Golden Key San Diego Regional Summit 2016

Golden Key’s San Diego Regional Summit brought together members from US Regions 6, 7, and 8 for a sunny weekend in Southern California. Delegates arrived at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay on Friday, March 5, where they were given the option to attend outings to either Mission Beach or the Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego. That evening attendees gathered in the Mission Ballroom for the Welcome Session where students and advisors were welcomed to the summit and received information about the regions in attendance. After the Welcome Session, students were free to explore while advisors attended the Advisor Reception at the hotel where they were able to network and get to know one another.

Saturday morning started off with Opening Session which included a headquarters update from Executive Director Brad Rainey and the associate directors of the regions in attendance. The session ended with Keynote Speaker Dr. Narissra Carter who shared her family’s story with the attendees and inspired delegates to never give up. After Dr. Carter’s speech, delegates broke up and attended one of three different workshop options. Workshops were held in various meeting rooms throughout the hotel. Following this was another set of workshops where delegates got to choose between learning about relationships, income inequality, stress management, or passion and purpose.
Attendees were free to eat lunch on their own, and many walked the short distance down to Mission Beach to eat at one of the many restaurants there. When they returned, Workshop Block Three consisted of workshops on alumni relationships, an advisor roundtable, or an officer roundtable. At the roundtables, officers and advisors were able to interact with others attending their respective sessions and share and brainstorm ideas with the staff of Golden Key and members of the organization’s leadership. After this Workshop Block, delegates participated in Spark-a-Change Melt where they brainstormed ideas to questions posed about Golden Key’s Spark-a-Change initiative and wrote encouraging notes to the students who will be attending the summer program Golden Key is hosting. Lastly, Associate Director for Region 7, Matt Miller, offered the closing remarks.
Saturday night, attendees gathered for the Gala Dinner in the Banyan Court at the hotel. While eating dinner, delegates were able to interact and get to know each other while sharing their favorite experiences from the weekend.
Written by Kellie Rollins – University of California, Los Angeles