alumni futures

Alumni Futures in France: September Events

As I head off to Singapore today, I'm already looking ahead to September, when I will travel to France for two teaching opportunities:

EAIE Workshop in Nantes, 15-16 September
I will co-present with Illuminate Consulting Group's Dr. Daniel Guhr at the annual meeting of the European Association for International Education (EAIE). This year, Dan has developed a workshop called How to Strategically Deploy Web 2.0 Platforms, Tools and Communities.

The workshop takes place over two half-day sessions, and is limited to 30 participants. It's not an introductory program – it is aimed at an intermediate level audience that is familiar with the tools currently used to deploy communities online.

The workshop takes place 15 and 16 September in Nantes. Other presenters include Delia de Vreeze (International Marketing Manager at Wageningen University in the Netherlands), and ICG researcher Mauro Mondino, from Germany's Hertie School of Governance.

AFF Breakfast Program in Paris, 21 September
On Tuesday, 21 September in Paris, I will deliver a breakfast talk sponsored by the Association Française des Fundraisers (AFF). The topic is Alumni Community Management. I will discuss how to use social networks and the web (including blogs, Twitter, Facebook and other online platforms) to listen to alumni and build a dialog with them.

The presentation will be in English, although I plan to answer questions and discuss related topics informally in French as well. 

Here is a brief description of the program in French, with a link to the event page:

Petit-déjeuner fundraising: Alumni Community Management

Comment utiliser les réseaux sociaux et le web (blogs, Twitter, Facebook, sites internet) pour écouter ses alumni, et construire une relation avec eux. Une introduction au "community management" au service des relations avec vos alumni et de votre fundraising.

Social Media Master Class: Singapore

On 29 July I will be teaching a workshop (what CASE calls a "Master Class") in Singapore. The National University of Singapore (NUS) is hosting the event at the Shaw Foundation Alumni House (pictured here). It's a half-day overview of social media and alumni communications for colleges, universities and schools. 

The full program (or programme) web site is here:

Social Media & Educational Advancement

Below is the agenda at a glance, to give you an idea of what I'll cover. This session is great for people who know that social tools are an increasingly important part of constituent relations, but who don't feel they have an adequate understanding of these fast-changing trends. Note that this is a non-technical roadmap to these trends, so you don't need computer or internet expertise to benefit.

 

Social Media & Educational Advancement Programme

Overview
What is social media and where did it come from? What is the meaning of "Web 2.0" and why are there so many social networking sites and tools? Our discussion will cover: the rise of social networking sites; terminology; how social media affects alumni and student behavior; and why social media is important to educational advancement.

Global Case Studies
A cross-border look at how some institutions are using the most common tools: microblogging, social networks, business networks and more. The discussion will include risks and opportunities; how these tools can promote better alumni coordination, student recruiting, and fundraising.

Putting Social Technology to Work: Interactive Exercise
In small groups, participants will quickly brainstorm and design a solution to an assigned challenge.

The Road Ahead: Trends in Online Communication
Where is the social media world going next, and can we lead, or must we follow? I'll highlight the growing importance of mobile communication and of location-based services.

We'll finish the afternoon with an open-ended Question and Answer discussion.

If you're reading Alumni Futures in Asia and can be in Singapore on 29 July, click here to register for this event.

Social Media Round Table: New York City

The Alumni Futures Social Media Round Table is coming to New York City, Thursday, July 22, 2010.

What is it? Who is it for?
The Social Media Round Table is a day-long discussion (a kind of mini-conference), open to no more than 15 professionals from schools, colleges and universities, or from other organizations whose work relates to education. Fundraisers, communications professionals, and alumni officers are all welcome, but other disciplines are welcome too: student affairs, athletics, career services, admissions and more – anyone who needs to get up to speed quickly on the promise of social technologies in education and related sectors.

Up to three spots are available for representatives from the private sector – consultants, vendors or others whose work connects them to education or non-profits.

The Round Table is designed for individuals with low to moderate exposure to social media, not for complete beginners or for experienced "power users." You will get the most from the Round Table if you: 

- have basic familiarity with Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn and
- are interested in mid-level strategy and tactics for engaging constituents with social technology. 

