“Hey, Corporate Members - it’s your event too!”

Having had experience at organising, running and attending a number of Bright Futures events (during my time as head of operations and president for Cambridge Futures) I feel well placed to comment on what sponsor companies do very well, and what they do very badly.

One of the main criticisms I have of companies sponsoring BF events concerns the lack of support they give to the student presidents who are organising them. Whilst companies will tell you they want to stand out from their competitors by coming up with exciting events to attract students, they often seem unwilling to put any thought into the event and expect our committee members to independently conceive it.

While student input is obviously essential in devising an event to benefit both students and the company, and while students will no doubt benefit from the responsibility that comes with event management, it is unrealistic for companies to expect a student to be able to single-handedly plan events that cover a number of different business sectors. At any one time we cannot expect to have such a range of members on our small committee with a deep enough understanding of each sector to devise well-suited careers events.

This is where companies must step in and pull their weight.

If companies say they want an innovative and exciting event then they need to come to us with suggestions and ideas. Indeed, the whole ethos of Bright Futures is that it promotes collaboration between students and industry. Better collaboration in the event-planning stage will result in more relevant, more interesting, and ultimately better-attended Bright Futures events.

Nadia Witkowski
President Cambridge Futures, Lent and Easter 2007