Something was missing from Quantico’s Welcome Aboard brief this month.

Cpl. Daniel Nesci and Cpl. Stephen Dillon, both new to the base Motor Transport Section, said they had expected any informational event to include slide presentations and the drowsiness they may induce.

“This is way more effective than the old-school PowerPoint presentation,” Dillon said, as newcomers to the base milled around the gymnasium at Barber Physical Activity Center on July 17, 2013, making their way between the information tables manned by representatives of more than 40 organizations.

For example, he said, not having children himself, he wouldn’t have been interested in a lengthy presentation on children’s activities. Instead, he was able to visit the organizations that interested him.

“You go up and you talk one-on-one. You’re looking them in the eye,” Nesci said. He added, “You’re on your feet, so you’re not dozing off.”

What the two corporals didn’t know is that until June, Quantico’s monthly Welcome Aboard brief also centered on PowerPoint presentations.

“We decided to refresh our format to make it more user-friendly,” said Sgt. Maj. Laura Brown, the base sergeant major. “Going back to the basics means making face time with the people who run these organizations.”

She said newcomers seem to appreciate the new arrangement. “What we’ve heard from the service members is that it’s more user-friendly because they can first go and get the information they seek and that interests them.”

Al Thompson, manager for Personal and Professional Development’s Relocation Assistance Program, which organizes the briefing, said the new format is also almost an hour and a half shorter than the previous one while, judging from the feedback, allowing the organizations’ representatives to reach more of their audience.  

 “They actually talk to more people than they would have reached through the old format of welcome aboard,” Thompson said.

The only difficulty, he said, is that parking at the gym is scarcer that at the Clubs at Quantico, where the event used to be held. Overflow parking is available, though, beside Barnett Field or next to Butler Stadium.

Brown said organizers still wanted to see more family members at the briefs, noting that a play area for children was provided. “We say families are sworn into, born into, married into the Corps,” she said.

— Writer: mdicicco@quanticosentryonline.com