Going Behind the Scenes — MS XIV Business Team Spotlight I
Our Business Team runs all of the behind-the-scenes operations for the MS XIV team. From reaching out to potential sponsors for donations, both monetary and in-kind, to handling all of the financial transactions and reimbursements, to creating a strong online presence for the team, and even to ensure that our student members are reaching all of the goals they have set out to achieve.
In this part one of two subteam spotlights featuring our Business team, we will hear from the leads of our Sponsorship Team, our Supplier Interfacing Team, and our Finance Team, who will discuss what they have been working on over the past term, and what plans they have for the future of the Midnight Sun Business Team.
What program are you in and what is your role on Midnight Sun (and specifically within the Business team)?
Tyler: I am in the Accounting and Financial Management (AFM) program. My current role on the team is one of the Finance Team Co-Lead’s.
Kelly: I am in my second year of Environmental Engineering at UW. I am currently a Sponsorship Lead for external sponsorships.
Jieun: I am going into my third term in the Global Business and Digital Arts program, and I am the Supplier Interfacing Team lead.
The responsibilities of these three leads mainly consist of assisting new members with adjusting to the ins and outs of the Business Team’s day-to-day, and ensuring that the team is running smoothly and efficiently.
Each of these Business leads are not only responsible for tasks associated with their projects, but also for helping adjust new members in their tasks, and ensuring Business Team’s day-to-day operations run smoothly and efficiently.
What has been the highlight of being a part of Midnight Sun and more specifically, the Business Team?
Tyler: Through the two years I’ve been on Midnight Sun, my highlights have been the projects I’m thankful to have worked on. This includes building a comprehensive tracking spreadsheet, implementing termly budget reporting, and assisting with the crowdfunding project. Furthermore, the biggest highlight for me was welcoming new members and passing on my knowledge to the newer members on the finance team. I’m positive that the team will continue to flourish and, hopefully, be a considerable club for Business students at Waterloo.
Kelly: The highlight of being a part of Midnight Sun’s Business team has definitely been securing sponsorships for the team and being able to see these sponsorships contribute to the physical components and manufacturing efforts of the solar car.
Jieun: The highlight of being a part of Midnight Sun is learning something that I will never learn at school. Specifically, in the Business team, I communicate a lot with local companies for in-kind sponsorship, and you can’t really gain that experience from somewhere else. It was always fun to work with others and achieve a goal together.
What barriers have you and your team faced during the COVID-19 pandemic? How have you overcome these barriers?
Tyler: Not being able to see (in-person) the members in the Finance team introduces many difficulties. The main communication tools we use are Slack and Zoom. However, many Zoom calls are a little one sided — with one person talking and the participants muting themselves. I feel this takes away the experience of meeting and developing new relationships in a club. Also, the experience of joining and being a part of a new club is lessened as the newer members (mainly AFM) do not get to meet the engineers, see the car being built, and go to the engineering building where we held our in-person meetings. We’ve overcome this by hosting socials and by always being inclusive of everyone.
Kelly: I’ve found that the COVID-19 pandemic has made it more difficult to stay connected with team members as we can no longer meet face-to-face and have in-person social events. I have held virtual one-on-one meetings with new members, and these meetings have really allowed me to know the new members’ better and for them to know me better. Our sponsorship team also always has a casual chat prior to jumping straight into meetings and I think it’s a great way for us to check in on one another and see how everyone is doing.
Jieun: The barrier that the Supplier Interfacing team faced during the COVID-19 pandemic was that everything was unexpected. Supplier interfacing is the team where we reach out to potential companies for in-kind sponsorship or discounted purchases. As the pandemic has impacted all of us with unpredictable challenges, our supplier interfacing team has been trying our best to stay in touch with companies to continue working towards partnerships and accommodating with communications as required.
What projects do you have planned for your team this term?
Tyler: A project we plan on starting this term involves moving our budget reporting to an online platform. This involves working with the Strategy team to make viewing the team’s transactions more accessible.
Kelly: The projects for this term will be similar to past terms where we will be contacting external sponsors for sponsorship and submitting sponsorship applications. I also hope to implement more training around phone calls to potential sponsors as I find making phone calls is something new members often fear and want to overcome, but simultaneously is a valuable skill to have.
Jieun: For this term, the Supplier Interfacing team is planning to pursue more potential partners that can provide our mechanical team with materials that will assist in the progression of the vehicle at a gratuitous or discounted price. We will be working closely with the mechanical team to get the materials or services we need to make the MS XIV.
Next week we will be showcasing part two of our Business team spotlight which will feature our Marketing and Student Success teams. Stay tuned and check us out on our social media accounts for more details!
To learn more about UW Midnight Sun and our cars, please visit uwmidsun.com, follow our social accounts or send us an email at solar@uwmidsun.com.
