What’s the first adjective that comes to mind when you hear the word centennial?

Be honest. I bet it’s not fun, or entertaining, or cool. Now get ready for a surprise. The Knowledge and Library Services folks at the Baker Library | Bloomberg Center have launched a fun, entertaining, and certifiably cool Institutional Memory project that brings a whole new dimension to the HBS Centennial celebration.

For NPR listeners, think StoryCorps comes to Soldiers Field, but with a twist. In addition to audio recordings, the project will capture video of alumni, faculty, students, and staff for broadcast on the project’s new Web site: www.hbs.edu/centennial/im/. It’s participatory history in the making and available to anyone who has an HBS story to tell. The Web site also features a multimedia history of HBS, a gallery of historical photos, and an interactive time line — wryly dubbed “the mother of all time lines” by its chief architect.

This year’s reunion participants can sign up for a video storytelling session while on campus. So can attendees at the Centennial Business Summit in October. If you don’t plan to be on campus this year, make your own video and upload it to the site. Or phone in your story for recording at a toll-free number: 877-533-4233 domestic; 617-495-6332 international. You can even e-mail your story to storytelling@hbs.edu. See the Web site for details.

Need some help zeroing in on an idea? Try one of these. Describe your most memorable HBS experience. Which professor had the greatest impact on you? Is there a particular experience that comes to mind when you describe HBS to others?

The project got under way last year and already has logged more than 130 video stories. Among them are several from the fall 2007 reunions.

Bob Halperin (MBA ’82) of Watertown, Massachusetts, recounts how as a student he helped establish the first fellowships for those interested in working for nonprofits. Upon hearing Halperin’s idea, an incredulous student protested, “We’re the West Point of capitalism!” Undaunted, Halperin pushed forward with the fellowships, which laid the groundwork for the School’s Social Enterprise Initiative a decade later.

Matthew Caulfield (MBA ’72) of Oceanside, California, arrived on campus as an experienced Marine officer fresh from Vietnam. While some of his classmates had been leaders in the antiwar movement, Caulfield recalls how he never encountered hostility from fellow students.

To supplement individual recollections, the project’s steering committee has selected a number of alumni and faculty for oral history interviews. In some, youthful experiences foreshadow adult pursuits. Others reveal fascinating glimpses of personal struggles.

John Whitehead (MBA 11/’47), former cochairman of Goldman Sachs, recounts how he struggled as an incoming Haverford College freshman to earn enough to cover the $900 tuition. With pluck and luck, he landed a job in the amusements area of the 1939 New York World’s Fair and amassed more than $700 in six weeks guessing the weight of fairgoers large and small — earning 25â for each correct guess.

Seth Klarman (MBA ’82), president of The Baupost Group in Boston, jokingly observes that he was destined for a career in money management. At age 10, he used birthday money to buy his first stock, a share of Johnson & Johnson, which split three-for-one the next day.

The Institutional Memory project offers a unique way to connect the School’s past, present, and future. Take time to tell your own story — and enjoy those told by others.

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