ADVERTISING, COMMUNICATIONS & PR WORKSHOP – New COES Program!
– three-day intensive workshop
– successful alumni presenters
On Thursday September 25th, Cristina Pato – a Galician bagpiper, pianist, composer and Artist in Residence here at the College of the Holy Cross – held a special dinner lecture titled: “Cultural Entrepreneurship: At the Intersection of Business & the Arts.” Pato has an active professional career devoted to Galician popular and classical music and jazz, and her dual careers have led her to perform on major stages throughout Europe, USA, India, Africa, and China.So what exactly is cultural entrepreneurship? Everyone had a different definition. But if you ask me, cultural entrepreneurship is being able to acknowledge that the arts are an important part of society, and finding a way to creatively present an art form to other people so that you can make a living off of it, and so that others can appreciate and connect with it as well.
Cassie Gevry
Associate Director
Ciocca Office of Entrepreneurial Studies
The Holy Cross Entrepreneurs Group of Boston held its spring networking event at McGladrey on Thursday evening, June 12, 2014.A remarkable number of Boston alumni attended the event, along with the students participating in the Holy Cross Summer Business Program. This opportunity gave students the opportunity to practice their networking skills and expand their alumni circle in a professional setting. Professor David Chu, Director of the Ciocca Office of Entrepreneurial Studies and HC’s Pre-Business Adviser, also attended the event accompanied by several other members of the College administration and the Pre-Business Office.
While the event cultivated that classic Holy Cross spirit, the evening’s host, Bob Allard ’91, proved most energetic of all, with his insights on Servant Entrepreneurship: How to Survive in a Not-Just-for-Profit World. The Managing Partner of ExtensionEngine LLC explained how “Servant Entrepreneurship” is in fact NOT an oxymoron, but rather a strategy that all successful business gurus recognize and utilize.
Allard placed significant focus on the benefits of networking, giving anecdotes and valuable advice that have aided him in the ongoing process of entrepreneurship. He explained how it is often “who you know” along with (and sometimes more important than) “what you know” that will help you succeed in business. However, Allard took this philosophy one step further to note how it is also “who you help” that will lead you to success. He explained how “paying it forward” in the world of networking will come full circle — a sort of entrepreneurial “karma,” per se.
After Allard’s discussion of “Servant Entrepreneurship,” the alumni and students returned to more networking fueled with even more enthusiasm than before, as his insights gave more purpose to the event. Alumni Tom Brennan, CFO of AbilTo, Inc and Ray Jorgensen, Co-Founder & CEO of Priority Management Group, Inc. (PMG), also helped to facilitate discussion regarding these topics of entrepreneurship and networking.
Many thanks to those who helped in organizing this successful event. A big thank you to Bob Allard ’91, Tom Brennan ’86, and Ray Jorgensen ’91 for facilitating such valuable discussion of entrepreneurship during the event.
It is always an honor to host such successful alumni at events that bring together a variety of stories and passions, as each attendee is linked with the same drive of entrepreneurship and Holy Cross identity. The connections made during these events are instrumental in furthering the HCEG mission of creating more entrepreneurial relationships. Our goal is to foster the Holy Cross community as not only a group of “men and women for others,” but also a community of men and women for each other.
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Thanks AGAIN to Sydney Pugliares ’16 for helping to organize, attending and writing this summary of the event! Be sure to like us on FACEBOOK and follow us @HCPrebusiness!
Cassie Gevry
Associate Director, Entrepreneurial Studies
On March 12, students came together to kick off the 2014 Women in Business Conference in the Dinand Browsing Room with sweet treats and great conversation. The guest speaker for the evening was Sheila Cavanaugh ’81, School of Theology and Ministry, Boston College. Sheila took students through her career path as a member of the Holy Cross community and offered her profound wisdom to attendees.
Sheila has had a very exciting career. She has worked as a banker at The Chase Manhattan Bank in New York, The Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, and the Union Bank of Switzerland in Zurich. Along with additional international experience and volunteer work, she was a Senior Vice President at Fidelity Investments. Currently, Sheila is pursuing a graduate degree in Theology and Ministry at Boston College.
As a Student Organizer for the conference and a graduating senior, Sheila gave inspired advice for my remaining time at Holy Cross. Her perspective on creating a fulfilling life was both motivating and promising, as all students were able to connect to her compassion and optimism.
Key Takeaways
Set goals –First and foremost, have a plan. Sheila had three main goals that she wanted to accomplish before her thirties- go to graduate school, live aboard and move to New York City. She encouraged students to set their minds on something and continue to work toward every day.
Network – With her set goals in mind, Sheila used the Holy Cross network to land an incredible job in New York City. She advised students to form relationships and to take advantage of the purple pride that is fostered at Holy Cross.
