Cutting Costs
Obviously, the biggest expenses are travel and housing. How can you cut costs to attend an ACDA conference? Here are some tips:
• Sleep four (or more?) to a room. With four bodies in there, you pay a quarter of the actual cost.
• Bring a cooler full of food. For the price of one meal in a downtown hotel, you can pack a cooler full of enough apples, sandwiches, and assorted goodies to last the whole week!
• Avoid booze. It's expensive and serves no useful purpose.
• Seek financial assistance from your college or university. Many schools offer support for students to attend professional conferences in their major area of study. (Again, go pester your department chair).
• Ask your ACDA student chapter for assistance. A great many student chapters raise funds to aid members planning to attend the convention.
Additional Helpful Hints
• Arrive well-rested. We don't get much sleep at conferences.
• Save the Conference Program Book. It's loaded with information,
• Read name tags. You never know who you might meet.
• Arrive early for concerts. They're usually packed.
• Attend EVERYTHING! An ACDA Conference is not the time to nap.
• Save room in your luggage for all the stuff you will pick up in the exhibit area.
• Skip shopping or sight-seeing trips. You're there to learn about your profession.
• Meet other student members. They are your colleagues.
• Dress professionally. You want to be taken seriously.
• Visit with exhibitors. They are our partners in choral music.
ACDA national conferences are exhilarating, overwhelming, and exhausting. They are absolutely the crown jewels of ACDA activities, and can be life-changing events.
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