Hi everyone,

Over the past year, we've held a series of interesting lunchtime talks that have been fairly well-attended. However, since our talks have been open to all students, some people have said they don't feel like they need to actually join the VBMA and pay membership fees in order to take advantage of VBMA events.

In order to cut down on membership apathy, we have made sure to emphasize the benefits of VBMA membership, both on the chapter and national levels. Some of our chapter-specific membership benefits include access to the Tufts VBMA business library, free business cards or business card holders, raffle prizes at every lunchtime talk, and invitations to our VCA-VBMA Wine Tasting and Networking event. We also highlight benefits like the VPI-VBMA case study competition, the Veterinary Economics subscription, national/regional leadership opportunities, and the VBMA externship programs. Despite our efforts, some students are still reluctant to part with their membership dues.

What kind of chapter-specific member benefits do you offer at your schools? Do you hold any member-exclusive events, and have they been successful? Do you have any suggestions for how our chapter can improve our member recruitment?

Thanks,

Lily Nieh
Vice President, Tufts VBMA