Can I sp*m you?
After a few years of work experience in the industry, I had decided it was time for me to go back to school to learn some lessons in management. During my B-school research I came across the details of a MBA fair hosted by a marketing company in my home city. They had invited more than 30 leading business schools from all around the world so that local students could interact with the admission officers and alumni from these schools.
Together with one of my friends who also aspired to be a Management Graduate, I set out to attend the fair. It was quite impressive, as we got a chance to hear directly from a few of the best entrepreneurs in the country who graduated from these schools a few years back. We were briefed about the application process, and were given an opportunity to ask questions. Due to limited time slots not all the questions could be answered, and so we were asked to be patient, when in the second half of the event we could speak one-to-one with the admission officers at stalls hosted by each B-school in a large hall.
In the second half, I and my friend started off by visiting select B-schools in the hall, going to their stalls and speaking to their representatives and getting our doubts clarified in respect of the application process and procedures of the schools. These representatives encouraged us to leave our visiting cards in a drop box so they could get back to us with answers to some questions we were looking for. I did just that, and left feeling that attendance of the event was a most pleasant experience. I can highly recommend these fairs to anyone who is looking for a Management degree. They certainly helped me clarify my thoughts and ideas, and introduced me to quite a few new facts.
The days passed and I started receiving communications from a few schools to the email address printed on my visiting cards. In a few days, I realised there was too much! Quite a few schools had started spamming my mailbox with events on their campus, newsletters, guest lectures and what not! I tried unsubscribing from a few mailing lists, but for some that did not work. But worse. I was now getting e-mails from B-schools that I hadn’t visited, some of which hadn’t even attended the fair. This was two years back, and I am still receiving emails from some of these schools.
As best practice, I would recommend that you create a brand new e-mail address, and print it on visiting cards produced solely for such fairs and exhibitions. Then you won’t be inviting a whole lot of spam into your regular mailbox!
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