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‘Explore
Your Potential’ at the AOP Conference
By
John Reed, Media Relations
“Exploring Your Potential” is the theme of the seventh
annual Administrative Office Professionals conference at UNH Wednesday,
March 17, featuring professional speaker, consultant and actress
Karen Abrami Fitzgerald.
The conference will be held from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the MUB.
Jennifer Murray, vice president for University Communications and
Marketing, will give the opening remarks, and Candace Corvey, vice
president for Finance and Administration, will provide the closing
remarks.
The conference will feature 23 workshops on subjects ranging from
“Improving Your Productivity” to “Managing Conflict,
Anger and Criticism.” This year the AOP planning committee
has added a closing workshop — Karen Abrami Fitzgerald will
deliver a program on presentation skills for all attendees. A gourmet
lunch and a lunchtime raffle with gifts donated from the UNH community
will contribute to the “celebratory atmosphere,” said
Christina VanHorn, program coordinator.
“The day is designed around several aspects; celebration and
recognition for service to the university, and professional development
in an environment that enables incredible networking opportunities,”
VanHorn said.
The AOP conference has become one of the most highly anticipated
staff events on campus. “It was first held in 1998 to assist
administrative staff deal with some major business changes that
were taking place at UNH. This event was a way to recognize staff
for all of their hard work, and proved to be a great opportunity
to put a name with a face of the people we worked with on the phone
and via e-mail,” VanHorn said. “I left (the second ASR
conference) feeling really enthused about my work at UNH for the
first time.”
The volunteer AOP planning committee, in partnership with Human
Resources, has been planning and delivering the AOP conference for
the past five years. Planning begins each year when committee members
attend a summer retreat to evaluate past programs, and to welcome
new members. The committee provides members with an opportunity
to share their skills and acquire new ones necessary to put on a
professional development conference of this magnitude.
“The best part about this process is working with new people
and helping them to develop new skills. Some of our members may
have never spoken publicly before. A year later they can be speaking
in front of an audience of 30 or more as a workshop host or in front
of an audience of 360,” she said.
“The only downside is that our event is so popular that we
can’t host everybody who wants to attend. We are constrained
by the capacity of facility,” VanHorn said.
The conference is designed for administrative office professionals
but all members of the UNH community are welcome to attend. Those
wanting to attend the conference must register online from March
3 to 11, at http://training.unh.edu.
For more information, visit the AOP conference Web site at www.unh.edu/hr/pod/aop-conference.htm.
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