Key Features
- Mixes presentations, guided discussions, and free-wheeling idea-sharing
- Incorporates participants' topics and questions to guarantee relevance
- Touches on key themes in social media and online community
- Connects participants to a network of fellow professionals who share their interests
- Is moderated and hosted by Andy Shaindlin (of Alumni Futures) and Elizabeth Allen (of Adaptivate)
 

Preliminary Program (exact timing & topics subject to change)

8:30 to 9:00 am - Registration
Continental breakfast (included)

9:00 am to 10:00 am - Presentation
Debunking the Myths of Social Media 
(presented by Andy Shaindlin and Liz Allen, following self-introductions)

10:00 am to 10:45 am - Group Discussion
ROI: How Will You Know If You're Succeeding?

10:45 to 11:00 am - Break

11:00 am to Noon – Group Discussion
Community Management (and Your Online Reputation)

Noon to 1:00 pm - Lunch
Deli-style lunch on site (included)

1:00 pm to 3:00 pm - Discussion
Participants' Hot Topics 
(submitted in advance)

3:00 pm to 3:30 pm - Wrap up and closing thoughts 

We guarantee thought-provoking new ideas for you to take away, and a fun day of valuable professional network-building as well.
 

Location
The Alumni Futures Social Media Round Table takes place in mid-town Manhattan, New York City, on Thursday, July 22, 2010 from 8:30 a.m. until approximately 3:30 p.m. 

Your registration fee includes Round Table discussion and feedback, Social Media Resource Packet, and continental breakfast plus deli-style lunch on site.

Registration & Fees

• $229 for non-profit participants
• $299 for commercial attendees (limit 3 attendees in this category)

Click here to register

Registered participants will receive additional details about the Round Table, including the opportunity to submit individual topics of interest to attendees, which can be included in the day's program.

• Registration is on a first-come basis. Only 15 spaces available.

Questions?

Send an email to andy@alumnifutures.com.

See you there!

June 11 Deadline to Apply for CASE Conference Scholarships

CASE is offering about 20 scholarships to cover conference registration fees for advancement professionals at selected CASE programs.

The Virginia Carter Smith Scholarship Program is for you if you have less than three years' experience in educational advancement, or if you've moved from one advancement discipline to another in the last three years (e.g., from alumni relations to development). Among the criteria for awarding the scholarships are "career potential," an applicant's statement about resources available through their institution, and the candidate's "ability to express him or herself."

If selected to receive a scholarship, you will have conference registration fees waived, but will still have to cover, travel, hotel and meal costs to attend. Conferences NOT covered by the Smith Scholarship are the Summer Institutes, the Summit, or the annual District conferences. But that still leaves you with many options from the CASE professional development calendar.

Get your application started, though: the deadline for scholarship applications is Friday, June 11, 2010.

Click this link to download the application packet from the CASE web site [180kb PDF]

And in case you're wondering, Virginia Carter Smith was a CASE president, and founder of CURRENTS Magazine. 

Other CASE scholarships:

International Scholarships Programme (for global access to advancement training)

SimpsonScarborough Scholars (for young communications and marketing professionals)

Peter Buchanan ASAP Scholarship Award (for student advancement programming)

Good luck!

New Notions of Community: Ten Years Out

I was inspired last week to revisit some remarks I delivered last year at a "Thought Leader Seminar" hosted by Illuminate Consulting Group. The impetus to review what I had said came from a comment left by Santa Clara University's Kathy Kale on the Alumni Futures posting last week. Kathy asked, 

What is the call to action for alumni organizations? What are we supposed to do to respond to or interact with loose social networks that include our alumni? We may not play a central role but what role do/can we play?

The word we have been hearing for years is "relevance." This is increasingly central to alumni organizations' missions and activities. It was the first bullet point I addressed when I wrote about "mattering" in my first posting of 2010. 

So here's an update to what I was saying about this a year ago. I had the perspective then of nine years in my role as executive director at one institution; now my perspective includes time as an independent consultant to education. My views overall haven't changed that much.

New Notions of Community: Ten Years Out
As the value of some traditional alumni relations activities fades steadily, and as new ways to self-identify, to communicate and to collaborate internationally continue to grow, advancement professionals must rethink their notion of what it means to “have a community” of alumni, friends, and donors. 

Alumni offices can become brokers of information that alumni need from one another (and from the institution): making potentially valuable connections discoverable should be among their strategic goals, and deploying helpful tools according to a structured, but flexible, framework will enable them to succeed.

