N4HC: Hiccups and Hard Work

The work of roundtable facilitators encountered a recent hiccup; the government shutdown. During this time, our federal liasions were unable to work and we were unable to contact them. Therefore, we were unable to set up the much needed meeting between our liaisons, federal host agency, and ourselves, to gather information and resources for the delegates, in addition to answering any questions that they may have about the Conference. Our advisors were also unable to work during this time, which meant that we were unable to book our plane tickets to Washington DC and begin registration for the Conference. It was a happy day when the government reopened, although we are on edge this week with the second potential shutdown of 2018.

Luckily, before all of this occurred, I had a chance to talk on the phone with my liaison. We discussed our expectations of each other, how Conference is run (he has never attended), and what support I need, as the facilitator, to be able to fulfill my role. Mr. Robertson, my liaison, recently started his job with National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and was very excited to learn that he was going to have the opportunity to work with 4-H. He is a 4-H alumnus and his interest areas were cooking and public speaking, which I completed projects in, as well, when I was a 4-H member.

I also learned over the weekend that I was chosen to have a Youth Leadership Team (YLT) member shadow me during the Conference. YLT is a group of six youth from across the nation that are selected to assist in logistics and the planning of Conference. During the roundtable portion of the event, they are assigned to a roundtable facilitator to assist them and learn about their role. Traditionally, this is a person that has attended the event before as a delegate.

Finally, the rough draft of the schedule has been posted for the event. This does not include facilitator pre-conference training, which will begin on Thursday evening, when we arrive at the Conference Center. You may view this document here.