USA NAA Newsletter
Dear Alumni,
It will soon be a year since I took on the position as President of the USIAA. I did not see the time go by. I already have so many memories to share, attended so many events organized by various people that it would be difficult to remember them all.
But there is one thing that has really made an impact on me: No matter the promotion we were in, INSEAD folks have a very strong common denominator, I do not know what it is, but it is there and it is a very strong connection. Previously, probably like most of us, I was mostly exposed to alumni in my promotion, and without thinking about it spent most of my time with them. But in last year I have been greatly exposed to such a large INSEAD population. I just calculated that after my Dec '90 promotion there have been some 36 others!! And many have been larger than ours. That’s a lot of people. So the bottom line is that no matter when you go, INSEADers do have some strong common denominator.
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In the USIAA we are a bunch of volunteers from different promotions working together on various topics. And probably the most motivating factor for us is to spend time together. During one of our sessions at the recent national meeting, we tried to zoom in on what is it that we have in common: a lot, but three things stood out. They are our main values: INSEAD people, after all it is a business school, are professional, they may be eccentric, I know a few like that, but they are in general very professional. The second value is diversity, and this goes without saying. Last but not least one VERY COMMON denominator is value number three: FUN! We're always ready to throw a good party or do something fun. |
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So looking back at a few things that happened this year, we had some very interesting business activities, with many diverse and interesting speakers. We had, again after a few years, a great winter party in early December, and we are planning a repeat this year, maybe in January 09.
We started some good old traditions with our first Salamander Skiing cup held in Alta, Utah and won, by a few tenths of a second, by our German fellow Freidrich von Rohrscheidt, who is now our reigning champion until the next one in 2009. (Come and challenge him!) On June 21st we will have our first US Salamader Golf cup at Bethpage, NY (where they are going to play the US Open in 2009).
We just held our volunteers annual meeting in San Francisco, in a wonderful location, Cavallo Point just on the North end of the Golden Gate Bridge. First of all we all had a great time, and this is just an invite for you to come and join us in the association, there is a lot for you to do. Second we now have an exciting plan for the year, so stay tuned.
I wish you all a great summer season and hope to see you soon.
Tommaso Trionfi, MBA '90D, President USIAA
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Happenings in the INSEAD Community
A Big "Thank You" to Anne Holbach
After many, many years as a dedicated volunteering in our USIAA we all wish to say a BIG THANK YOU to Anne Holbach. Her relentless high spirit, positive mindset and endless energy have made their marks on the group. Her many contributions over the years have played a major role in shaping the US Alumni association and enabling its success. Anne, we will all miss you on the leadership team and look forward to continuing to see you at our many events!
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USIAA National Meeting Your US INSEAD Alumni Association Leadership Team met in San Francisco (OK, just north of San Francisco) for our annual meeting over the weekend of 30 May - 1 June. Our agenda consisted of discussing ways to keep our association active and vibrant and what we can do as volunteers to sustain a high level of interest and engagement of our alumni family. Our thanks to Carol Cunningham, our USIAA Coordinator and Rich Pulliam and Anya for organizing and hosting this great event. Under Tommaso's leadership, we continue to innovate with activities and events of all types: |
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Many regions have run very successful speaking events, featuring well know individuals to animate discussions and panels on subjects of relevance to us all. We now have annual sporting events for skiing and golf with friendly competition that can earn you a "Salamander" award. We welcome other events or activities that you may want to help organize that can pull our alumni and families together (see the Club Med idea being proposed by Jag in the section below). In addition, with the opening of the INSEAD office in New York City, we find ourselves working closely with the Mary Lee Reiley, Executive Director of INSEAD North America. Under Jag's direction, we have some exciting news on the career front. In the next few months, in addition to the Employment Opportunities that Jag continues to track, the INSEAD Connect pages will soon be offering job search capabilities for active alumni members. |
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View of Golden Gate Bridge from USIAA meeting
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We are also pleased at our new web presence. If you don't have access to our USIAA website (www.inseadusa.com), or if you have problems with your log in credentials, please send me an email and I'll get that resolved for you. Our website offers lots of information on activities and events, blogs, interest groups as well as a way to purchase tickets for activities and events. With our Web 2.0 features, it is a great tool for "social networking" and keeping in touch with fellow alumni. We're always looking for suggestions on how to improve the value of our website for our alumni, so feel free to contact us with ideas and suggestions. Wishing you all a great summer, Bob Stillerman , MBA '77J, Vice President, Communications |
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Leadership Team at the Annual Meeting: |
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| Cavallo Point, Sausalito, CA | The Italian Influence (Bocce) /td> |
| Thanks to Frances Pordes, MBA '91J and Rich Pulliam, MBA '04D for the photos! | |
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The role of the regional president is to:
- organize periodic events, such as monthly/quarterly drinks or dinners and one yearly event, e.g. golf outing, holiday party, Bastille Day celebration
- relay information to the local alumni base
- drive membership in the region
- serve as local touch points for new candidates, marketing efforts and visiting professors
- in smaller areas, connect with other MBA alumni groups to expand the oportunities for networking and events
National support
Regional presidents are supported by a national group of Alumni volunteers covering the following functions:Membership, coordination with Faculty at Insead, Public Relations, finance/treasury, website and mailing lists, careers and communications
A part time administrative person, Carol Cunningham, also provides administrative support
Each regional President is given a budget which is commensurate to the membership in the region
What's in it for you?
