Thursday, February 22, 2007
Track Session 1: 9:15 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
The Other Constituency—Developing and Sustaining a Parents’ CouncilKaren Habbestad
Associate Director of Alumni & Parent Relations
Whitworth College
In this day of helicopter parents, how do you build an effective program to turn new parents into fans of your institution from the admissions process through graduation, and also maintain them as donors after their student leaves your institution? Learn about the development of Whitworth’s 45-member Parents’ Council that assists Admissions and Advancement directly, as well as serving as a sounding board for campus leaders. Hear about what is needed to recruit and retain these key volunteers and how new council members are chosen. Learn about the simple steps for developing and growing your own parent program, resulting in parent leaders serving as a key cadre of unpaid staff who host events, make phone calls, and assist with fund-raising. This is a timely topic as many alumni offices are now taking on the challenge of growing and nurturing a parent program.
Track Session 2: 11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Have We Met Before?
Barney Ellis-Perry
Director of Professional Affairs, Alumni Affairs
University of British Columbia
Abe Geiger
Director of Marketing
Affinity Circles
So your alumni want to talk to each other, eh? (yes we’re Canadian!) In a world of Facebook, MySpace, Friendster and a million open on-line communities you are probably hearing from your alumni that they want to connect online too. What is the best way to provide cool, easy, and engaging features, but also
maintain the trust and privacy that your institution represents? Come hear how and why the University of British Columbia braved this new frontier to enable their alumni to talk to each other directly, getting the fuddy-duddy institution out of the way, and reaping huge rewards by driving value to their alumni and
new valuable data to the organization.
Barney from UBC and their supplier partner Abe Geiger from Affinity Circles will amuse you with stories of their fast and furious dealings with the Patriot Act, data challenges, and an unusual virtual marketing campaign that has seen 8,000 alumni join TrekConnect, their on-line community in three months!
Have We Met Before? PresentationTrack Session 3: 2:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Presidential Events, Inaugurations, International Delegations, and the Kitchen Sink, Oh My . . .The Diary of a Special Events Coordinator
Teddy Lenderman
Coordinator of Special Events
Indiana State University
This session, from a seasoned event professional, will cover the basics for even planning plus a variety of standard events, including presidential events, inaugurations, international delegations, and donor recognitions. Since most of us do all kind of events, the kitchen sink will apply to those. There will be plenty of time for questions and answers. Come listen, learn, share, and laugh at some of the crazy things that all special event professionals hope never happen to them.
Special Events FormTrack Session 4A: 3:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Alumni Relations and Development/Advancement Professionals: A Match Made In Heaven, Arch Enemies, Friendly Foes, or Why Can't We Just All Get Along?Andrea Bruno
Director of Institutional Advancement
Concordia University
Teddy Lenderman
Coordinator of Special Events
Indiana State University
Pommashea Noel-Bentley
Director of Alumni and Development
Southern Alberta Institute of Technology
Greg Sheridan
Associate Vice President of Constituency Programs
U of Washington
Michael Teskey
Director of Alumni and Parent Relations
Reed College
Michael Vandervelden
Major Gifts Officer
Albertson College of Idaho
Join a panel of alumni relations and development staff as they answer questions about the joys and challenges of working with the same constituencies, but with different perspectives and goals. We will have some set questions for the panel such as: What do we do when we are both working with the same donors? Are alumni relations at the bottom of the pecking order? Do distinctions like fundraisers and friend raisers lengthen the divide. Aren't we all part of the same team? We also welcome your questions for the panel. Our hope is that by honestly talking about some of the issues between the two areas, we can create more effective and successful working environments and combined alumni relations and development teams.
Track Session 4B: 3:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Marketing Alumni Relations to Your School: Convincing Administrators, Departments, and Staff About the Importance of MarketingJud Preece
Marketing Director
Washington State University
We can't build our program and meaningfully engage more alumni by ourselves. What can a 21st century alumni association do to partner with campus departments to push alumni relations? More engaged alumni build a stronger base of support that the entire university or college benefits from and everybody wins. Come prepared to share your best practices and find out what other alumni programs are doing to market themselves on campus.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Track Session 5: 9:15 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
If Your Only Tool is a Hammer, Then Every Problem Looks Like a Nail: The Alumni Attitude Study Reveals Diverse Alumni Perceptions on Program Performance, Communication Preferences, and LoyaltyRob Shoss
Managing Consultant, PEG, Ltd.
Tom Klotter
Director of Marketing and Membership at the University of Oregon
Jaynee Groseth
Executive Director at Montana State University
When alumni perceptions on programs, communication, and giving are carefully measured and evaluated, the impact can be felt throughout the campus. Study results show how dramatically different young alumni are as they indicate communication preferences and assess your performance. Across alumni age groups, learn which university actions tend to have the highest impact on loyalty, which communication methods usually cause the greatest frustration, and which programs alumni rank as most important, yet least effective. Study findings are based on the participation of over 80 universities and associations using a cooperative survey and produce comparable results for participants. Lose the hammer and find the set of tools to build a custom relationship for each alumni constituency.
Univ of Oregon Alumni Association Strategic Operations Plan 2006-2012Track Session 6: 11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
A match made in heaven: University of Washington’s model program of alumni relations and development partnershipPaul Rucker
Interim Co-Executive Director
U of Washington Alumni Association
Greg Sheridan
Associate Vice President of Constituency Programs
U of Washington
This advanced alumni session will get down to the nuts and bolts about how to build quality relationships between alumni relations and development and cement a solid pipeline where it is a win-win for everyone on the team. It will also focus on how to strengthen ties between alumni, the alumni association, and development. Examining how the University of Washington created a model program, and the necessary steps that they took to develop this unique collaboration with a tangible relationship between the Office of Development and the Alumni Association.
Alumni / Development Partnership PresentationTrack Session 7: 2:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Swag & Tell: Does Giving Away Chotches Benefit Our Programs?For the last session of the alumni track, we thought it would be fun to have the group itself be the speakers, a kind of swag show and tell. Come to this session prepared to share and tell the joys and the challenges of trying to come up with unique ways to brand your school, carry forth tradition, thank alumni, make the event "pop" with a creative take away's, and all within tight budget restraints. Bring samples of your most successful chotches, tell horror stores of orders gone awry, talk about the problem of translating logos onto products, and share your favorite vendor sources. Let's discuss the art of gifting alumni without looking cheap on a budget that doesn't stretch as far as we would like.