Take risks – Sheila inspired students to take a chance and do something that will yield great benefits as a result. By taking opportunities in both Asia and Europe, she was able to pursue her life ambitions and become adaptable to different cultures. In the long run, these risks have contributed to the fulfillment of her personal and professional life.
Everything will work out – Although there are times when things do seem to be going the right way, stay positive and life will work out how it is supposed to.
Thanks for a great guest post from Christie Cannone ’14 – a WIB student organizer! Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the 9th Annual Women in Business Conference on November 1, 2014! Follow @HCWIB and “Like” WIB on Facebook!
Cassie Gevry
Associate Director, Entrepreneurial Studies
On February 24, Holy Cross alumni who have distinguished themselves as leaders in the commercial real estate business shared their wisdom, advice and experiences in a COES event focused on educating students about careers in real estate.
James Whelan ’00, Senior Vice President at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Colin Blair’00, Account Manager in the Corporate Services Group at Cushman and Wakefield, described some of the opportunities in the industry before introducing keynote speaker John Power ’80, Principal and Co-Founder of Fairley, White. Four panelists, Matt Harvey ’02, Principal at Cresa Partners ; Sean Duffy ’86, Executive Director, Brokerage, at Cushman and Wakefield; Catherine Britt ‘04, Senior Project Manager at Northstar; and Tim Mulhall ’10 of Colliers International also offered advice on how to stand out as a potential intern and job candidate.
As someone who has been knocking on the door or real estate companies for the past several months, I was especially interested in hearing their views on what it takes to break into, and succeed in, the industry. Their response: passion, persistence and networking.
John Power, who has more than 30 years of experience in the field , sought advice from another Holy Cross alum, Bill McCall, and described how standing in McCall’s office, he became fascinated by the buildings he saw through the window. He began to imagine the possibilities for the building and knew from that moment that he wanted to be involved in commercial real estate. “Commercial brokerage is the best profession. It involves no risk, and it offers high rewards. But you must be willing to invest your time,” stated Powell.
Here are some other insights:
— All majors can apply. Both Whelan and Blair pointed out that commercial real estate offers opportunities for students of all majors and with a variety of interests, whether it is sales, finance, law, or marketing. Work ethic and personality matter more than major.
— One building, many opportunities. Every building offers a range of transaction/business opportunities: sales, rentals, leasing, purchasing, financing, management/operations, etc. This is what makes the industry so dynamic.
— Learn the business first. Harvey stressed that new recruits should take the time to learn the business and not be frustrated if they aren’t involved in big deals right away. Knowledge about the business will help you in future deals.
— Sell, grind and build relationships. Duffy emphasized that every day you need to sell both yourself and the product. He reminded attendees that relationships matter, always – and that persistence pays off.
— The Holy Cross advantage. Power pointed out that Holy Cross students have an advantage in the field because of the school’s high reputation in the real estate industry. Mulhall added that his Holy Cross education boosted his confidence and gave him an edge because his writing was stronger than his peers.
The lesson? Holy Cross’ liberal arts curriculum and the reputation of its alum can help open doors to a vast array of career opportunities in commercial real estate.
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Thanks to Kevin Kennedy ’16 for covering this event and to all the alum sharing insights to the real estate industry! As always, don’t forget to “like” us on FACEBOOK and follow us @HCPrebusiness Watch for our next blog post…
Cassie Gevry
Associate Director, Entrepreneurial Studies
Inspired by alum who wish they had more experience in public speaking while on the hill, Pre-Business decided to host a workshop. Professor Pat Bizzell of the English Department, who specializes in rhetoric, was happy to work with the Pre-Business students. In the interest of time, we asked students to rsvp with either a product or personal pitch already prepared. After a short intro regarding style, arrangement and delivery, Prof. Bizzell gave the students time to apply these techniques to the pitches they brought to the workshop.
We set up the video camera and one by one the students stood in front of the room to deliver their pitch. Rather than show the footage in front of the group, it was emailed to each student to watch themselves on their own time. This would bring Prof. Bizzell’s constructive criticism to the next level!
Do you have a personal or product pitch? Keep an eye out for our next public speaking workshop!
Cassie
Associate Director, Entrepreneurial Studies
Here’s another one from Frank DeLeo ’14!
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Week four began our quest to obtain a victory on Friday after all the trials and tribulations of the Summer Business Program. The stress and anxiety set in early when trying to perfect our presentation. Every bullet, every sentence, and every movement had to be rehearsed and scripted. The PowerPoint needed to be clear and concise to get our ideas across. Most importantly we needed to look and sound our best in order to be the epitome of a real business presentation: professional.
