From July 21 through 23, campus was buzzing with innovation, camaraderie and discovery during the seventh annual Bentley Community Learning Conference.

“I feel like the energy was palpable,” said conference organizer Melissa Looney, director of learning, development and engagement strategies. “There was a sense of excitement and curiosity that carried through every session. People were connecting, exchanging ideas and genuinely enjoying themselves. I don’t think that kind of atmosphere happens by accident. It’s a reflection of our culture and values.”

The learning conference is a unique three-day experience that’s created by and for faculty and staff. This year, sessions addressed four common themes that left plenty of room for creative interpretation: Positive Culture, Inclusive Excellence, Best Self, and Technology, Innovation & Entrepreneurship (TIE). 

Everyone is talking about AI

In the popular keynote session, Chad Wright, CIO of Boston Dynamics, discussed the potential of human and robot collaboration and unleashed Spot, a robotic dog, to demonstrate his point.  

And while Spot was impressive, Blue, the University Police comfort dog, has no reason to fear losing his top dog status on campus. In fact, Blue was swarmed by fans everywhere he went.

Technology, innovation and AI, however, were definitely hot topics. 

Keerthi Thangaraj, data engineering and analytics specialist, and Pranjal Pramod Bhagat, assistant director of marketing analytics, were both first-time co-presenters who teamed up to offer “Analytics Made Easy: AI-Driven Insights in Power BI.”

“As a Power BI developer, I wanted to introduce others in our community to the tool’s capabilities, which are easier and more dynamic than Excel, so they can take advantage of it in their own roles,” Keerthi said.

But it was the human element of the conference that Pranjal says gave her both the motivation and the confidence to share her expertise as a presenter.

“I was excited to both learn from and contribute to the community — that was my main motivation for presenting,” she said. “Seeing a few familiar faces in the audience and having people engage and ask questions really boosted my confidence.”

Kyle Mondino, senior assistant director of graduate admissions, was surprised by the sheer number of sessions that touched on AI. He appreciated learning about incorporating emerging technologies into workflows.

“I learned about Agentic AI — how they are built and how it might be applied to my role and department for use in graduate recruiting,” he said.

Learning about learning
Others took a decidedly more low-tech route that still offered insights on how people learn.

James Thibeault, senior librarian for Open Educational Resources, led a session on origami, despite being a relative newcomer to the art himself.

“Origami can be a meditative experience, but also incredibly frustrating,” he said. “It's immensely rewarding to create something of value from just a piece of paper, but one wrong fold can also cause you to crumble the whole thing up in anger and start all over again! “All of those emotions are a part of the journey.”

“Meditative” was not the word that Kristen Walsh, senior assistant director of strategic content, used to describe her first experience with origami.

“It was more challenging than I would have imagined,” she said. “Fortunately, it came more naturally to others, and we had a lot of laughs as they helped me finesse my paper folding. It provided perspective on what it might feel like to be the student in class who doesn't immediately understand a lesson when others catch on quickly. The key is asking for help.”

All about collaboration
Perhaps one of the underlying values of the conference itself is that it reminds everyone that getting help and collaborating is much more productive than going it alone and staying stuck. 

Danielle Meroli, administrative sergeant with University Police, co-presented "Mindfulness for Your Best Self" with Adam Reynolds, director of spiritual life.

She says that her mindfulness practice has impacted her both professionally and personally, motivating her to want to share that knowledge with her colleagues. 

“What excites me most is knowing that the benefits of mindfulness aren’t limited to a few — they’re accessible to everyone,” she said. “It’s empowering to know that we can all tap into this practice to support our well-being and growth.”

And while possibly the most valuable aspect of the conference is that it gives staff and faculty a chance to collaborate with new people and learn new skills, there’s no denying that one of the best parts of the three days is the chance to have some fun. Winning prizes helps, too.

“I learned that Roberta Francis is amazing at trivia!” said Rebecca McDougal, who participated in trivia on Tuesday afternoon. “She carried my team to victory and I’m excited to go to City Streets with her and Cindy Hanshaw to celebrate our win.”