No one could have predicted the fallout from COVID. The experience of lockdown and the explosion of digital experiences that ensued have both had a huge effect on the way alumni relations professionals work and how our audiences react. But there are other ‘disruptors’ we need to contend with and perhaps more to come: the changing demographics of our alumni communities, the expectations of recent graduates for a more personalised relationship with their institutions, the increased reliance on technology and systems to deliver a seamless experience. All these ‘disruptors’ and more will require us to be ever more adaptive and agile and might even influence the sorts of people we hire into our teams. Please join us for this track opening thought leadership session where we’ll polish our crystal ball and tap into key insights from highly experienced colleagues based in the US, Canada, the Middle East, Asia and Europe.

The COVID-19 pandemic crisis leveled the field and alumni engagement went virtual and inclusive. For years, engaging international alumni included some form of virtual engagement: online meetings with volunteers, knowledge exchanges and career development. Alumni relations depended mostly on international chapter leaders to organise and maintain the relationship between alumni abroad and their alma mater. New approaches are evolving due to switching most alumni activities online during the crisis. What are some of the new approaches? Why should higher education continue to invest in virtual engagement? How do international alumni and their alma mater benefit from online community building? This interactive session explores answers to these questions by using results of academic research and successful practices in the field.

How do we create a meaningful value exchange with our new graduates, which supports graduate employability and helps to deliver university priorities?

In this session, you will hear about University of Southampton's Graduate Ambassador Scheme - an exciting volunteering programme specifically for new graduates, which engages them as ambassadors for the University, whilst helping them to be work ready in a challenging employment market. Learn about the ways that our Graduate Ambassadors are giving back to the University through volunteering, and how we, as an alumni office, are supporting them to develop key employability skills and networks to help them stand out against their peers.

Why is it that the alumni that have the most affinity for your institution are often the hardest to reach? Let’s discuss tactics for engaging new graduates, capturing valid contact data, and leveraging the excitement of graduation into alumni engagement

Collaboration is essential for improving the quality of research and teaching, generating meaningful societal impact, attracting funding and raising our profile.

We intensified our participation in regional ecosystems, expanded our activities and strengthened our network in a new project Leiden Law Park. This project is now the start of a whole new campus at Leiden University. In this campus we ensure that our education innovates and makes it more attractive (students), makes science accessible and relevant (society and relations), and innovations sustainable and in faster process.

In this presentation, we will focus on a roadmap to a strategic business model and offer you a canvas with which you can get to work with your alumni, scientists, students and society.

Online fatigue? Not here! At TUoS like everyone we quickly repurposed our in person volunteering activities online during the pandemic. Although challenging, this led to great results for student engagement and enabled us to reach new alumni volunteers from across the globe.

As well as repurposing existing activities we’ve developed new initiatives, including a large scale virtual networking programme engaging 100s of students and alumni volunteers. We’re excited to be moving back to face to face events, but see our virtual events as here to stay. What does this new hybrid approach look like? In this interactive session we’ll share our experiences and learnings, open up discussion and explore how we can all innovate to deliver the best of both worlds for students and alumni.

Events as a percentage of the community are sparsely attended. Class reunions generate 15-20% attendance and are incredibly costly. Participation doesn't need to be limited to boots on the ground. In person is expensive and the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us to become more innovative with the ways in which we engage. This session will be discussing the digital supplement to the in person gathering and the key learnings from the past two and half years.

Hear from LSHTM's award winning Alumni Relations team about the innovative Pentacel Project.

Supporting student wellbeing and increasing belonging and community was a priority at LSHTM when COVID-19 hit. Demand for counselling services had grown. COVID-19 exacerbated student anxiety and stress. LSHTM developed a pilot intervention whereby incoming students were placed in five-person informal support groups called 'Pentacells’. Each Pentacell had an alumni facilitator to support and steer discussions.

The project aimed to:

• Increase student wellbeing.
• Improve institutional engagement, satisfaction, and retention.
• Foster a sense of belonging.
• Be adaptable so other institutions can replicate it.

Pentacell significantly improved participants' student experience. Our volunteers' life experience and diversity helped students settle in more quickly, improving student resilience, wellbeing, satisfaction, and institutional affinity.
 

Since the pandemic, students have had a challenging time. For many, their university experience has largely been online, with little chance to connect on campus, and if this wasn’t enough, they weren’t able to celebrate their achievements with in-person graduations. At King’s, we have developed new strategies to congratulate our recent graduates, show them the benefits of the alumni community and make them become life-long supporters. From giving them an extra special welcome, from both King’s and the wider global alumni community, to inviting them to share their experiences, to launching Forever King’s Edge, a ‘one-stop shop’ showcasing tailored benefits and support, and implementing an innovative consent campaign, we’ve been able to enhance new graduates’ experience of King’s and our ability to stay in touch.

Events have changed forever. Habits have been broken and new ways of delivery have been established. In this new chapter of experimentation, institutions need to test and learn new approaches to enhance their event strategies, to meet evolving expectations and needs of their audiences (and event stakeholders).

Ask the experts in this audience session where we will tackle the burning questions every event professional faces - event strategy & design, virtual vs hybrid vs face-to-face, the use of technology, measuring success, gaining academic support and the role of the events manager. Using slido the audience will be able to vote and control the agenda of the session.