Top shelf: Business students score with Hockey NL partnership
Ref. No.: 114
Hockey NL asked, and business students at Memorial University delivered.
A group of bachelor of commerce (co-operative) students completed a full audit of the provincial sport organization’s marketing and communications efforts, resulting in more than 50 recommendations. Hockey NL accepted all of them.
Ten Memorial students participated, led by Dr. Kirby Shannahan, professor of marketing at the Faculty of Business Administration.
The students received academic credit for their work.
Partnership opportunities
“The students who worked on this project completed and presented a body of work that was exceptional, drawing huge praise from our board,” said Dr. Jared Butler, president of Hockey NL. “Every aspect was professional. I feel we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg as to the opportunities for partnership between Memorial and Hockey NL.”
The students’ recommendations ranged from which tools to use for efficient internal communications and best practices for planning its annual general meeting to revamping the Hockey NL logo and starting a TikTok channel.
Another key recommendation: hire the students who developed the plan.
Hockey NL agreed.
The organization is hiring the students for the next four months. Beyond that, Hockey NL will partner with the Faculty of Business Administration’s co-operative education office to hire commerce students for paid work terms to continue the work.
‘Impressed and grateful’
“This experience has been like no course I’ve taken or job that I’ve ever had,” said Lauren Courage, a fifth-year commerce student. “It’s been demanding, yet very rewarding. It’s been our ideas, our knowledge and our research that has put this project together and brought it to life for Hockey NL. Seeing how happy, impressed and grateful the organization has been has made it all the better.”
Dr. Butler says the collaboration is a chance to “innovate and propel” Hockey NL forward and that it takes “a great deal” of work and time from volunteers across Newfoundland and Labrador to make hockey happen every year.
“The job is complex with new and evolving challenges,” he said. “Hockey NL and our programming can be a place for people to learn, develop and grow in the off-ice parts of the game. Our partnership with Memorial is a fantastic way to demonstrate how students and a not-for-profit can benefit from each other.”
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For more information, please contact Susan White, communications advisor, Faculty of Business Administration, at 709-689-7988 or [email protected]; or Craig Tulk, Executive Director, Hockey NL, at 709-489-5513 or [email protected].