In addition to the profound satisfaction you get from giving back to the school in some ways, the role of regional president will help you hone your leadership and organizational skills, provide you unique networking opportunities and give you a new valuable experience.
What to do next
If you wish to be a candidate for the role of Regional President, please send your application to Brigitte Morel-Curran including an outline of your resume, a statement of motivation - why do you want to be President of the Insead Alumni Association - as well as a brief summary of your objectives - what do you want to achieve in this role during its 3-year term.Please email me with your ideas.
There will be at least one of two interviews with each of the candidates. Applications will be reviewed by a combination of national and local volunteers.
Brigitte Morel-Curran, MBA, '78J, Executive Vice President, Regions
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We will be launching our USIAA membership drive soon. The drive will kick off with a letter from the President, followed by a telephone campaign.
Benefits of being a member include unlimited access to the alumni online database, discounts of up to -40% on events, access to member-only online content and podcasts, and more. Membership is a great way to show your support for the school and stay connected to the international INSEAD business community.
For just $75 a year (that’s $6.25 a month), your membership will be active for 12 months on a rolling basis. If you sign up during the drive, you’ll receive a free gift. Join today!
Not sure if you’re a member or not, or need help with logging on? Email the Association Coordinator Carol Cunningham .
Thanks for your support!
Ellen Cohan, MBA '02J, Vice President, Marketing, PR and Membership
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Alumni Vacation Club at Club Med?
Want to escape the cold, dreary winter for a few days to a week in the Caribbean or the Mexican Riviera? What better way for alumni to network and bond than sailing, swimming, snorkeling, diving, kayaking, playing tennis or flying on a trapeze. All these and other activities, combined with wining, dining, dancing and non-stop partying make Club Med spots like Martinique, Guadaloupe, the Bahamas, and Turks & Caicos or Cancun and Ixtapa in Mexico… perfect settings for an ideal and carefree vacation, an escape from civilization.
At our national meeting last month, this idea was floated. We now want to determine if there is sufficient interest among our alumni. If this takes off, and if we can negotiate a big discount with Club Med, we can make it an annual event, alternating between the Caribbean and the Mexican Riviera.
Jag Rao, our VP for Career Services, would like to hear whether or not you are interested in this idea. If it appeals, please indicate:
- how many days you prefer (between three and seven)
- which month you prefer (between November and March)
- with or without children.
- whether we should invite our Canadian neighbors
Please drop Jag a note with your opinion and we will go from there. Chapter Presidents, please encourage alumni in your region to respond to this mini-survey.
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INSEAD North America Office
We are proud to announce two new members to the INSEAD team that will reside in the New York office. Cassandra Pittman, Assistant Director of the MBA and EMBA programs will be leaving the Fontainebleau Campus and continuing her duties from the New York office. Cassandra’s duties consist of hosting events around the Americas to introduce the INSEAD programs and assist candidates who have questions about the application process. Many of you may have met Cassandra already and we are thrilled to have her become more permanent and involved in promoting INSEAD.
Emilia Udvareva, will be joining as the Executive Assistant for those that will reside in the office. Emilia’s duties will include assisting with events and helping us with maintaining our PeopleSoft database and building new databases for the Americas. Having Emilia in the office full-time will provide consistent access to the office and her skills should improve our services tremendously. Emilia is Hungarian and has worked as an Executive Assistant in New York City for several years.
Mary Lee Reiley, Executive Director, INSEAD North America
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INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy
Companies have long engaged in head-to-head competition in search of sustained, profitable growth. They have fought for competitive advantage, battled over market share, and struggled for differentiation. Yet in today’s overcrowded industries, competing head-on results in nothing but a bloody “red ocean” of rivals fighting over a shrinking profit pool characterised by increasing levels of commoditisation. While most companies compete within such red oceans, is this strategy likely to create profitable growth in the future?
Our new progamme, INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy, offers participants a novel perspective on strategy formulation and execution. Participants will learn how to create “blue oceans” of uncontested market space that make the competition irrelevant. During the programme, participants will be immersed in the concepts, tools and frameworks of Blue Ocean Strategy. They will gain keen insights into how this concept complements and goes beyond traditional approaches to strategy. There will be a strong emphasis on learning how to apply the Blue Ocean Strategy concept, tools and frameworks to real business situations in order to help managers break away from the competition to achieve strong profitable growth.
