Young Professionals Institute dinner highlights achievements

    PRESQUE ISLE – The University of Maine Presque Isle and Momentum Aroostook will be wrapping up their first Young Professionals Institute on Wednesday, April 9, from 4-7 p.m. in the Campus Center at UMPI with a Mock Board Meeting and Etiquette Dinner.     The Young Professionals Institute (YPI) brought together 15 professionals from across Aroostook County to further develop skills in public speaking, professional writing and interaction with the media. Over the last four weeks, this group has learned through role-playing scenarios and hands-on activities how to write eye-catching proposals, deliver successful oral presentations and use best practices in written communication.
    “We all see this as a way to build skills and encourage this younger generation of professionals to stay in the area,” Clare Exner, university business professor and one of the course designers, said of the YPI pilot program.
    The final session on Wednesday will allow the participants to showcase their newly-honed skills.
    The Board Meeting will allow all participants to introduce themselves as well as give presentations as small groups on the different tasks they took on for the final session.
    The tasks included: planning the dinner, development of the reception, creating the agenda for the Board Meeting and coordinating with the media via press release.
    An Etiquette Dinner will follow the Board Meeting. Institute participants and their guests – their work supervisor or business mentor – will enjoy a formal dinner and receive etiquette tips along the way from the University’s Keith Madore and Susan Grove-Markwood of Savings Bank of Maine.
    For more information, please contact Kristi Bell at 328-1345.