First of all, I'd like to say GREAT JOB! The conference was excellent, very informative, and fulfilling (especially to our bellies!). Speaking of the abundant deliciousness, and based on my personal interests, I suggest that the AASHE November conference should feature more sustainable dining initiatives, especially from some of the "particularly strong food programs" listed in the Operations/ Food & Dining section of this website. There are many amazing programs taking place, and much could be promoted relating to this important issue.

(Trying not to climb too high on a soapbox), I strongly believe in stressing the importance of sustainable food systems. In addition to carbon neutrality initiatives, our College and Universities should take the lead in finding a way to take the fuel out of food, replacing it with nutrition and insisting upon environmentally responsible agriculture methods. By including sustainable agriculture awareness into dining hall practices, the local economy benefits, the students' health improves, and our country's land is saved from poison and overuse. Not to mention reviving/maintaining a cultural heritage by ensuring an economically viable future for the rapidly vanishing family farms.

I am afraid that many Americans have become so disconnected from their food, some college students would be surprised to learn that potatoes grow underground! And an even scarier thought is that some elementary children may think potatoes are salty sticks from a happy meal! This disconnect has led to an absence of thinking about the source of our food and the implications and consequences of our food choices. It is essential that future generations regain this awareness and reconnect with the ingredients of human life. Colleges and Universities should commit to the sustainability of our sustenance.

I thought the conference was great overall. I do think we need fewer speakers on why we are doing this (attendees already know) and fewer introductory presentations (or at least multiple tracks for newbies and for those that have already signed on and are starting the work as well as more experienced -- it is good to mix it up and learn from each other, but many of us who are already committed found some of the plenary sessions too vague or just cheering on. OTOH, the student and president plenaries were great, as were all of the workshops I attended. I wish I could have attended more of the concurrent sessions. Kudos to the staff for putting together a well run program at a great location (and thanks for meeting the special needs of several attendees so thoughtfully).

Courtney and Michael, Thank you so much for your comments and I'm very glad to hear that you both enjoyed the conference.

Courtney, I would encourage you to submit a proposal for AASHE 2008 on sustainable dining initiatives. And feel free to team up with some folks from other schools that have exemplary dining initiatives. Here's a link to where you can submit a proposal: http://aashe.org/conf2008/call.php. Proposals are due May 1, 2008.

And Michael, it's very timely that you bring up the idea of having sessions aimed at newbies and experts of campus sustainability. We definitely plan on addressing this at AASHE 2008. We are even exploring the idea of posting a "Sustainability 101" resource on our website for those who are new to the campus sustainability world so that they will get more out of the conference sessions. We hope that it will give folks some background before they attend our conference, or any other!

It was great meeting you both at the conference, and to everyone else, please submit your comments! I promise that we will take each one seriously!

Best, Andrea AASHE

I agree, the conference was very well done and informative. It was my first of the sort, but I was completely impressed, and it was quite a decision during every concurrent session where to wind up.

Courtney and Michael both make great points. An awareness of the different needs of conference attendees could help ensure more people get something really valuable from being there. Food and beverage sourcing are definitely important as well.

One thing I might like to see at the AASHE conference is a bit more semi-structured, but decidedly informal time for everyone to digest what they are learning and hang out with each other. I thought the lunches and dinner were a great time to talk with people at SSCC and I enjoyed the conversations. I'm not sure how it would work necessarily, but maybe there could be breakout sessions by role within the University, or geographic region or state. We were quite busy those couple days, a blogger would have to have moved at a breakneck pace to cover that conference!

I thought the conference was excellent, jammed pack with information. I like Mike's idea of tracking. I would second Matt's idea on informal gatherings to discuss issues and also maybe placing people by geography. I took some of my free time to try and find those who attended from my area but wasn't able to locate some. I think a best practices forum on specific topics would be good. I would also like to see more workshops on navigating the funding process and some specific examples of grants and programs available. I spoke briefly to Judy about a mentoring/buddy program for sustainability coordinators. That is a wonderful idea that I would love to participate in.