INSEAD professors W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne created Blue Ocean Strategy, based on over a decade of research, as a way for companies to swim out of the red ocean filled with sharks. Blue Ocean Strategy argues that tomorrow’s leading companies will succeed not by battling competitors, but by creating “blue oceans” of uncontested market space ripe for growth.
To learn more, go to our website.
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Second Life
As you may know, INSEAD is one of the first business schools to open a virtual campus in Second Life and has received some positive media coverage on the subject. As well as being a really cool place to meet informally, the campus also offers a virtual space that is currently being used for teaching purposes and research projects. Recently created to explore ways of increasing the impact of INSEAD programmes through innovative tools and design, the Learning Innovation Centre is exploring new ways of delivering learning and bringing people together through this virtual platform. With this goal in mind, starting in the fall, we plan to open up some events to alumni and remote participants located all over world.
How will this work? Real events, such as presentations by guest speakers, will be video-streamed in real time into the virtual classroom in Second Life. Sitting next to other virtual participants, you would be able to watch the video and also see the power-point slides. In order to be fully interactive, virtual participants can also send in questions through the text chat. To participate, all you need to do is download the Second Life software (for free) on your computer and create an avatar (your Second Life identity). For best results you need a stable broadband connection and a headset or speakers to hear the video. Instructions for getting started in Second Life will be available shortly from our website or you can visit the Second Life website for more details. Our pilot event on 10th June brought together participants logging in from Beijing, Madrid, London and Singapore, with positive feedback on the quality of the live streaming. Invitations to future events will be announced in due course and if you have any other ideas about how you would like to use our virtual campus, please contact the learning innovation team by email. We look forward very much to welcoming you all to our virtual classroom soon!
Jill Huret, Assistant Director, Learning Innovation Centre, INSEAD
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For Zumi
I’m often asked why do I support INSEAD. Why do I spend time, effort and money in support of an institution where I started my MBA program 18 years ago? Why do I do so much when I get only get an occasional thank you, handshake or a pat on the back from the institution itself? I’m not sure if I am eloquent enough to succinctly explain the reasons why, but I’d like to tell you about Zumi.
Zumi (not her real name) is a 20-something Indonesian woman that I met a couple of months ago. I interviewed her for a spot in INSEAD’s 2009J promotion. As we sat in a dark, crowded bar in Manhattan with dance music blaring over the speaker system, I struggled to hear her as she answered my questions in a soft voice and sometimes halting English about her background, her most recent job, her career goals and her leadership abilities.
I was very impressed with Zumi and I knew fairly quickly that she would be a major asset to her promotion and a good friend to her classmates. But in listening to her talk about her interest in the school, I was also impressed by INSEAD and that fact that our MBA program is so special and has such amazing depth and reach that a young woman who grew up in rural Indonesia and was a student in Yogyakarta and Hiroshima, would want to go to study business at INSEAD in Fontainebleau instead of at other formidable institutions located in Cambridge, Philadelphia or Palo Alto.
Several weeks ago Zumi got accepted into INSEAD. She sent me an email telling me about how excited she was and how the acceptance was made even sweeter by the fact that she was awarded scholarship money from the INSEAD Alumni Fund. As I read her email, the answers to the questions people ask me about my dedication to INSEAD and the IAF became very clear.
I support INSEAD because of Zumi and her promotion-mates of 2009, I am sure they will have a fabulous year. I support INSEAD because of the fun I had and the experience I gained in Fontainebleau with my promotion-mates in 1991. I support INSEAD to keep vibrant the memory of all the past promotions that spent time on either the Fontainebleau or Singapore campuses. And most of all I support INSEAD in fervent anticipation of all of the future MBA students, excited like Zumi, and the success of future promotions to come.
Zumi, this one is for you.
Sharyanne McSwain, MBA'91J, US INSEAD Alumni Fund
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INSEAD was featured over a dozen times in prominent U.S. business media channels over the past two months, including BusinessWeek, Chief Executive, and CFO.com. Be sure to check out the video of Frank Brown and Tom Robertson, Dean of Wharton, discussing the INSEAD-Wharton alliance at businessweek.com. Highlights and links below:
- BusinessWeek.com – Ethan Kapstein was featured in a Q&A for an “Armchair MBA” column on the topic of business leaders addressing sustainable business development in emerging economies.
- BusinessWeek.com (Video) - Frank Brown and Tom Robertson, Dean of Wharton, were featured in a Video View speaking about the renewal of the INSEAD-Wharton alliance.
