Real Industry
Real Industry Sonos Challenges 2019
Real Industry Sonos Challenges 2019
Real Industry
Bose Challenge: Carnegie Mellon University
Bose Challenge: Carnegie Mellon University
Real Industry
Bose Challenge: Massachusetts Institute of ...
Bose Challenge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Real Industry
Bose Challenge: University of California, ...
Bose Challenge: University of California, Berkeley
Real Industry
Sonos Challenge: University of Washington
Sonos Challenge: University of Washington

Pandora

University of Michigan Pandora Challenge with Bryce Vine & Barn Sanctuary

September 25th, 2018 | In partnership with Bryce Vine and Barn Sanctuary, presented with the University of Michigan #PandoraChallenge 

“We are so excited to host the Pandora Challenge: Music and Social Impact here at the University of Michigan. The Department of Entrepreneurship and Leadership (in the School of Music, Theatre & Dance) is committed to catalyzing pathways for passionate, creative students who believe in the potential for music to make the world better...the chance to work with rising star Bryce Vine to support a local organization like Barn Sanctuary is exactly the kind of experiential learning platform our students need as they develop their professional voices...all while applying the UM traditions of leadership, innovation, and social responsibility.”
— Jonathan Kuuskoski, Chair, Department of Entrepreneurship and Leadership, Director, EXCEL Lab, School of Music, Theatre & Dance - University of Michigan

Photo Credit: Sam Goldin

On Tuesday, September 24th, Real Industry and Pandora took the Pandora Challenge:Music & Social Impact tour to Ann Arbor, Michigan! University of Michigan students came together for a kickoff event in partnership with Bryce Vine and Barn Sanctuary. Barn Sanctuary is a hands-on animal sanctuary dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating and caring for farm animal refugees. This includes any animals that have been abused, abandoned, sentenced to death or are victims of natural disasters. Bryce grew up with Dan McKernan, the Founder and Executive Director of Barn Sanctuary, making this organization and program especially significant to him and everyone involved.

At this event, students formed teams to create music marketing and playlist campaigns to support Barn Sanctuary in it’s mission to better the lives of farm animal refugees. After receiving instruction from the Pandora team, students got to work on creating their campaigns.

“The Real Industry Pandora Challenge events give students a look behind the curtain into real-world artist marketing technologies and scenarios. This is the type of work they can put on resumes during future internship and job searches.”
— Heather Ellis, Manager, Artist Marketing at Pandora
pdraxRI-54.jpg
pdraxRI-50.jpg

Photo Credit: Sam Goldin

The assignment is to create, launch, market, and optimize playlists that drives awareness to the Barn Sanctuary. The playlists will include an introduction from Bryce Vine and student-created voice messages that educate listeners about the non-profit’s mission. The student teams have three weeks to grow their listenership and influence their audience to become activated in the conversation around the power of music in transforming lives and access to music resources for all.

The University of Michigan Pandora Challenge wrapped up on October 16th! A big congratulations to the students on the winning team.

Andrew Reed - UX Design and Business - Class of 2020

Naman Gupta - Business Administration - Class of 2021

Tiana Colovos - Economics - Class of 2020

Sanjit Johri - Business - Class of 2022

Muskaan Bajoria - LSA Undecided - Class of 2021

On November 13, 2018, Pandora’s executive team invited the winner team for a half-day mentorship session with:

Tony Calzaretta, VP Listener Product & Design, Bill Crandall, VP Editorial Content, Shamal Ranasinghe, VP Catalog & Creator Product, Lauren Nagel, VP Executive Creative Director, Beckie Wood, VP Content Programming, Catalog & Insights and Heather Ellis, Manager, Artist Marketing.

In addition, Pandora shared the team’s winning playlists across its social media outlets.

