Internationally renowned marketer, entrepreneur, bestselling author and blogger Seth Godin spoke to 3,000 students at the UCF College of Business Administration (#UCFBusiness) “Welcome to the Majors” event this past Friday at the CFE Arena in what was the largest single-class assembly in UCF history. He joined Dean Paul Jarley for a Q&A session afterwards with 125 local business leaders.

“Don’t settle for creating average things for average people. We need you to lead us. Be genuine – be remarkable – be weird – be worth connecting with,” Godin said.

Seth Godin (https://www.ucf.edu/pegasus/raising-a-ruckus/) is the author of 18 bestselling business books, including Purple Cow, Tribes, Linchpin and The Icarus Deception. His influential blog frequently appears at the top of Advertising Age’s barometer of industry blogs, the “Power 150.”

“I wanted to bring Seth to UCF because he emboldens me to try to effectuate change,” said Jarley.

“Seth has been asking many of the same questions I was. What if it was possible to teach habits, attitudes and mindsets like risk-taking, boundary-spanning and persistence? What if instead of asking students to participate, we expected them to and supported them with a wide variety of opportunities to engage?”

“Welcome to the Majors,” sponsored by Wells Fargo, is the college’s signature student event that takes place at the beginning of every semester and serves as the first class of Career Research & Planning (GEB 3003). Attendees are introduced to college culture and are able to network with student organizations, college administration and select corporate partners. Burr & Forman, LLP, was the platinum sponsor for Godin’s appearance. Other sponsors included UCF, the Orlando Magic, Florida Blue, Verizon, FAMU College of Law and the Florida High Tech Corridor.

“Burr & Forman wants to make a difference at the UCF College of Business, and we believe that being part of the team that brought in Seth Godin did so for 3,000 students,” said Eric Golden, managing partner of the Orlando office. “It was great to be able to work with other business leaders in our community, along with Dean Jarley’s team, to create this amazing opportunity, and we intend to continue to work to identify other ways we will be able to contribute to the College of Business.”