Approaching companies in relation to student projects

[benweblight]

I'm currently studying an Event Technology course at uni.

 

As part of my assignment's this year I will need to contact companies in the industry directly for information. I'm not talking about asking them to do my work for me rather than carrying out my own research; this is where this will be required in order to gain high marks in the assignment and we have been told specifically by our lecturer to carry out this kind of primary research. Here I am talking specifically about:

 

1. Business assignment; A case study of a business where I will need to approach a company for possibly sensitive information.

 

2. Sound assignment; where quotes will be needed for a theoretical system (using online/catalouge prices has been advised against).

 

Personally, I feel awkward bothering companies with this kind of thing as I can understand why this would not be a high priority for them and I would feel the same in their shoes; especially as most companies in the industry do not have dedicated education contacts to deal with this kind of thing. Also; in the case of 2. this would be approaching a company for a quote with no intention of hiring and I feel being upfront about this is more likely to result in no reply or a price list rather than an actual quote.

 

Just wanted to know what others thought about this kind of thing. I can see that making these kind of contacts is useful practice for working in the industry but do people see this as a reasonable/responsible thing to be asking...or a necessary evil in order to deliver the course properly?

[jonhole]

Hi Ben,

 

I used to be a student on a Stage Management and Technical Theatre course and had to do very similar projects.

 

A few things I discovered while doing this:

 

- Local companies to your Uni may be a lot more willing to help.

- Try and find any companies that have close links with the Uni already, or companies that the Uni are big customers of - this again can help.

- Sometimes you can try and 'pretend' it is a real situation, however you often end up on the end of an awkward telephone call or having to answer questions there are simple no answers to.

- It's generally better to send out emails telling them exactly what you are doing. Show that you have done background research so they don't think, like you say, that you just want them to do your work for you. Also make emails personal. Do not send out a generic email to a lot of companies.

- Some companies are really helpful and useful, where as others aren't. Just accept this and move on I guess. And I always thought the big international companies selling / hiring expensive kit to large tours and events would be the one's who weren't interested, but actually I often (not always) found the opposite to be true.

- Some Uni's get industry professionals / companies to come in to take certain lectures. If this is the case, see if they bring anyone in that 'fits' and contact them - they have a personal link with the Uni, and you might be able to buy them a drink after a lecture one day and have a useful conversation.

[w/robe]

I can see why you would be worried about approaching people, my advice would be to be honest from the start then they know that what ever time and energy they invest there will not be a 'sale'. How annoyed would they be with you and the Uni if they found out during the process that you had misled them.

 

When I had to do something similar, a long time ago, I found people either ignored my attempts to contact them or were very helpful.

[Junior8]

Don't waste their time that's the key. Only approach when you know exactly what questions you need to ask and why. Back in 1974 Brian Legge detected that I hadn't done this re the Light Console and gave me quite a hard time! In the case of No 1 you may well be asked and will have to give answers to questions about how you will handle any confidential data they give you, so have your data-protections and research ethics protocols worked out. Take refusal gracefully and cooperation with effusive thanks

 

Sadly you've just missed the Showman's Show (where there were a bunch of event management students around this time) but if your deadlines permit it why not take a trip to The Event Production Show and approach a few suitable companies there face to face.

[StevieR]

As a company who receives such requests here are my thoughts.

 

We don't always have the time to answer students requests but will try to help to a degree if we have the time. We are a business after all.

 

Firstly, as has been said already, be up-front about the fact that it is college/uni work. That allows the company to prioritise it appropriately. Then don't be offended if they decline or don't reply - they're probably too busy at that point.

 

Next, ask explicit question so as not to waste time. Don't ask vague questions such as (as we have had this week) "can you provide a quotation for a sound system for a fashion show for my project?". We need details to work with so having them at the start is very helpful.

 

It is also nice when the student in question then sends a copy of their project giving credit to our company for their assistance.

 

On a side note (and a minor rant), I also wonder why the lecturer's ask the students to do such research that clearly uses up company's valuable time. They appear to automatically assume that we have plenty of spare time for such requests. Perhaps all such requests should include full contact details for the course tutor so that we can contact them with some tedious educational questionnaire...

 

Perhaps you should ask your lecturer/tutor to join the Blue Room and explain why they set/justify such project tasks???

