Leadership, Collaboration, and Contribution

Back in late April and early May I was really happy to see the level of smart, insightful participation in discussing MSU’s marketing challenges.  It’s linked here if you’d like to check it out:    http://noise.typepad.com/bleeding_green/2009/04/the-marketing-problem-what-do-we-do-.html

 

A few themes from that blog caught my eye and kicked up the questions below:

 

1. Today we have MSU athletics leadership that is changing the Spartans’ football, hoops, and campus marketing efforts, and of which we will be proud.   Coaches Dantonio and Izzo, along with President Lou Anna Simon’s and Athletics Director Mark Hollis’s wise coordination at the top, have already solved some areas of historical neglect.  But, we know there is a long way to go to live up to the potential that most of us recognize quickly when we look back at our years on campus, what MSU has meant to us, and what it has to contribute today. 
2. Where there is terrible neglect is in the alumni network.  I’d have to say it’s painfully weak given the scope of MSU and what we find on campus and amongst members of the Spartans family.  I always wonder why there is such a lack of visibility and sense of collaboration among alumni association members and chapters.  I simply don’t ever get emails, despite paying membership dues reliably, about a national or even local coordinated effort to grow our influence in Michigan and across the nation.  In fact, in the few alumni meetings I attended a several years back here in the Bay Area it was a lot like herding cats.  And, I was struck with a lack of sense of community and mutual interest among attendees on a personal level.  It’s a problem -- without a sense of community as the alumni association’s foundation, or dynamic and visionary local leadership, we cannot go far vis-à-vis the competitive environment we face.  Maybe, just maybe, we can start with focusing on what we can contribute, rather than what we can get.  Just a thought.
3. Frankly, my experience is that my Grand Rapids high school had both far better leadership (most of whom were Spartans too as educators) and better followers as well. So, I wonder:

          a.  Why does this go unaddressed?  

          b.  Why are the energy and the leadership so diluted? 

          c.  Why do bars and tailgaters, with the requisite focus on alcohol, generate a hundred times more energy than the idea of getting these same groups to show up, collaborate in a friendly but intellect-driven context, and run the Spartans program right over the Weasel-rines’ foam-at-the-mouth attitude?  

 

Yes, our top-down Athletics Department leadership is strong at last.  Now, how do we catch up on the bottom-up flow of contribution, vision, local leadership, and commitment to excellence that are the core of Dantonio’s, Izzo’s, Hollis’s and Simon’s recent breakthroughs (and not principally just tippin’ ‘em at the tailgate) that our alumni associations across the U.S. and around the world have not yet attained?

Comments

[JRS]

What is it exactly that these
alumni associations are supposed to be doing that they are not doing and how exactly does this
relate to sports? Sorry if that
comes off as a kind of dumb question but I'm just trying to
understand something basic here..

[Rexrode (evil twin)]

i know its a slow time of the year for MSU athletics but...BOOOORRRRRIIINGG! sorry this is a wasted post.

[West Coast Steve]

Gentlemen, you have thus proved my point and answered all three questions. See you at the tailgate, Budweiser in one hand, pointless diploma in the other. No wonder the Wolvies find it so easy to pointpont Spartans willing to insult their own intelligence. At this moment I'm embarrassed for the entire program and my bedtime prayer will be that the student body could not possibly be this dumb.

[Jerry]

Steve, take a Tylenol. We Wolverines will be there to kick you Bud-drinking tailgaters in October....

[JRS]

Sorry Steve if you think people
are dumb but you are not coming
off as a genius yourself with no
explanation as to what exactly
the alumni association is supposed
to be doing for Spartan athletics.
I want specifics, not this vague
prose of yours.

[JRS]

"And, I was struck with a lack of sense of community and mutual interest among attendees on a personal level."

This is a big surprise? Other than the fact that someone
went to the same school at one
time why should
there be any particular mutual interest in doing things
together? People live busy lives,
have friendship networks formed
after graduation, it is not
realistic to expect some neverending devotion to everything
related to MSU.

[Detroit Spartan]

Mr. Moorman, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever read. At no point in your rambling, incoherent post were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having read it.

