Now the time has come for us to write our board blog. As all other board blogs already mention, this is the moment you realize how much you have learned and grown on a personal level as well as a professional level. Our year was filled with meeting lots of new people, new experiences and fun events! In this board blog, we will tell you all about our experiences and what being an External Affairs Officer of Asset | Marketing entails.
Why a board year at Asset | Marketing?
Giel: In October 2022 I joined Asset | Marketing as a member of the Sports Committee. Here it immediately felt like a family, all kinds of people who were different but still were friends. As i was finishing the second year of my Bachelor Economics in June 2023 I was not sure the study was for me. I didn’t have a lot of motivation and wondered what I could do with all this information. I wanted to learn how the ‘real’ world works and was thinking about an internship. However I did not have the network and idea which company would be the best fit with me and it wasn’t feeling like the right choice at that moment in my life. This is when I thought of a board year at Asset | Marketing and it felt like perfect choice: I would develop professionally, but also personally. I’m meeting new people every single day and haven’t had any regrets so far!
Iris: In September 2023 I joined Asset | Marketing in de Sports Committee and I became very close with a lot of other members immediately. When I was finishing my bachelor Economics and Business Economics my study felt very theoretical and so I wanted to do something besides that to also learn some practical skills. A board year is the perfect way to do that as you are actively involved in daily operations and you are very quickly improving on communication, teamwork and negotiating. The best thing about doing a board year however is that you can develop as a professional while also getting a lot of fun and new friends! Now I’m studying Marketing Analytics and during my board year I came in contact with a lot of different companies, this really helped me decide about the things I want to do in the future and also opened new doors for me.
What does a board year look like as an External Affairs Officer?
Everyone has their own tasks within the board that are specific to their particular function. In addition to this you have general board tasks, in this way you can extend your function specific tasks with other things. This makes it all more diverse and you can develop yourself in areas that you are interested in.
General board tasks
Many general board tasks are the same for the entire board. For example, we start every week on Monday morning with the board meeting. Here, we evaluate the events and activities that have taken place the previous week. Of course, we also look ahead to what is coming up in the next week(s). In addition, we go through the recent and relevant developments that have taken place in everyone's portfolio and all the committees. This way, everyone is aware of what is going on and what other directors are working on. These meetings are very fun and a very good start to the week since you know about everything going on but also very important for the consistency of the association. They are intensive meetings but they are of an undeniable importance to the association because it is here that you are informed of the ins and outs of the association and also a great way to catch up after the weekend with the rest of the board.
Tasks related to the function
Together with your fellow external, you are responsible for formal events and contact with companies. Company contact and keeping your partners happy is the most important part of your function. Next to this, doing acquisition is also a big part of your function. Ultimately, your task as an external is to ensure that enough companies connect with Asset | Marketing through a partnership and bring in enough money to keep the association going for the committees.
At the start of the year I had no idea how contact with companies and acquisition worked. An External of Asset | Marketing is working both on cold and warm acquisition. In our case, we had to do a lot of cold acquisition to acquire new partners. By doing cold acquisition, you really learn what works to attract potential partners and what not.
Some of the things you have to do for companies is sending a partner update once a month, putting their vacancies on our CPT, putting their posts on our social media, mailing and creating contracts. But what for me was the nicest part of working together with companies is really talking with them about what they need and want and then make a plan on how to help them the best to reach these goals. Next to this, you are responsible for events, such as Casedays, inhousedays and the business dinner. By being in charge of these events, you will learn many skills regarding organization and planning.
A big pro of this function is that you will get in contact with a lot of different companies, in this way you really learn how the companies work and get a better understanding of the working field. Furthermore you will expand your network automatically which is a huge plus in the current market. Normally you go to the offices of your partners, but since corona it is mostly online. However, this makes it extra special when you go to their offices or see them at events. A tip is that you connect with the people you meet immediately via LinkedIn.
What do we do for Asset general
Each board member is also part of a faculty-wide organ. As external affairs officers, we sit in on the Acquisition meeting. At these meetings, all external affairs officers from all departments are present. Here, we discuss issues that are important to each department. We discuss asset membership deals, career portal tilburg and many other things. In addition, everyone in the acquisition meeting sits in 1 or 2 task forces. This year, for example, we are responsible for our Career Platform Tilburg and Active Member Deals.
Do you want to know more?
Are you interested in doing a board year and want to know more? Send a message to 06 40925323 (Iris) or send an email to externalaffairs@asset-marketing.nl so we can plan a coffee together!