 

Steve

[Pete McCrea]

1. Business assignment; A case study of a business where I will need to approach a company for possibly sensitive information.

 

Openness and honesty. And to be fair there's a fair whack of info that you can get for £15 from Credit Safe, Companies House at al. Also letting them know how and where it's going to be used will help - if it ends up in a report as 'Company A' and 'Company B', then it maybe more tolerable.

 

2. Sound assignment; where quotes will be needed for a theoretical system (using online/catalouge prices has been advised against).

 

Be precise as the others have said. Numbers of people, venue size, program type, input types and quantities. Even if you don't know for certain, get and outline quote based on a sensible set of assumptions.

 

As also mentioned, if you've ever done work with companies before, then give them a bell and put the question to them. If you state it's for a project and isn't going to happen, then they know not to put it in the cashflow.

 

If you need any help give me a bell. Now we've got EasyJob on the new server, putting a quote together for a PA hire takes about 4-5minutes if you come with a fairly specific requirement.

[charl.ie]

I recently contacted a few companies with regards to some of their older products. The timing of the query (around PLASA!) meant that I didn't get a reply from any of them for a long while. However, ETC sent me an email a month or so later asking if anyone had contacted me. From there, we spoke and I up ended with heaps of useful information. They were incredibly helpful, providing all sorts (at one point they even rang me up - not cheap from the US to my UK mobile).

As others have said, the key is being upfront with who you are and what it's for. I mentioned it was a student project at every stage of the communication, and they were still willing to help.

[PHughesUoG]

As a company who receives such requests here are my thoughts.

 

We don't always have the time to answer students requests but will try to help to a degree if we have the time. We are a business after all.

 

Firstly, as has been said already, be up-front about the fact that it is college/uni work. That allows the company to prioritise it appropriately. Then don't be offended if they decline or don't reply - they're probably too busy at that point.

 

Next, ask explicit question so as not to waste time. Don't ask vague questions such as (as we have had this week) "can you provide a quotation for a sound system for a fashion show for my project?". We need details to work with so having them at the start is very helpful.

 

It is also nice when the student in question then sends a copy of their project giving credit to our company for their assistance.

 

On a side note (and a minor rant), I also wonder why the lecturer's ask the students to do such research that clearly uses up company's valuable time. They appear to automatically assume that we have plenty of spare time for such requests. Perhaps all such requests should include full contact details for the course tutor so that we can contact them with some tedious educational questionnaire...

 

Perhaps you should ask your lecturer/tutor to join the Blue Room and explain why they set/justify such project tasks???

 

Steve

 

I'm glad that Steve has raised a question that many students fail to ask directly to the teaching team: What is the point of this assignment and why am I bothering the industrywith these requests?

 

As well as lecturing I am an industry employer, I have been approached on countless occasions with CVs and requests for employment.  If I decide to give a potential freelancer /employee a chance, I frequently see that it is not their technical skills thatlet them down but their general industry knowledge and communication skills.  This is something that I would expect to nurture from nothing if a student comes to my business directly after leaving school or with little experience.

 

Our course is a degree level BSc Honours award that we have worked with industry to develop.  As both an institution and department, we expect our graduates to go into industry with a greater knowledge and ensure we deliver people who have an overview of most aspects of the live event sector.  Many of our alumni have been accepted into high level roles in industry directly after graduation.  Employers generally expect university graduates to have learned worthwhile skills during their three years, after all that is what the students are paying for. 

 

Looking at the two assignments specifically, the business research project is designed to do two things: 1. Require students to truly have an overview of bigger businesses inthe industry which is invaluable knowledge to have when searching for an employer or in demonstrating to an employer that they have an understanding of things other than the technical aspects. 2.  Develop students' real-world research  and networking skills.  The web is an excellent source of information but we all know in this industry that it is making and keeping contacts directly with suppliers and other businesses that makes the difference.  In reality, the assignment is just evidence of the skills that will have been developed in the process.  If we as a team did not care about these essential skills then it would be far easier to  only give students multiple choice tests or exams.

