Bristol Volunteers co-ordinate and manage dozens of events, exclusively for Bristol alumni, all around the world. They bring alumni together to reconnect with each other, the University and Bristol, sharing their memories and passions. We want to work with you to publicise your event in the best way that we can. So if you currently organise events for alumni or are thinking about doing so, here’s how we can help.
Getting started
We help alumni who want to reconnect with their peers, and groups based on geographic location, Hall of Residence, profession or club. Find out more about our alumni networks and email alumni-volunteers@bristol.ac.uk if you’ve got an idea you’d like to discuss.
Promoting your event
Timescales for planning are individual to each event but as much notice as you can give us will help when it comes to maximising your event promotion. As you’ll probably know, at some times of year we have a very busy schedule of alumni communications and it may take a few weeks to co-ordinate sending an invite. So please try to let us know about your event at least two months in advance to ensure we can best help.
To help promote your event, we can:
- send an invitation and reminder email on your behalf;
- add your event to our online events listings;
- add it to our Facebook events, and post on relevant LinkedIn groups;
- and include your event in our monthly e-newsletter, where possible.
What you can do to help promote your event:
- promote your event through your own personal networks;
- encourage your peers and contacts to spread the word, and to like and share posts online and get a conversation going on social media;
- keep your guests informed as speakers are confirmed and consider using a number of ways to keep in touch. Some people need a little reminder or encouragement to book.
After the event
We’d love to hear how your event went so we can let other alumni know what’s going on in their area:
- send us a report (about 300 words) and photographs so we can celebrate your event and share its success on Nonesuch online (please remember to make sure the alumni in your photographs are happy to be featured);
- make sure to share the attendance list and any alumni updates with us so that we can keep the database current.
Got an idea?
If you are thinking of planning an event, get in touch by emailing alumni-volunteers@bristol.ac.uk and keep us in the loop with all your plans.
In line with the University of Bristol data policy, the Development and Alumni Relations Office (DARO) contact alumni about events and activities relevant to them as part of the Bristol alumni network. To help your event on its way to success, we recommend that your event provides one or more of the following opportunities, based on international best practice for alumni engagement:
- Reminisce, reconnect with friends and remember time spent at Bristol. Events like class-group reunions and dinners in University venues are good examples.
- Build professional networks and connections. Networking events based on a particular career or industry, events held in geographic locations where Bristol alumni are less numerous, or speaker-events focused on career development, are good examples.
- Access exclusive resources, only available as part of the Bristol network. Special event venues and visits, which can be accessed through an alumni connection, or the opportunity to hear from prominent alumni within the network, are good examples.
- Stimulate academic curiosity. Events with talks from Bristol academics or from other members of the Bristol network are good examples.
DARO will segment the Bristol alumni database to contact members of the network that are most likely to be interested in the activity – for example, because of their academic discipline, current profession or their interests whilst at Bristol.
Alumni events should be relevant to the audience, have a clear link to Bristol and ideally be exclusive to Bristol alumni and friends. We also commit to providing alumni with adequate notice for events, which will vary depending on the activity. Other events, which may also be of interest to alumni, can be promoted through our exclusive LinkedIn group for alumni.