The week began with a session on career planning. Taught by Pam Ahearn and Amy Murphy, we learned the nuisances of navigating the Holy Cross website and LinkedIn to find alumni not only for internships and jobs, but also for informational interviews.
The Holy Cross network is a phenomenal resource that I will continue to tap into during my last two years at HC, and even after graduation. I still don’t know what I want to do with my life after college, but I have a strategy to piece together my varying interests. By taking advantage of everything Holy Cross has to offer: the academic internship program, study abroad, ELW, SBP, etc, I can gain a better understanding of my likes and dislikes.
During my journey, I know that the network is always there for me to ask questions. The most important take away from the session was that alumni want to help, so I should never hesitate to contact them. After Monday, my two primary summer priorities became networking and setting up my LinkedIn profile.
As the week went on we were taught how to use Microsoft Office tools such as PowerPoint and Excel. Wednesday’s session on PowerPoint and presentation skills with Jessica Blau’08 and Roger Lobo ‘04 provided pertinent information to incorporate into the pitch.
During the session, we learned about tips and tricks for PowerPoint, verbal delivery, and slide content. My team took this new knowledge and touched up our presentation before we asked Ms. Blau to film our first dry run. I always hate watching myself on film, but the team and I discovered a lot from watching ourselves. We were able to see areas in which we could improve and mistakes that needed to be corrected by Friday. Thursday was the day to make those corrections.
When Mr. Correia told us that Thursday meant perfection, he wasn’t kidding. The team had no idea what to expect at 10 a.m. for the start of our meeting in Smith 155. We began with sharing all of the new information we had learned in our sessions, in addition to our perfected PowerPoint. From there, we jumped right into the dry runs. Every movement and sentence was scrutinized. People forgot lines, swayed in place, stepped forward wrong etc. Each time we made a mistake Mr. Correia would say, “Do it again.”
After a few tries, we got the hang of it. All that remained was being able to control our nerves the next morning and remember the transitions. We were confident in the content of our presentation and our ability to pitch the information. We simply needed to execute.
At 2 p.m., Mr. Correia had to go talk to the parents at Gateways. His wife couldn’t make it, so he needed someone from the team to go with him. I volunteered to talk to the parents with the mentality that I’d be sitting on a panel answering questions. Oh how wrong I was. It turned out that I had to speak in front of an almost full ballroom of parents with no preparation. I was terrified, but it was a great public speaking experience. I told my story and explained how the parents should let their children grow up, but still be involved in their lives for support and advice.
After my near heart attack, the team reconvened and decided to go practice separately for tomorrow. We had rehearsed so much that we needed a break to get our heads on straight. Mr. Correia left us to work by our own accord, and trusted us to be ready for game time, 10 a.m. Friday morning.
We were as ready as we’d ever be.
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I can’t wait to find out how they did! Thanks again, Frank!
As always, don’t forget to “Like” us on FACEBOOK and look for our WIB, SBP and ELW groups on LinkedIN!
Kaithlyn Kayer
Associate Director, Entrepreneurial Studies
David Chu
Director, Entrepreneurial Studies & Pre-business Advisor
It’s a new year, a new semester and a new blog post! We hope you all had a nice long winter break. We’ve got a great spring schedule planned and are looking forward to seeing lots of new faces at our events. Make sure to check the COES & Prebusiness calendar regularly so you don’t miss out.
Here is a quick look at the 2 speakers we are co-sponsoring with Career Planning next week.
Leadership Careers After Holy Cross:
Hear from Crusaders turned Corporate Executives
Fred Eppinger ’81
President & CEO of The Hanover Insurance Group
Dick Lavey ‘89
Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing and Distribution Officer
Tuesday, January 31 • 6:00-7:30pm • Hogan Jenks Suite A
Fred Eppinger returns to Holy Cross to speak about The Hanover’s Future Leaders Program, his leadership journey, and the insurance industry.
Space is limited so please RSVP in Crusader Connections by Monday, January 30th. After you log-in, click on the “Workshops/Events” tab. Attire is business casual.
For more information on Fred Eppinger and The Hanover Insurance group, please click on the following links:
Leader’s Edge Magazine “The Wizard of Worcester”
Fred Eppinger Profile – Holy Cross Magazine
“Think Public Relations is About Schmoozing and Spinning?”
Eric Starkman
President and founder of STARKMAN, a New York based public relations agency.
Thursday, Feb. 2 • 6:30 p.m. • Hogan Suites B & C
Check out this great article about the event!
As always, don’t forget to “Like” us on FACEBOOK and look for our WIB, SBP and ELW groups on LinkedIN!