- Chief Executive – Frank Brown’s byline on “Cultural Capital in the C-Suite” and Jake Cohen’s article on the credit crisis were both featured in the April/May issue.
- CFO.com - Frank Brown was quoted several times in an article about the importance of international experience in the finance profession.
Do you have an idea for a story featuring INSEAD and its alumni? We welcome your ideas! Please send them to INSEAD’s press relations firm, CJP, or to me at .
For the latest INSEAD in the news, go to INSEAD in the Media.
Ellen Cohan, MBA '02J, Vice President, Marketing, PR and Membership
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| Future of the Internet
What is the future of the Internet? Is there money to be made as an entrepreneur or as an investor? Are there good career opportunities in the Internet sector? A blue ribbon panel of Internet entrepreneurs answered these questions and discussed the future of Internet in a seminar organized by our New York Tri-State chapter on May 13 at the brand new Levine Institute of New York University. The event, attended by a record audience, attracted a great deal of interest from a wide audience from job seekers to investors. The panel included: |
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- Kevin P. Ryan, Co-founder & Chairman, AlleyCorp (Alley Insider, Gilt Groupe, Music Nation, Panther Express, ShopWiki & 10gen), CEO of Panther Express, and former CEO & founder DoubleClick, Hotjobs. Kevin, INSEAD MBA ‘90D, is also the immediate past president of our US Alumni Association.
- Alexandre Douzet, INSEAD MBA ‘02D, Co-Founder, Executive Vice President and General Manager for TheLadders.com Europe
- Paul Forster, INSEAD MBA Dec.’94, CEO and co-founder of Indeed, a search engine for jobs that gives job seekers free access to millions of jobs from thousands of company websites, job boards, newspapers, blogs and associations.
- Daniel Allen, a Principal with Bain Capital Ventures Group
- Moderated by Henry Blodget, Silicon Alley Insider, CEO, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief
- The event was hosted by Garrick Utley, President of the Levine Institute, formerly of NBC Nightly News, and Meet The Press.
Kevin, Alexandre and Paul are INSEAD’s highly successful technology entrepreneurs who assembled to discuss future trends and successful strategies for the Internet. Rich on-line user experience, managing Internet advertising and digital marketing, on-line content and delivery, business and social networking, innovative high-end fashion merchandising, on-line media and music – these are just some of the areas where INSEAD’s entrepreneurs have excelled. They gave us insights about how to drive the competitive strategy and future of the business.
Jag Rao, Vice President, Careers, MBA, '64
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INSEAD Career Contacts
If you belong to any enterprise that frequently or occasionally hires MBA’s, you may be willing to talk about your organization to our recent graduates aspiring to a career in the U.S. They would be interested in learning about your organization, its policies, practices, opportunities, etc. The dialog could be by phone or by e-mail, or even face-to-face, if it can be arranged. Please confirm your willingness to help our fellow alumni through communicating with them for a few minutes to an hour, by providing me your name, organization, phone # and e-mail address.
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Alumni Career Services, Three-Year Development Plan for INSEAD’S CareerLink
INSEAD CareerLink, an integral part of INSEADConnect is in the development stage and should be a reality in the coming months. It will be rich in functions and features for the alumni to post their résumés and for corporate recruiters and headhunters to screen suitable candidates by region, country, industry, company and experience level. Pamela McNeill, Assistant Director, Alumni and EMBA Career Services presented the project status and current plans at a meeting held in New York on April 17. It also gave us an opportunity to further discuss our requirements.
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INSEADUSA/Careers: Our Single Information Medium for Career Advertising and Opportunities
All employment opportunities for INSEAD graduates that are known to us are posted as they are received on our Web site. Go to www.inseadusa.com, click the Careers tab on the right and on the next screen, click Job Postings below the Community tab on the left. This will take you to all recent job postings. A more complete job listing going back several months (some possibly already filled) is available by just clicking on the Careers button.
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Job Opportunities
For job details, see the Job Opportunities section below, or go to the Employment Opportunities pages in the Career Services Section of our website: http://www.inseadusa.com.
Jag Rao, Vice President, Careers, MBA, '64
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Northern California and Northwest region, Rich Pulliam, MBA '04D, President
We were able to have our alumni network with current INSEAD students who were participating in Morten Hansen’s Silicon Valley elective course. This was held in Palo Alto and had a nice turnout, where alumni shared their entrepreneurial experiences with the students.
