As the Global Campus Relations Director for the Southwestern Company, I am lucky enough to be able to honestly say that no two days are the same and about 92.8% can be considered exciting. Today, it’s even more exciting as I get to celebrate 59 years of life. It’s not the Big 4-0 or the Big 5-0, but it’s getting pretty close to the Big 6-0. It forces me to think back ten years when my wife, Lori, threw a big party for me before I even started up the Campus Relations program here at the Southwestern Company and we still lived in Bozeman, Montana where I was the Career Services Director at Montana State University. The invitations to all our friends read, “Please join us in celebrating Ralph’s 49th birthday because next year he’ll probably be too old to celebrate The Big 5-0.”
Okay, back to work. So, what’s the purpose of this blog. First of all, it’s primarily geared to professionals in the career services’ world, but it may be interesting for others on the campus like those in student employment, internship/cooperative education offices, and faculty. I’d like to share some current issues, trends, and practices in the campus relations world and my personal experiences with campuses and students that I work with and coach as the Director of Campus Relations for the Southwestern Company. I’ll throw out some challenges to think about and I want to forward some trends that’ll be affecting our work. I will update you on my travels to campuses and association meetings (including photos). And, I want to share some of the topics, issues, and teachings that I reveal with your (and our) students as they learn how to grow, develop and move into their career roles with the lessons learned as participants in our summer sales and marketing program.
Guess what, not only did I survive that 49th year, but the past 10 years have been a whirlwind, or maybe a tornado, of activity, learning, travel and excitement. So, let’s look at these past 10 years. First of all, I left one of the most beautiful spots on the earth (Bozeman, Montana) and moved to Nashville (Southwestern Company’s world headquarters) to work in the corporate sector, of which I had no experience. I had the privilege of setting up and managing a campus relations program for a very entrepreneurial company that has over 2,500 college students a year participate in its summer sales program. The Southwestern Company has been around for over 150 years and its president, Dan Moore (who himself participated in the summer program in the 70’s while attending Harvard) was and still is VERY supportive of the efforts to proactively reach out to college and university officials.
Invariably, wherever there exists a population center, you can find schools of higher learning close by. I’ve traveled to campuses and association meetings in 37 states in the time since I began the job at the Southwestern Company. I’ve met not only with campus officials, but also alumni groups, student organizations, and all varieties of college and university officials. Globally, I’ve made a couple dozen trips abroad and have visited universities and met with colleagues and friends in Europe, Africa, and Australia. Best of all, I’ve also connected with and enjoy working and sharing with some of the most outstanding college students in the world. Now we live in Albuquerque, New Mexico where I have an office in our house and all I really need is an airport, or Sunport as it’s called here, and my Smartphone.
So, here I am at 59 reflecting and figuring out how to B – L – O – G. I’ve certainly read a number of blogs over the past few years. My son, Bob, makes a living in the political consulting and blogging world. But, now it’s time for me to begin a blog. This summer our company decided to update our web site and utilize more social media, hence the blog, in connecting with our many audiences – students, parents, campus officials, customers, etc. Since one of our most important stakeholders is officials on college and university campuses globally, we thought it would be important to communicate more directly with YOU.
Back to my birthday reflections… I’m trying to decide whether the reflections are really important or if I’m just procrastinating in writing this piece. Then there’s the iTunes 60’s playlist playing in the background with the likes of CS&N; Beatles; Beach Boys (saw in Billings, MT), Byrds (saw in the Rose Bowl), Cat Stevens, Cream, Doors, Eagles, Grass Roots (saw in Havre, MT), Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix (saw in Spokane), Stones (saw in Munich), Hollies, Janis Joplin (saw in Calgary), Jefferson Airplane, Judy Collins, and many others. Each tune has its own memory and so many bring a smile as I recall some of my favorite people and places over the years.
My plan is to update the blog on a weekly basis, more often if the need/opportunity arises. And, most importantly I want to hear from you. What are your questions? What are your issues? What do we, in this profession, need to be thinking about and addressing?
We all have fears, even at 59, and writing a blog that’s available to the whole world was one of mine. Fear is also something we talk with students out selling books in the summer about – fear of the unknown, fear of hard work, fear of failing, fear of succeeding, fear of confronting fear. I’ll talk more about fear in future blogs, but for now let’s just say that I’m going enjoy the birthday celebration that my wife has planned for tonight (oops, I’m not supposed to know about it). I hope you all use your birthday as a day of reflection, enjoyment and that your day is filled with happiness and that it begins a year that is overflowing with joy for you and for those whom you care about.
