It all started with an optimistic Alumni Relations plan drafted for important people at the top of the organisation. Aided by our energy and belief in the strategic importance of alumni engagement, inspired by the institution’s mission, and with the help of colleagues, we got started. Then came the pandemic: not the best way to start building a community...

We will share the keys to Making It Happen:

- Tips on building a team and embedding them into a complex organisation – all online
- Professionalism, camaraderie, creativity, and what can happen if you trust people to make plans come to life
- ‘The battle of the data’, silo mentality, and the need to believe in what you do
- Managing upwards, outwards and across divides

Post-COVID budgets are tight, and we must show how we have achieved the best VFM. One effective way we can do this is through the Leaky Hosepipe.

Imagine a garden hose that has punctures along the way. No matter how much you turn the garden tap, there will always be a loss of water at the end of the hose. The result? Little more than a trickle of water at the end.

Most universities unwittingly operate their student recruitment function exactly like a leaky hosepipe, spending many thousands of pounds to source leads that are ultimately lost.

Hear about our work to date with university clients on the main leak trends and how we can all use this intelligence to prove excellent Value for Money.

Recent years have seen the expansion of alumni models to new areas of endeavour. Charities, research institutes and NGOs have all explored the power of engaging networks to create social change, extend global reach, and support critical missions. This panel session will explore what these new programmes have learnt from Higher Education alumni programmes and how they have evolved them outside of the Development Office structure to explore global connectivity, increased collaboration, and social change.

In a new campaign to tackle the lack of diverse academic voices in the media, University Alliance and its member universities are taking practical action to double the number of Alliance experts, particularly those from diverse backgrounds, participating in media opportunities by 2024.

This is a cause that those working in higher education marketing and communications can learn from, as we all work to generate a more balanced profile that reflects a multi-diverse community on our campuses, and that serves our beneficiaries. This session will explore why we need to tackle diversity in our media strategies, the barriers we face when encouraging diverse academics to seize the potential of media opportunities, and how to enable change in projecting our academic voices externally.

Do you think ending a campaign is simple and straightforward? The hard work is done and all that's left is to coast to the finish line with a series of parties and slaps on the back all round? Well, think again. The options are complex and your stakeholders' expectations high and often varied, whether donors, staff, voluntary or institutional leadership.

A panel of leading Advancement professionals will give insights into three of Europe's largest and most successful higher education campaigns. They will share war stories of the considerable planning, angst and joy that went into ending campaigns on a high, options that were considered and those rejected. Finally, how to manage complex stakeholders while learning lessons and establishing the foundations for what is to follow.

Many of us come to the philanthropy sector without a significant background in the financial or business world. For the most part, we make do, learning bits 'here and there' or rely on inherited practice passed down from fundraiser to fundraiser. Yet there are times where we feel that just knowing that bit more will go a long way. Come to this session for a 101 in the financial & business world, learn tips that will sharpen your engagement with senior prospects and uncover myths that have been holding back the sector for some time, missing significant amounts of untapped potential.

The pandemic has acted as a catalyst for change, habits have been broken, new ways of working have been established. Technology has helped universities rapidly evolve their student recruitment events proposition and bring them closer to their global audience of future students. With the prospect of face-to-face events returning and students keen to get back on campus, how will universities navigate a new landscape of possibilities?

The University of Glasgow and Union Spaces will share a case study of their partnership and how technology has supported the evolving needs of both the University and Applicant. We shall discuss the tactics of a blended approach and how virtual engagement will continue to play a fundamental role to enhance the applicant experience and safeguard conversion.

Munster Technological University developed the ''Succeeding Together'' series of events to help its stakeholders counteract lockdown fatigue during the Covid-19 pandemic. The goal was to provide participants with an opportunity to explore activities that were good for their physical and mental health, as well as being interesting and practical. Participants had the opportunity to learn how to enhance their culinary skills, explore their artistic talents, consider how to become an entrepreneur, and learn about new technologies, as well as increasing their understanding of space and the universe in which we live. We will outline the challenges faced in developing and delivering this series of events, the positive reaction from stakeholders, and how it has enhanced our new university's engagement strategy of ''Succeeding Together''.