Hill in a suit again next year!
Check out our TLI Twitter account for #unccause tweets and photos.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from UNC Cause:
- “Once you say no, you become a partner instead of a vendor.” – Andrew Bennett, keynote address
- “Information doesn’t grow unless you share it.” – Ken Yow, UNC-Chapel Hill
- “We should share instructional resources between schools.” – John Gordon, North Carolina State University
- Considering stressed out students—“Everybody has an information overload. What can we do to help?” – Cynthia Bowers, East Carolina University