Conference Reflections

Julie Mahoney
Associate Director of Stewardship
Washington University School of Medicine

The first time I attended the ADRP conference was in Chicago in 2012. Everything was new. I was a new ADRP member in a new position within a new profession. I had spent the previous ten years in public relations and communications for a health care non-profit. I knew very little about donor relations and stewardship. Those few days in Chicago were like an immersion course. I was tired each evening from all the new information I was absorbing, but I was also grateful for a broader context and new vocabulary for the work I was now doing. I also had a sense that I’d found my professional tribe from the lovely interactions I had with other attendees.  

I have returned every year (with the exception of the Seattle conference), and each conference builds up my knowledge base and my network of colleagues. The conferences refresh me, motivate me, and help me to see how far I have come. While I learn something new each year, the immersion phase has faded. I’ve begun to feel hints of being seasoned in this wonderful profession. I have ADRP to thank for that.

What struck me most about the conference in Las Vegas was that in the course of five years, I have made friends within this organization. Not simply familiar faces from year-to-year, but genuine friendships among people who also care about the work they do and the constituents they represent. Among those friendly faces, mentors have emerged who have freely and generously shared their wisdom. It’s a remarkable tribe of people, indeed. 

I am grateful for it all. ADRP is a special organization, and I am immensely grateful to be a part of it. I look forward to welcoming members and new friends to the conference when it comes to my neck of the woods, St. Louis Missouri!