Office of Alumni and Career Success Hosts First “Coffee and Conversations” Event
Meadows’ Office of Alumni and Career Success (ACS) partnered with the SMU chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) for a new panel discussion with notable alumni.
Last week, Meadows’ Office of Alumni and Career Success (ACS) partnered with the SMU chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) for their inaugural “Coffee and Conversations” event. This event, which will become a semesterly occurrence, is a panel discussion with distinguished Meadows alumni with an opportunity for networking during a coffee reception following the panel.
New members of the Meadows Executive Board Michelle Hagen (B.A. ’90) and Mindy Hamilton (B.F.A. ’88) were selected as the first alumni to participate in the “Coffee and Conversations” panel. Hagen, the Executive Vice President of Global Partnerships at Paramount Pictures, and Hamilton, the Senior Vice President of Global Partnership Marketing & Strategy at The Walt Disney Company, joined Meadows Dean Sam Holland and current PRSSA student president Chloe Young for a discussion about their noteworthy careers, navigating the entertainment industries and how their SMU education has helped them pave the way to success.
“My experience in Meadows advertising program opened the aperture of opportunities and provided an invaluable path for my career in marketing and the entertainment industry,” says Hamilton. “I was honored and grateful for the opportunity to speak with current students and give them insight and advice on navigating the industry.”
The coffee reception following the discussion allowed students to connect individually with both Hagen and Hamilton, getting firsthand feedback from successful alumni who had once been in their shoes while students at Meadows.
“When I was an undergrad, I was not aware of the entertainment industry as a viable career path,” explains Hagen, who is also a graduate of Meadows’ Division of Advertising. “I was thrilled about the opportunity to speak with current students in the hopes of expanding their aperture and giving them insight and advice that could be helpful for their own post-graduation plans.”
When the “Coffee and Conversations” event was initially announced with Hagen and Hamilton as the inaugural speakers, the response to the event was so overwhelmingly positive that it had to move event spaces to accommodate all students interested in attending. Because of the first event’s resounding success, ACS plans to continue to collaborate with a student organization, like this first event’s partnership with the SMU chapter of PRSSA, for future “Coffee and Conversations” to help them identify a speaker candidate and connect with faculty and students.
The main goal of ACS, the first and only organization of its kind on SMU’s campus, is to offer resources, events and programs to assist current and former students in building self-sustaining careers in the arts, media, design and communications. This new event series will help build upon that goal and provide opportunities for students to hear from and connect with notable alumni in person.
Thank you to Hagen and Hamilton for their valuable insight and the time they took to meet with all interested students following the first “Coffee and Conversations.” Stay tuned for the second event next semester!