[psyc]

Sorry Steve, but if you think it's the allumni groups that fuel UM's marketing machine you are way off.

Michigan is like the Yankees, Cowboys and Lakers in their brand recognition. Boosters and fans come out of the woodwork because of ESPN and Nike, not because thier sense of community with UM.

I live in a UM dominated area south of AA and only know 4 fans (out of hundreds)who actually attended the school! I also golf with a group of bluebellies in Arizona and half of them don't even know where AA is in Michigan!

What makes MSU twice the COMMUNITY that UM could ever be is our allumni. Sorry Steve, but I think it's the holier than thou attitude you're displaying that is keeping you out of the loop not a lack of leadership!!

I'll keep a Bud cold for you just in case you decide to step down off your throne and join the family!

[SteveinKY]

As a leader of a small MSUAA organization in Eastern Kentucky/West Virginia/southern Ohio, I believe there are a minimum of 3 things we can all do as Spartan Supporters.
First, encourage others to attend MSU via college nights at local schools and general word of mouth.
Secondly, raise funds for Scholarships in what ever way works: races, golf outings, football parties, etc.
Lastly, join the Alumni Association. It is not expensive, and it shows you are a true supporter of MSU.
I have been active in the Alumni Association for over a year now and I must say that the MSU Alumni Association has been very helpful. If you call them, they have people that will help you further the interests of your goup and the University. This past year they had several seminars held all over the country to help interested alumni to do just that. Go to the website: www.msualum.com.
There you will find all kinds of ways to start a group or participate in helping MSU.
Ultimately, it's a personal decision we all make.
I know that my debt to this University goes far beyond cheering on a great team.
We are who we are in large part because of our experiences in East Lansing and those of us who feel that way want to contribute in a bigger way and often do.
Shame on those who can't recognize this and support their University by simply joining the Alumni Association.
If you don't like what your local Association is doing, then get involved and get it to do something else. You'd be surprised at how open we are to folks who want to help.
GO GREEN!

[OldBob]

Southwestern Michigan has the most well-attended alumni event in the nation. This year 660 tickets were sold for the annual Spartan Steak and Suds event, and in the midst of a deluge, the place was jammed with green and white clad loyalists. But here's the problem: in the past couple years the the head coaches -- Dantonio and Izzo in particular, do not show up. Last year AD Hollis said, "This is the biggest Spartan event in the nation, and I'm going to insist that Mark and Tom show up." They didn't

Not that the football coaches filling in didn't do a credible job, but the absences do make a statement.

Earlier, Rodriquez showed up at the local country club to talk to a group less than one-fifth the size of the MSU group,...and he commanded good coverage in our local paper.

We have our share of WalMart Wolverines in SW Michigan, but some of my non-MSU-graduate friends have adopted MSU as their Big Ten university of choice, and they were a bit disappointed when the two stellar coaches from MSU stood us up.

I remain a die-hard MSU fan ... and graduate ... but it would be nice to see our enthusiasm for the Spartans over here acknowldged.

[Darrell Hensley]

I think everyone is just a little impatient. A few more years of Dantonio and Izzo success and everyone including West Coast Steve will have what they want. We have tremendous momentum. Nationally. It's coming fellas, I feel it. Go Green!

[West Coast Steve]

What's visible to me from the alumni association is the juice at the tailgaters. I know I attended classes with a lot of extraordinarily bright people, most not of the locker-room persuasion. That perspective probably creates some friction with that gifted “we’ll be a great program if we just win” group. OK, that’s insightful…and completely powerless. Do you actually think that’s where Florida’s, Texas’s, USC’s, Oklahoma’s, Kentucky’s, Nebraska’s, OSU’s, and Cal’s alumni leadership leaves it? Get real!

In the previous blog (marketing) referenced in my post above, bloggers pointed out that the broad alumni association is still a weak link and needs a lot of work in many chapters. Not all, I’m sure. And, that criticism back in May sure as shootin’ reminded me of my experience too. So, that’s principally why this post is up. If the questions above are not optimal, a completely reasonable assumption here on “day one,” then what are the right questions that can lead us, and particularly Hollis and Simon, to making this thing hum like Izzo’s hoops program and Dantonio’s first two years?