Career and professional help, fundraising, communication and marketing (as well as alumni relations and admissions/recruiting) will overlap more and hybrid offices and job titles will appear on campus. I can imagine something like the following:

• Director of Alumni Relations and Career Services  
• Major Gifts Officer and Alumni Network Broker 
• Annual Giving Coordinator and Community Manager

How we measure our success will also change, moving toward outcomes and success stories, network value, and visibility online. Alumni organizations will measure success, in part, through alumni connections and influence in other organizations (government, education, and business).

Getting started in this direction may require only a modest reallocation of existing resources, and willingness by advancement professionals to stand up and point out a new direction. 

Leadership opportunities abound, and as with every truly new effort, for most that enter this field there will be no “wrong way” to go – but there will be many unexplored avenues to pursue.

CASE Summit: New York, July 2010

The CASE Summit for Advancement Leaders returns to New York City this summer (July 18 to 20), and the line up is excellent. A few of the speakers are

• Lawrence Bacow, President of Tufts University
  
• David Skorton, President of Cornell University
  
• Danah Boyd, researcher on social technologies
  
• Philanthropists Charles Bronfman and Jonathan Tisch

...among many others. A link to the full program listing is below.

I have the honor of introducing another keynoter, Clay Shirky, whose book Here Comes Everybody has provided me with a remarkable number of insights about education – and not just in the field of advancement. His book isn't "about" education – its about how technology increasingly enables people to "organize without organizations," something that matters to fundraisers, communicators and alumni professionals.

The Summit is geared toward senior decision makers in educational institutions: Executive Directors, Vice Presidents, Presidents. However, based on my own experiences, I encourage people in these positions to look at the Summit as more than "professional development" for themselves. The Summit is great leadership development for early- and mid-career staff members – they'll benefit from rubbing shoulders with senior leaders, hearing what those leaders talk and care about, and exhibiting their own potential as future leaders in education.

I'm looking forward to the event and hope to meet many of you there:

CASE Summit for Advancement Leaders - July 18 to 20, 2010

Full Program Listing with all sessions

Travel and Hotel information

Register here - early bird deadline is June 21, 2010.

There are few bad views from hotel windows in Times Square. Photo by benben via Creative Commons.

Alumni Futures Round Table: Claremont, California

[Update 4 May: Just 2 spaces remain for this event]

In coordination with Liz Allen (author of the Adaptivate blog), I'm pleased to announce an upcoming Southern California event:

The Alumni Futures Round Table in Claremont, California

The Round Table takes place on Tuesday, May 18. It's a day-long discussion among no more than 10 professionals whose work relates to educational advancement – alumni relations, communications, and fundraising. The Round Table is open to advancement professionals from independent schools, colleges, universities and other non-profits. Three spots are reserved for representatives from the private sector – consultants, vendors or others whose work connects them to institutional advancement.

Each participant has 30 minutes in which to share with the group, as informally or formally as they like, either:

• a new idea or a new direction about their work that they want to share with others, or
   
• a challenge or problem they face in their work, to brainstorm possible solutions.

Individual participants choose the topics and set the agenda. Based on prior experience, we guarantee thought-provoking new ideas for you to take away, and a fun day of valuable professional network-building as well. Liz and I will facilitate the discussion and contribute our own ideas and input where appropriate.

How much does it cost?

• $99 for non-profit participants
• $149 for commercial attendees (limit 3 attendees)

Click here to see full details and to register for the event.

Registration is on a first-come basis. We will maintain a waiting list in case of last-minute cancellations. And keep in mind, although we're convening in Claremont, the Round Table is not limited to participation from those working at the Claremont colleges. It's open to anyone in Southern California who can make it there that day.

Questions? Email andy@alumnifutures.com.

The Round Table is independently produced, and not associated with any professional organization or educational institution. 

Global Citizenship: What Role for Alumni?

I spent a very educational day this week in Ottawa, Canada as an invitee of the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT). The occasion was a workshop on "Global Citizenship" and ways to encourage public diplomacy among a number of groups with ties to Canada. Among those audiences are foreign alumni of Canadian institutions, foreign alumni of Canadian international youth programs, and of course, Canadian alumni of Canadian institutions, now living overseas. The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada estimates there are some 2.8 million Canadian citizens living outside the country's borders. 

In this context, "global citizenship" refers not to ethical or moral standards of behavior, but to the practical question of citizens advancing their nation's interests internationally. For example, advocacy for Canadian entrepreneurship, as seen in the C100 group. 