For more on the Pandora Challenges, check out Pandora’s article: http://blog.pandora.com/us/pandora-real-industrys-second-annual-university-challenge/

University of Hartford Pandora Challenge with Andrew McMahon & Dear Jack Foundation

September 17th, 2018 | In partnership with Andrew McMahon and the Dear Jack Foundation, presented with University of Hartford #PandoraChallenge 

“The University of Hartford is thrilled to participate in the 2018 Real Industry Pandora Challenge. This event presents the real-world intersection of music, marketing and social advocacy to our students as an exercise that will better prepare them to enter the workforce career ready. This is truly an educational experience that cannot be had any other way...The opportunities for innovative teaching and critical thinking are truly endless and we can’t wait to see our students grow from this collaboration.”
— Gabe Herman, Assistant Professor of Music Industry,University of Hartford

Photo Credit: Jonathan Olson

On Thursday, September 20th, University of Hartford students came together for a kickoff event in partnership with Andrew McMahon and the Dear Jack Foundation for the Pandora Challenge. The Dear Jack Foundation provides impactful programming that directly benefits adolescents and young adults diagnosed with cancer in order to improve quality of life and create positive health outcomes from treatment to survivorship for patients and their families.

At this event, students formed teams to create music marketing and playlist campaigns to support the Dear Jack Foundation in positively impacting the lives of young people. This is the power of music and technology powering social impact.

“The Real Industry Pandora Challenge events give students a look behind the curtain into real-world artist marketing technologies and scenarios. This is the type of work they can put on resumes during future internship and job searches.”
— Heather Ellis, Manager, Artist Marketing at Pandora
J50_8410.jpeg
J51_1492.JPG

Photo Credit: Jonathan Olson

The assignment is to create, launch, market, and optimize playlists that drives awareness to the Dear Jack Foundation. The playlists will include an introduction from Andrew McMahon and student-created voice messages that educate listeners about the non-profit’s mission. The student teams have three weeks to grow their listenership and influence their audience to become activated in the conversation around the power of music in transforming lives and access to music resources for all.

The University of Hartford Pandora Challenge wrapped up on October 11th! Congratulations to the winning team.

Sarah Watts - Music Management - Class of 2019

Gianna Bielenda - Music Management - Class of 2019

On November 13, 2018, Pandora’s executive team invited the winner team for a half-day mentorship session with:

Tony Calzaretta, VP Listener Product & Design, Bill Crandall, VP Editorial Content, Shamal Ranasinghe, VP Catalog & Creator Product, Lauren Nagel, VP Executive Creative Director, Beckie Wood, VP Content Programming, Catalog & Insights and Heather Ellis, Manager, Artist Marketing.

In addition, Pandora shared the team’s winning playlists across its social media outlets.

For more on the Pandora Challenges, check out Pandora’s article: http://blog.pandora.com/us/pandora-real-industrys-second-annual-university-challenge/

Carnegie Mellon University Pandora Challenge with Jon Batiste & Sing for Hope

September 17th, 2018 | In partnership with Jon Batiste and Sing for Hope, presented with Carnegie Mellon University #PandoraChallenge 

“We’re very excited to host the Pandora Challenge this year at Carnegie Mellon University. At CMU, we continually look for ways to bring together the best minds from across campus and expose them to real-world challenges and opportunities. The Pandora Challenge is a perfect fit. Our students will have a great chance to collaborate, innovate and launch a new initiative out into the world.”
— Lance LaDuke, Assistant Teaching Professor of Euphonium, Director, Modern Musicking Lab, Carnegie Mellon University

On Monday, September 17th, Carnegie Mellon University students came together for a kickoff event in partnership with Jon Batiste and charitable non-profit Sing for Hope for the Pandora Challenge. At this event, students formed teams to use the power of music to create social impact. Teams will create a music marketing and playlist campaign to support the support Sing for Hope in their mission to transform individuals and communities by leveraging the power of the arts to create a better world.

