Trials & Errors Webinar Series-Trials & Errors Mini Episode: Ross Munnelly

Video Transcription

Hello and welcome back to Trials and Errors. For anyone who is new to the series, Mary-Rose and I have been interviewing senior sector leaders about the mistakes they make and the  mishaps they've done in their careers. And new to 25, we're doing some shorter bonus episodes. So just to introduce myself, I'm Hannah Fox. I'm the Director of Alumni, Community,  and Network Development at Regency University, London.  And I'm Mary-Rose Delorsen. I'm Head of Alumni Engagement at the Sutton Trust, which is a social mobility and education charity.  I'm Ross Munley. I'm Director of Alumni Relations at Dublin City University.  Great, thanks. It's always nice before we start these episodes with a fail. So that was a fail on my part for not introducing you properly. But thanks, Ross, so much.  And I should say, I've particularly invited Ross on to this session today because Ross is chairing the Alumni Relations Institute faculty, which is one of the case kind of  mini conferences that runs in February. I'm also on that faculty. So do reach out if you have any questions or you're interested in attending, and hopefully we'll cover some  of that at the end. Great, Hannah, over to you. Great. So the way that these sessions run is we ask Ross to share a bit about his example  of a time that he's made a mistake and what he's learned from it. And then Mary-Rose and I will ask a few questions along the way. So, Ross, over to you. Tell us all about your  big mistake. Yeah, I was thinking about this and trying to pick one that would obviously had brilliant learning for ourselves, but also for anybody  who who's listening, because I think you always have to strike the right balance of trying to be ambitious and trying to go big with your plans. But I guess the example I'm going  to give is where maybe a collection of smaller steps to get to that bigger plan was probably the way to go. So working, as I said, in the alumni team in Dublin City University, we  had a two-person team at the time, and we had never... Our reunions in the university were... We kind of didn't have a strong reunion plan at the time. And lots of people thought  that it would be a really good idea if we had a huge university-wide reunion on a given day and so on. And people felt that there would be huge demand for that. So we went about  planning that. We were kind of fairly new into the rollover, where we were working together, my colleague Mary Larkin and I, and we started planning, and we started booking,  and we set a date, and we were trying to organise an event on a weekend that would bring a couple of hundred graduates back to campus and so on. And listen, the short story here is  kind of two, three weeks out from the event, we had to review and we had to say,  actually, this isn't connecting with our graduates. We're not seeing... Yes, we were  getting people interested in going and so on, but we weren't seeing the demand for the big event  that we taught. And to be fair, a lot of people thought that maybe we should have been doing.  So we took the decision to very apologetically cancel the reunion, and that big day out, that big party, as we had planned. And it was a very interesting one, because I'm  never shy to apologise when needs be. Sometimes the best thing you can always do when you make  a mistake is to put your hands up. And Mary and I just had a moment in the office where we said,  we need to pull this now, because it's clearly not what our graduates want. And there's a better  way of doing it. So rather than continuing going the way we were and committing a lot of budget,  because at that stage, nothing had been paid for, nothing had been... We had no contracts in place  or anything that had to be adhered to at that stage. So we decided to pull it. And that was...  Like anything like that, where you're admitting you got something wrong, or that the ingredients  just weren't right, that can be difficult. But I think if you always put the... If you put your  graduates... If you always make the decisions about what's best for your graduates, then you never go  too far wrong. So we ended up pulling that. We didn't go ahead with it. And I guess subsequently  then we surveyed our graduates, and we realized that actually there's a huge demand for smaller  class-based reunions. And so we've started focusing our attention on those. And at this point  in time, we have a four-person team in the alumni office, so we've doubled our size. And we're  struggling to keep up with the demand for those individual reunions. So it was a really good  learning curve. And I guess the big thing for us was that sometimes you have to go back to square  one and survey the grads again. And if you listen to the grads, they'll tell you what they want,  and you can build your program around that. So ask them anything you want about it. It was a  fantastic learning curve, I have to say. We didn't commit any budget to it that we weren't able to  retrieve or anything. We pulled it just in time. Really glad that we did that, and really proud  now that our individual reunions are pushing us to the pin of our collar every year in terms of  our resources. Thanks so much for sharing that, Ross. And I guess I'm just going to hone in on  the point. It sounds so simple, but your point around we should be always going back to square  one, going back to what the graduates want, asking your alumni, it feels like that's such a simple  statement. But actually, I can so imagine having also worked in lots of HE institutions, there is a  lot of expectation that you run a big reunion weekend or that there are these types of activities  which people see other big leading institutions running year on year, and you think, should I be  doing that? So it's so easy to get caught up in expectations rather than losing sight a bit of  that original voice. So a really good point to circle back to. But my first question would be  just thinking back to that conversation. I mean, it's great that you didn't lose too much money.  It's really good that in the end, actually, it panned out so well. But thinking back to that decision,  you said, you know, two to three weeks out, how did you approach telling, you know, your management  at the time? And did it go down well? Did you get the kind of support you were looking for? Or was  it quite a difficult conversation? Actually, it wasn't because my line of reporting at the time, it has changed since I have a new line manager. But at the time,  we met very regularly. And so I would constantly be feeding back in terms of what the numbers were like, what the demand is like, what the interest is like. So kind of  if you don't leave it to be such a big surprise when you're given this kind of news, it's always very helpful. So that was really reassuring that  when I went to my line manager at the time, and I have to say, we've got an issue insofar as we could proceed, but it won't be what we wanted. And it won't have the number  of graduates there because we're obviously not providing what they want. My line manager at the  time was really supportive and was very happy as well that we were calling it at a time where  we weren't losing any of our funding. So we were able to, the way we had things set up in terms of  when it'd be our commitment to pay and so on, we were within those timeframes that we didn't lose much budget at all. So it's just about doing the right thing. And I think, again,  I think if you always put the graduates first and think, is this the right thing to do for the graduates, then I think it can be probably an easier decision than you might think.  