Get Connected Hosts Networking, Poster Session

On the eve of the March Policy Conference, Get Connected drew a crowd for its networking event at an Arlington, Va., restaurant, near the hotel where the conference was held. And the group of early and mid-career members also sponsored poster sessions at the conference.

Despite the snow and below-freezing temperatures the evening of Sunday, March 1, more than 50 people joined the Get Connected team for a happy hour at Piola’s in the Rosslyn area of Arlington County.  NABE and the National Economists Club, the NABE chapter in Washington, D.C., jointly sponsored the event.

“Get Connected organizers are very happy with the outcome of this social event which has truly served the purpose "to get connected" with other conference participants and break the ice before the official meetings began,” said Sviatlana Francis, a Get Connected team member.

She added that members attending the networking event appreciated the chance to meet others in NABE and found “the social events extremely valuable to building professional relationships, strengthening the collegial atmosphere during the meetings, and promoting networking and professional exchange of ideas.”

Data Visualization Workshop, Poster Session

On March 3, the last day of the Policy Conference, Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI) and Get Connected sponsored a well-attended session on data visualization, introduced by Billy Leung, REMI, and moderated by Elizabeth Webbink, Inkweb.org.  Jim Thomas, director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s National Visualization and Analytics Center, introduced participants to the innovative, emerging field of analyzing data by interactive visualization techniques.

Get Connected also sponsored a Poster Session at the Policy Conference, noted Chris Swann, former NABE board member and coordinator of the program for early and mid-career professionals. “We had six accepted submissions for the Poster Session and many attendees took a look at the research and commented that they found the session useful,” he said.

Swann also reported that the LinkedIn group for Get Connected has expanded to 155 people since it was started a few months ago.  “Members are using LinkedIn to generate discussions and maintain relationships,” he pointed out.

Participants are needed for all Get Connected teams, including mentoring, career development, membership/marketing/Web, programs, chapters, and the GC management team.  Contact either Chris Swann (Christopher.swann@bea.gov) or Debbie Cason (cason@macroadvisers.com) for more information and to volunteer.

Looking ahead to NABE’s 51st Annual Meeting in October, Get Connected team members are planning a careers session.  Watch for details on www.nabe.com