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The month of May ended with a big bang for our region! We had the pleasure of hosting the US IAA National Meeting on the last weekend of May at the brand new Cavallo Point Lodge across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. Accompanying that event was a great Wine Tasting Event on Friday night May 30 at Nectar Wine Lounge in San Francisco, which was a chance for our local alumni to meet and network with our national volunteers. It was a great success with over 40 alumni at the event, and the venue was spectacular with 4 different wines to taste. And the following day alum Julia Coelho led a hike and picnic for our alumni in the Valley. What a weekend! |
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Also exciting was the release of professor Amy Shuen’s book on Web 2.0 Strategy, and she invited a few INSEAD alumni to a book launch event hosted by Wharton at Facebook’s HQ in Palo Alto. Speaking there were the CEO and founder of VideoEgg, the CEO and founder of Jajah, a leading investment analyst in the technology space, and the Director of Facebook’s Application Platform. What a great event that was.
Coming up will be more social events in the summer and fall, as well as the beginning of quarterly networking events in San Francisco and in Silicon Valley focused on alumni in technology, entrepreneurship and venture capital. Don’t forget to go to www.inseadusa.com to check for upcoming event dates and locations!
Rich Pulliam, MBA '04D, Outgoing President, DC
We had some great events in May and June in joint partnership with Wharton, Harvard and other schools. First was an Entrepreneurial Conference which focused on the challenges of creating a new organization. 2nd was a Green Summit led by our friends at Wharton, which was a full day conference with a cocktail the night before, covering the ever-important role that “Green” has on all industries and businesses.
Upcoming Events: Save the date on October 4 for the End of Summer Picnic at alum Frans Kok’s farm in Middleburg, VA – always the DC event of the year! There will be more events before then, but we want you to save that Saturday far in advance!
TriState + PA, Matt Williamson, MBA '00, President
There are a number of exciting events planned for this month and next, including Bastille Day. Please take a look at the event listings, and mark them down in your calendar. Hopefully, we will see you there.
Briefly they are as follows, with detail below:
| June 18 | Special Women's Dinner with Women's Forum Founder |
| June 21 | Salamander Golf Tournament |
| June 25 | Author Talk with Sven Smits: Granularity of Growth |
| July 1 | Monthly Cocktails |
| July 14 | Bastille Day Celebration |
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Last month we bid a fond farewell to Shivani; watch out Zurich, here she comes.
As always, your help in identifying issues and events that you would find of interest is always appreciated. If you are in PA, NJ or CT in particular, I would like to see what we can do to serve you better. Please let me or any of the other wonderful Tri-State volunteers know your thoughts. If you'd like to get more involved with organizing INSEAD events, dial in to our next volunteer meeting, or even better, join in person.
A bientot,
Matt Williamson (MBA 2000) on behalf of the Tri-State INSEAD Alumni Association Volunteer Team
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EVENT DETAILS
Wednesday June 18th A special Women's Group Event: Dinner and Discussion with The Women's Forum for the Economy and Society, CEO
Join fellow INSEAD alumni and Women's Forum founder and CEO, Aude de Thuin, for an informal dinner and discussion. Find out why she created the Women's Forum, what her vision is for its future and the greatest challenges she sees in reaching these ambitious goals. http://www.womens-forum.com/ Rated by the Financial Times in 2007 as one of the world's top five international forums, the Women's Forum promotes women's vision on the economic and social issues that matter most in today's world.
Location: 180 East 95th Street (between Lexington and 3rd Avenues) the home of Wenke Thoman Stearns, MBA '77
Time: 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Registration: Open to all INSEAD alumni (including men!) - limited to 35 attendees.
Further details: Please contact Sharyanne McSwain
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Saturday June 21st SALAMANDER GOLF TOURNAMENT
We are delighted to announce that the INSEAD US Alumni Association inaugural Salamander Golf Cup will take place at the Bethpage Red Course in Bethpage State Park, New York. First tee time is at 11 am.
Bethpage Red is regarded by many as one of the best courses in America open to the public. It is approximately 40 miles from Manhattan. See further course details at the following website: http://nysparks.state.ny.us/golf/info.asp?golfID=12
Golfers of all abilities are invited to play but we have limited space so registration will be on a first come first served basis. The golf will finish up around 6pm at Bethpage and will be followed by dinner in Manhattan.
To register please pay $125 by following this link. This covers green fee and golf cart for the round. Questions can be addressed to inseadgolf2008@gmail.com.
We look forward to seeing you on June 21st.
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Tuesday June 25th AUTHOR TALK: GRANULARITY OF GROWTH
Join us for a fantastic evening of insights from the authors of a new book that the FT calls "thought-provoking" with "findings that are pretty startling."
Sven Smit (MBA '92, McKinsey Director, Amsterdam), co-author, Granularity of Growth: How to Identify the Sources of Growth and Drive Enduring Company Performance, will lead a lively discussion around the opportunities and challenges for sustaining large company growth.
