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During my entire 20+ year career, I have been working with leading companies in the business world participating in and designing experiences for professional audiences. Creating memorable and valuable experiences is a major strategic initiative for every company across every industry. Starting from the big picture goals and objectives of why companies do this and what is the mix of experiences, to the detailed goals for real life program scenarios and how companies execute and measure the success of an experience program. These are all important for future business professionals to learn and understand.

Show an understanding of the course content and research materials, various corporate experience types, experience components, experience functions, audience/customer personas. This would be individual research and study of basic big picture overview content.

Team project – Design a Corporate Experience.

Team project curveball – Murphy’s Law crisis week – how can they pivot to try to ensure success executing their experience.

Deeper Dive individual project – Choose a specific research project (5-10 page paper) on a course related topic. Interview an industry professional; produce a think-piece on the future of work.

Phase 1 – Group discussions, recommended readings, high level overview
Execute assigned research, complete assigned quizzes (multiple choice + short answer) in the course management system with minimum proficiency.

Phase 2 – majority of the course – Design an end-to-end experience/event Project –
– Students select an industry that interests them and select an experience type. Students can then develop the different components to the experience and create an experience plan and/or select a functional role on the experience team. This allows a “choose your own adventure” type of scenario and hopefully create a flexible but immersive experience tailored to the student’s specific interests.

Phase 3 – Deeper dive – students take on an individual research project in an area of interest to them.

Superior student shows initiative to do independent research and learning on the subject matter.
Superior student is an active participant in pre-class surveys and class discussions.
Superior student shows creativity and proficiency of their chosen subject matter.

Reflect on what industries, companies, products they find interesting and exciting.
Reflect on what type of work they can envision themselves enjoying and excelling at.
Reflect on how internal corporate experiences can affect a company’s culture and improve employee performance.
Reflect on how corporate experiences can affect their customers – attracting new customers and retaining existing customers.

The course concept is to explore and learn how business professionals design experiences for various audiences. Creating memorable and valuable experiences is a major strategic initiative for every company across every industry. Starting from the big picture goals and objectives of why companies do this, to the detailed goals for real life program scenarios and how companies execute and measure the success of an experience program are all important for future business professionals to learn and understand.

The goal for the course is to provide students the opportunity to learn the basics about corporate experiences and take a deeper dive to envision their own role in participating in these experiences in their future in the business world.

In the course, students will build awareness of their own professional interests and how the world of corporate experiences can offer opportunities for them. Developing the core skills of strategic planning, critical thinking, situational problem solving, effective collaboration and proactive communication.

Part of my professional success has stemmed from an ability to draw information out of people – get them to open up and collaborate. I was trained early in my career on a sales technique called “Consultative Interactive Selling” – basically asking questions to gain interest by asking questions and letting the customer tell you their interests, challenges and desired next steps. I see the students as my customers in this scenario and I’ll be working with them individually and in groups to collaborate and gain their “buy in”.

The “Curveball” concept in the middle of their group project will enable this scenario.

Proactive and effective communication has always been a key core skill for me and the people I most admire in my professional life. Too often, people – especially younger people are shy or hesitant to communicate as they lack the confidence and practice in these areas. I think this would be a good one to focus on.

Sustainability is currently a popular topic and companies are scrambling to implement programs as more and more legislation is passed to improve social, economic, and environmental issues. What many people don’t realize is that the Procurement department plays a monumental role in sustainability strategies within companies.

Students will be assigned to groups in which they will develop either a procurement strategy or an improvement surrounding sustainability for a company partnering with the BiP program. Students will break down the company’s Procurement procedures, policies, and practices while learning how sustainability can be implemented within. The groups will compete by creating and presenting a business proposal for the company at the end of the semester.

Students will need to read through the company’s Procurement policies, procedures, and practices to gain a better understanding of what is permitted and required at the company. This will give them a baseline of what can be implemented in their proposal.
Students will be taken through the Procurement process (at a high level): forecasting, strategy creation, negotiation, requirements from other businesses/policies/procedures, processing the order/creating a contract, selecting/reviewing suppliers, relationship management, etc.
They will then decide where they believe they can focus on creating value within the company chosen.

A desired outcome would be the students developing a basic (maybe one-time fix) idea/strategy that the company could easily implement. The company may or may not implement the idea, but the students will have provided value and potential ideas for the future to the company.
Superior achievement would be a proposal that demonstrates a deep understanding of the company’s Procurement strategy/department and a detailed and developed idea that the company can implement and finds beneficial over time.

Reflections will be requested in their final presentation – what was important for them as a student and a “Procurement employee” and what could they have improved upon in their proposal?
Class discussions will also take place to break down the Procurement process within a company – this will allow for reflection of how they can take previous course concepts (strategy creation, communication, organizational structures, etc.) and apply it to “real-world” scenarios.

This course is structured in a way for students to build on their skills of critical thinking, leadership, and dealing with ambiguity. Students will be given data from real companies and be asked to implement a solution to a problem. This will require the students to reflect on knowledge from previous core curriculum, current events, and new tools and technology. This course will focus on sustainability and how it relates to Procurement by granting students the freedom to be innovative and creative while creating a professional presentation and business plan at the end of the semester.

With the topic of sustainability in Procurement being the center focus of the class, it will be important that the students develop situational awareness and I hope it should come intuitively as we discuss the topic in detail. I also believe that the course curriculum will help develop this soft skill. The students are required to establish a situational baseline of a company, troubleshoot and reflect upon potential solutions, and then pitch those ideas and reflect upon their choices and the future.

