From Meetings to Marketing: managing different positions in the board

Hi Kraketters! 

You may already be familiar with my name popping up in your inbox through the numerous emails I've sent your way, but for those who haven't had the pleasure yet, allow me to introduce myself properly. I'm Sean Lee, a 23-year-old enthusiast of working out, eating delicious food, visiting exciting countries and the occasional drink shared with good company. Currently, I'm writing my thesis before completing my bachelor's degree in Econometrics and Data Science.

In addition to my academic pursuits, I am a member of the 52nd board of Kraket, taking on multiple roles such as Secretary, External Affairs Officer, and (Offline) Marketing Affairs Officer. Each of these roles demands a unique set of skills. Allow me to elaborate further.

As the Secretary, I am responsible for the administration of Kraket. I stay in touch with all the members by sending out the monthly newsletter and member emails. I maintain the membership database and keep the website up to date, so that both members and outsiders can always find the correct information there. Furthermore, I take minutes at board meetings and ALV's. Finally, the Kraket wiki page and the app also falls under the responsibility of the secretary.

As a fellow External Affairs Officer, our main task is maintaining the contact between Kraket and external parties, mostly companies. Over the summer, Pieter Maarse and I had meetings with many potential partners, either at their office or online. In these meetings, we discussed potential collaborations, after which we kept in touch, via email or phone, to finalize the way in which we were going to collaborate with them. The rest of the year, I keep in touch with our partners to coordinate the implementation of our collaboration. This entails putting vacancies and company profiles on Kraket’s website, sending the monthly vacancy mail, and coordinating inhousedays and other events. Additionally, we keep busy with exploring opportunities for new collaborations throughout the year. 

Finally the Marketing Affairs Officers, Anne Alberts is responsible for the online marketing and I am for the offline marketing. Together we are responsible for planning and creating the (visual) promotion of the association, activities, and internal affairs through social media channels and physical promotional materials. We arrange and manage the designs for these, ensuring the maintenance of the corporate identity. We are also in charge of the marketing plan of the association through different techniques and innovations in the field of promotion.

Luckily I share my roles with my wonderful board members, so we can communicate and work together to improve Kraket as a whole.

With all my roles and responsibilities out of the way, let me give you a quick overview of my usual week:

Monday (February 5)

Normally it is my duty to open the Kraket room on mondays, but today is the National Econometricians Day (LED)! The LED is the biggest career event for Econometrics students of the year. In which more than 50 companies participate. The Sector committee and my fellow board members might write an article about this evenement, so be on the lookout for those masterpieces. 

The day kicked off at 9:00 with a speech by Olympic gold medalist Mark Tuitert, setting us up for a day of excitement and learning. In the morning, we dove into a cool case study with Transavia, where we brainstormed ways to boost revenue while dealing with some tricky constraints.

Lunchtime was a chance to catch up with friends and chat with recruiters I'd met before. Then, I helped out at the company fair, showing some fellow students around and doing quick chats with companies I hadn't met yet.

We wrapped up the day with a tasty 3-course dinner where I met coworkers from Accenture and BCG, while we enjoyed a show/mockery of Greg Shapiro and some smooth jazz music. All in all, it was a pretty awesome day!

Tuesday (February 6)

After waking up at the hotel and a quick breakfast, I went straight to the university to attend a meeting with the legendary SECTOR committee! In this meeting we go over the upcoming articles and brainstorm over interesting topics to write about. I won’t give any sneak peeks yet :). 

Afterwards, I reread the minutes of the first general assembly and tried to elaborate on unclear sentences.

I end my day by working out in the gym with my friend and eating dinner with my family.

Wednesday (February 7)

Today is the start of a two-day photoshoot of the Almanac committee. Here and there I try to help where I can, but the committee is already giving it all. In the morning I juggle emails from secretary, marketing, and external mails. 

In the afternoon, the Kraket room is super busy due to the photoshoots and next to that I started preparing the information booklet for the Diversity & Development Day (DDD) and reshape the contests with the help of the chairman of the committee.

In between I have a meeting with Pieter Maarse to go over the future sponsorship and possibilities of collaboration for companies. 

Afterwards we finish the day with a board meeting and a meeting to prepare the upcoming general assembly. I expect everyone to be there since there's free pizza involved.

Thursday (February 8)

Today, I'm diving into putting together the Kraket newsletter, something we're all pretty familiar with. On top of that, I'll be polishing off the DDD event booklet and prepping my bit for the General Assembly. And, of course, I'll be doing the usual email check-up.

I end my day by working out in the dojo.

Friday (February 9)

On the final day of the week I decide to take it easy and focus on my university work. 

Here's a brief summary of my typical week with Kraket. While it doesn't cover every aspect of my busy life, it should give you a good idea of how my week as a board member usually unfolds.