Key discussion themes will include:
- Grow or go - there is no middle way
- Momentum and M&A matter most - it's not whether, it's how good you are at it
- Avoiding the tyranny of the averages - finding opportunities in growth pockets
- It's where, not how you compete - managing granularly
Joining Sven will be co-authors Patrick Viguerie (McKinsey Director, Atlanta) and Mehrdad Baghai (McKinsey alumnus, author of the best-selling The Alchemy of Growth and Managing Director of Alchemy Growth Partners in Sydney, Australia)
DATE: Wednesday, June 25, 2008
TIME: 6:00 PM - 8:00PM (Presentation begins at 6:30PM)
VENUE: McKinsey& Company office, 55 East 52nd Street, New York, NY
RSVP: Matt Williamson (646-258-4576 or mcwilliamson@gmail.com)
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JULY SAVE THE DATES
Tuesday July 1st MONTHLY COCKTAILS
Get together with fellow alumni, catch up on gossip, make some plans for the summer...You know the drill.
Location: The Campbell Apartment, Grand Central Station, 15 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York NY
Further details: Call Sandeep Gill if you can't find the group (cell: 347-458-0123).
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Tuesday July 1st BASTILLE DAY PARTY
Aux armes Salamandres! Rest assured we will be celebrating Bastille Day this year, so mark the date in your calendars. Please join us to raise a glass and light some sparklers on a to-be-announced Manhattan rooftop.
We are trying hard to find the best location and have yet to finalize, if you know of a perfect rooftop in Manhattan where the party could be held please drop a note.
Location: TBD
Time: 6:30 pm - its over
Further details: For the latest updates, please email Carol Fedida or Paul Fraynt.
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Events this Fall
October 28th Sustainability Roundtable
Jamie Rutledge, MBA'99J, President, South Central Region
The strategy for the Southern US INSEAD Alumni Association is to leverage existing MBA organizations to make networking, community and business events available to its members. In Houston, the Souther US IAA has developed a partnership with the MBA Council of Houston.
June 4th -- Navigating Your Career (Houston)
Thinking of making a job or career change? Can you dispassionately evaluate your career? What do you want to be when you grow up?The MBA Council of Houston presents an interactive panel discussion on Navigating Your Career---for all MBAs, young and experienced. Our panelists will discuss how you can evaluate your career and how to prepare for future career moves.
Wednesday, June 4 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm
($25 in advance and $30 at door)
5:30 pm Reception; 6:30 Panel presentation in the Anderson Family Commons, Janice and Robert McNair Hall, Jones Graduate School, Rice University
Signup Here—for directions and a map
The panel will be as follows:
Stan Marts, MBA, Managing Director, Braxton Cooper Inc. Stan has over 25 years of industry, managerial and consulting experience. In his current role, he places MBAs with consulting firms and previously worked in both the energy and chemical markets with Fluor and Shell, as well as consulting with Navigant.
Cecilia Rose, an independent career and business coach. Cecilia is an ICF Certified Coach, a trusted advisor, and career and change management strategist working with global Fortune 50 and 500 companies. Cecilia provides one-on-one coaching and consulting to both senior and executive clients.
Sandra Elliott, MA and currently completing her PhD. Sandra has most recently been a lecturer in communications at Rice's Jones School. She has also been a training consultant developing custom training solutions for technical and soft skills training in engineering, finance, banking, media and telecommunications industries.
Lisa Anderson, MBA, will be our program moderator. Lisa is a career and MBA admissions consultant who previously led MBA admissions at Rice and provided MBA career services at Texas A&M and Rice. She has also worked in corporate human resources in the energy, manufacturing and consulting industries.
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Monthly Deal Flow Lunch (Houston)
Invitation from Wharton to attend the Monthly Deal Flow Lunch. It has become a great venue for business referrals and deal making. Whether your members are a provider of goods or services; looking to build relationships with customers and suppliers; an entrepreneur looking for capital, customers, or visibility; or an investor looking for opportunities or acquisitions, this luncheon is focused on helping each of them grow their business. There are many success stories which began at this monthly lunch event.Every attendee has the opportunity to inform the group what he or she does and what they are looking for. It is an excellent way to let other attendees know about them and how they may help or benefit other attendees who are potential clients, customers, investors, buyers, suppliers, etc. Our mission is to facilitate deal-making and business development efforts and this lunch is a top-notch opportunity to meet, greet, network, and make valuable contacts.
The luncheon is held on the second Monday of every month from noon to 1 pm at La Griglia in the River Oaks shopping center on the north side of West Gray two blocks east of Shepherd. There is valet parking at the front door and free parking east of the restaurant. Our private room is at the rear right or northeast corner of the restaurant. It is known as the Wharton lunch.
Many Alumni from most of the schools with an MBA program have attended this luncheon. Please send your constituents the information in this email. Our next three meetings will be on June 9, July 14, and August 11, 2008.
