How to engage with Businesses
Wednesday 6th October 2010
UCL, Foyer area, Engineering Front Building, Malet Place.
1.30 - 4.30pm

The 'How to engage with Businesses' workshop is one of a three part mini-course, Communicating Science to Business, which helps to prepare academics looking to maximise the benefits of presenting their academic research to business audiences. The other 2 parts of the mini-courses are:   

§     How To Become A More Confident And Effective Networker - http://networking27oct2010.eventbrite.com

§     Presenting to Business - http://presbusiness13oct2010.eventbrite.com

 The stand alone workshops together make up a short programme - attend all three to maximise the value of participating. Participants that complete all three sessions in the same academic year will receive a certificate to mark their achievements.

HOW TO ENGAGE WITH BUSINESSES

Who should attend:
Academics and PG students who want to engage with businesses in order to develop research collaborations or support. The workshop is aimed at those who have had some experience of interacting with businesses - it's not designed for those who already work extensively with businesses.

About the workshop:
The aim of the workshop is to enable you to plan and structure your conversations with businesses more effectively and strategically - and thus build up better relationships with potential research sponsors.

Meetings with businesses tend to be structured around presentations - often by both sides. This seems logical but such 'show and tell' sessions rarely result in much follow-up. After several back-to-back, usually over-running presentations, most people are bursting to get out of the room and never get as far as discussing 'next steps' with and commitment.

Presentations are efficient ways of down-loading information but not much else. They should be part of the portfolio but not the whole message. It's far better to think in terms of conversations in which you are receiving as much as transmitting. Such conversations can be far better at building mutual understanding, trust - as long as they are well structured and planned (without being contrived).

In this workshop we use a series of role plays (based on actual cases) to illustrate and argue how such conversations should be structured. In so doing we explore what it is that businesses actually want to know (and want you to know), how they make decisions regarding investment in new technologies and why it is that so many businesses seem so cautious about taking on anything new.

About the course presenter:
Jeff Skinner lectures entrepreneurship at London Business School. Before this he was for many years Commercial Director of UCL - personally involved in building dozens of new ventures and collaborations with business as well as creating many of the structures now in place to support such activities. Prior to UCL he worked as an industrial research scientist in the US and UK.

How do I register?

Participation is free but places are limited to 30 people. Please register using the link above.
If this this workshop is fully booked, please contact UCL Advances (advances@ucl.ac.uk), and your name will be added to the waiting list.

Cancellations and Refunds

General

• All cancellations and refund requests must be made in writing to advances@ucl.ac.uk.
  
• Attendees are welcome to send a substitute without incurring a charge, provided UCL Advances is notified in writing (advances@ucl.ac.uk) 3 full working days prior to the event.
  
• Due to unforeseen circumstances, UCL Advances reserves the right to cancel or re-schedule an event. In the unlikely event of cancellations, UCL Advances will refund the full amount of the registration fee. However personal expenses incurred by the attendee are non-refundable by UCL Advances.
  
• UCL Advances reserves the right to make changes to the programme, location and/or speakers without prior notice. Such alterations are occasionally necessary due to circumstances beyond the control of UCL Advances.

Training

For full day (or longer) courses and events there is an administrative charge of £50 (or £25 for half day) for any cancellation made with less than THREE working days' notice, whatever the reason. This is standard policy across UCL.

• UCL Staff
  When applying for a course, UCL staff will be asked to provide an account code before the   booking is confirmed. The cancellation fee will be automatically charged to your department if UCL Advances is not notified that you are unable to attend the course at least three working days before the event.
  
  
• UCL Students
  UCL students wishing to attend will be personally liable for the cancellation. UCL Advances will contact them directly.
  
  
• Externals
  External businesses/individuals will be contacted directly for payment details if they don’t comply with the cancellation policy.

Data Protection: The information provided by you will be held on UCL databases. You may be contacted about other UCL Advances or UCL activities in the future. By submitting this information you agree that your details may be used for this purpose.

For full terms and conditions, please visit: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/advances/cpd/terms