As you read this, many of you will be returning from HBS and the celebration of your class reunion. Knowing how special these events can be, I trust you had a great time -- reconnecting with old friends, taking in all the changes on campus, receiving an important update on the School from Dean Kim B. Clark, and perhaps even learning a few things at a faculty presentation. These reunions afford graduates a unique opportunity every five years -- to celebrate the past and glimpse the future.

In the days prior to the reunions, the Alumni Board met on campus in conjunction with the Club Officers Roundtable, an annual meeting bringing together club representatives from around the world to discuss issues relevant to programming, membership development, and leadership. I will share with you highlights from the Board's meeting in the next issue of the Bulletin. Please stay tuned.

In the meantime, planning for the HBS Global Alumni Conference in Berlin continues apace, and we are thrilled to see that as of late April, close to one thousand people had registered to attend. This is clearly a record -- and a testament to the compelling program arranged by HBS professor Dwight B. Crane and the conference hosts in Germany, Heiner Thorborg (12th ISMP) and Christoph-Matthias Brand (MBA '94). Not only do the conference sessions offer extraordinary value to today's businessperson, but the opportunity to see Berlin thriving at the start of a new century is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Berlin will be the place to be June 13-16. To rephrase John F. Kennedy, you can all be Berliners! I look forward to seeing you there.

The planning for subsequent conferences is already under way. HBS professor Gary P. Pisano and a strong alumni contingent in northern Ohio have made significant progress in developing a program for the 2001 conference in Cleveland. Scheduled for May 15-18, the conference theme is "Leading in a Changing World: Innovation, Growth, and Transformation." In addition to headline speakers, the event will feature close to 25 HBS faculty members who will give presentations in four areas: transforming the enterprise; starting new ventures; managing innovation; and the IT revolution: implications for strategy and operations. Besides business education, the extracurricular lineup will include the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, the Beach Boys, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

I hope that you are among the growing number of alumni who have discovered the latest HBS tool: HBS Working Knowledge is a dynamic Web portal that offers the latest in timely business topics, interviews with faculty and industry leaders, and links to other relevant business resources online. Also of note, alumni can now subscribe to a special set of database research tools, including ABI/Inform, OneSource, and CareerSearch -- all of which are offered to HBS alumni at a discount rate. The new Web portal represents just the beginning of what the School has in mind for this learning and research tool. Log on to www.hbsworkingknowledge.hbs.edu and have a look at all the content and services at your disposal.

With your help we can try to make the best better! I hope you have a great summer, and best wishes on behalf of the HBS Alumni Association Board of Directors.

Edmund A. Hajim (MBA '64) May 2000

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