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Last night I attended my first event as a Skidmore College Alumni. As a senior I was named the Chair of the Friend’s of the Presidents Society (FOPs), a division of the Senior Gift Project. The graduating class was asked to donate, collectively helping provide an Annual Fund Scholarship that will be awarded in the fall to a deserving member of the Class of 2011.
The 80 FOPs congregated at the Loews Regency Hotel in Manhattan. The evening was filled with hors d’oeuvres, cocktails and of course, good conversation. I was able to catch up with old classmates, meet new alumni living in the tri-state area and network with individuals in similar fields.
Skidmore College and its alum have aligned interests: to unite the extended Skidmore Community in hopes of fostering camaraderie among graduates and current students. Events, like the reception last night, are steps in the right direction. However, reaching and connecting with the over 30,000 Skidmore graduates, from over 100 class years, is next to impossible. That is, until the introduction of new technology.
Dan Forbush, Executive Director of Communications at Skidmore, has launched an initiative in association with the Management and Business Department to connect current Skidmore Business Majors with experienced alum across various industries for professional networking. Nearly 2,000 members of the Skidmore community have joined the Skidmore College Connections Group on LinkedIn. The project aims to make the knowledge and experience of many of these alumni conveniently accessible to students.
Each week the Management and Business sub-group on LinkedIn will hold a discussion with an alumni or guest speaker. Highlighting one interview question each day, the conversation is led by a Skidmore faculty member; contributions are welcome by all group members.
The official launch of the Skidmore College Management and Business Major sub-group was Monday. After holding a seminar at Skidmore for eBranding Me last week, Reputation Management 101, I was asked to continue the conversation by participating as the first alumni interviewee.
If you are a current Skidmore student or alum, I encourage you to visit the LinkedIn group and actively engage in the conversation. However, if you are not part of the Skidmore community, but are interested in reading the interview transcript, I will be posting a section each day next week on the eBranding Me blog. You can find all of the posts, organized for your convenience, here.