Over five-hundred guests showed up at the UEL building on Thursday, July 26 for the Academic and Corporate Relations Center’s second annual summer barbecue amidst monsoon-like conditions. Tents were set up and drinks were ready to be served outside as people began to arrive, but heavy rain and strong winds forced the crew to pack up and bring everything inside within the first ten minutes. Fortunately, the UEL building’s indoor meeting space was large enough to accommodate the guests, helping make this year’s event a success despite the weather.

Attendees included members of the Minnesota business community, University faculty, and tenants of the UEL building. Hundreds of people had the opportunity to make business connections at the event, meeting the ACRC’s objectives of bringing people together and facilitating collaboration between the University and business communities. In addition, guests were able to socialize while enjoying delicious food, an open bar, and ice cream from the university’s own Dairy Salesroom (part of the Department of Food Science and Nutrition).

 “Minnesota businesspeople always tell me that the barbecue is their favorite event of the year,” says ACRC director Dick Sommerstad. “The reason is because we’re able to bring so many chief executive officers, entrepreneurs, and other executives into the same room as University officials. It’s just an invitation for collaboration, and every year it generates new productive relationships.”

Held in conjunction with the ACRC barbecue was an open house and dedication of the new space for the Minnesota Lions Eye Bank. More than 200 Lions and guests attended the opening, which included a dedication of a conference room in memory of Lion George Dugan, who led the founding of the eye bank nearly 50 years ago. The Minnesota Lions Eye Bank, part of the University of Minnesota’s Department of Ophthalmology, obtains, medically evaluates, and distributes donor eye tissue for corneal transplants, research, and education.

“We appreciate the support we’ve received in moving to our new location,” says Jackie Malling, executive director. “Our new location will support our mission as we serve donor family members, cornea recipients and surgeons.”

U of M hosts first-ever NACRO summit

On August 16-17, the University of Minnesota hosted the first meeting of the National Association of Corporate Relations Officers (NACRO). The event attracted approximately 100 leaders from 64 different research universities.

Day 1 focused exposing best practices and trends as they relate to corporate relations practices at research universities. Individual speakers and panels gave rise to exciting discussion that carried on into the Mississippi boat cruise later in the evening.

Day 2 set to informally formalize a network of corporate relations officers interested in furthering the efforts as they relate to research universities forming comprehensive and mutually beneficial relationships with industry, both public and private. Continued professional development through sharing and leveraging tactics and strategy as well as benchmarking and metrics of success were important to the group.