Hi everyone! I’m Joost Boele, 25 years old and as good as graduated from the MSc’s SCM and TOM. The first half a year of my time in Groningen, I did not join a committee as I was unsure about the workload of combining SCM and TOM. After a while, I found out that I had sufficient time, and also motivation to meet new people as result of the online studying, to join a committee in February.

There were a few committees I could choose from. The Conference Committee got my attention for mainly two reasons. First, the thought of putting in a lot of effort and preparation, for a longer period of time, all to organise a single event, really motivated me, as I could imagine to be very proud of the end result. Second, the Conference is a somewhat ‘real life’ business scenario, with many professionals involved. This triggered me as it would also provide me with some relevant knowledge that I could use for the start of my own career.

My main role was acquisition, with as main objective to contract the most interesting companies for the Conference. So basically at first I spend a lot of time online, for example LinkedIn, to find email-addresses and phone numbers of employees at such companies. I also reached out to my own network and asked many members of TeMa whether they had any relevant contacts to get in touch with. My committee members supported me in this. And then the process of motivating the companies to join the Conference began, resulting in endless phone calls, emails and online meetings. Once all the companies were contracted, it was important to keep them updated on a regular basis and gather relevant materials required for the organisation of the Conference. I already had quite some experience of working with other companies, so these meetings were not difficult. And its not a problem at all if you cannot answer all questions, as long as you get back to them after you discussed the question with your committee. The people you meet, mostly recruiters, very well understand that organising a Conference can be a learning process and sometimes a bit chaotic, and are genuinely happy to think along.

Besides acquisition, I supported the other committee members with general tasks, especially as the day of the Conference was closing in. You can think about making the day schedule of all the workshops, organising the event location and all the administration around students attending.

From time to time, the workload of organising the Conference can be high, especially near the end. I think on average, you should account for 5 hours of work per week, but from my experience in the last weeks this can increase to 20 hours. If you start doing a lot of work early on, this will definitely help you near the end. If you have a very busy schedule, you should also account for the time that is required for all the social activities together with your committee. These socials are really important to keep the spirits high and sometimes bring light to very good ideas. So perhaps that’s an additional 5 hours a week. Besides the Conference Committee, I was busy with both the MSc SCM and TOM, and also some part-time work. 

I think, working so closely for a long period of time, with a dedicated team, has learned me a lot. It is really important to keep your Committee updated, to keep track of all records and correspondence. Communication is key! I also learned the relevance of keeping an eye out for the work and the general spirit of the other committee members. In the end, it’s a team effort in which you strongly depend on one another. 

You learn a lot from each other and experience many fun moments. While all the work you put in is to organise a great event, it is the actual work and social time throughout the preparation that is most valuable.

It was inspiring to see the great difference of how we as a committee experienced the Conference, compared to all the students and companies that attended the Conference. It was great to see all the pieces of the puzzle, which we prepared throughout the months prior to the Conference, fall into place during the Conference.

Although organising the Conference can be intense from time to time, it makes it all the more rewarding once you see the result of your hard work at the Conference. Besides, it’s a great experience to work so closely together with your committee, and the TeMa Board, for a longer period of time. The valuable industry contacts that you can build, even with companies that do not decide to participate, is an extra bonus!