Sam Dundee - SFU Beedie School of Business

Name: Sam Dundee
Concentration: Finance and Economics
Year of Study: 3
Email (SFU email): sdundee@sfu.ca
Email (preferred for contact) sdundee13@gmail.com
Would like your email made available to the
student body?
Yes
Executive position of interest: VP External
Will you be on campus during the upcoming
Summer 2011, Fall 2011 and Spring 2012
semesters?
Yes

You are free to write as little or as much as you want. Keep in mind that your answers will be
available to the voters online. There are eleven questions.
1. Why are you interested in BASS and this position?
I am interested in the position of VP External because I can positively impact the students, the
business faculty and BASS. BASS should be something that students get excited about, and
something that they want to be involved in. I hope that myself and the rest of the executive
council can positively influence the student opinion of BASS and create this excitement
around the society.. I am really interested in trying to add value to student life at SFU
Business. SFU is a commuter school; students come to campus for class and then they leave.
W e should do a better job of marketing the benefits of getting involved with school activities
and co-curricular activities. As VP External, I would be in a good position to market to
students the benefits they can reap by getting involved, meeting people and connecting with
others. Through BASS functions, students can make valuable connections to other students,
employers, and industry professionals, as well as fine tune the skills to make them succeed.
The skills you learn outside of the classroom, and the people you meet during your university
career are vital to a person’s success after graduation. I believe it is the responsibility of BASS
and the executives to convey this message to the business student population.
2. What experiences have prepared you for Executive Council? These experiences can involve extracurricular
activity, work experience or anything else you feel relevant.
I have been in many leadership rolls throughout my life. Through sports and work experience
I have emerged as a leader in any situation I might face. I’ve played team sports my whole life
and I have a thorough understanding what it takes to achieve a common goal when working
in a team. The ability to motivate people in order to achieve success is one of my best
qualities. During my work at TD Canada Trust, I’ve been a top producer for the branch every
quarter. I motivate team members through continuous communication to deliver objects,
update progress and recognize outstanding individuals. My work with BASS will allow me to
exhibit these same leadership abilities. Communication within the executive council will be

key to our success. I will demand results from my directors, and recognize them accordingly.
3. What is your leadership style and what does leadership mean to you?
I lead by example. A good leader should practice what they preach. A team is only as good as
the weakest link. As VP External it would be my job to put the best people in place to achieve
desired results. A good leader should be able to trust his or her team, and to be able to delegate
work efficiently and effectively. If elected, I would ensure that the people working with me
were committed to our goal and to our success. My dedication and team leading abilities will
push my team to work their hardest to make this year with BASS a success.
A leadership position is a multifaceted and dynamic position. Leadership to me means
providing the tools and guidance for a team to then function independently. It involves two
way, open communication and reasonable conflict management. A leader earns the respect
and trust of those they work with. I believe that good leadership can lead any team to success.
4. If elected, what plans and goals do you have for BASS during your term?
My main goal would be to add value to student life within the Business Faculty. I want people
to be excited and enthusiastic about BASS events. There is no reason why any event should
not sell out. This year’s snowball event is a fitting example. There were many places for
improvement that can be taken into account for next year. The organizing committees need
the human capital and the funding necessary to pull of the best possible event. In my position
I will work hard to provide these teams with the resources necessary to make a name for BASS
title events. .
More specifically I think we can brand around JDC W est better. This should be the marque
event of the fall semester. The financial constraints faced by competitors need to be looked

into. Most schools have a big title sponsor and these schools’ delegate fees are majorly
subsidized. W e need to find this sponsor for SFU JDC W est. W e need to send our best people,
and we need to do better at these prestigious competitions. Any exposer that SFU gets on a
national scale like JDC W est benefits the whole faculty, and adds value to all our degrees.
I would like to take CR in a new direction by introducing the idea of long-term sponsorship
deals with our partners. By signing a contract for a three-year, title sponsor of FROSH or JDC
W est, we will ensure their financial stability into years to come. This will help in turn over of
responsibility of these events. My goal for this year is to obtain at least two recurring contracts
with partners for JDC W est and Frosh.
5. In your own words describe the position you are applying for. Further, describe the purpose of portfolio
that positions responsible for.
The job of the VP external is to hire directors with the abilities to;
1. Establish new and maintain sponsor relationships.
2. Fundraise for SFU Business events.
3. Add value to the students to through different BASS branded events
4. Get people excited about BASS
5. Strongly encourage first year involvement
Again, BASS did some good things this year. However, there is room for improvement. A
major goal of team external this year should be to find that homerun sponsor for JDC W est. I
believe JDC W est is so key because it has the ability to spark an interest in future involvement
and passion for competing. JDC W est has been known to push first year students into wanting
to take a more active role in the student society. It has also brought out the best of third and
fourth year academic competitors, who then go on to win at international levels. Student
exposure to events like JDC W est will get the younger students in the faculty more excited to
be involved. Students will get excited about case competitions earlier in the university careers.
More years of practice means better results, better results means more exposure, and more
exposure means more value to all our BBA degrees.