I would like to keep the groups to four students or less because I believe that smaller groups will promote better collaboration. I hope to express to the students the importance of collaboration in class by a Class One activity. I will ask the students to list out their personal strengths in group projects (this also establishes a functional skill of “knowing your strengths”) and share with their group. Their group will establish roles within the team based on this self-reflecting information.

I will ask the students to submit a piece of their project each class for review. This will give me an opportunity to check their progress and give them feedback. I would also like the students to find an industry appropriate article and write a one-page summary of the article and present it to the class in a 2-3 minute overview. This will develop their communication skills and allow them to apply course concepts into every day life.

Dealing with ambiguity, leadership, and critical thinking

I am currently the Director of Economic Development for the City of Rochester, and have been tasked as a top priority with the redevelopment of the Downtown.

Students will be tasked several short case studies and brainstorming sessions, as well as a final presentation involving a specific redevelopment project.

Classes will focus on specific aspects of econ dev i.e. funding, approvals, stakeholders, analysis, construction, etc. Students will be asked to focus on a particular topic as discussed in class and provide a short essay on how it pertains to a provided case. This should give them the tools create their final presentation.

I will be looking for the development of redevelopment strategies that can be applied to any project no matter the size. I want the students to have a good understanding of what Econ Dev is and why it’s important to the economic health of a town/city.

How what they learned applies to their hometown and what they would do if put in the situation to drive redevelopment within their community.

This course will provide an overview of the importance of economic development within a community and how redevelopment projects play an important role in preserving the economic health of a community. Students will be exposed to Economic Development and how it’s practitioners prioritize projects best suited to meet the mission of the organization. Students will then experience the different steps associated with bringing a chosen project to completion.

I will try to make the course as interesting as possible so they are engaged. I will try to get them to use a familiar frame of reference to gain perspective.

Teams will need to have input from all members. There will be no “spokesperson” and all teams will need all members to be prepared to answer questions regarding their assignment.

I will ask them to walk me through a process before they have been exposed to the material. It will give them an idea of what they don’t know before they realize the answer wasn’t that far away.

Public speaking, negotiations, and basic communication skills will be very important.

With the bombardment of news and media messages, businesses have to try harder than ever to be memorable. Creating a story that reflects the problems a business solves, their purpose, or key differentiators can help people remember a brand, but also create a connection that sticks with the audience and makes your business more likable.

Present a story about themselves in front of the class to understand the fundamentals of storytelling.
Revise the copy and/or design for a company’s homepage that walks the user through the brand’s story, its key values, advantages, and how it makes the customer’s life easier, using key elements from storytelling.
Create a three minute presentation that presents a solution a company offers as a story.
Create a series of social media posts that tell a story about a brand and/or its products.
Write an elevator pitch for an example company to pitch to investors.

Working in groups to brainstorm messages and select the best approach.
Provide an outline for the task, including key messages that need to be woven into the story.
Practicing public speaking skills by telling their personal story to the class.
Working in groups to revise and workshop each other’s copywriting to select the best approach.
Using different storytelling techniques and devices to rework a company’s messaging.
Watching example videos of presentations or storytelling that provides examples of what they are producing.
Find online examples of work they like and why it works, using it to provide a framework for their projects.

I would look for student work that first conveys a clear and compelling story about a brand, what it does and the value it brings the customer.
I would want the student to use the tools specific to an assignment and demonstrate basic abilities to use the tool.
I would look for students to present with confidence and understanding of what they are saying.
Work that is especially creative or went above and beyond in use of tools would qualify as superior achievement.
Understanding how word choice and the way the words are presented combine to create the overall message.

This will largely focus on how we quantify sometimes subjective aspects of creative work in a business setting. The idea of why didn’t this “work.” I would like students to reflect on how they can be more clear and precise through word choice, how the words they use can set the tone, how they deliver a presentation can influence the audience, how different audiences respond differently to the same message, etc.

Descriptions: Successful businesses don’t just explain what their products and services do. They create a story to show why customers need them. This course will outline the fundamental elements of business storytelling and the important role it plays in branding, public relations, marketing, and securing financing. It will examine how word choice, images and even colors create a brand’s story, and how public speaking techniques can elevate a product pitch into a memorable story. Students will learn the basic building blocks of traditional storytelling and how these elements are used to create connections with customers. To put these concepts into practice, students will create a brand’s story and then tell it through social media posts, in an advertising campaign, and an oral presentation aimed at potential investors. Students will also write and share a personal business story based on their own experiences designed to tell in job interviews or when launching their own business.

One of the key aims of business storytelling is taking advanced ideas and bringing them down to a personal, relatable level. I would help convey this concept by having them write and tell a short story about themselves.

On creative group work, I would encourage being courteous when hearing and sharing creative ideas, and how to work together to find the best creative answer. I would like to talk to groups one-on-one to see how they came to a conclusion and ensure all voices are being heard.

Writing an elevator pitch. It doesn’t take much time to write but is extremely difficult for some people to get right. I would also design a public speaking element into the class where students could talk about something they are comfortable with to ensure they can focus on elements like volume, posture, and portraying confidence (which I expect some students might struggle with).

Self-reflection will be a big aspect of the assignment that calls on them to talk about a personal business experience. Understanding why they took and action and how that tells a story about them will be helpful in job interviews, and in their personal growth.