Degy's College Education and Entertainment Summit - Amy's Notes on Polish, Wow, and more!

I’m a big believer in two things. It’s so important to TEACH what we know to help others, which I am truly blessed to do every single day! And, we can’t EVER stop learning. If we don’t get a little uncomfortable sometimes when learning something new, we’ll NEVER stretch ourselves (notice I didn’t use the overused “comfort zone,” but you get what I mean). I was so excited to teach/share my tips with college students, and in the process learned so much by participating in Degy’s College Education and Entertainment Summit. Full disclosure – I don’t play video games, but my boys sure do! I learned to create an avatar that can clap and dance, navigate a virtual world, and was thrilled to share my tips for college students. Fantastic experience! Thank you Degy Entertainment, and many thanks to my work friend Emily Weiss of Emily Weiss Consulting for the introduction!

My presentation, “How to Add Polish and WOW to Your Communication with Employers,” was all about…what the title says 🙂 Here are some of the follow-up tips I shared with students (which btw are very similar to the tips I share with college applicants):

Make a plan.
Be laser-focused, and customize your pitch! There’s no one-size-fits-all.
Connect the dots between YOUR EXPERIENCES and your prospective employer’s needs in a VERY SPECIFIC way (show, don’t tell!). Demonstrate HOW you’re the perfect fit and HOW you’ll contribute there.
Research! Learn as much as possible about your prospective employer, and demonstrate your interest in a powerful, meaningful way.
Make it EASY for your reader to “get you” fast.
And of course, POLISH! Words matter, especially in competitive situations.

Here are some related articles and job searching and the importance of polish:

US News & World Report – How to Get a Job or Internship During the Pandemic
Monster.com’s tips based on top mistakes students make
Ziprecruiter.com had some great ideas on how to impress a prospective employer

I attended several other events that day, and I wanted to share some of my notes with you. I was most interested in pivots – how colleges and students have made lemonade out of lemons (the pandemic) – and helpful tips for students. Here are some highlights of the sessions I attended:

Kevin Lyman, associate professor of practice in USC’s Music Industry program, and founder/producer of the Vans Warped Tour, talked about how the pandemic basically “pulled out the rug” from live events. His team entered the “adapt phase” and pivoted from producing a one-day festival to an online 3-day festival, anticipating 10,000 guests and ending up with 124,000 global guests! (Wow, virtual = access in many ways!) Lyman’s tip: students should get COVID compliance training.
Frank Warren, Founder of PostSecret, receives people’s secrets on postcards, and he got the MOST during the pandemic. The most common secret he receives is bathroom-related, primarily admissions like “I pee in the shower.” He noted that college can be very stressful and mentioned something students can turn to when needed: 60 Digital Resources for Mental Health.
Degy brings major music acts & festivals to college campuses, and I was pretty starstruck at The Major Artists Touring Panel moderated by Degy Entertainment’s President/CEO Ari Nisman. Fun facts:
- Tom Higgenson, Singer/songwriter for the Plain White T’s and creator of one of my FAVORITE songs, “Hey There Delilah,” also wrote a song for SpongeBob the Musical on Broadway.
- Jaret Reddick, of Bowling for Soup, was also the voice of Chuck E. Cheese!
- Celebs Jesse McCartney, Roger Thomas (Naturally 7), and Nathaniel Motte (30H3!) also spoke. Many noted how much they miss the fans, live events, and traveling, but are enjoying family time.
Marketing: How to Promote Virtual Attendance. It was interesting to hear college contacts talk about how they’re connecting with students during the pandemic. Tyler Howie of Mohawk College mentioned trying to eliminate Zoom fatigue while making experiences interactive with contests and social media. Alyssa Duffy of Eastern CT State University said shorter time blocks can be effective, including one of the most popular campus events they held – a 5- to 10-minute Tarot Card reading.
Virtual Club Recruitment. I was intrigued to hear about how colleges are engaging students in clubs once they arrive on campus (or are learning remotely). The panelists talked about pivots and innovations and noted that the pandemic INCREASED opportunity and access in many cases.
- Patrick Newell (Algonquin College) – started “Coffee with Clubs” to increase recruitment.
- Hibo Ahmed (Brock University) said that “clubs need to get innovative and think outside the box like TikTok, etc. with a social, welcoming environment without online fatigue.”
- Steve Harpst (SUNY Orange) also acknowledged the tech challenge and noted that some students didn’t have access to the Internet and were initially taking classes on a phone. His campus stepped it up with resources to alleviate these issues.