The Elevating Cougs conference is all about Cougs helping Cougs by sharing knowledge and practical tips. Each year, our speakers from all across the university system put a lot of time and effort into their presentations to help you get the most from their conference sessions.
To help inspire you for this year, below are a selection of our favorite reviews for some of our speakers who spoke at past conferences and are returning again for 2025. Enjoy!
Elisha was a very engaging presenter. Enjoyed the presentation, content, and resources.
Session: Building Belonging, Speaker: Elisha Hardekopf
Great presentation, and relevant information. I liked the interactive breakout sessions and I made a new connection with a staff outside my current department who I otherwise would never have met. Would have loved to have a longer session or a built in Q &A session in addition.
Session: Leader as Coach, Speaker: Craig Fischer
This presentation was great! It’s been quite some time since I’ve entered the job/application marketplace so knowing what employers, including WSU, are looking for and what the current trends are in questions, tips, and standing out from other candidates was very helpful.
Thanks Bonnie and Erin!
Session: Mastering Internal Job Applications, Speaker: Bonnie Wilmoth
Kelsey and Emily had great energy and positive attitudes that were infectious!! Great WD information and was fun to think about just how far we have come since the onset of WD. Makes one a bit more appreciative of how good we really do have it, and the support behind the scenes it there!! Thank you!
Session: What Does the Modernization Team Do?, Speakers: Emily Goodwin & Kelsey DeMacon
Very informative! I did appreciate the introduction to different styles of note-taking, as well as how to organize them physically and electronically. Lorena is very engaging and as she described, quite passionate about the subject; I’m quite glad to have attended this session! There is potential for a follow up in here, as we went through a lot of interesting topics that piqued my interest. Overall, a wonderful session, and I do hope you attend as a Speaker/Presenter next year!
Session: Keeping Up and Keeping Track, Speaker: Lorena O’English
Elevating Cougs is for everyone at WSU, no matter where you sit in the org chart or at which step you are on in your career path. Importantly, it’s by Cougs for Cougs. Kelsey DeMacon, a regular speaker from Modernization, highlights the connection and community the conference offers, “I believe WSU employees should attend Elevating Cougs to come to an event that has been tailored specifically for the Cougar community where individuals can come and learn and just really network in an environment that is just for us.”
I learned something from every session I attended. I found them all engaging and interesting.
General conference feedback
I have been impressed with the quality of this in-house conference. It has been helpful to me across tracks, but especially as it pertains to helping me use Workday more effectively. A big THANK YOU to everyone who helped put this together.
General conference feedback
Though we are coming to the end of the 4th year of Workday, participating in the sessions you are able to learn more, see the improvements and ask questions. I am in Workday 70% of every day in some for or another, processing or researching. Learning improvements and nuances that have been found is worth every minute of the Elevating Cougs sessions.
General conference feedback
The micro sessions were very digestable content, and the presenters that I listened in on made it very aware they were open to being contacted after Elevating Cougs ended should we have any further questions. It was a great experience, the content offered was fantastic, presenters were very knowledgeable, moderators were polite and quick when addressing issues.
General conference feedback
Presenter Highlight Videos
Hear from a few of our speakers as they highlight what you can learn from their sessions and why attending Elevating Cougs is such a great idea!