Meet your peeps at IDEA School of Design's Monthly Networking Meet-ups: Coffee, Confections and Connections
Your IDEA School of Design network is one of your most valuable resources; from the alumni working in industry to your peers in different years. 2nd and 3rd-year students can give newer students advice, tips and tricks about Capilano University’s Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication program in North Vancouver, while 1st-year students bring fresh energy and questions. IDEA School of Design’s “Monthly Minglers” help students connect over coffee and confections and build their network. Plus… IDEAs are awesome!
2023-2024 was the inaugural year for “Monthly Minglers” at IDEA School of Design in North Vancouver organized by instructor and coordinator, Dominique Walker. All 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year students were sorted into mixed year groups to mingle with each month. Attendance was mandatory for 1st, 2nd and 3rd-year students while 4th-year students had the option of attending.
Some Monthly Mingler Topics
Sensational Soft Skills
As illustrators, designers and interactive people it’s easy to feel our job will be illustrating, designing or building. The reality is 50% of the reason you will be hired, both by agencies and directly by clients, is your soft skills; your ability to work well and communicate effectively with others. What are indicators of good soft skills? Bring an example of an employer or coach who did something that made working with them a positive experience. What specific things did they do to build a positive environment or what systems did they put in place?
Show and Tell
Bring your favourite project to share; what do you think you learned from it? This doesn’t have to be your ‘best’ work. It could be a project that failed but you learned from, grew in skill or execution on, failed in execution but you felt the idea was great, or tried a new medium you had fun with. What part of the project did you love or feel you were successful at.
Agencies of Note
Who would you like to work for after graduation? What makes them interesting? Show an example of an innovative website, illustration, branded campaign etc that they’ve done. What makes it interesting?
Creative Heroes
What kind of creative career would you like to have? Who out there has done the type of work you’re interested in? Bring a name and example(s) of their work to share.
Prep for Your Year Ahead
Trying to plan your year ahead or find out more about concentrations or how to secure summer internships? Now is your chance to ask 2nd and 3rd years about their summer experiences and work in the different concentrations.
“I met students from different years and got a perspective on what the later years at IDEA School of Design are like. I was also able to hear about experiences interning in the industry from students in higher years. Overall, I got to know students outside of my year and made good friends that I still communicate with regularly!”
“The monthly minglers were very helpful for me as a second-year student navigating into the realm of becoming a designer! Take notes! The double cohort above ours was very helpful as they answered our questions about electives, what UI and branding concentrations looked like, internships, and upcoming classes in our 3rd and 4th years! It was fun to be with friends but also networking with students ahead of us. 3rd-year students were instrumental in giving us insights into each concentration and told us they were in the same boat as us last year. They told us not to stress.”
“I really enjoyed the monthly minglers! They were super cozy and I finally met some 1st and 3rd year students. This was my first time meeting them let alone talking to them about the program and our creative career goals. I got some insights about our 2nd Year Progress Assessment (formerly Dragons’ Den), summer internships, and choosing a concentration for the 3rd year. The cookies and coffee that Dominique brought helped. One month they left the whole damn coffee dispenser in the life drawing room and I drank most of what was left while working on some illustrations that evening.”