“Powering transformation through the arts is at the core of Sing for Hope’s mission. That’s why we are proud to join our dear friend and Sing for Hope board member Jon Batiste to partner with Real Industry and Pandora, tapping the great minds at Carnegie Mellon University to amplify our message for a broad audience.”
— Monica Yunus Co-Executive Director and Co-Founder of Sing for Hope, and Faculty at Carnegie Mellon University, and Camille Zamora, Co-Executive Director and Co-Founder of Sing for Hope

The assignment is to create, launch, market, and optimize playlists that drives awareness to Sing for Hope. The playlists will include an introduction from Jon Batiste and student-created voice messages that educate listeners about the non-profit’s mission. The student teams have three weeks to grow their listenership and influence their audience to become activated in the conversation around the power of music in transforming lives and access to music resources for all.

“The Real Industry Pandora Challenge events give students a look behind the curtain into real-world artist marketing technologies and scenarios. This is the type of work they can put on resumes during future internship and job searches.”
— Heather Ellis, Manager, Artist Marketing at Pandora

The Carnegie Mellon University Pandora Challenge wrapped up on October 7th! Congratulations to the winning student team!

Shane Killen - Vocal Performance - Class of 2022

Kyle Collins - Vocal Performance - Class of 2022

Lucy Altus - Vocal Performance - Class of 2022

Julia Timmons - Vocal Performance - Class of 2022

Olivia Gesualdi - Vocal Performance - Class of 2022

On November 13, 2018, Pandora’s executive team invited the winner team for a half-day mentorship session with:

Tony Calzaretta, VP Listener Product & Design, Bill Crandall, VP Editorial Content, Shamal Ranasinghe, VP Catalog & Creator Product, Lauren Nagel, VP Executive Creative Director, Beckie Wood, VP Content Programming, Catalog & Insights and Heather Ellis, Manager, Artist Marketing.

In addition, Pandora shared the team’s winning playlists across its social media outlets.

For more on the Pandora Challenges, check out Pandora’s article: http://blog.pandora.com/us/pandora-real-industrys-second-annual-university-challenge/

University of Miami Pandora Challenge with Phora & Yours Truly

September 13th, 2018 | In partnership with Phora and Yours Truly, presented with University of Miami’s Frost School of Music #PandoraChallenge 

“The Real Industry Pandora Challenge events give students a look behind the curtain into real-world artist marketing technologies and scenarios. This is the type of work they can put on resumes during future internship and job searches.”
— Heather Ellis, Manager, Artist Marketing at Pandora

On Thursday, September 13th, over 100 University of Miami students came together for a kickoff event in Partnership with Phora (Warner Bros. Records) and his social impact initiative Yours Truly to inspire young people to rally around the message and vision of Yours Truly.

“We are very excited to participate in the Pandora Challenge: Music and Social Impact at the University of Miami Frost School of Music. It is very important that, as future leaders of the music business, our students understand not only how music can drive commerce, but also how music can drive social change.”
— Serona Elton, Director of the Music Business and Entertainment Industries Program

The assignment is to create, launch, market, and optimize playlists that drives awareness of Phora’s foundation. The playlists will include an introduction from Phora and student-created voice messages that educate listeners about the mission of Yours Truly. The student teams have three weeks to grow their listenership and influence their audience to become activated in the conversation around mental health.

“The program educates, empowers, inspires thousands of students for careers in music, media, marketing, and business,” said Jay LeBoeuf, Founder and Executive Director at Real Industry. “Students make a dent in the universe, while gaining the real-world experience and professional networks they need to secure future employment.”
— Jay LeBoeuf, Founder and Executive Director at Real Industry

The University of Miami Pandora Challenge wrapped up on October 9th! Congratulations to the winning team!

Michelle Boursiquot - Music Business and Entertainment Industries - Class of 2019

Justin Pack - Motion Pictures - Class of 2019

Avery McGee - Music Business and Entertainment Industries - Class of 2019

Miles Cowans - Masters of Music Business and Entertainment Industries - Class of 2019

Isabella Leroy - Motion Pictures: Screenwriting Track - Class of 2020

Jordan Craft - Management and Marketing - Class of 2020

Courtney Hamilton - Business Marketing - Class of 2020

Timothy Thomas

On November 13, 2018, Pandora’s executive team invited the winner team for a half-day mentorship session with:

Tony Calzaretta, VP Listener Product & Design, Bill Crandall, VP Editorial Content, Shamal Ranasinghe, VP Catalog & Creator Product, Lauren Nagel, VP Executive Creative Director, Beckie Wood, VP Content Programming, Catalog & Insights and Heather Ellis, Manager, Artist Marketing.

