KPU student-run networking event connects Melville School of Business community

Kwantlen Polytechnic University Melville School of Business (MSB) students can engage with their university community through an evening of inspiration and growth on April 1 at Melville Connect, a free networking event organized by public relations students. 

Hosted in the Cedar Conference Centre at the Surrey campus from 5:00 to 7:00 pm, Melville Connect aims to bring business students, faculty, industry professionals, and alumni together — a goal set by students in the PRLN 2120: Campaign and Event Management course. 

“The biggest thing students are going to be able to receive from the event is the ability to network with a wide amount of people,” says Nathaniel Monterrosa, a second-year public relations student. “Students [can] gain opportunities and even inspiration throughout the event for their future career.” 

Melville Connect will feature four KPU alumni guest speakers who will participate in a question-and-answer panel: Wajeeha Rahman, a senior accountant at KPMG, Mohammad Kallas, a senior talent acquisition partner at CIBC, Tate Tham, a marketing specialist at Rennie, and Lilián Cazacu, a notary public of Lilian Cazacu Notary Corporation.

“We have a theme for the speakers of thinking of being future forward. So they’re all going to be talking about what that means to them,” says Colleen Dunbar, a KPU public relations faculty member and PRLN 2120 instructor, adding that students in the class spent time researching and connecting to KPU business alumni. 

Monterrosa adds that the chosen guest speakers are all examples of people who have been in current business students’ positions before they became successful. 

“They can show that there was a pathway to [success], because everyone starts somewhere … before they establish a good career and a good position in their life and education.”

The event will also have prizes, refreshments, and activities like networking bingo and a selfie station.  

Students started off the PRLN 2120 course by creating event proposals to present to a panel of judges, which included then-MSB dean Stephanie Howes, Pro-tem Associate Dean of the MSB Shari Ann Herrmann, and Robin Cook Bondy, chair of the public relations department. 

Elements of every proposal were included in the final event concept, which was, and continues to be, a very collaborative process, Dunbar says. 

There are 25 students in the course who have been split into seven committees: public relations and marketing, logistics, sponsorship and fundraising, speakers bureau and special guest, event management, safety, accessibility, and risk, and guest experience. The committees work together to organize, plan, and execute the event, pulling on skills they’ve learned in past public relations courses and gaining real-world experiences. 

Monterrosa is on the public relations and marketing committee, which is responsible for event promotion, social media, and the registration page, among other responsibilities. 

“This has been a very rewarding class, even before the event itself has even happened, because of the amount of real-world experience I’m actually putting into it,” he says, adding students also have to use their communication skills to keep classmates up to date with the event planning. 

“We’re actually making real advertisements, real posters that we’re going to be putting up, and actually running a social media account.”

Dunbar hopes that students who attend the event take away a sense of pride in being part of the MSB along with what the future holds for them. She shares similar sentiments for the students in her class.

“The students are all working so very hard on this event,” she says. “At the end of the event, when everyone else is out of the room and it’s just the PRLN 2120 students and myself left, I want them to be happy, excited … [talk] about it for days and feel that reward coming out of all of their hard work.” 

To learn more about Melville Connect and to register for the event, visit www.bit.ly/melvilleconnect.