Alumni Relations in Extraordinary Times: Exploring What? So What? Now What?

I love the acronyms linked to alumni relations: CASE (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education) and ICARe (International Conference on Alumni Relations) are a couple of well known ones in the sector. This is a crucial time for alumni relations: a time to explore how we can make a case and to certainly show that we--as institutions and as alumni communities--care.

Sometimes alumni relations can be viewed by institutions or organisations as a 'nice to have' and not a 'need to have.' In the extraordinarily challenging times for humanity, it can seem that alumni programming--reunions, events, conferences all postponed or cancelled--is not a necessity. However, I beg to differ. What these times are showing us is the importance of connection and the need for alumni connection.

Our alumni (and indeed our institutions) can offer the stories of hope, kindness and compassion. Sharing these stories with alumni can spark ideas, partnerships, collaborations towards creating in more of such generosity so needed today. Alumni relations is positioned to build such generosity.

Last week I asked the question: What would it be like if we approached alumni relations with the same beautiful traits of kindness, compassion and generosity? The obvious answer is that a great deal of alumni relations already embodies these traits, and this is a chance reflect and discuss this in light of the changes in our world.

The alumni relations world usually works at 60 miles an hour. This a chance to draw breath.

Let's meet as a community of alumni relations professionals-- those that work directly to build alumni connection. Also welcome to join the conversation are alumni who are in service to building alumni connection-- alumni association board members, mentors, volunteers, institutional leaders. I invite you to a free online mastermind session on Wednesday 22nd April, Earth Day. My aim would be to bring together alumni relations professionals from around the world online to discuss their current state of flux and how from crisis we can find opportunity.

We can ask the questions:

• What can (and does) alumni relations offer?
• So what?
• And most crucially: Now what?

As a mastermind session- YOU are the masterminds. You bring the expertise, including the challenges facing alumni/alumni relations and also the potential solutions. If you haven't used Zoom for breakout sessions, this will be your chance! We will have these questions to explore, creating an opportunity to discuss with other alumni relations leaders about the role of alumni relations in these extraordinary times, and beyond. How can we make a case to show we care?

The session, organised by my social enterprise KITE - Keep in Touch Education is scheduled online for:

Wednesday 22nd of April - 2:00pm - 3:30pm (GMT- Dublin/London) / 9:00am-10:30am (EDT- Toronto/New York) / 3:00pm-4:30pm (CEST- Amsterdam/Budapest)

To sign up to this FREE session on Zoom (password required) https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/alumni-relations-exploring-what-so-what-now-what-mastermind-session-tickets-102081721176

Let's create some additional alumni relations connection in this time of social distance. Please share this with your alumni relations professionals/leaders in your community.

After the session is over, I hope to create a brief on the outcome from the session to encapsulate the ideas from the session and hopefully another blog post to share it with the wider community too!

From crisis we can create genuine opportunity - for our alumni, for alumni relations, for our institutions and our world.

#alumni #alumnirelations #alumnidecade