In addition, Pandora shared the team’s winning playlists across its social media outlets.

For more on the Pandora Challenges, check out Pandora’s article: http://blog.pandora.com/us/pandora-real-industrys-second-annual-university-challenge/

Stanford Pandora Challenge with Common & Imagine Justice

On Thursday, April 19th about 100 Stanford students came together for a kickoff event in Partnership with Common and Imagine Justice to inspire young people to rally around the message and vision of Imagine Justice, focusing on Justice Reform, Community & Civic Engagement. 

The assignment is to create, launch, market, and optimize a national playlist that drives awareness of Imagine Justice. The playlists will include voice messages that educate listeners about one of the above messages. The students have five weeks to grow their listenership and influence their audience to become activated in the conversation around Justice Reform and Community and Civic Engagement. These students will be the first to use Pandora's new mixtape platform. 

Check back soon to experience the student's mixtapes and see how the challenge wraps up. 

University of Massachusetts, Lowell Pandora Challenge (supporting Jack Antonoff)

October 21, 2017  |  In partnership with Jack Antonoff, The Ally Coalition, and the University of Massachusetts, Lowell Music Business and Sound Recording Technology programs. #pandorachallenge

Every year, Jack Antonoff and The Ally Coalition organize The Talent Show, a celebrity-packed  music and talent showcase, to benefit LGBTQ equality and issues. How might we create a series of fan engagements before, during, and after the event to allow The Talent Show to live on long after the performances? How might concert attendees at The Talent Show engage with their friends, fellow fans, and their communities before, during, and after the show? How might we engage Jack Antonoff's listeners, fanbase, and friendly artists? How might we engage fans, listeners, and friends to support The Ally Coalition?

To solve these problems, students were provided access to Jack Antonoff's proprietary Next Big Sound profile. Offered as part of by Pandora's Artist Marketing Platform tools, this interactive portal helped students learn about Jack's fanbase, social reach, engagement, geographical impact, and Pandora listener data. 

Students created marketing campaigns, Pandora Artist Audio Message, and strategies to engage Jack Antonoff's fans to be launched by The Ally Coalition.

Congrats to the winning team of Andrew Silveira (Biology 2021), Andrew Marshall (Music Studies 2021), Shaina Perates (Music Business 2021), Renee Lamy (Music Business 2021), Emma Glynn (Music 2018). Their proposal included a series of social media campaigns dispelling common
misconceptions about the LGBTQ, photo booths in the lobby, and hashtag campaigns during and immediately following the event.  

Mentors from L-R: Kim Pfluger (iZotope), Brittany Holloway (Pandora), Heather Ellis (Pandora), Jeb Gutelius (The Ally Coaltion)

Mentors from L-R: Kim Pfluger (iZotope), Brittany Holloway (Pandora), Heather Ellis (Pandora), Jeb Gutelius (The Ally Coaltion)

 

Example Student Submissions

New York University Pandora Challenge (supporting Common)

October 11, 2017  |  In partnership with Common and the NYU Steinhardt Music Business program. #pandorachallenge

How might we engage Common's voice, music, platform and Common Ground Foundation to encourage wellness, mental health, and mindfulness in communities of color?

Between October 11-18, 2017, over 200 New York University students applied their knowledge of music business, marketing, and social impact towards this real-world challenge. 

Students worked to identify campaigns and activations meaningful to them and then proposed how Common, his fanbase, or his artist collective could achieve impact. To accomplish their work, students had access to real-world listener and fanbase analytics for Common, provided by Pandora's Next Big Sound. Tutorials on Next Big Sound and Pandora's Artist Marketing Platform were provided by Heather Ellis, Manager, Artist Marketing at Pandora.