Kaithlyn Kayer
Associate Director, Entrepreneurial Studies
David Chu
Director, Entrepreneurial Studies & Pre-business Advisor
On Saturday, October 22, we hosted the sixth annual Women in Business conference here on campus. With over 150 alumnae and students in attendance, the conference was a huge hit! The Prebusiness office wants to thank the student organizers Juliana Biolsi ’12, Kristen Buonassisi ’12, Lauren McCarthy ’12, Christie Cannone ’14, Haley O’Brien ’13, Stephanie Pajak ’13, and Lauren Esposito ’14, for their hard-work and dedication to this event.
If you weren’t able to attend, Juliana and Kristen wrote a great recap for the Holy Cross website:
Women in Business Conference Continues to Inspire Students, Alumnae
Save the date for next year’s conference: October 20, 2012!
As always, don’t forget to “Like” us on FACEBOOK and look for our WIB, SBP and ELW groups on LinkedIN!
Kaithlyn Kayer
Associate Director, Entrepreneurial Studies
David Chu
Director, Entrepreneurial Studies & Pre-business Advisor
Quinn is back with another SBP post!
Quinn Korzeniecki is a senior English major with a Pre-Business concentration. She is editor-in-chief of The Advocate, a progressive online publication at Holy Cross, and works as an assistant in the Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs Office. As a participant in the Summer Business Program, she hopes to learn more about marketing and advertising aspects of business. Quinn aspires to enter into publishing either in the editorial, marketing, or advertising departments.
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Wow, how quickly time passes when you’re learning about the different aspects of business!
As I said at the end of my last post, on Wednesday we learned about what it means to work in the financial sect of the business world as a venture capitalist and how to choose the best way to fund a new business. We learned about Warren Buffett’s amazing work as one of the most successful venture capitalists in his company, Berkshire Hathaway. As a member of a venture firm, one must value companies based on their profitability, growth, and risk. I learned a term I never heard of before: EBITDA, which means “earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization.” Tom Flynn instructed us to throw that term into a financial interview to clinch the position. In the end of the session we were sent off into our groups and assigned the task of picking which company we would buy stock in, either Facebook or Google. Although I am obsessed with social networking, my group ultimately picked Google because a new social networking site will probably enter the spotlight within the next year or so and make Facebook obsolete.
Two former football playing Holy Cross alumni came in on Thursday to speak about marketing and sales. Peter George, the CEO of Fidelis Security Systems, spoke about the qualities of a successful salesperson. He filled us in on SPIN, or the science of selling, which is a four step way to assure that you are maximizing your potential as a salesperson. Since I am competitive, smart, hard-working, and a team player, I could definitely see myself going into this field of business! Terry Waters, the CEO of the Yankee Group, taught us about B2B (Business to Business) marketing, through which companies sell products and services to other businesses that in turn sell them to the consumer. The best marketing departments have board commitment, knowledge of the target market, and have a clear, quantified, focused, realistic, and resourced marketing plan. All companies want to have a combination of vision and ability to execute, and those that fall short either run out of money and need to ask for more debt or equity or fail. It’s survival of the fittest in America these days!
On Friday, Ian Dowe, another football alumnus came to Smith Labs 155 to speak with us about advertising. This workshop was completely different from the previous ones: we were asked to bring in magazines and links to advertisements on Youtube and used these ads to learn what runs through the minds of those working in an advertising firm when they are creating one of these promotions. After analyzing a nail polish ad in which a woman’s fingernails matched the eyes of a tiger and wore a large diamond ring, I realized that advertisements do indeed play into our wants and desires: we all want to be more desirable, and advertisers play into this to get you to buy their product. We broke into our groups with the task of advertising a product: my group created a new product, the “Shrup,” or shrinkable and portable cup. It was interesting to learn about the thought that goes into advertisements and it was even more beneficial to advertise for a product ourselves.
After a weekend of relaxation, shopping in Providence, and more relaxation, we got back to the grind. Monday morning we received a brief introduction to microeconomics with Professor Cahill. We learned about making decisions based on weighing opportunity costs. In our teams, we competed against each other making deals that served as examples of imperfect competition: a lot of friendships were broken by cheating team members, but they made amends in the next round when we made bids on bonds. Some ended up winning by a large margin to keep the peace (but I don’t think that’s how it would work in the real world). In the afternoon we learned about business organizations ranging from sole proprietorships to corporations. All in all, the past four days were a great success, and I look forward to learning how to use Microsoft Excel in the business world.
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Thanks, Quinn! If you have any questions about SBP, please email us at prebusiness@holycross.edu. Don’t forget to find us on facebook!
Kaithlyn Kayer
Associate Director, Entrepreneurial Studies
David Chu
Director, Entrepreneurial Studies & Pre-business Advisor
