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Sign up to the EAIE training course “Managing alumni programmes effectively”

Location: Paris, France
Dates: 17 - 19 March 2010
To sign up please click here.

The EAIE training course “Managing alumni programmes effectively” will take place for the 2nd year in Paris. The course is designed for people working in the field of international alumni relations, such as middle to senior level managers who would like to get their existing alumni programmes to the next level.

The main topics, like strategic planning, alumni associations and non-traditional alumni groups or alumni communications and online communities, will be delivered by experts in the field of alumni communications: Philip Conroy (Mount Ida College Enrollment Management & Marketing, USA), Serge Sych (Central European University, Hungary), Kirsten Williamson (Petrus Communications, France) and Andrew Shaindlin (California Institute of Technology, USA).

Find out more about INTAL and connect with the last year’s participants by visiting the INTAL Facebook and Linkedin groups.

Sign up here and start booking your tickets to Paris.

"I found the course very beneficial and hope to see its results in the near future. The atmosphere was fantastic! I would definitely advise other people responsible for alumni relations to attend it."

Andzelika Kuznar, Warsaw School of Economics, Poland

Team work and employability skills at the Businet Unite Conference

November in Edinburgh is usually cold, but Radu Jlobnitchi, Marketing Manager of Petrus Communications, got a warm welcome from students from all over Europe, at the Businet Unite Conference 2009 held at Edinburgh’s Royal British Hotel.

Petrus Communications is one of the first Associate Members of Businet and is proud to support this dynamic international network. Radu took the students through “Team work as a core part of your employability skills” – an interactive workshop in which he challenged them to discover their natural roles inside a team and to understand how people interact while working with others. He shared Petrus’ insight on what employers are looking for from graduates and gave advice on how Businet students can get a head start in job hunting at home and abroad.

It was hard work, but fun too... “I have to say I had a really good time, took some very useful information from the whole conference, and also enjoyed the part of the workshop where we learnt how to evaluate ourselves”.

Daniel Bismark, student at EBC Euro-Business-College, Hamburg

Let's talk Alumni at the Annual Businet Conference

Kirsten Williamson will share her expertise in the field of alumni relations by delivering a new workshop on the theme “Working with Alumni”, at the 23rd Annual Businet Conference 2009 on the 12th of November in Durham – UK, along with some examples of best practice in this field.

Developing an active Alumni network is an opportunity to develop an international team of ambassadors, ready to support your institution with careers development, industrial liaison and marketing activity.

Kirsten will take the workshop participants through planning an effective strategy to create and maintain such an Alumni network. Check out the detailed programme of the conference here.

Are you ready to talk Alumni? If yes, drop us an email.

Airbus Fly Your Ideas Challenge - Postponed

The launch of the competition has been postponed until September 2010.

Like many industries in the current economic climate, companies need to manage their resources carefully. Airbus has therefore made the decision that the FYI Challenge should be run every other year. Feedback from many of the partner Universities also suggests that a biennial FYI Challenge suits their academic calendar.

The competition will therefore run from September 2010 to June 2011. While waiting for news about the new launch date, check out some of the FYI 2009 highlights here.

Airbus Fly Your Ideas is a contest that challenges students to create and develop new ideas that can help to deliver a greener aviation industry.

EAIE Conference in Madrid: Check!

Petrus Communications would like to send many thanks to all the people who got in touch with us at the EAIE Conference in Madrid.

Our 11th presence at this event allowed us to meet lots of old friends and share a glass of wine with new people from different campuses in the world. We invite you to have a look on the photos taken during the “Developing career and internship service” workshop, in which Kirsten Williamson, Leo Robben and Paul Blackmore presented the ways in which a careers service can be developed, and also to have a glance at one of the many elegant receptions during the conference, organized by the EMPLOI board together with Petrus Communications. On top of that, one lucky winner left Spain with a prize of 6 bottles of champagne, which will wait for him on his university desk. He knew what SWING was. Do you?

If you would you like to find out more about our services please take a look here or pre-register for our newsletter, by sending an email to newsletter@petruscommunications.com. Also, don’t hesitate to become an EMPLOI affiliate and get to know more about employability skills, graduate careers and internships.

Ready … steady … EAIE 2009!

The Petrus Team will once again attend the EAIE Annual Conference, this year in Madrid from 16th to 19th September.

Kirsten Williamson, Managing Director, will share her expertise in career development, internships and employability, first hosting a workshop on developing career services together with Leo Robben and Paul Blackmore, and later in the week at the session “Involving business and industry in higher education”. Kirsten will be joined in this session by representatives from Airbus, Euromed Management and the EU Education, Audiovisual & Culture Executive Agency. Together they will look at how stronger links can be forged between institutions and companies to improve student employability, and in particular how the theme of sustainability can be developed on campus – including a showcase of the Airbus Fly Your Ideas Challenge.

Elsa Chalaux will chair a workshop from international cultural development expert Ariane Curdy, who will share valuable insight into helping students prepare for, learn and develop from their international experience.

Kirsten is delighted to join forces again with Philip Conroy and Serge Sych – international experts in the field of Alumni Relations – to chair the workshop “Fundraising and alumni: where to start” – and there couldn’t be a better starting point for Alumni Relations professionals interested in this field.

For the second year in a row Petrus is delighted to sponsor the EMPLOI reception – an elegant occasion for people from all over the world to network, share ideas, meet old friends and make new ones, and a perfect way to start the conference.

Will you be in Madrid? If you would like to meet up with Kirsten, Elsa or Aga call us on +48 501 720 671 or send an email to kirsten@petruscommunications.com.

