Student-led events are a cornerstone of the MIT Sloan student experience and the MIT Sloan Student Life Office is here to support students in their planning of such initiatives.
If you are interested in organizing an event, we encourage you to review these criteria carefully and to maintain close contact with Nicole Willits in the MIT Sloan Student Life Office throughout the planning process.
Proposed MIT Sloan student-led Conference, Case Competition and Hackathon events that involve promotion to non-MIT guests, and/or solicitation of sponsorship (financial or gift-in-kind) must apply for approval from the MIT Sloan Student Life Office before moving forward with planning and gaining access to MIT resources.
Applications that meet the following criteria are eligible for approval:
1
First time conferences/case competitions/hackathons must submit an application at least 6 months in advance of proposed event date.
Recurring conferences/case competitions/hackathons must submit an application for renewal at least 9 months in advance of proposed event date.
2
Conference/case competition/hackathon themes must be tied to business/management
3
Conference/Case competition/hackathon must be chaired by current MIT Sloan Student(s). MIT Sloan students serve as primary interface with the MIT Sloan Student Life office staff on conference matters.
4
Conference/case competition/hackathon must be associated with an MIT Sloan Student Club.
Non-MIT organizations will not be given approval to host events on campus or have approval to use student club accounts.
Approved applications for conferences, case competitions, and hackathons will have access to MIT facilities, resources, and approval to use the MIT Sloan name for both sponsorship and marketing purposes. MIT resources include:
It is important that internal MIT partners and external audiences – attendees, corporate sponsors, and speakers – clearly understand who is organizing and hosting each event. The MIT Sloan Office of Communications and Student Life Office offer a suite of tools and resources to help you properly talk about and market your event.
1. On event website, marketing materials, and swag the standardized logo must be used. Theme-specific logos may be used in conjunction with the standardized logo.
2. In print, on event website, and anywhere else event is promoted, event marketing copy must clearly state that the event is a student-led event at MIT Sloan School of Management.
3. Use the MIT Sloan boilerplate language & standardized logo templates for event websites and other marketing materials. These standardized event logo templates align with MIT Sloan student club branding guidelines. Please note all merchandise orders need to include the student-led event logo.
A number of Institute stakeholders need to be aware of any high-profile or alumni speakers you plan to bring to campus. Understanding who you intend to invite to speak at your event helps the institute manage existing alumni relationships and, in cases of high-profile speakers, plan for security. For this reason, we require that you:
Submit a Speaker List to the MIT Sloan Student Life Office before speakers are invited and at least three months in advance of the event date. Please provide the list in excel and include the following information: speaker name, speaker company, topic of discussion, security needs (if any), and any potential controversy surrounding company or individual. Please visit our Speaker Management page for more details.
Having sufficient funding is critical to the execution of a large scale event. At the same time, there are instances where MIT is unable to accept money from a company for legal or reputational reasons. To avoid issues, we require that you:
1. Submit a Sponsor List to the MIT Sloan Student Life Office before the companies are solicited for event sponsorship. Please provide the list in excel and include the following information: full name of company, location of company, and type of business.
2. Demonstrate sufficient funding via confirmed sponsorship at least three months in advance of your event date. MIT Sloan Student Life Office reserves the right to cancel the event if funding is not demonstrated at three months out.
Please visit our Sponsorship page for more details.
Event planning involves coordination of numerous details, large and small. MIT Sloan Student Life Office Staff are here to advise you on venues, catering, parking & transportation, ticket sales, other vendors, and event best practices, as well as help you navigate MIT policies surrounding, but not limited to, event registration and risk management. Click here for a conference planning checklist. Please visit our event logistics page for more details.