The day included presentations by academics as well as more than half a dozen Canadian diplomats, and discussion among outside experts from a number of non-governmental organizations (including Alumni Futures). I have to give credit to the Department for not drafting policy behind closed doors and then trying to "sell" it to external audiences. It appears they are starting out by collecting external ideas and viewpoints before even considering what a policy might ultimately look like.

While this meeting was just the start of a process to generate practical ideas for DFAIT to explore, it was eye-opening and thought-provoking. I have no doubt that university alumni organizations can partner with national governments to advance their respective interests, without appearing to take sides on potentially divisive political issues. If such a partnership takes clearer shape in the future, I'll write about it here on Alumni Futures. 

HDR Photo of the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa by Daniel Santana via Creative Commons.

Asia-Pacific Institute in Alumni Relations

[Updated May 6, 2010: APIAR has been postponed until March, 2011 due to scheduling conflicts.]

 
[Updated March 31, 2010: The APIAR web site is now online:

http://www.case.org/Conferences_and_Training/APAIR10.html ]

I am excited to be part of the faculty at the first-ever CASE Asia-Pacific Institute in Alumni Relations (APIAR), which will take place from 16 to 20 August, 2010 in Singapore.

Last year CASE Asia-Pacific, which is headquartered in Singapore, ran an institute program for front-line education fundraising professionals. According to CASE Asia-Pacific Executive Director Krista Slade, this year

the APIAR covers multiple aspects of alumni relations theory and practice. It's designed for newcomers to the profession and for international alumni relations staff members working with alumni across the Asia-Pacific region. The Shaw Foundation Alumni House is the first purpose-built alumni complex in Asia, which makes it the perfect venue.

The program provides

• plenary sessions on volunteer development, communications, alumni outreach and other core topics;
• more than 30 elective classes on metrics, affinity programming and more;
• tutorial groups of just 8 to 10 attendees led each day by an experienced faculty member; and
• a personalized "action plan" that each participant creates during the week, to address his or her institution's most pressing alumni relations needs.

And obviously, participants will be laying the foundation for a strong network of fellow practitioners from across the region.

The conference chair is Professor Teo Choo Soo (chief alumni executive at the National University of Singapore), whom I had the pleasure of working with as a member of the Commission on Alumni Relations. Other instructors will be Marie Earl (University of British Columbia), Julia Mannion (Queensland University of Technology), Christine Keller Smith (formerly at Australian National University) Nathalie Walker (of Cambridge University in the UK), and Antonia Yeung (Chinese University of Hong Kong).

The program was just announced and I'll share registration info when it's available. For now, you can request more information from the CASE A-P office via email:

asia-pacific@case.org

Time for a Change

I've been in alumni relations since January 1989, when I became assistant director in the alumni office at my alma mater, Brown University. That was 21 years ago, and I've been at Caltech since September 1999 – almost exactly half my career, or ten and a half years. 

My service to Caltech has been tremendously rewarding, but now I have chosen to move on to the next stage of my career in higher education. 

So I have decided to leave my position at Caltech on March 10.

Then what?

Although I am not immediately moving to a new permanent position, I plan to do so eventually, in an environment that encourages innovation and experimentation. In the immediate future I have an ample "to do" list. But I'm looking to add to it, as well.

I plan to complete my master's degree in education this spring, and if possible, continue as chair of the CASE Commission on Alumni Relations, while continuing as a member of the CASE Board of Trustees. 

I am also fortunate to have the opportunity to speak in diverse settings. In late March I'll deliver part of a training workshop in Paris for the European Association of International Education (EAIE), and will help teach a one-day master class in alumni relations for CASE in London. (At both events I will talk about social network technology and higher education).

Summer is shaping up to be busy too. In June I'll speak at the Whipple Hill Conference (for independent schools), and I'll run the second Alumni Futures Think Tank, a private workshop, in New York in July. And in August I hope to participate as a faculty member in the first-ever CASE Asia-Pacific Summer Institute in Singapore. 

I also will do consulting engagements as time allows. And of course, I plan to keep writing the Alumni Futures blog and tweeting about higher education via @alumnifutures.

Finally, I hope readers will contact me by email (andy@alumnifutures.com) to share job leads, discuss consulting or training needs, speaking invitations – or just to talk about higher ed advancement.