Alumni Council Organizes First Networking Forum

Networking Forum alumni panelists with other Franklin alumni and friends - New York, New York, USA

Thanks to the help of over 30 volunteers, the Franklin College Alumni Council hosted the College’s premier Networking Forum on September 9, 2010. This forum gave current Franklin students the chance to pose questions to a group of alumni panelists about their careers in the fields of communications, marketing and public relations.

With the help of Franklin friends Greg and Kathleen Harper, the Alumni Council was able to host a live videoconference between a panel of alumni (Bea Villamor ’03, Cyrus Sanati ’99 and Scott Anderholt ’78) in New York City and students of all ages in Lugano. The event was moderated by John Doyle ’06 and Leslie Guggiari, Dean of Student Life and Engagement.

Over 120 students were in attendance, each eager to gain knowledge of the working world in which they all wish to succeed. A focus group of 14 students challenged the three panelists with in-depth questions about their careers and about how to “market” the invaluable sets of skills they are obtaining from a Franklin education. Students in Lugano were happy to have the opportunity to gain advice from professionals already working in their desired fields. As current student Erin Cummings ’14 said, “I learned an exceptional amount and would love to attend another Networking Forum in the future.”

Because of the overwhelmingly positive response from the Franklin community about the event, the Alumni Council hopes to be able to organize at least two Networking Forums per year. The next forum is scheduled for the spring 2011 semester and will focus on the field of international relations.

For more photos, see our Photo Gallery. 
To view a video about the Fall 2010 Networking Forum, see our video.

November 2010