“I am delighted to host the Pandora Challenge: Music and Social Impact at NYU Steinhardt,” said Larry Miller, director of the music business program. “We teach our students how to meld their passion for music with their desires for social impact, so this challenge, and Common’s participation, is a fantastic real-world opportunity for tomorrow’s music business leaders.”

“We’re excited to collaborate with some of NYU’s brightest minds to leverage the power of music and art to make a difference in the world and help others,” said Michael Latt, social impact advisor for Common. “Together, we have the opportunity to support our brothers and sisters around the country through a campaign that Common and I are really passionate about.”

The winning team submission ("#WellGrounded") centered on creating three local pop-up shows in May 2018 (Chicago, NYC, LA) featuring Common, one other A-list artist and local artists.
To attend, participants will perform one of three online actions:
1) Submit a ~150 word writeup on how mental health has affected them (through friends,
family, workplace, or personally) to an online database.
2) Go to one of our local wellness-oriented business partners (Chicago, NYC, LA) and post
their experience on social media (#WellGrounded).
3) Creatively express what mental health means to them (sketch, poem, song, video, etc.)
and post this to social media (#WellGrounded).

Based on the online actions, attendees at the show will see:
1) Common freestyle on select submissions, illustrating real-life stories.
2) Local wellness businesses set up activation stations (yoga studios, beauty products, skin
care, healthy food, etc.)
3) Submitted art pieces displayed on big-screens.

Congrats to Ada Bensadon, Whitney Dublin, Jason Joven, and Josh Viner, all NYU Music Business '18 students on their winning submission! 

Example Student Submissions

Middle Tennessee State University Pandora Challenge featuring Manchester Orchestra

October 9, 2017  |  In Partnership with Manchester Orchestra, 1 Million 4 Anna, and the Middle Tennessee State University Music Business Program. #pandorachallenge

How might Manchester Orchestra, their listeners, and fanbase support 1 Million 4 Anna?

Over 2 weeks, 160 MTSU students utilized music, data, technology and marketing to help the band Manchester Orchestra and the nonprofit 1 Million 4 Anna work together. This challenge was part of the Real Industry Pandora Challenge program, engaging the next-generation of leaders in music business and marketing to achieve social impact. 

Challenge participants had access to Pandora’s Artist Marketing Platform (AMP), Next Big Sound and the 76 million monthly active listeners tuning into Pandora. They devised ways to leverage AMP and data from Next Big Sound to engage Pandora’s listeners and bring awareness to the fight against Ewing sarcoma in young people with the 1 Million 4 Anna Foundation, having real-world impact and influence.

“I am honored that Real Industry chose MTSU students to participate in their program. It will provide our students with real-world experience and exposure to data and best practices that they might otherwise receive. In addition, this day will be special because Manchestra Orchestra is managed by Nashville’s Vector Management. One of our alums and former adjunct professor, Jon Romero, serves as Vector’s head of Digital Marketing and Strategy and will attend Monday’s event to help our students succeed in this challenge.”
— Beverly Keel, Chair of MTSU Department of Recording Industry

In 2009, 16-year-old Anna Basso was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a bone and soft tissue cancer that primarily affects children and young adults. Her family created 1 Million 4 Anna in an attempt to heal her body and spirit. Family, friends and strangers alike pledged to pray for Anna every day at 12:12 p.m., resulting in more than 1 million prayers said in her name. Although Anna’s fight ended after 18 months, the foundation’s work carries on, as does Anna’s legacy.

Members of Manchester Orchestra were excited to have MTSU students working on social impact through music marketing.

“The Basso family is basically the reason that I create music. It’s about so much more than vanity and ticket sales. It’s about being a part of something that is bigger than you can even comprehend. Helping people without ever knowing you were helping them. When that happens, those people actually help you.”
— Andy Hull, lead singer, Manchester Orchestra

MTSU Recording Industry students work Monday, Oct. 9 2017, in the Student Union Ballroom on a social media marketing campaign on behalf of the music group Manchester Orchestra as part of the Pandora Challenge. The campaign will help the 1 Million 4 Anna Foundation, which is dedicated to fighting Ewing sarcoma and supported by the music group.

