The Communications Liaison hosted its annual Networking Dinner with keynote speaker Sarah Galvez on Feb. 24. For the past two years, the networking dinner has been hosted on Zoom due to COVID-19 restrictions. The ninth annual dinner was able to be held in person. 

For the past nine years, the dinner has provided communications students at Simmons with connections to alumni along with possible job and internship opportunities. Alumni join students at the dinner to discuss different career paths and answer any questions students may have. 

“It feels like you can actually connect with people,” said Lucy Knox, the president of the Communications Liaison, at an interview during the event. “Online, you don’t really get to share that much.” 

The theme of the dinner was “For the Love of Communications.” According to Knox, it was chosen to celebrate the return of the in-person event.

According to Knox, the turnout of the event was nearly 50 people. When the dinner was held online, the Communications Liaison had a turnout of around 20 people. 

The in-person event has been a work in progress since the fall semester. “It was very stressful,” said Knox. “Planning it out from the start was so smart.” 

The difficulties of planning included working within a budget, figuring out catering, and finding alumni. “We didn’t really have a lot of resources from the past e-board,” added Knox. 

As a senior, Knox was able to experience the dinner in person once before, during her first year. This dinner was the first time Knox witnessed the event in person as a member of the e-board.

 The dinner is also a time to reminisce. According to alum Lucy McNamara, returning to Simmons for the dinner was “definitely nostalgic.” McNamara, who attended one networking event during her time at Simmons, described the experience as “bittersweet.” 

During her presentation, Galvez followed the theme by focusing on her love of Simmons and communications. “I really had to think about the things that made me love my jobs,” she said.

She discussed the various career opportunities she had after graduating from Simmons, beginning with her work on the 2016 Clinton campaign. Galvez got the job by emailing Teddy Goff, a digital strategist on the campaign. Within a few weeks, she had completed an interview and was on the campaign. “You really have nothing to lose when it comes to a certain point,” she said regarding networking.

Although she acknowledged the difficulties of losing the campaign, Galvez discussed leading the social media team for the 2020 Biden campaign, calling that win a highlight of her career. 

Galvez also worked for Google, helping to lead the COVID-19 vaccination marketing campaign. There, she described the immediate impact she saw. 

Galvez said that part of the appeal of communications was “just the ability to do good.” In the interview, she said that she focused on the aspects of her career which truly struck her. “Making something from nothing, being created, doing things for the greater good. Those are the things I wanted to bring to the organization,” she said. 

Galvez had a lot of love to give to Simmons as well. “The students are always fantastic,” she said. “They’re always really engaged.” She noted that the students made her “proud to be an alum.” 

CORRECTION: March 5, 2023

A previous version of this article contained a typo in one word. All other content remains the same.