Post by milwsport on Nov 19, 2010 16:34:28 GMT -6
As President of the LGBT Chapter of the UWM Alumni Association I am a member of the Association's Board of Trustees. At Wednesday's Trustee meeting I met someone who may be UWM's best recruit in years. Margaret Carlson
She probably has a terrible jump shot and I wouldn't count on her defense but then again she wasn't brought her to put on a uniform. She is a high priced consultant brought in to boost the Alumni Association.
I don't normally like consultants. They come in give some ideas and leave. This one is different. She will be around for a couple of years.
She has passion and ideas. Her motto is "Dream big," and boy does she ever.
Margaret headed up the University of Minnesota Alumni group for 25 years. No we aren't U of M but, their Alumni group was not better off than ours is when she started. And their University was not well regarded by the natives. (sound familiar?)
When she left they had a $5 million budget and a nice new Alumni Center located on campus.
Oh and by the way when people laughed at the idea of a new on campus FB stadium, her Alumni came up with the first $1 million and shut up the doubters.
She met with the trustees without staff being present. The discussion was enlightening. Margaret said she'd already met with 60 to 70 administrators and faculty before seeing us. During our discussion I heard many of the things I read on this Board and I heard her confident agreement that they can be done.
She told us that in nearly every meeting, the importance of UWM Athletics came up. The people she met with see it as a key part of building recognition.
We also talked about branding and the need for Panther gear to be everywhere. She mentioned they had the same problem in Minnesota but t hey worked on it. "I thought it was terrible that you could come in the airport and not see University of Minnesota clothing. So we changed that."
As I said, I don't normally like consultants but I LOVED this woman (that's really saying a lot). She encouraged us to speak up and not to settle. Whenever someone mentioned a problem (like the low attendance at the games) her response would be that others had faced similar challenges and overcame them, we only need to look at what they did and apply it here.
So I think we may begin seeing some changes, a more active, more powerful alumni group boosting the University and the AD. I think we may start seeing better branding and more of a presence in the community. I think that just as the U is expanding its campus and research money we will soon start expanding our Alumni groups and the U's recognition in the community.
She may not sink any key shots at critical moments, she may not make a big stop when we most need it, but I believe Margaret Carlson will ultimately have more impact on our Athletic success than any 3 star recruit ever could.
She probably has a terrible jump shot and I wouldn't count on her defense but then again she wasn't brought her to put on a uniform. She is a high priced consultant brought in to boost the Alumni Association.
I don't normally like consultants. They come in give some ideas and leave. This one is different. She will be around for a couple of years.
She has passion and ideas. Her motto is "Dream big," and boy does she ever.
Margaret headed up the University of Minnesota Alumni group for 25 years. No we aren't U of M but, their Alumni group was not better off than ours is when she started. And their University was not well regarded by the natives. (sound familiar?)
When she left they had a $5 million budget and a nice new Alumni Center located on campus.
Oh and by the way when people laughed at the idea of a new on campus FB stadium, her Alumni came up with the first $1 million and shut up the doubters.
She met with the trustees without staff being present. The discussion was enlightening. Margaret said she'd already met with 60 to 70 administrators and faculty before seeing us. During our discussion I heard many of the things I read on this Board and I heard her confident agreement that they can be done.
She told us that in nearly every meeting, the importance of UWM Athletics came up. The people she met with see it as a key part of building recognition.
We also talked about branding and the need for Panther gear to be everywhere. She mentioned they had the same problem in Minnesota but t hey worked on it. "I thought it was terrible that you could come in the airport and not see University of Minnesota clothing. So we changed that."
As I said, I don't normally like consultants but I LOVED this woman (that's really saying a lot). She encouraged us to speak up and not to settle. Whenever someone mentioned a problem (like the low attendance at the games) her response would be that others had faced similar challenges and overcame them, we only need to look at what they did and apply it here.
So I think we may begin seeing some changes, a more active, more powerful alumni group boosting the University and the AD. I think we may start seeing better branding and more of a presence in the community. I think that just as the U is expanding its campus and research money we will soon start expanding our Alumni groups and the U's recognition in the community.
She may not sink any key shots at critical moments, she may not make a big stop when we most need it, but I believe Margaret Carlson will ultimately have more impact on our Athletic success than any 3 star recruit ever could.