And yes, you have to be able to say, we misjudged it, we got it wrong, we thought this would work, we didn't. But for me, that was the real learning opportunity that actually  when we go and do things in the future, we're going to rely on the data. And we're going to make sure that we're designing our engagement in such a way that we know this is what the  graduates want, they have a desire for, and it's something that they're going to jump at. And the way the reunions have panned out, with graduates coming back for their own classes,  they absolutely love them. We get such fantastic feedback every year. And as I said, our  issue at the moment is trying to keep up with the demand for them, because the more that we do,  the more people find out they want to get involved. And I think one of the big learning curves as well, is that when you're doing a class reunion, for example, like we would get  ambassadors or an organizing committee together. When we were doing the university wide one, it was kind of harder to do that because you weren't pulling on specific class groups,  you were trying to organize a much bigger one at that point in time. So the key learning as well  for us is that when you are trying to bring a particular group back, that actually the leaders and the organizing committee within those groups, they play such a monumental part  in actually spreading the message for you. Because as you know, in alumni relations yourselves,  you can only contact so many graduates based on your communication is only as strong as the  database and the number of updates that you have. Whereas when you're dealing with somebody directly from the class group, they have an ability to contact most of their classmates  very quickly and very frequently. And we find that, to be honest with you, the success of the  reunions is down to the people on the steering committee. Because sure, we can put everything  in place and we can make sure that the facilities are right and the music and the welcome and all  that is there. But you're really relying on those brilliant graduates who, on their steering  committees, they make sure that they can contact the grads that sometimes we're not able to. And  they can create that buzz. Sometimes it's when someone from your own class kind of rekindles  those kind of memories from all of the good times that you had on campus and so on. They have an  ability to do that that maybe we can't because we don't know the people. So I'd say that those were really important learnings for us and why we so value our steering committees.  Yeah. I think it's such a relatable example, Ross, and I think all of us in alumni relations  have been through an event of some kind that has not gone to plan or didn't turn out as expected.  My question is around, because I have been through this myself, and whilst the event may not have been, you know, catching the eye of as many alumni as you wanted it to,  I'm sure some alumni had signed up for the event. So how did you approach letting them down and  saying, actually, we are going to cancel this event? And did you get anyone who had a strong reaction? And how did you deal with those? Yeah, I suppose that part is where you just,  at the time, we just had to be very upfront, very apologetic, and very, very honest and just say that  we're sorry, the event is not shaping up like we had expected. We appreciate that we've made  a mistake now. And we need to go back to planning mode and to develop an engagement activity that  is more in line with what our graduates want. And at the time, people were very understanding,  people appreciated, people were disappointed. When people expressed their disappointment, we went back again. And we apologised, we continually apologise to say that, yeah,  they're right to be, for anyone who had made plans to be there and so on, they're right to be disappointed. And we fully understand and appreciate why they would feel that way. But  rather than bring them to an event that was maybe underwhelming in comparison to what they  were expecting, we felt that the right thing to do was to make the call and to develop a reunion  model that was more in line with what people's interests were. And thankfully, we've been able to do that in the years since that event. Thanks so much, Rosh. It's really nice just  having people be so honest and so candid. So thank you so much for sharing and being reflective with  us. Before we wrap up then on that example, I've just got a couple of questions. As I mentioned,  you're currently chair of the Alumni Relations Institute faculty. I'd love to just hear a little  bit from you around why you chose to get involved in that. And I suppose also what you're looking  forward to about this year's Alumni Relations Institute. Yeah, no problem. Delighted to be  involved and delighted for us to be colleagues as well, Mary Rose, and working together on it again.  I think, like, I suppose with CASE, it's built, again, it's built on volunteering. It's built  on, these programs are built on people like us volunteering to get involved and to do that for,  for, to help other people. And isn't that the spirit of what our alumni communities are about in our own educational institutions, where on a daily basis, we're asking people  to volunteer and to give us their time to help run initiatives and programs and so on that do so,  so much good for other people. And it's, for me, it's a, it's a really nice way of giving back  and being able to help and to pass on some of my learnings to other people. But like all alumni  initiatives, there's a reverse benefit to that as well, because I know even though, okay, I'm  chairing the Alumni Relations Institute this year, over those three days in Loughborough, I'm going  to learn as much as the knowledge that I depart to other people. So again, it's, it's, it's an  engagement activity that's good for everybody. If you're new, if you're brand new to the field,  and you're learning for the, for the first time, you, you'll obviously take a huge amount from it.  But I guess us as, us on the, on the faculty, we're going to learn, particularly when you,  when you hear everybody's group workshop about a specific area, and then when you take that content  back into the smaller focus groups, you, when you listen to people go around the room and share in  their own examples and see where those conversations go, a little bit like what I'm after sharing  today, you can learn so much from other, other people's successes and those kind of disappointments.  And I guess that's, that's the whole circle of it. We give back to help people, but while you're  giving back, more often than not, you learn just as much as the knowledge you're departing  yourself. So I think that's, it's kind of the, the world we live in, isn't it, in alumni relations and,  and trying to do, trying to deliver really strong engagement and volunteering opportunities  for our own graduates. That's great. Thank you so much. Yeah, I completely agree. I feel like I  learned lots, even from your presentation last year, Ross, some of the stuff around alumni awards  and your alumni council, I've made loads of notes. So always good, everyone's learning, and it's a  really nice few days. So please do register now if you're interested in attending. Hannah, I'll let  you wrap up. Great. Well, Ross, thank you so much for joining us for this little bonus mini episode  of Trials and Errors. We've got some more on the way, and our regular series back as well. So, Ross, thank you very much, and we'll see everybody next time. Bye.