To reserve a seat email an RSVP to Stephen Vosko at Stephen@vosko.com. The cost is $17.50 to attend which is less than the value of the lunch. The business opportunities there are priceless.
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Volunteers Needed
The South Central US IAA needs volunteers. The work requires approximately 2-4 hours per month. Please email james.rutledge@alumni.insead.edu or call 832-837-9008 if interested.
Director of Events -- build a team that will plan and communicate local INSEAD social and networking events. Point of contact for updates to the inseadusa website and newsletter.
Director of Membership -- point of contact for all financials within the Southern US INSEAD Alumni Association.
Director of INSEAD Relations -- coordinate INSEAD sponsored events in the Southern US. These will be mostly events for INSEAD applicants or other people interested in learning more about the school.
Darach Chapman, MBA '04D, President, Florida
We'll be sad to say good bye to Michelle Koh-Potts (MBA 05D) who is moving to California this summer where her husband Matt is taking up a professorship at Berkeley. They have both been enthusiastic members of our group in Florida and we wish them all the best in this next step. We'll particularly miss the parties they used to throw like this...
Sports update -Salamander Golf Cup - June 21 at Bethpage
For those recently inspired by the current US Open golf coverage, there is still time to sign up for our INSEAD equivalent. Just follow the link below:
http://inseadusa.com/community/events/details/p/608/
Sports news from the five year reunion in May in Fontainebleau
Congratulations to the MBA03 football team who gave the current students a refresher in the art of the beautiful game in cruising to a 5-1 victory on May 24. Score one for experience (and for the ability to gather a squad of close to 30 players....)
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CJ Internet Global Strategy/Business Development - contact: Daniel Behrendt [danbeh@cj.net]
Interested in working on complex strategic analysis and participating in tactical execution for the Global Business division for Korea’s leading game company in a start-up environment? CJ Internet is looking for highly motivated people with financial analysis, strategy consulting &/or international market entry experience with a passion for gaming and the Internet.
Established in 2000, CJ Internet runs Korea’s top online gaming portal, “Netmarble”, with a portfolio of 100+ Korean games, ranging from revolutionary MMORPG and FPS to more traditional Racing/Sports and casual, and almost 9M members.
You will report to the President of CJ Internet’s US office and be responsible for partnering with CJ Internet Planning, Strategy and Finance teams to develop executive strategy presentations and financial models for international expansion.
This is a great opportunity to help chart and drive the future direction of CJ Internet while solving management issues. We provide a challenging and balanced work environment where strategic, financial, project management and negotiation skills are rewarded. This position involves significant interaction with executives and partners and requires the ability to not only communicate analysis and strategy but the conviction to support your recommendations.
Responsibilities:
You will be a part of CJ Internet’s push into international markets in the online gaming space. Your role will include:
- Analyzing foreign markets and attendant competitive environments
- Making recommendations for market entry and expansion based on quantified support
- Assisting overseas teams in tactics and execution
- Post-entry performance tracking and analysis
Additional responsibilities include: project management and new business opportunity evaluation
Qualifications:
- Strong strategic analysis and business skills and judgment, including financial modeling
- Ability to link strategic thinking to operational execution
- Flexibility for some international travel
- Written and verbal communication skills in English; Korean and/or Spanish language skills a plus
- 3-5 years in Gaming, Internet and/or International Media
- 1-3 years of work experience from a top tier consulting firm or the Corporate Strategy, Planning or Finance group from a related industry
- A good sense of humor and karaoke skills
If interested in joining our growing team, please send your cv/resume with cover to Daniel Behrendt.
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J&J, San Francisco, Senior Business Analyst - Media Business
BabyCenter, a member of Johnson & Johnson's Family of Companies, is recruiting for a Senior Business Analyst-Media Business, located in San Francisco, California.
BabyCenter, LLC operates www.babycenter.com, the largest online resource for expectant and new parents around the world. Having nurtured more than 100 million parents since its launch in 1997, The BabyCenter® global network attracts over 6 million monthly visitors, and provides a trusted online destination for parents in Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Germany, India, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In the United States, BabyCenter reaches over 78% of moms with its content, community and online commerce and has garnered numerous awards including the 2006 People's Choice Webby Award. BabyCenter has also authored two guidance books, BabyCenter Essential Guide to Pregnancy and Birth and BabyCenter Essential Guide to Baby's First Year. BabyCenter, LLC is based in San Francisco, CA and is an independent business unit of Johnson & Johnson.
BabyCenter is seeking a Senior Financial Analyst to create and maintain reporting, forecasting models, dashboards and other analytics its online media business. The right person will be able to work with various departments and functions to pull operational data and drivers into regular reports and working models to predict and monitor the business. We are seeking someone with experience in this field who can operate independently and proactively, can contribute ideas and thought leadership, and who can work comfortably with executive management and numerous levels of the organization. This position reports to the Director of Finance.
