On May 21st and 22nd, the League hosted our first-ever virtual Students Inside Albany Conference.
Although last year we invited students who had been selected before the pandemic to join us for an afternoon of learning about state government, this was the first time the League has ever arranged a full conference including speakers and virtual meetings with the students’ legislators.
In total 43 students joined us from around the state. On Friday the students learned about different types of advocacy and how to get involved as a civic-minded young person. They had a NYS Politics 101 training and ended the evening with fun trivia about New York State.
On Saturday the students enjoyed a media panel featuring young up-and-coming Capitol reporters who spoke about their time in Albany and all the strange things about being a reporter covering New York State politics. After the media panel the students met virtually with their Assembly Members and Senators. The students were divided into Zoom break out rooms of 4-8 students so they could get a more personal experience when meeting with their legislators. In total 10 Senators and 8 Assembly Members met with students from around the state. Most students said this was their favorite part of the program.
We ended our virtual conference by encouraging the students to register to vote and showing them how they could register and where to find more information about voting. Although the conference had to be held remotely it was still a success and thus far the students have given us excellent feedback of the program.
