San Diego, CA—Staying Connected

Located in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., U.S. territories, and over 40 countries worldwide, Members of the National Language Service Corps (NLSC) now account for 5,900 multilingual individuals who represent more than 330 languages and various occupational and cultural backgrounds. No matter their location, NLSC Members often enjoy networking and learning more about the NLSC from fellow Members and staff. One such opportunity arose when the NLSC hosted a Meet & Greet in San Diego, California on Friday, June 26, 2015.

Recruiting at the ACTFL conference

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) held its convention the weekend before Thanksgiving in San Diego, and we were there. About 4,500 elementary, high school, college and university teachers were there, and we got to speak with many of them.

This was our second trip to ACTFL, and so much had changed for the better. On the ACTFL side, we were in a convention center with much more room than last year. Until we began attending association conventions like this, I had no idea that they had to book venues years in advance. So if your group grows significantly, you wind up in a space that is unexpectedly tight. This year, the convention center seemed to have all the space needed.

On our side, last year we had only begun to recruit, so we could only talk about what NLSC Members might do. This year, we could talk about Members travelling from Atlanta to Thailand and Indonesia. That made for a much more effective pitch. Plus, we had our videos playing on a monitor in our booth. As a result, I think we had a more compelling story to tell when ACTFL members came to our table. Based on the number of business cards and brochures we handed out, it looks like touched close to 1,000 people. Not only that, last year there were no NLSC Members to come by and say hello! Four came by this year; see their pictures below.

Thanks ACTFL!


NLSC Charter Member Mara (center) with NLSC recruiters Charlie Pressley (left) and Bridget Baker (right)


Member Michelle with NLSC's Chief Linguist, Dr. Bill Rivers


NLSC Charter Member Amy with Bridget