Core media business responsibilities include:
- Create reporting and analytics based on site traffic and advertising delivery to provide transparency to historical performance and trends and inform traffic and revenue forecasting assumptions
- Provide dynamic, real-time bottoms-up business-case modeling and analysis of key media business drivers including revenue, CPM, inventory availability and sell-through rates
- Collaborate with sales and marketing teams to identify pricing and revenue optimization opportunities
- Provide analytical support to determine potential revenue, costs and potential risks for strategic partnerships and non-standard media deals
- Contribute reporting and analytics to inform allocation and optimization of internal promotional placements and internal advertising inventory
Successful candidates for this position will have:
- At least 3-5 years progressive experience in online traffic and financial analysis and reporting and planning at a consumer-facing online property
- A track record of successfully delivering analysis that drives tactical and strategic decision making
- Experience with online traffic and advertising reporting using tools such as Omniture, Comscore, and Doubleclick is highly desirable
- Ability to work with large amounts of information and synthesize relationships, trends and insights and communicate findings to an executive audience
- Strong proficiency in excel and common database reporting tools, and technical proficiency building complex models
- Strong interpersonal skills
- Highly organized and proactive
How to Apply: Qualified candidates may submit a resume to Stacey . Please indicate "Senior Business Analyst- BabyCenter" in the subject line.
Stacey Crow, Sr. Consultant, Talent Identification Business Team, (732) 524-3691 (Office), Johnson & Johnson Recruiting
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Job Opportunities at Loomia in San Francisco
He recently informed me that Loomia is actively recruiting for a number of openings, including: * Senior Application Engineer * Application Engineer * Director of Network Operations * QA Manager * mySQL DBA * Director of Product Management For more information, please visit http://www.loomia.com/jobs.
Thought this might be of interest for you or people in your network. A fellow toastmaster of mine, David Marks, is a co-founder and CTO of a recently funded company in San Francisco called Loomia.
He recently informed me that Loomia is actively recruiting for a number of openings, including:
- Senior Application Engineer
- Application Engineer
- Director of Network Operations
- QA Manager
- mySQL DBA
- Director of Product Management
For more information, please visit http://www.loomia.com/jobs.
Anybody who applies for any of these positions may feel free to mention that I referred them.
Peter Jacobs, MBA '92, Global Career Coaching, www.gccoach.com
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Indevor 2008 CV Book
Looking for INSEAD graduates with a social bent? There is a CV book from the current July 08 class. There are many individuals specifically interested in careers with a social bent.
This book contains CVs submitted by participants from the July 2008 class who are interested in career opportunities in or related to: non-profits, international development, microfinance, foundations, and corporate social and environmental responsibility.
For more information and to obtain the CV,s, please contact:
Cynthia Schweer
CEO USA
STARFISH GREATHEARTS FOUNDATION USA
Tel: +1 212 360 2330
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List of Coaches who can help advance your Career
We have a list of about 40 career coaches from various universities in the U.S. who can help in career advancement. These professional career coaches are available to our alumni as part of the Alliance agreement with the member schools. If you wish to receive this list, please e-mail me at Rao5@optonline.net
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USIAA Contacts
US INSEAD Alumni Association (USIAA) National Executive Team
| Tommaso Trionfi, President | Ellen Cohan, Vice President, Public Relations, Marketing and Membership |
| Brigitte Morel, Executive Vice President, Regions | Jag Rao, Vice President, Careers |
| Yusuf Khapra, Executive Vice President, Operations | Bob Stillerman, Vice President, National Communications |
| Carol Cunningham , USIAA Administrative Coordinator | Lydia Zaininger, Treasurer |
Other US INSEAD Contacts
| Frank Brown, Dean | Roberto Buaron, President, US Council |
| Eric Benhamou, Chairman West Coast Council | Sharyanne McSwain, US INSEAD Alumni Fund Rep |
| Tom Barry, President IMEF | Raj Singh, Vice President, Faculty relations |
US INSEAD Alumni Association (USIAA) - Regional Presidents
| Christian Mazzi, David Martin Co-Presidents of New England [Boston] (Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Delaware, Vermont) | Richard Pulliam, President of Northern California & Northwest
(Northern California, Washington, Oregon) |
| Frances Pordes Phillips President of Central [Denver] (Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, North/South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas) |
Open President of Midwest [Chicago] (Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, Wisconsin, Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan) |
| Darach Chapman President of Florida [Miami] |
Open President of Southeast [Atlanta] (North/South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee) |
| Open President of Washington, DC (Virginia, W. Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, DC) |
Open President of SoCal (Southern California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona) |
| Jamie Rutledge President of South Central [Houston, TX] (Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana) |
Matt Williamson President of NY, TriState & PA [New York City] (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania) |
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