Big ole thanks to Kevin Purcer of Erwin-Penland for joining us for NetworkBash Ignite.
Close to 175 students, faculty, staff, and professionals filled Self Auditorium at the Strom Thurmond Institute to listen to Kevin’s presentation, which centered on building your personal brand. Many students later commented how about how impressed they were with Kevin’s ease in talking directly to them. It made a powerful statement to them about the true meaning of building a personal brand for today’s careers.
Kevin walked the audience through the ideas behind popular brands like Coca Cola and individual brands like Ochocinco, Steve Jobs, and Lady Gaga. These concepts were blended with ideas for building your personal brand online – and establishing an online reputation for employers researching their job applicants. Two interesting points about brands in Kevin’s presentation…brands know what they are not and they know their roots.
At the end of Kevin’s 45 minute chat, numerous questions came from students about his personal professional path, and seeking advice with respect to approaching today’s job market.
Below is Kevin’s presentation using Slideshare. If you cannot view the presentation using your mobile device, CLICK HERE to download the PDF.
Big thanks to all of our sponsors for this event, including Spiro Center for Entrepreneurship, Rutland Center for Ethics, Michelin Career Center, Clemson’s Advanced Writing Program, and the Clemson Alumni Association.
There is nothing better than sitting back and watching people connect, have conversations, and build relationships. This was so evident tonight as Clemson Alumni and Clemson Students took part in a speed networking event and…shared. NetworkBash Engage was the last of three events this Fall with the sole purpose of bringing students and alumni under one roof to learn from each other and connect.
The Clemson Alumni Center provided the perfect venue where Clemson Alumni were split into eight different groups. Each group from the eight alumni sat at eight different tables where close to 60 students rotated between these eight tables to network. Every fifteen minutes each group of students (7 to 8 in each group) rotated, meeting different alumni and talked about careers, jobs, and where they wanted to be in 10 years.
The night was capped off with a raffle where both alumni and students had a chance to win two footballs signed by the Clemson Football team, a baseball signed by the Clemson Baseball team, and finally the new iPod Shuffle. But it was more than gifts, good food, and a well planned event. After it was all over, students and alumni were still connecting and sharing contact information!
What an awesome opportunity. There are so many days that I wish I had taken advantage of these types of opportunities when I was at Clemson.
Here is the package of information from the event. This includes the agenda, discussions for each table, Clemson Alumni that attended, and sponsor information.
If you would like to download the PDF of this package, CLICK HERE.
Wow…what an event. A big thanks to Robbin Phillips of Brains on Fire for joining us! NetworkBash Excite was filled with conversation around jobs, social media, case studies, stories, and even a raffle capped off with some Clemson Ice-Cream. We had 85 students fill the McKissick Theater as Robbin Phillips guided us through a discussion around using Social Media to find a job. The major point to take-away…it is all about Relationships!
Robbin spent lots of time answering questions ranging from:
1) How did you start your business?
2) What relationships in your life made you successful?
3) How do I brand and market myself on Twitter?
4) After an interview, would it be appropriate for me to friend the person on Facebook?
5) Why is it important for me to clean-up my Facebook page?
Here are more of those questions provided by students to ask in during the discussion, below:
There were so many more questions filling close to an hour and fifteen minute discussion. Afterwards, the party was moved out to the atrium of the Hendrix Student Center for ice-cream and the raffle. We gave away t-shirts, Clemson Men’s Soccer tickets, Chick-Fil-A coupons, copies of the Brains on Fire book, and even two Clemson/GT Football tickets!
We provided handouts for the all of the attendees, so if you would like to download the handouts, CLICK HERE for the PDF or look below.
Also…if you are interested in purchasing the Brains on Fire book, CLICK HERE for more information. Also, check out Lesson 11 from the Brains on Fire blog which is the final, community chapter of the book.
Also…big shout out to our sponsors for these events! First of all the Consortium for Enterprise Systems Management! They are helping folks explore the world of IT and find IT jobs all across South Carolina! You should check out their website at www.GoCESM.org. Verizon Wireless for jumping in and helping us with NetworkBash Excite! They brought lots of fund giveways including t-shirts, pens, and other fun stuff. CH2M Hill is an Engineering Firm worldwide and they believe in the power of building career relationships! The Michelin Career Center for making this event possible by providing their rich knowledge of events and careers for tomorrow! Also, the Advanced Writing Program for allowing NetworkBash to be a part of the Business Writing Curriculum at Clemson University. This event was planned by students in two Business Writing Classes here at Clemson. And our friends at Clemson’s Alumni Center who will be hosting the final NetworkBash event this year called Engage!
Finally, if you would like to learn more about Clemson Ice-Cream and the history, CLICK HERE to download the PDF. Also, to read their latest newsletter, CLICK HERE to download the PDF of the newsletter.
