Notes from AACRAO 2026

The AACRAO annual meeting is one of the biggest gatherings in our industry. Registrars, admissions officers, and commencement coordinators from across the country, all in one place to talk shop, learn from each other, and discuss what is next for the industry. The Grad Team has been a presence there for years, and every year we come home with cameras full of images and a treasure trove of notes. 

Here's what we were up to in New Orleans last week. 

‍Sharing what I’ve learned

Each year at the annual meeting, we give a presentation on how to conduct a better commencement ceremony. It’s about what we’ve learned over the years and picked up from thousands of graduations. The people who attend are often running an event they only manage once a year, and we've had the benefit of seeing it play out hundreds of times a season. So we simply share what I've seen work for us at The Grad Team.

This year, I co-presented with Lesa Beals, the Senior Associate Registrar at Purdue University. Having Lesa up there changed the energy of the session. I can talk all day about what makes a ceremony run well from the photography side, but when a registrar hears it from another registrar it lands differently. I manage the photography and software side of things, and I know that registrars in attendance like to hear from someone who has been in their seat and managed the same chaos. Lesa provided that in spades. (If you weren’t able to make it, drop me an email and I will give you a link to the presentation.)

Doing what we do best

A good majority of what The Grad Team does at AACRAO is what we do best: Taking photos that tell a story. We handle the event photography, and it breaks down into three parts:

• We cover the sessions. That means speakers, breakout groups, candids, people leaning into conversations in ballroom chairs; the kind of images AACRAO uses to show what the annual meeting actually looks and feels like. This year, we started delivering those photos directly to the attendees who were in each session, so they'd have images of themselves from the event. I loved seeing people posting those images on Facebook and LinkedIn!
• We photograph the board. Formal portraits of each member and a group shot, usually on the last day. It gives AACRAO a clean record of who served, and it gives us a few minutes to say hello and thank them for the opportunity to serve this community.
• We run a headshot booth on the trade show floor. Attendees stop by, we take a quick professional portrait, and they walk away with something they can use on LinkedIn or their university's staff page. It's become one of the more popular stops at the trade show, which is fun to see.. It's a nice way to spend a few hours.

‍Already thinking about next year

AACRAO is always a good reset before commencement season hits warp speed. We spend the rest of the year heads-down on logistics and operations, and then for a few days you're in a room full of the people who actually run commencements to hear what is on their minds, what’s changing at their schools, and what they need. I always leave with a list of things I want to bring back to our team. This year was no different.

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