The HBSAA Board of Directors has been hard at work this year, and I am delighted to report progress on a number of initiatives that will benefit alumni.

After welcoming twelve new members and inaugurating the committees for 1999-2000 last fall, the Board is now deeply involved in committee work. This year's committees are Club Relations, chaired by Amelie Vecchione (MBA '84); Online Services for Alumni, chaired by Michael V. Jennings (MBA '68); and Continuing Education for Alumni, chaired by Susan Luick Good (MBA '71). Each committee expects to provide the School with concrete recommendations for improvements and enhancements in their respective areas in final reports they will present to the Dean after our spring meeting.

Our January gathering took place in Boston during a snowy deep freeze. We are grateful to the stalwart Board members who came from as far away as Cape Town, South Africa, to attend. The meeting yielded significant progress on all fronts, as noted below.

Club Relations
The committee has nearly finalized plans for the annual Club Officers Roundtable meeting, scheduled for May 31­ June 1 on the HBS campus. This meeting is critical for both new and seasoned club officers. Participants will receive an update on the latest developments at HBS, have a chance to meet with Dean Kim B. Clark, and share best practices with colleagues representing domestic and international clubs.

Online Services for Alumni
This committee has been working to promote alumni connectedness online. The School currently has e-mail addresses for some thirty thousand alumni -- nearly half the active alumni base. The goal is to increase this number to fifty thousand by June. Access to many useful online services is available to graduates who have registered for a Lifelong E-mail Forwarding Address (LEFA) and password. If you haven't informed the School of your e-mail address and obtained your LEFA and password, contact the Alumni Records Office at 617-495-6438 or alumni_records@hbs.edu.

The committee has also served as a focus group for testing Baker Library's new Web portal, HBS Working Knowledge (www.hbsworkingknowledge.hbs.edu). We are excited that the site not only provides alumni with substantive, faculty-driven content but also serves as a vehicle for career services and networking. In addition, HBS Working Knowledge offers a low-cost subscription to three valuable databases: ABI/Inform, OneSource, and CareerSearch.

This active committee will also survey graduates to understand how they currently use the Alumni Web site. The goal is to design a personal preference software agent that would allow alumni subscribers to receive information about specific areas of interest on a regular basis.

Continuing Education for Alumni
Many graduates have asked for continuing education programs that are tailored to specific age groups and professional situations. This committee has made significant progress in spearheading two new programs that would meet those criteria: one offered to 35th Reunion attendees in the fall, modeled on the Odyssey program, and the other focusing on nonprofit management. In addition, the committee is eagerly investigating other vehicles for delivering continuing education to alumni.

Global Alumni Conferences
The popularity of these events has grown exponentially over the years. Registration for the Berlin conference in June has already exceeded attendance numbers for each of the prior conferences. If you haven't signed up yet, do so today. You won't want to miss this extraordinary event! Plans for the next meeting, scheduled for Cleveland in May 2001, are well under way, and that too promises to be a winner. Where else can you see the Beach Boys and HBS professor Michael E. Porter on the same day? Looking farther ahead, I am delighted to announce that the Harvard Club of Buenos Aires, Argentina, will host the 2002 meeting.

The work of these dedicated committee members is crucial to the continued vitality of the alumni network. Let us know if you have specific suggestions or concerns, and thanks so much for all you do to support the School and your fellow alumni.

Edmund A. Hajim (MBA '64) March 2000

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