Video Summary

In this episode of "Trials and Errors," Hannah Fox, Mary-Rose Delorsen, and Ross Munley discuss lessons learned from mistakes in their alumni relations roles. Ross shares his experience planning a large university reunion at Dublin City University, which ultimately had to be canceled due to insufficient interest. He highlights the importance of understanding alumni needs and relying on data to shape engagement activities. The team learned that a focus on smaller, class-based reunions was more effective, leading to increased demand and successful events. Ross also emphasizes the value of maintaining open communication with management and the role of alumni committees in organizing events. The discussion underscores the importance of learning from mistakes, reassessing strategies, and putting alumni interests first. Ross also shares his enthusiasm for chairing the Alumni Relations Institute, which helps professionals learn from shared experiences.

Asset Subtitle

January 2025

In a special mini-episode of the Trials & Errors webinar series, Ross Munnelly (Dublin City University) joined Hannah Fox (Regent’s University London) and Marie-Rose Delauzun (The Sutton Trust) to discuss how he has navigated mistakes, including overcoming alumni gathering cancellations.

Ross also shares why he enjoys chairing the faculty for the Alumni Relations Institute, as well as what he’s most looking forward to at the 2025 Institute.

Keywords

alumni relations

event planning

Dublin City University

engagement strategies

Alumni Relations Institute