WEBVTT

00:00:00.050 --> 00:00:01.560
>> My name is Roger Williams.

00:00:01.560 --> 00:00:06.640
I'm the Executive Director of the Penn
State Alumni Association, and as such,

00:00:06.640 --> 00:00:14.300
I'm the Chief Executive Officer of the world's
largest dues-paying alumni association.

00:00:14.300 --> 00:00:18.700
Well, this is probably the most
fascinating job in the world.

00:00:18.700 --> 00:00:25.620
It's certainly the most fascinating job I've
ever had, and it's a very different sort

00:00:25.620 --> 00:00:28.350
of job than one might expect it to be.

00:00:28.350 --> 00:00:33.280
Basically, what I'm doing is
running, in some respects,

00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:36.920
a business that is disguised as a non-profit.

00:00:36.920 --> 00:00:40.090
In other words, we are an alumni association.

00:00:40.090 --> 00:00:44.070
We're also a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization,

00:00:44.070 --> 00:00:47.260
and at the same time, we're
a part of the university.

00:00:47.260 --> 00:00:51.940
We're part of a university division
of Development and Alumni Relations,

00:00:51.940 --> 00:00:54.690
so I actually have two bosses, if you will.

00:00:54.690 --> 00:01:00.660
I have a volunteer governing board that I report
to, and I also have a senior vice-president

00:01:00.660 --> 00:01:04.060
of the university to whom I report as well.

00:01:04.060 --> 00:01:07.150
So there is a lot to this job.

00:01:07.150 --> 00:01:11.200
There is a pretty substantial
public role to this job.

00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:13.190
That is to say, I travel a lot.

00:01:13.190 --> 00:01:15.150
I represent the alumni association.

00:01:15.150 --> 00:01:20.100
I'm speaking in front of a lot of
our constituent groups and others.

00:01:20.100 --> 00:01:26.270
There's always a fair volume
of emails and letters and calls

00:01:26.270 --> 00:01:30.620
that require your response
in some way, shape, and form.

00:01:30.620 --> 00:01:33.340
There's a business aspect to the organization.

00:01:33.340 --> 00:01:41.540
So for tomorrow, at about 11:00, for example,
we have a vendor coming in here who will present

00:01:41.540 --> 00:01:46.780
to us a motorized bicycle for our
consideration as something we might offer

00:01:46.780 --> 00:01:53.860
with customized Penn State paint and so on and
so forth to our alumni through our alumni store.

00:01:53.860 --> 00:01:59.860
This afternoon I'm going to be leaving to go to
Penn State Shenango where we're speaking tonight

00:01:59.860 --> 00:02:04.690
at the annual dinner of the Penn
State Shenango Alumni Society.

00:02:04.690 --> 00:02:07.510
So it's a job that is variegated.

00:02:07.510 --> 00:02:09.210
It's very different day to day.

00:02:09.210 --> 00:02:10.510
It's never dull.

00:02:10.510 --> 00:02:13.560
It's never boring, and it's
not a 40-hour a week job.

00:02:13.560 --> 00:02:14.820
It's a way of life.

00:02:14.820 --> 00:02:17.380
It's like being a minister
or a college president.

00:02:17.380 --> 00:02:19.090
You're always on call.

00:02:19.090 --> 00:02:21.310
You're always working, pretty much.