September 19th, 2014
This year the national conference for the National Association of College Admissions Counselors (NACAC) is held in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1937, NACAC is an organization of more than 13,000 professionals from around the world dedicated to serving students as they make choices about pursuing postsecondary education.
This is ACEI’s first NACAC Conference and I am here with our Assistant Director of Marketing, Yolinisse Moreno, where we will be tending to our booth in the Exhibit Hall for the next two days. The conference and the exhibit hall officially opened on Thursday, September 18th and will end on Saturday, September 20th.
Yolinisse Moreno, Anonymous Football Player, Jasmin Saidi-Kuehnert
Yolinisse Moreno, Assistant Director of Marketing, ACEI
View of a corner of the Exhibit Hall
Our first day has proven to be a great success and we have our new display banner and glossy new literature to thank for helping attract visitors to our booth. We happily shared information about ACEI and the benefits of international credential evaluations. Visitors to our booth are counselors at public and private high schools, boarding schools, colleges and universities and with the increasing flow of international students to the U.S., they are recognizing the importance and necessity of having their academic transcripts evaluated for U.S. educational equivalence. We also met the folks at US News and Education. I was happy to see them stop by our booth since I follow their online blog and Facebook posts on higher education and related news.
Since we’re here in Indianapolis, we thought it would be good to share some facts about this city:
1. Indianapolis is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana, and also the county seat of Marion County. As of the 2010 census, the city’s population is 820,445.
2. There are 19 institutions of higher learning in Indianapolis, ranging from two-year colleges and technical schools to private and public four-year universities. The largest is Indiana University-
Purdue University at Indianapolis, which offers associate, undergraduate, and graduate degree programs. Private four-year institutions include Butler University and the University of Indianapolis. Other institutions of higher education include IVY Tech State College, Marian College, and Martin University.
3. Indianapolis is home to the two largest single-day sporting events in the world, the Indianapolis 500 (Indy 500) and the Brickyard 400.
A Formula One racecar, up close and personal at the Exhibit Hall
4. The Indy 500 track is so large that Churchill Downs, Yankee Stadium, the Rose Bowl, the Roman Coliseum and Vatican City can all fit inside the iconic oval, covering 253 acres.
5. Though Indianapolis is often a proving ground for stars from the world of sports, every four years Indianapolis hosts the International Violin Competition—a 17-day event—drawing competitors from around the globe. In fact, the finals were held yesterday, on September 17, 2014.
6. Indianapolis’ historic Union Station was the first union station in the world, opening in September 1853. In fact, Thomas Edison worked there as a telegraph operator in 1861.
7. Indianapolis is home to the world’s largest children’s museum in both square footage and number of artifacts (500,000 square feet in size and over 100,000 exhibits and artifacts).
8. Elvis performed his last concert in downtown Indianapolis in June 1977.
Well, that’s it for now. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more updates on the next two days here at NACAC in Indianapolis.
Jasmin Saidi-Kuehnert
President & CEO, ACEI
ACEI-Global 