6. List the directors and Coordinators contained in the portfolio of the position you are applying for.
Team external ‘11/12 would consist of three directors. The director of Corporate Relations, the
Director of External Events, and the JDC W est Captains. This year, I would encourage BASS
to give the IBCC case competition to IBA. IBA has the capacity to run IBCC on their own, and
it is not something I’d recommend BASS take on.
The corporate relations director would be in charge of maintaining relationships and creating
new ones with sponsors. Under them would be a team of people with the capital to
continuously seek out and obtain new sponsors for the faculty.
The director of external events would be in charge of events such as the BASS banquet,
Snowball and the Golf Tournament. It would be their job to ensure that the right people are in
place for success. If correctly done the director should be able to take a hands off approach on
most events, however, if they feel things are not going in the right direction they can provide
guidance to the different chairs. If the chair still seems to be inadequate, they will be
removed. This year BASS cannot afford to have events not run effectively and efficiently.
7. What have you done to prepare yourself for the election and learn about the role you are interested in?
If you have contacted anyone please state their names and positions below.
Before submitting my application I talked to the outgoing VP External Johnny Dewan, and he
walked me through the year. He talked me through all the events, and all the responsibilities
VP External was expected to take on through out the year. He gave me an idea of the time
commitment that is expected, but also how he feels that the roll has benefited him going
forward. Johnny said the experiences that he had this year have benefited him more than any
class ever has. This is what I want to take away from the roll. I want to learn for myself and I
want to lead for the students to benefit the whole SFU Business community.
I also had a long discussion with President candidate Brock Balfour. He has a lot more
experience than me, and has been very active in BASS over the past year. W e talked out the
year, and we share very similar opinions of many ideas going forward. I am very excited of the
potential of working with Brock.

8. Name three difficulties former Executives faced during their terms and describe what measures you will
take to avoid these difficulties.
• Lack of funding
• In prior years funding has always been an issue. It is one of my main goals to
establish new relationships with potential sponsors. This could just mean cold calling
sponsors, and relentlessly trying different options. This is also where long term
contracts will greatly benefit the groups that need large sums of money year after
year.
• Lack of involvement of SFU Surrey
• BASS needs to take actions to more actively involve the SFU Surrey students with
our events and our activities. W e need to take actions to better market the SFU
Business culture to the Surrey students and create better awareness of BASS events.
• More events need to travel to the Surrey campus so that the gap between campuses
will lessen with time
• Lack of diversity of involved students
• In prior years BASS has operated with the same students, with the same people going
to all the events. W e need more students to be actively involved in the school. Plans
should be in place to really go after first years, we need to create desire for all
students to get involved in their student society. Use this years BASS elections as a
prime example, there should be much more interest than what is shown for
executive positions. BASS should be something everyone wants to be part of, and
that there are far too many students for positions.
9. What can your position of interest do for the clubs and other student organizations at SFU Business?
The VP External is in communication with sponsors, resources, and members of student
societies from across Canada. There is valuable information and resources to be shared within
the clubs and organizations at SFU. I will also provide assistance to any club or organization
that is looking to obtain sponsorship for an event or cause. I will make it a mission to elevate
the SFU Business brand in the corporate world and get our student clubs the exposure they
deserve.

10. Evaluate the performance of the 2010/11 executive council. What have they done well and what have
they not done well?
In my short amount of time in the SFU Business faculty I have had positive and negative
experiences with BASS. I have heard that the funding for major events not at a level that aided
our students in achieving success. Also, I have experienced finding out about events that I
would have loved to attend only on the day of the event. Marketing and funding are
extremely important in BASS success stories.
I do believe that the BASS executive this year hired some talented directors to put on some
very good events. Feedback from Frosh was very positive. I also enjoyed hearing the anecdotes
from the tight knit JDC W est delegation. That is the kind of thing that makes me want to get
involved.
11. Is there anything else that you would like to inform the voters?
If elected I will do my very best to make sure all the endeavors we take on our done the best
they can be. I will give BASS all my effort. I will attract new sponsors, get more people
involved and excited about the faculty events that our occurring. It is my number one goal to
add value to all our BBA degrees.
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