
Florida Atlantic University proudly hosted the 23rd Annual Forum of Florida Alumni Associations (FFAA) conference from Jan. 12 -14.
This year’s event brought together more than 45 attendees from 16 universities across the state of Florida for a collaborative and informative conference filled with insightful sessions, the exchanging of best practices, and valuable networking.
The mission of the annual FFAA conference is to facilitate the year-round exchange of ideas that will strengthen alumni engagement activities for each participating state of Florida University/College Alumni Affairs group.
Florida Atlantic leaders started the conference in 2003, leading to a full-circle moment of the university hosting this year’s event. Even more, several of the founding individuals were invited back and joined attendees at the Monday evening reception.
This year’s conference included illuminating sessions on key university topics such as alumni engagement and programming, social media, online platforms to connect with alumni, recognition of alumni, as well as individual breakout sessions, and more.
Led by Florida Atlantic Assistant Vice President of Alumni and Community Engagement, Katie G. Burke, Ph.D., the Alumni and Community Engagement team spearheaded the meticulous planning of the event more than five months in advance, creating a task force for logistics such as scheduling, catering, budget, accommodations, sessions, and more. The Alumni and Community Engagement team also utilized the Student Alumni Association’s vice president in the planning process, creating a valuable professional development opportunity.
Numerous venues were utilized during the three-day conference. The majority of sessions were held at the university’s Marleen and Harold Forkas Alumni Center, while additional events took place at The Waterstone and the Boca Raton Marriott at Boca Center. Additionally, the Florida Atlantic Alumni and Community Engagement team secured event sponsorships from Wizard Creations, Boca Raton Marriott and Hivebrite.
The conference has continued to grow in size and status over the years. During the inaugural year in 2003, which took place in an Orlando hotel, seven universities took part in the conference. At this year’s conference, the following 16 universities participated:
- Eckerd College
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
- Flagler College
- Florida Atlantic University
- Florida Gulf Coast University
- Florida International University
- Florida State University
- Florida Institute of Technology
- Lynn University
- Stetson University
- University of Tampa
- University of Central Florida
- University of Florida
- University of Miami
- University of South Florida
- University of West Florida