Next month the Student Alumni Organization (SAO) is hosting a more personal student and alumni networking experience known as the “Hang 10 dinners.”
“What the Hang 10 dinners are is an opportunity for students to actually dine in the homes of Pepperdine alumni and faculty senior Chantel Pevey, SAO Vice President of Marketing and Student Awareness, said.
These dinners will include groups of roughly 10 students, assembled based on common interests and industries of students and hosts.
Matt Ebeling, Executive Director of Alumni Affairs and Seaver College class of 1999 alumnus, commended the format of this networking event for not being overly structured but giving the students some time to have an informal intimate experience with alumni who have succeeded in the real world.”
“It’s a networking opportunity on a more intimate level Pevey said. It’s a time to learn about tips and advice that alumni can offer and gives students a better idea of the different kinds of opportunities out there when you graduate from Pepperdine.”
This intimate setting allows students and their hosts to establish what Pevey calls a “sense of Pepperdine community.”
Pevey recalled attending one of these Hang 10 dinners in 2009 and found it very beneficial. “I absolutely loved it she said. It’s just a great evening.”
One of the factors that Pevey particularly enjoyed was the opportunity to empathize by sharing experiences at Pepperdine and prepare for life after graduation. “It was kind of neat to see what post-Pepperdine life is like she said. It’s interesting to see what it’s like afterwards and hear their experiences from when they were at Pepperdine.”
Hang 10 dinner chair Kimberly Wong a fifth-year MBA student also attended a Hang 10 dinner and agreed that it was a positive experience. “I think the main benefit was honestly peace of mind and knowing that upon graduation there would be people I could turn to who graduated and experienced some of the same things that I experienced at Pepperdine she said. It was extremely comforting to know that there were alumni who were out in the real world who were extremely supportive and looking to reach out to new students.”
Alumni and faculty hosts are not the only people students can get to know by attending these dinners. “It’s also a great opportunity to meet other students as well Pevey said.
Typically there are a lot of opportunities for people looking for business communication and entertainment networking Pevey said. It’s always a kind of wide variety of hosts. We constantly have new alumni.”
“We certainly have a lot of alumni willing to host these students Ebeling said.
In fact, Ebeling is one of those willing hosts. Matt is pretty much one of the gatekeepers to the rest of the Seaver alumni Wong said. If you know Matt you will have access to a lot of alumni in your field.”
Ebeling attributed his decision to be a host to his desire to give back and help students the same way alumni helped him as a student.
“I just remember so many great memories from my student days meeting alumni and getting to know members of the Pepperdine community other than students Ebeling said. I learned very practical skills for getting jobs and learned different ways to look at careers and vocation. All of that support meant a lot to me and I wanted to turn around and do that for students.”
SAO is still in the process of solidifying hosts for the remaining dinners.
“I think basically what you should know about the alumni who hosted these dinners in the past is that they range from GPC [George Pepperdine College] alumni to very recent alumni Wong said. You really get a wide variety of alumni hosting events. You could end up going to a more formal dinner with an older couple who has been in the workforce for 30 or 40 years or you could end up going to a dinner with somebody who graduated two years ago who can really relate to what life has been like at Pepperdine.”
In addition to networking and meeting people the host of Hang 10 dinners serve students homemade meals.
For students who do not have cars Pevey assured that transportation should not be an issue.
“Typically the homes are not too far away from campus she said. They’re all relatively local and there is typically a carpool. What we’ve done in the past is arranged that you meet in Rho and then you carpool from there.”
Part of the student application includes a question of whether or not the applicant has a car and is willing to carpool so that accommodations can be planned ahead. “If getting a ride is a concern it shouldn’t be Pevey said. You’ll be able to fine a ride there.”
Applications are now available on the Web at http://studentorgs.pepperdine.edu/sao/hang10.
Students can sign up now until March 12. “Students can either go online and sign up or come to our table in the Caf Pevey said. She specified that the table will be set up closer to the deadline.
We do request that [participants] sign up only if they are sure they want to participate Pevey added.
The actual dinners will be starting March 27 Pevey said. You do want to block off the late afternoon and evening for them.”
SAO and the Alumni Association hope to get as many students involved as possible in what they believe will be a very beneficial experience.
“It would be my wish that every student could attend Ebeling said. There’s no harm in it. Students only have things to gain.”