It's the visionaries who know we have far to go before we sleep. Cynics, vision-free followers, and those threatened by probing questions, why don’t you hang up the snotty tone and insecurities for a week during the early summer doldrums? You’re really not the ones I want to call to awareness and participation (quite the opposite).

Personally, I think it’s bleedingly obvious that we need input from more of our visionaries, yes, particularly here in "Bleeding Green.” Doesn’t the B-G title suggest some participants here with passion and some degree of informed and incisive commitment to the program? If that's not you, then enjoy your other networks and slosh out at the game, if that’s what spins your pinwheel.

Detroit Spartan, you live in Metro Detroit. Glass houses. Actually, I'm kind of glad I can freak you out like that, now get off the coach and let it reinflate. Who knows? You might enjoy the synapses.

[West Coast Steve]

Or is it couch? Maybe it works either way...think about it.

[rooster]

Here in Grand Rapids MSU now has a Medical School as part of the 'Medical Mile' ..in a beautiful building alongside Interstate 196...At the top of the building is a large sign "Michigan State University"!
Every day people see that sign, whether they are locals, or people passing through toward Chicago. It has to eat at all the SCUM..having to see the sign every day!
I would like to see Simon, MD, and Hollis to take some of that Football money and fix the stadium...new bathrooms, better food choices, a place to sit outside the stadium, etc.Put some football money back into the stadium grounds, not into the General Fund as Simon does!!

[GKroks]

In an age of "what's in it for me" attitudes, that question needs to be addressed to draw alum to the group. The networking possiblilities are huge considering the hundreds of thousands of MSU alumni worldwide. Notre Dame does an outstanding job of making sure ND alumni are hiring ND grads and furthering those kid's employment. That would be a pretty good incentive to join the alumni association. As success in business will relate to personal financial success, MSU would reap the benefits of that success through increased giving and participation. Quite frankly, the alumni association just seems to be like one more organization trying to get into your wallet! Make sure the benefits of belonging exist and membership will soar.

[beee-dubbb]

A few years ago I joined the Alumni Assoc. and paid my dues. I had problems getting into the website and couldn't get anyone to help me. Never tried again. I wonder if they have made it a friendlier site now?

[Laconophilia]

I think there's only one thing that will solve any of our problems: sustained excellence in academics and athletics.

Academics:
As it stands there is too much variation in our graduates to garner consistant support in terms of career advancement. It's getting better and hopefully it will continue. Part of the greatness of MSU as a college is the diversity of the student body. Unfortunately this hurts us in the end, as we let in more than our fair share of idiots that somehow stumble out with a degree. Until we consistantly turn out hard working and intelligent alumni, we won't have the support to rival the networks of ND, UM, Harvard, etc. Part of the solution may be harder classes and more selective admissions and I think we are on track in that regard. We just need to continue building on the momentum we've established. Look how far we've come in just 15 years!

Athletics:
No question we are on the right track here too. It's just going to take time to keep building. Coach Dantonio, for the first time in a long time, has put a team on the field we can be proud to support. The biggest fans SHOULD be the ones to turn on their coaching staff when their team leads the league in penalties for 3 straight years. When the team has a series of epic 4th quarter collapses. We'd do more damage than good by blindly supporting those Bobby William's and John L. Smith teams.

Finally, while it would be nice to see the coaching staff support large alumni events, let's keep things in perspective. Every minute they spend at your event takes away time they need to recruit, plan, fundraise, etc. Your event may have had a lot of folks attend, but how much money did it actually bring into the program/school? I WANT my coaches to prioritize. We have too many alumni, too many events, and too much at stake to pressure them to attend crap like that.

GO GREEN!

[MayoSpartan]

Gkroks is absolutely correct and could go one step further to include UM's grads' professional networking. Their alumns help each other succeed financially which leads to endowments and grants and help for the athletic department. Thus, they have pull and coaches attend their alum functions. This trickles down to the recruits, whom are told about their opportunities after their careers end, and if you don't think this influences a recuits decisions on schools, then ... you're lost.

Networking and making it known that we help each other creates the machine that the Nike's want to be associated with! Go GREEN!