Setting Up & Conducting Your Team's First Sponsor Meeting
Scheduling and conducting your team's first sponsor meeting can be tricky, so we thought we
would make it easier for you by providing some guidelines. It is important that Ms. Heil and
your technical advisor (either Dr. Heckman, Mr. Domínguez, Dr. Fornaro or Dr. Sturgill) attend
this meeting. Your first meeting should be held on campus and should occur by Wednesday,
January 21 (sooner, if possible). Some teams will conduct their first sponsor meeting during
class time as designated on the course’s Google calendar. Other team meetings must be
scheduled outside of class time according to your team and sponsor availability. Ms. Heil will
help you facilitate the scheduling of these meetings.
Rules of the Game
1. During class time on Friday, Jan. 9, identify common times when all of your team members
can meet. You may find that it is necessary to be flexible with your personal schedule (when
possible) for the scheduling of this initial meeting. Designate one of your team members to
be the coordinator of this first meeting.
2. Copy and paste this link into "other calendars" box from any Google calendar account (using
your NCSU Gmail):
ncsu.edu_qbhmft6111e1oe8efq868ufqio@group.calendar.google.com
This Google calendar identifies times when Ms. Heil and technical advisors are available for
first sponsor meetings. Determine three common 1-hour blocks of time when your entire
team can meet that also intersect with the times listed on this Google calendar. Try to keep
these times open until your first sponsor meeting is scheduled.
3. The meeting coordinator should email Ms. Heil (heil@ncsu.edu) (or give her times in class
when requested to do so) to reserve the three times determined above. If those time slots are
still available, Ms. Heil will change the Google calendar (your team name/number will
appear in the requested/available time slots). These calendar changes and an email from Ms.
Heil will confirm these reservations.
4. The meeting coordinator should then contact the sponsor (by phone or email), introduce him
or herself, and suggest two or three times to meet (these times should, of course, correspond
to the reserved times, above). This contact should be made at the latest by Monday,
January 12. (If a meeting time cannot be determined, go back to Number 2 and start over!)
5. After determining a meeting time with the sponsor, the meeting coordinator should contact
Ms. Heil immediately. She will finalize the sponsor meeting time by updating the Google
calendar and reserving a room for the meeting.
6. The entire team should meet beforehand to prepare an agenda, contact information sheet for
sponsor, and questions for meeting (see sample/suggestions that follow). Decide on who will
do what during the meeting. The sponsors like to hear from all of you, so everyone should
plan on participating during this and all subsequent meetings!!
7. Send a rough draft of your agenda to Ms. Heil (heil@ncsu.edu) for review before you
distribute the agenda to your sponsor and other invitees. Try the Agenda & Minutes link on
the course website to create your agenda!
8. The cleaned up agenda should be distributed via email to all invitees 24 hours in advance of
meeting time. Ask all invitees if they would like to add anything to the agenda. If so, make
sure the topic is added.
When distributing the agenda, directions to campus should also be included (see link under
Class Notes on course website).
For parking, direct your sponsor to either the Visitor’s Booth for a $5 pass or the new
Partners Way deck which only accepts credit card payments using a Master Card, Visa,
Discover or American Express – no cash is accepted. Rates are: $2 first hr., $1 per each
additional hour, $6 per day maximum. The new deck has a self-pay machine; visitors
determine how much time they would like to purchase and then display their receipt on the
vehicle dashboard.
9. If your sponsor is unfamiliar with the NC State campus, please designate a team member to
meet your sponsor(s) in the EB2 Atrium and escort them to the meeting room.
10. Have copies of agenda available for all meeting attendees. Bring a copy or copies of the
class calendar for your sponsor(s).
11. Conduct meeting in a professional manner:
a. Plan the timing of the meeting (shoot for 1 hour). Try not to make it too short, but don't
overwhelm yourselves with a looong meeting. (Anything over 1 1/2 hours can get
tough.)
b. Shower and dress appropriately.
c. Come with pencil/pen and paper!
d. Someone should start the meeting by stating the purpose of the meeting (perhaps by
reviewing the agenda) and by beginning introductions.
e. The team member who starts the meeting, however, does not have to be the only one who
participates during the meeting! Plan on other members being in charge of various
pieces.
f. One person should be in charge of taking minutes, but everyone should be taking notes.
g. Try to stick to your agenda.
h. Review project problem overview, and come prepared with questions about the project.
Don't just ask you sponsor what they want you to do. Use the meeting to brainstorm
issues.
i. Discuss the most effective ways to communicate and meet with your sponsor throughout
the semester (e.g., should we meet on a weekly basis? Where? Should we provide status
reports for you? How often?). Find out what works best for your team and them.
j. Ms. Heil and technical advisor will be at the meeting, so they can help you out of tough
spots or redirect the conversation if need be; however, please remember that it is your
responsibility to lead the meeting!
12. Take minutes and distribute them to all who attended meeting and all who were not able to
attend (although we would prefer that everyone is there, we know that things happen).
Minutes should be simple and focus on major decisions made, answers to questions, assigned
action items, and plan for next meeting. Try the Agenda & Minutes link on the course
website to create your meeting minutes!