True Purple Information for the Colleges of the University

Information for alumni relations staff and local alumni leaders of the Colleges of the University

We are delighted to present the next installment of "True Purple", the traditional annual gathering of all graduates, current and former students, members of staff, visitors and friends of the Colleges of the University of London, who live and/or work in Switzerland.

Please find below all the necessary information. Immediate action is required.

Not much has changed in the procedures from previous years. So, if you have been personally involved with previous "True Purples", it'll basically be the same this year. If you are new to the event, please study the below information carefully.

Each year, we update the details of our alumni contacts at each of the Colleges of the University and Imperial College. We have given our best to get the correct contact with the correct e-mail address. Please apologize for any errors we might have made, and we ask that you notify us of any change of contact information.

Please advice us once you have invited your College constituency in Switzerland to aid us in venue space planning. Thank you. Please also don't hesitate to contact us if you require further assistance.

Invitation Regime

Graduates, current and former students, members of staff, visitors and friends of the Colleges of the University of London will enjoy supper and small talk at six locations in Switzerland. This page contains all relevant information on the events and also links to invitation and marketing material.

Alumnae and alumni have been enjoying "True Purple" for many years and will return for each annual installment. Nonetheless, we strongly recommend that each College also invites their own alumnae and alumni in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein to "True Purple". Alumnae and alumni always appreciate being invited to large events by their College. The Swiss LSE Alumni Association, the organiser of "True Purple" for over a decade, will take care of all organizational matters, will prepare additional marketing material and will cover the bill for the use of any facilities.

Please find below recommended templates for your e-mail and postal communications and for your print publications. To ensure consistent event branding across the University, please use these templates.

Specific Actions

We recommend that, at minimum, you do the following:

1. list the events in the alumni-related pages of your Web site and within alumni content in your print magazines
2. re-connect with as many of your "lost" alumni/ae as possible
3. dispatch an e-mail invitation to all of your alumni/ae in Switzerland
4. dispatch a 1st e-mail reminder
5. dispatch a 2nd e-mail reminder
6. dispatch a last call

You may also chose to do one or more postal mailings. Postal mailings are more costly but also more effective.

We encourage you to take the opportunity to perform some "housekeeping" tasks: Try to track down your "lost" alumni/ae. The upcoming event represents an excellent alumni volunteer recruitment opportunity.

The "absolute floor" in the below table is the number of alumni/ae, which your College has for certain in Switzerland. It's technically impossible that you have below that number of alumni/ae. However, you should be able to connect to all those alumni/ae making the "estimated floor" of the number of alumni/ae in Switzerland. In our experience, it takes about one man-day to research the names and contact details of 200 alumni/ae. With maximum effort, you will be able to reach your "estimated ceiling" of the number of alumni/ae.

The Colleges are listed in order of their admission into the University, followed by the central academic bodies and Imperial College. The numbers are per 31 December 2021. 
 

Attending

Alumnae and alumni have to sign up for "True Purple" in advance. They do so through a dedicated Web gateway. Each of the invitation templates includes sign-up instructions to alumnae and alumni. If you customise the text of these templates before dispatch, please do not change the part with the sign-up instructions.

For Imperial College

University membership for alumnae and alumni of Imperial College will depend on the year they matriculated. The postgraduate matriculating classes of 2007 and beyond and the undergraduate matriculating classes of 2008 and beyond could not have become members of the University. Classes working towards a degree on 8 July 2007 could chose to retain membership in the University or not. All classes prior to these years continue to be members of the University. The organising club, nonetheless, will continue to welcome all alumnae and alumni of Imperial College, whether they are members of the University or not, to "True Purple".