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Fran Kick: I do a lot of work with different organizations whether its non-profit or
colleges or camps.
Sponsored and
grant-based type organizations.
And I think the neat thing about a Business Professionals of America
organization is that they allow a potential sponsor
to be more engaged
in the process of what's going on here.
It's not about just slapping your logo on a banner or the back of a brochure,
or writing a check.
It's about having a presence and an involvement
actively involved with the students.
A quick example happened here today. The Marines are very involved not only
as exhibitors but also as
help in this organization
and two of the folks who are here in the Marines -- a Sergeant and a Corporal -- were on
our leadership panel and sharing some of the reality of okay, so now you think
you're learning about leadership in this organization and that's all well and good
that you have three stripes or ribbons on your sleeve, but when it comes to actually
pulling people together and working as a team
here are some of the things we look for.
And so to get that perspective is unbelievably valuable.
You could transpose that into a corporate environment, nonprofit environment,
any other organization that's trying to plant a seed within young people today,
so that when they get to be marketably employed,
they're looking for the places to be.
In the Marines example, they shared how many former marines are now CEOs in
Fortune 500 corporations.
That got a lot of attention from some of the smartest students in the room
and that's just going to be something they're going to say "wow!"
Now that's an experience I hadn't thought about getting,
but I might now knowing that that will help better prepare me for the future.
And so if
you're in that kind of a realm.
Or if you're a company who's interested in gaining market share
not just now with students
but also as they emerge into the workforce
planting that seed now early in their life
is a very meaningful thing.
Because you were there helping them learning more about what it takes to be a
leader, or be a business professional in the world, and when they fall back on who
will I go to when I need help
it would be the companies that helped them do that at Business Professionals
of America.
When of business decides where are we going to put our money, not just in terms of
advertising, but in terms of increasing perceptions the marketplace
the neat thing about BPA is they have
a forum of
the most engaged students
many times in their school,
who are really active in pursuing their dreams at a higher level.
So those of the "influencers" in the marketplace and as they go to
college, and as they get out of college and emerge into that market place to be
employed and then move up
those folks have
immense influence and
abilities to activate
relationships
and they're gonna fall back on the relationships that they know and love
and those are the companies that helped them reach what they were trying to do
through Business Professionals of America.
And so from a placement standpoint or getting involved and integrating with
an educational organization
that's truly interested in the student
and not just into
aggrandizing some event
but in developing student leaders
this would be the place to put some funds
and to
activate those monies in your budget so that people and employees from your
company can get involved in Business Professionals of America as judges,
as panelists, as presenters
so that they are more involved
rather than just slapping a logo on brochure.