Example Student Submissions

How Pandora Is Investing in the Future of the Music Industry

Mike Herring, former President and CFO of Pandora

Mike Herring, former President and CFO of Pandora

In 2016, Pandora partnered with Real Industry to create The Pandora Challenge, a week-long design challenge open to all University of Michigan students interested in the intersection of music, business and technology. This year, Pandora is stepping up their involvement and reach with six additional design challenges including schools such as Stanford University, New York University, and the University of Southern California.

Real Industry has hosted more than a dozen such events with partners such as Autodesk, Bose, Turtle Beach, DTS and LANDR since their founding in 2014 and has doubled its event roadmap for 2017. What’s driving the growth, and why do companies partner with Real Industry? I sat down with Pandora’s former president and CFO, Mike Herring, to learn about the value of design challenges and involvement with top-tier universities.

DH: Take me back to the beginning of the partnership.  What were your goals and what were you hoping to achieve with the Real Industry partnership?

MH: I originally met Jay LeBoeuf [Executive Director, Real Industry] while guest speaking at his class at Stanford and have enjoyed learning about Real Industry. I think it supports a few of Pandora’s goals and the goal of empowering the next generation of music marketers.

One, it is good for companies to be on campus and work with students who haven’t been polluted with the way the world works already. In this year’s event at Stanford, two women who work for Pandora, Heather Ellis (Artist Relations) and Anna Wilson (Artist Marketing) collaborated with a bunch of students who are intellectually curious to answer a lot of questions, and give feedback. These are the students who are going to be running the businesses of tomorrow, which gives us the opportunity to recruit the best and brightest as either interns or even partners as they go out and form their own companies.

Two, it’s great exposure for Pandora and allows students a chance to learn and understand what Pandora is about beneath the brand, and to have a positive association with the company.

Employees come back from these events saying, ‘That was awesome; I can’t wait to do the next one.” Everyone just gets energized from those experiences.

The Pandora Challenge at Stanford University

DH: Why are college students helpful to a company with Pandora’s resources?

MH: When I started my career in the early 90’s, I was 22 or 23 and the web was getting commercialized and broadly available, and we knew as much about the web as people who were thirty years into their careers. This allowed us to create new types of businesses that others couldn’t even imagine.

“College students just see things differently and it is incredibly valuable to learn from them.”

I didn’t realize it at the time, but the opportunity to see around the corner was only available to people who weren't looking at things through a cloud of experience and who were more naturally early adopters of technology. Today, within the walls of most companies, we have our own biases, and there is an additional set of biases in the tech world. But college students haven't been introduced to those biases yet; they see things differently and ask super-interesting questions, and the ideas and feedback we get from them are amazing.  They give us new perspectives that we wouldn’t necessarily come across otherwise.  

DH:  Great to hear, do you have an example?  What can you share?

MH: I taught a class at Columbia several summers ago with a hedge fund expert. We hosted an interesting talk, with a Q&A session, about the economics of licensing within the music industry. Because of the students' fresh perspective, they didn’t see streaming as replacing one service with another, but rather as a way of layering a new business model on top of an existing model, which was shrinking anyway. This conversation helped clarify and reinforce my thinking that by transitioning to a economic model that addresses shifts in consumer demand proactively  you retain customers and also expand your market. While this is obvious to me now, and something I talk about constantly, I hadn’t appreciated the magnitude and opportunities of how current media consumption is being done until my talk with those 40 Columbia MBA students. At the time, I was negotiating with the publishing industry, so this talk gave me ideas for conversations with the publishing industry that I otherwise would not have thought about.

 

A History of College Visits

When I was at Omniture (Chief Financial Officer, 2004-2009), we did similar things to Real Industry’s Pandora Challenge.  We started with Northwestern University and by the time we sold Omniture to Adobe, we were working with 14 different universities. We would provide real client data to marketing students to come up with marketing optimization ideas. Not only did we hire the winners of the challenges every year, we also offered internships to the best participants. Some of the optimizations and recommendations would make it into our best practices consulting group. We also got ideas for product development. Adobe continued these university programs post the acquisition of Omniture.