Speed Dating with European Career Services at the AGR

For the first time at the UK’s AGR conference, Careers Service representatives from 5 leading European institutions were on hand to meet delegates and provide a deeper understanding of their on-campus attraction channels and partnership opportunities. Top business and commercial schools from France and Italy join leading technical institutions from Italy and the Netherlands in a unique ‘speed dating’ showcase organized by Petrus.

"I really appreciated the speed dating session between European universities and UK employers. It was a unique opportunity for employers looking for international talent to meet these universities directly. Events like this are a step forward for companies looking to recruit internationally.

Leo Robben, Euflex Employment Services
Technische Universiteit Eindhoven

The results of "Around Europe in a day" competition, from the Annual AGR Conference 2009!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the international challenge with Petrus Communications and the international careers services present at the 2009 AGR conference.

For those of you still scratching your heads, the correct answers are:
• Anciens – language: French; meaning: alumni
• Lavoro – language: Italian; meaning: work
• Praktikum – language: German; meaning: internship
• Gediplomeerd – language: Dutch; meaning: diploma, certified

The lucky winner(*) has been informed.

Want to find out more about our international campus expertise? Take a look at some recent projects here, or contact Kirsten Williamson.

(*) Please read the Terms and Conditions.

"Managing alumni programmes effectively" a big success

From 3 to 5 June 2009 a group of alumni experts and international delegates gathered in the historical ‘Marais’ district of Paris for “Managing alumni programmes effectively”.

Organized by Petrus Communications on behalf of the EAIE - European Association for International Education, this two day workshop gathered 13 participants from 10 European countries. The experienced team of trainer: Philip Conroy (Mount Ida College, USA), Serge Sych (Central European University, Hungary), Joelle Planche-Ryan (ESCP EAP, France) and Kirsten Williamson (Petrus Communications, France), employed a mix of strategies, such as case studies, role-playing, group discussions and knowledge sharing, to enhance the participants’ understanding of key aspects of alumni relations. The two day programme was both informative and interactive, finishing with a strategic planning session for each participant.

“Interactive course well structured and prepared. Good to meet people working in the same area and to share good practice (…) The speakers were friendly and professional.”

Training participant,
Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Switzerland

Register by the 6th of May 2009 for "Tools for a successful careers service" training course

Petrus Communications is organising a 2 day workshop on the theme “Tools for a successful careers service”on behalf of the European Association for International Education (EAIE)

Are you working directly with students to provide careers advice, employability skills training, help with finding an internship or practical tips on how to make a good application? Do you work with employers to provide communication services such as events and online job and internship offers? Held in the “City of Lights”, this training course covers the practical skills you need, shared by experts with years of experience of graduate recruitment, employer liaison and skills training.

Location: Paris, France
Dates: 24th June- 26th June 2009
Deadline for registration: 6th May 2009
Find out more and sign up here

Petrus Communications at Leuven University College International mini-week

Kirsten Williamson, Managing Director of Petrus Communications, will make a presentation as a Keynote speaker at the Katholieke Hogeschool Leuven (Leuven University College) International mini-week, 27-30 April 2009, on the theme “Developing employability skills during work and study abroad”.

Leuven University College in Belgium is a university college with campuses in Leuven and Diest offering bachelor degree courses in the areas of education, commercial sciences and business administration, health care, industrial sciences, and social and community work. The university college has more than 6000 students and 650 members of staff.
Read more about the Leuven University College.

Last chance to sign up for the EAIE training course:
"Managing alumni programmes effectively"

On behalf of the EAIE - European Association for International Education - Petrus Communications is organising a 2 day workshop on the theme “Managing alumni programmes effectively”.

Experienced professionals will cover the key areas of alumni relations and will focus on how to plan and implement the key alumni projects that suit your institutional needs. The main topics will include strategic planning, alumni associations and non-traditional alumni groups, records management, institutional assessment and surveying alumni, alumni communications and on-line communities, special events and reunions, alumni career and student recruitment programmes, alumni fundraising. The course provides a review trends, resources, and tips on how to get your existing alumni programmes to the next level!

Location: Paris, France
Dates: 3rd June - 5th June 2009
Find out more and sign up here

Petrus Communications at ERACON 2009

Petrus Communications will make a presentation on the theme “New challenges for the graduate recruitment market” at the Erasmus Coordinators Conference 2009 (ERACON2009),
29 April – 3 May 2009, Nicosia, Cyprus.

Kirsten Williamson, Managing Director of Petrus Communications, will focus on recent changes to the graduate recruitment market making impact on students, recruiters and institutions, with the aim of helping participants to better understand the needs of the private sector when establishing projects with academic institutions.

The first ERACON conference was held in 2005 in Cyprus. ERACON 2009 will go back to Cyprus, as a way of celebrating the five year anniversary of the European Association of Erasmus Coordinators (EAEC).
Find out more information about the programme of the conference here.

"Managing a Careers Service" Training Course

Petrus Communications is organising a 2 day workshop on the theme “Managing a Careers Service”.

Held in 2007 and 2008 with great success, this workshop is a key development and networking opportunity if you work in the field of internships and graduate employability.

Location: Marseille, France
More information click here

What they said last year!

“Very relevant to my own problems, excellent atmosphere, lots of opportunities to share experience” Philippe Ory, Career Center Manager – Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

“I really appreciated the course. It was very interesting, allowed good exchange of professional experience and was professionally organised” Paola Ghilardi, Director of International Relations – Institut d’Etudes Supérieures des Arts

Global Education for Global Skills

Come to the AGR and have an international sensory experience