New student Business Networking Society
The Strathclyde Virtual Business Networking Society (SBVNS) is a new, innovative society where students can get an insight into the many industries they might end up in as graduates.
With frequent events featuring guest speakers, Q+As, and discussions, students can see business theory put into practice. The Society provides a platform to empower students to develop their networking skills in a virtual environment, which will ultimately serve practice for future job roles. With the way business is shifting to a virtual environment, the society believes it will be hugely beneficial to all its members, and it aims to include something for everyone.
The society was set up by Ben Ridder, MSc Project Management & Innovation (PMI), Chris Chelich (MSc PMI), Nick Read (MSc MBM) and Tiana Sexton (MSc MBM) at the start of the academic year and since then they have gained another committee member - Helen Fleming (MSc MBM) - who joined to help with the growing number of social events that the group had planned.
Society secretary Ben Ridder said, “As the society was founded this year, we made it a goal to achieve the gold level active and engaged status that is set out by Strathclyde Union (SU). This includes elements that range from administrative such as having hand over documents for the committee next year to ensuring that the committee is trained in society finance, unconscious bias training, leadership or a number of other options as provided by SU. We also completed a community event during which the committee raised £355 for Movember.
“Once we received the gold level we became eligible for the STAR awards and competed against the other gold level clubs. We were delighted to receive the overall award for Gold Society. The membership of the society has been growing all year and we now have over 50 members.”
Since it launched, the Society has hosted monthly industry-leading business talks and socials with local and international organisations; supported mental health awareness; recognised by the University's ‘inspire’ programme as a leading resource for entrepreneurship; and now been recognised as Gold Society of the Year.
Ben added, “We are incredibly thankful for the recognition and to everyone who has contributed to making our society a resounding success. Without our community we could not have accomplished this achievement.
You can find the Society on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/StrathclydeVirtualBusinessNetworkingSociety and more about the Star Awards here: https://strathlife.strathunion.com/star-awards-2021/
Published: 4 June 2021
