Magician for Zoom: Corporate Alumni Network Events
Magician for Zoom: Corporate Alumni Network Events
An alumni network asks former employees for their time when the organization has no claim on it whatsoever. They don't work for you, they're not paid to attend, and a proportion of them left feeling mixed about the place.
That makes it the most voluntary audience in corporate life. I'm Magical Katrina, an award winning magician and mentalist, and I want to set out where a magician for Zoom fits into an alumni program, which is on the giving side rather than the asking side.
Nobody Has to Come
Start with what distinguishes this from every other internal event. Employees attend things out of obligation, curiosity, or because their manager mentioned it. Alumni attend only because they want to.
That means an event has to be worth the hour on its own terms, with no institutional pull behind it. Most alumni programming is a panel, an update on how the business is doing, or a networking session, and the attendance reflects that. Something people would genuinely choose is a different proposition entirely.
They Left on Different Terms
Worth acknowledging when planning. Your alumni include people who left for better jobs, people who were let go, people who were glad to go, and people who still feel warmly about the place.
Programming that assumes affection produces something that reads badly to a proportion of the room. An update on the firm's performance is interesting to some alumni and irrelevant or irritating to others. Something enjoyable that doesn't require anybody to feel anything about the organization reaches all of them equally, which is the only format that does.
Give Before You Ask
The principle that makes alumni programs work. Organizations run these networks for rehiring, referrals, and business development, which are all things the organization wants.
Alumni know that. A program that only ever asks produces declining attendance, whereas one that gives people something they value, whether that's genuine connection, useful content, or simply a good hour, earns the goodwill the asking depends on. A magician for Zoom sits firmly on the giving side, which is where most alumni programs are thinnest.
They Want Each Other, Not You
Worth understanding, since it changes what to program. Alumni value the network considerably more than the organization, since the people they worked with are the actual relationship and the company is the thing they have in common.
That means connection between alumni is the product. Anything producing genuine interaction, where people end up talking to somebody they worked with five years ago or somebody from a different office entirely, is doing what they came for. A session they watch does not.
Virtual Is the Only Channel
The structural reality. Alumni are scattered across cities, countries, and industries, and an in person event reaches whoever lives near wherever you held it.
That's usually the head office city, which means the same forty people every time. Virtual reaches the alumni in Singapore, the one who moved to a different industry, and the one who'd never travel for this. For a network whose whole value is breadth, online is the main channel rather than a compromise.
Don't Make It a Recruitment Pitch
Worth saying plainly, since it's the commonest failure. An alumni event that turns into a discussion of open roles, or where somebody from talent acquisition speaks for ten minutes, is read exactly as it is.
Rehiring is a legitimate objective and it's served by goodwill rather than by pitching. Alumni who enjoyed an event come back, stay in touch, and respond when you approach them individually about a role. Alumni who sat through a recruitment session stop opening the emails. Keep the two entirely separate.
Keep It Short and Say the Finish Time
Practical, since this audience has no obligation to stay. An hour is the maximum and forty five minutes is frequently better, with a clearly stated finish time in the invitation.
People with no reason to attend except interest will commit more readily to something whose shape they know, and they'll leave an open ended event without hesitation. Honour the time, and the next invitation is easier to accept. That's the whole mechanism for a voluntary audience.
Measure Return Attendance
Worth tracking, since it's the number that matters. Attendance at one event tells you about the invitation, and the proportion who come back tells you whether the program is working.
A network with growing return attendance is building something, and one with high first time numbers and poor repeats is burning through its list. That's a more useful measure than headcount, and it tends to argue for giving people a good hour rather than an informative one.
Why Book Magical Katrina
If you run an alumni program, here's my case. I'm a member of the Magic Circle in London and the Academy of Magical Arts in Hollywood, I've earned multiple magic awards, and I've performed for companies including Formula 1, the Olympics, Porsche, Zapier, and the Ritz Carlton, with appearances on Penn & Teller: Fool Us. My sessions are genuinely participatory rather than something people watch, they work across countries and time zones, and I'll keep to whatever finish time you've promised.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes alumni different from employees?
Nobody has to come, since employees attend out of obligation, curiosity, or because a manager mentioned it, whereas alumni attend only because they want to. That means an event has to be worth the hour on its own terms, with no institutional pull behind it, which most alumni programming isn't.
Does it matter how people left?
Considerably, since your alumni include people who left for better jobs, people who were let go, people who were glad to go, and people who still feel warmly. Programming assuming affection reads badly to a proportion of the room, whereas something enjoyable that requires no feeling about the organization reaches everybody.
What's the principle for alumni programming?
Give before you ask, since organizations run these networks for rehiring, referrals, and business development and alumni know it. A program that only ever asks produces declining attendance, whereas one giving people something they value earns the goodwill the asking depends on.
What do alumni actually want?
Each other, since the people they worked with are the actual relationship and the company is the thing they have in common. Anything producing genuine interaction, where somebody ends up talking to a former colleague or somebody from a different office, is doing what they came for, and a session they watch isn't.
Should our events be virtual?
Mainly, since alumni are scattered across cities, countries, and industries, and an in person event reaches whoever lives near where you held it, which is usually head office and the same forty people. Virtual reaches the alumni abroad and the one who'd never travel for this.
Can we mention open roles?
Not in the event, since an alumni gathering that turns into a discussion of vacancies is read exactly as it is. Rehiring is served by goodwill rather than pitching, and alumni who enjoyed an event respond when approached individually, whereas those who sat through a recruitment session stop opening the emails.
How long should it be?
An hour at most and forty five minutes frequently better, with a clearly stated finish time, since an audience with no obligation to attend commits more readily to something whose shape they know and leaves an open ended event without hesitation. Honour the time and the next invitation is easier.
What should we measure?
Return attendance rather than headcount, since attendance at one event tells you about the invitation and the proportion who come back tells you whether the program works. High first time numbers with poor repeats means you're burning through your list rather than building something.
Give Them an Hour Worth Having
An alumni network runs entirely on goodwill the organization no longer has any claim to, which makes it the one audience that genuinely cannot be programmed at. A magician for Zoom suits it precisely: something people would choose, requiring no feeling about the company, producing interaction between alumni rather than a broadcast from you, and reaching the ones who live nowhere near your office.
Keep the recruitment conversation separate, honour the finish time, and track who comes back rather than who came.
Reach out with your alumni numbers and where they are, and let's find a time that works.