Alumni Relations Coffee Chat - Full Series-Alumni Relations Coffee Chat

Video Transcription

Video Summary

The video features two presentations focused on alumni engagement and internal communications within universities, with insights from Jovana Panic of ESMT Berlin and Joe from the University of Leicester. Jovana discusses alumni relations at ESMT, emphasizing challenges like limited resources, global alumni distribution, and rising personalization expectations. She highlights successful initiatives such as their annual alumni meeting, improved communication through targeted emails, and volunteer management via alumni councils and chapters. Jovana critically examines a mentoring program, questioning its effectiveness due to low alumni participation as mentors, and stresses the importance of prioritizing projects that truly add value.<br /><br />Joe shares strategies from University of Leicester's internal communications, including redesigning a staff and student newsletter to align with university strategy, using authentic and original imagery, and fostering engagement through inclusive, hybrid events featuring senior leaders. He describes efforts to reach hard-to-engage groups like medical students during placements and initiatives to encourage user-generated content with clear consent policies. Both presenters emphasize the necessity of community involvement, clear communication, and realistic resource management in fostering meaningful alumni and internal engagement. The session concludes with discussion on hybrid event production and upcoming webinars for alumni relations professionals.

Keywords

alumni engagement

internal communications

ESMT Berlin

University of Leicester

mentoring program

staff and student newsletter

hybrid events

user-generated content