For the Pandora and Real Industry partnership, the goals are to see similar fresh perspectives and ideas about how to work with the music industry, how to work with artists, and how to promote. Pandora has multiple constituents - advertisers, ad-supported listeners, artists, and subscribers. And so you have to look at everything from how people use the product, to how artists can promote their careers, to how to market live events through digital technology. The way to do that is to understand how these audiences are consuming media in those environments and how to reach them most effectively. There is no better way to do that than to talk to customers themselves: Students at the cutting edge who are smart, engaged and passionate about music and business.

DH: What do Real Industry and their founder Jay LeBoeuf do that works for you and for Pandora?

MH: Jay comes with a trademark that we can work with right off the bat.  He understands the university systems and he’s got connections in entrepreneur programs, engineering programs, and audio/music programs, in all the target schools. He speaks their language and helps to frame the programs that work both for us and for the schools, which is really important. And, I like Jay as a person, he’s great to work with and you know that matters. His experience working in both industry and within universities gives him the perfect Venn diagram overlap that makes it successful.

“Within the walls of Pandora, we have our own biases, and an additional set of biases in the tech world. Students haven’t been introduced to those biases yet and the ideas and feedback we get are amazing.”

DH: I know Real Industry strives for a win, win, win. Events and initiatives have to be right for the company, the university, and the students. Do you see it this way?

MH: Yes, Real Industry understands a sponsor’s objectives and spends time with them to learn what we are trying to achieve and provide a framework. They provide that bridge of aligning the objectives for students as well as the sponsoring brand. Sounds easy as a sound bite, but that’s a very hard thing to do. In working with schools, you can’t just walk in and show up with the Pandora program for the Michigan entrepreneurs program or you won’t be invited back. Jay teaches a well organized and popular entrepreneurship program at Michigan and has the connections to make it happen.

The Pandora Challenge at the Univeristy of Michigan

DH: Is hiring on your mind as well with your current program with Real Industry?  

MH: A company always wants to hire great people and through these events, we met great people.  These days, students want to start their own companies. And that’s okay too. They might found businesses that are acquired or partner with larger companies. Pandora started  having the right conversations with two such founders.  get people out of the fall programs to apply for internships for the following summer.  A company like Pandora wants people who are interested in music and applying data in marketing programs.  You want to get people who are smart, passionate and interested in what the company is doing iso they can hit the ground running. Pandora has a fantastic internship program, so that’s also a great opportunity for the students.

DH: Any other thoughts about Pandora’s partnership with Real Industry?

MH: I love this program. We had fantastic experiences with similar programs at Omniture and I personally get a lot of it.  I love to hear things firsthand and not just see the presentations at the end, but hear the questions. Like my experience with Columbia students, it helped me form my worldview from perspectives that don’t have my biases, and it’s incredibly important for me to have that to stay current.  I sound like such an old man when I say that.

By sponsoring design challenges and similar events, companies get to frame the discussion around what they are interested in learning. That’s why I attend and speak at these events. Hopefully, students are getting the benefit of seeing how Pandora and other technology companies work, too.

 

Conclusion: Tech Reality Meets Our Brightest Minds

After talking to Mike, Heather and Anna, we learned that what Pandora and Real Industry is doing is not a brand-new concept, but rather an evolution on a tried and true method for seeding and harvesting the best ideas and people needed to fuel growth and innovation. It’s no secret that most tech companies rely on the brightest and most open minds to innovate and reinvigorate old ideas. But how and when you access those students can be a tricky process and require Real Industry’s connections, awareness of business objectives and experience managing successful events like those at Pandora.

If your team or company is looking for new ways to engage with students, spread brand awareness on college campuses, and broaden your talent pool, get in touch with Real Industry for a conversation about creating your perfect design challenge.

 

Dave Hill Jr. is a Marketing Strategist and the Founder of Go 2 Market Coach