SEMINAR AND ACQUISITION WORKSHOP
Are you part of a student or study association? Would you like to make a difference? Would you want all your board members and committee members outperform this year? If yes, I have something unique: A training which is one of a kind. It scored recently an 8.8 out of 10 in an anonymous survey conducted by Eindhoven University of Technology.
During my student days, I was part of the board of the largest study association in the Netherlands (STAR: 6500 members). I also organized seminars for the Erasmus University itself for many years. In both organizations, I was involved in the acquisition of speakers and finances. I have learnt what is needed to make an association perform better.
Accelerate your association
I have been providing training on acquiring speakers and finances to study associations for over ten years. Several study associations in Europe have been part of my clientele for over ten years. During the training, I provide congress and acquisition committee members with many insights that improve their performance.
Steep learning
Study association members experience a steep learning curve. Most often, the students have a lack of experience at the beginning of the year. They only start to understand the ins and outs of the job towards the end of the year. And as that’s when they usually leave their position. Therefore the association sees their knowledge evaporate every year. My seminar training will provide you with those insights at the beginning of the year. That results in a significant increase of useful output of your board and/or committee.
Speakers
CEOs from companies such as Unilever, Shell, DSM, Boston Consulting Group, KPN and British Telecom found their way to my seminars. Entrepreneurs such as Marlies Dekkers, Frits Goldschmeding (Randstad), Thierry Schaap (Binck, BrandNewDay) too. And even Michiel Muller (Route Mobile / Picnic) and Peer Swinkels (Bavaria) visited us. The prime ministers Jan Peter Balkenende and Ruud Lubbers were also each persuaded to give a lecture. Eventually, even presidents found their way to Rotterdam. All of the speakers visited the university without paying a fee.
How?
“How did you manage that?” You might wonder. Study associations find it difficult to create this value, but there are various ways to achieve this. One such way is to address the speaker’s ego with an incentive such as awarding a prize (for example, the EFR – which is attracting in Ban-Ki-Moon and François Hollande). Another way is by cooperating with a partner organization. An example is the “political party leaders’ debate” at Erasmus University. It usually takes place just before the elections. I discuss many other methods during the training.
Some of the study associations which I visited over the years:
Acquisition
Acquisition on behalf of a study or student association is different from that for a commercial company. Consequently, it’s something that most professional companies in the training industry have no significant experience with. Committee members often reason from the standpoint of “sponsorship”. They overlook how they offer value by giving access to talented students. Therefore I advocate for a new mindset during my training sessions. I have been a management trainee at Unilever. I was, together with my colleague, responsible for a product category of 100 million euro. So now ask yourself, “What would the difference in output be if I were to perform 10% better or worse than my predecessor?” That’s surely worth a bit of a recruitment budget. My acquisition training will make sure that you will outperform last year’s committee.
Your students are valuable!
Talent is a valuable asset for a company. One selected talented student for the trainee program makes a difference. That one banner, doesn’t cost anything for the study association to launch on their website. However, it is definitely worth the money for a company if that one talented student clicks on it. I therefore always recommend considering this from a value-creation perspective rather than one based on the cost to yourselves.
Unique training
My training not only provides hands-on tools for better acquisition. It also resets the mindset and attitude of many participants. Therefore they have a greater belief in their ability thanks to their new mindset and skillset. The training results on the one hand in the professionalisation of the smaller committees (e.g., ski, holiday, or gala committees). On the other hand, also the larger committees (e.g., conference and recruitment committees).
The training is unique and affordable, and you can apply it to any study. Are you interested in what I can do for your association? Then contact me, and we’ll have a chat about it.
Because training results in a competitive advantage in comparison to other associations, the number of training events I supply is capped per year.