WILMINGTON, North Carolina – It’s been nearly a month since #CoSIDA19 came to
its conclusion in Orlando, but I am still thinking about the four-day event and all of
the great things that happened during the convention.

It was my sixth CoSIDA Convention, but I don’t recall a previous CoSIDA Convention
that left me thinking about it for as long as this year’s event.

I left #CoSIDA19 with a lot of thoughts and good things to take back with me and try
to incorporate in my day-to-day activities – and that doesn’t just include at the
office.

So, with that, here are some takeaways I had from my sixth CoSIDA Convention
experience.

Family Reunion – I heard the term “family reunion” used quite a bit at #CoSIDA19
and until this year, I had not heard that phrase used. But, it makes total sense after
being at the CoSIDA Convention this year.

Being at #CoSIDA19 is like a family reunion. It’s an opportunity to catch up with
some people you have not seen for a while (or a long while for that matter) and get
to be around people who share your excitement, passion and successes in addition
to understanding your frustrations and struggles because they have been through it
as well.

Being a member of CoSIDA is really like having an extended family and it’s great to
have the opportunity to get together once a year to reunite.

I connect with a lot of SIDs over social media during the course of the year and

CoSIDA19 gave me a chance to put a face to a Twitter handle. Meeting those

outstanding people was one of my biggest highlights from the week – and it’s
something I will always cherish.

All Year Long – While #CoSIDA19 is a yearly event, it shouldn’t be the only time
SIDs catch up and spend time together. North Carolina’s Dave Lohse, a two-time
major award winner at #CoSIDA19, said it best during one of his acceptance
conversations that we are still in a people-centered business. And he is absolutely
right.

We need to make sure that we are connecting with our fellow SIDs throughout the
year because we all need support from each other. I challenge everyone who reads
this blog post to reach out to SIDs throughout the year to see how they are doing.
Forget about asking for game files or updated stats or things that are necessary for
the job. Let’s make sure everyone is doing okay.

Make it a point to check in with a fellow SID on a weekly basis. It doesn’t have to be
the same person every week, but do what you can to make sure your fellow SIDs
know they have someone else in their corner.

Time Flies – I had my first opportunity to be involved in the programming at the
CoSIDA Convention this year, serving as a moderator for a Trending Topics session
on post networking strategies. When I was planning for this session, I was worried
30 minutes was going to be too much time and we would have to try to fill the time.
I was absolutely wrong on that … and thankfully so. In fact, I think our session could
have been good with a 45-minute time frame. Once the conversation got going in
each of the three time blocks, the 30 minutes flew by and before you know it, it was
time to wrap things up and move on.

I give credit to the two amazing panelists – Oklahoma City University Director of
Athletics Jim Abbott and North Florida Assistant SID Amanda Murphy – for making
that possible. They did a tremendous job and I am thankful for their energy and
knowledge.

I hope the 55 individuals who attended the sessions (yes, I counted) were able to
take some information away and can apply it to their daily activities.

Shut It Down – One of my favorite panels from #CoSIDA19 came on the final day
when Dr. Jarrod Spencer spoke to us about have a clearer mind in order to become a
better athletic administrator. He spoke about how our mental health should be the
most important thing we worry about.

But, one of the biggest takeaways I had from that discussion relates to cell phones
and how they have become a problem for us. In fact, I believe he said cell phones
have become as addictive as cigarettes … or even more.

I will be the first to admit I am on my cell phone more than I should be. To be
honest, there are days where I wish I didn’t have one so I can stop being on it so
much. But, I know it is necessary to have because of my job as a SID.

So, how do I try to work on that? By shutting it down occasionally. Since returning
from #CoSIDA19, I have tried to leave my cell phone and my iPad in another room of
my house for an entire day and unplug. I have been able to do it once and in fact, as I
am writing this, I am working on doing it again.

Here’s another challenge to all of my SID friends. Take a day and do a

SIDShutdown. Leave your cell phone and other mobile devices in a room and don’t

touch them. You can always turn the devices off if that helps you to avoid using
them. You can make it a day when you know you don’t need to use them (a weekend
day perhaps or a day off), but try it and let me know how it goes.

I think you will be surprised at how many other things you can do when you don’t
have your nose in your phone.

Wear Comfortable Shoes – With so much going on at the CoSIDA Convention, it’s
no surprise people have to go from one end of the hotel to the other for
programming. So, it becomes very important to wear comfortable shoes in order to
make sure you don’t have any issues with your feet during the four-day event.

For me, I wore shoes that are usually comfortable during my work day (even on
basketball game days), but when you add in the fact I was also trying to enjoy a
vacation at Disney during the time (I might have more on that in my personal blog at
some point – stay tuned), my feet were quite sore by the middle of the convention.
And as a result, I switched to my adidas sneakers for the final two days.

My point is this – make sure you are prepared to do a lot of walking at the CoSIDA
Convention because you never know how many times you will need to go from one
side of the venue to the other (and yes, that includes the trips to the coffee shops
too).

So there you have it – my five biggest takeaways from #CoSIDA19. If you attended
the convention, I am sure you had other takeaways and I would love to hear about it.
So, feel free to e-mail me at [email protected] and keep the conversation going.
You can also find me on social media at @ericrhew (Twitter and Instagram), but
only if I haven’t put down my phone for the day.

Here’s to the next great moment at CoSIDA … hopefully, it’s next year in Vegas.