 

The sound assignment is a continuation of these skills.  All of us who have had technical requirements sent to us from an act will have had to use a number of skills to decipher, determine feasibility and give a price to a promoter / client (more often than not within 2 hours!).  The assignment asks that the final price be realistic in a way that the hires could be obtained and the show happen.  I advised against googleing "Hire price for Midas XL8", writing down a number and then googleing the next piece of equipment creating a list of individual items from the website of several businesses because let's face it, we would not do this in the real world.  Most of this assignment is to do with working out which aspects of the spec could be compromised on, determining (perhaps from a business' online hire list) what the gross cost would be and approaching a business for a realistic cost for those specific items of equipment.    

 

The main concern I can see here is that business' time is being wasted.  We as an institution have excellent links with manufacturers, production companies and individuals who support the development of the next generation of professionals.  Most businesses understand that making links with students is 'playing the long game' but eventually, these students will be the people looking for a supplier and if they have previous experience of a business who was helpful to them, they will be number one on the list.  With ever increasing legislation affecting our industry, these same businesses require 'competent' staff and with subjects such as the 17^th edition wiring regs and rigging being taught on our course, they are enthusiastic to learn of a ready source of appropriate staff in return for a little help with a project.

 

Steve also makes a good point in recommending how to approach businesses.  Students who realise that if their approach is clear, structured and to the point,businesses are far more likely to give them what they need.  Being able to communicate in this way is what is required of HE students and we cannot recommend them to industry by means of awarding a degree until these skills are developed and tested. 

[StevieR]

Well, well, well. To quote Mr Ben, "As if by magic, the shopkeeper appeared!"

 

Thanks for that feedback, Philip. That certainly gives the perspective from the other side and its clearer now what you are trying to achieve.

 

I still feel that the approach needs to be refined slightly to minimise the time to the business. Perhaps asking the students to make contact initially by phone where a 5-10 minute chat can help sort all the missing information and give the student a spec to work with. They can then research an appropriate kit list on their own and submit this specifically for a quote - making the whole process quicker for the company while still giving the student some real world technical advice and the experience of communicating by different means.

 

Steve

[Smiffy]

Slightly but I just wanted to say Peters was probably the best First Post I've ever seen on a forum. Thanks for joining up to explain things from your side of the lectern :blink:

 

Cheers

 

Smiffy

[StevieR]

I presume you mean 'Philip's'...

[Smiffy]

indeed I do.... No idea who Peter is - Sorry Philip

[RMSaudiovisual]

In my opinion the best thing to do is to find out as much as you can about the companies you are approaching before approaching them, if you get the chance to impress the company then its all good.

 

Make sure you keep short, sweet and to the point (as has already been said).

 

Probably the best company for you to approach would be stage electrics in Bristol

[Richard the chandler]

As the guy at Flints who got asked to deal with Ben's enquiry that he sent to us from an industry perspective then I'd say that most companies are happy to deal with these sorts of things. Remember that I think a high proportion of the people working for companies such as Flints, Stage Electrics, White Light etc will have come through the drama school/university training system and will look kindly on such requests.

 

He sent a questionaire that made it easy for me to understand what information he was seeking and so I was able to answer at some length on each point. As he was polite and made it easy for me the offer was extended for him to have some pictures that he'd seen on our Facebook page along with some other ones showing some other goings on such as tradeshows and materials testings that he might not have known about.

 

Moral of the tale, think about what information you actually want, do some pre research, accept that there might be some limits to what information will be given out and make it as easy as possible for the company your asking I'd say.

 

I too thought that Philip's answer detailed on this forum was a very convincing arguement as to why us in the industries should be trying to assist people when they come to us with such requests and would say well done on that.

[paulears]

Richard's response is really useful info for others. What generates decent replies is always a decent request.

 

At the moment, there are just two of us here and we're busy enough, but every other day or so, I get emails from students. Some declare themselves openly, and ask, as Richard explained, sensible questions and also take the time to explain why they're doing it. I always respond to these, even when sometimes it's clear their research consisted of Googling and not checking what their search results actually do.

 

I ignore quite a few now - especially those who include a huge list of cc addresses, showing little thought had gone into selection. Being included with (as the one this morning) Argos and the Pound Shop!!! meant a quick dispatch to the bin. I don't really care if the request is from a 14yr old or somebody doing a Masters. If they ask nicely I will help. It makes a difference too, if I'm interested in what they're doing.

 

I also hate being addressed as "Hey..." The ones I really get cross about are the ones that go on and on. Instead of just taking the info, they generate question after question that could so easily have been answered by the teaching staff at the place who generated the task!