Create Buzzworthy Industry Education Events at HBS

As a presenting recruiting organization, you may face a marketing challenge. And that is, how to be both differentiated and relevant when you make an Industry Education Event to HBS students. These events provide companies with the opportunity to engage with students on topics of interest outside of recruiting. We want you to succeed in your presentations, and have students walk away both smarter and psyched about your firm and sector because they invested their time to attend. Here are our four keys to that kingdom of an outstanding Industry Education Event:

1. Focus on a Game Changing Topic: Is there some element of your business model creating real news in the category? What does the firm have going on that is really changing its marketplace? Create a differentiating story around that aspect of the business, and position it as the latest dimension of how your firm leads your industry. Be tough on yourselves as you pick the topic; the more ground-breaking the story, the more relevant your firm will be to our students.
2. Get Personal with Invitations: As an HBS recruiting partner, you can use the HBS resume book databases to select students whom you are particularly interested in targeting. And all of us are more responsive to personal invitations compared to generic ones, right? Those firms who send personalized email invitations to specific students tend to have a more engaged audience at their Industry Education Events. Our students appreciate the personal touch and it says something positive about your firm’s culture.
3. Use an Ace Presenter: Great content deserves a great presenter. A less than dynamic speaker who doesn’t connect well with the MBA audience can hurt your firm’s buzz on-campus. It pays off to pick the most engaging senior presenter you can, and if they are an HBS alum, all the better. You’ll stand out better as a firm, and resonate more memorably with students.
4. Bring a Dynamic Posse: We can’t stress enough how having a few employees at your presentation, who genuinely want to connect with HBS students afterwards, will make a lasting difference for your organization. You are investing your team’s time and funds to travel to HBS, and sending an energetic posse of colleagues to speak with our students after the presentation will drive more return for that investment. Of course, it’s fantastic if they are HBS alumni, but if they aren’t, just pick people who MBA students can relate to and who want to connect with HBS students.

Best of luck with your Industry Education Events. And be in touch with our office if we can help your marketing and recruiting efforts at HBS in any way.