Recent grad benefits

Just got an email from CBS indicating some of the alumni benefits we'll be getting:


Dear Class of 2008,

Again, congratulations on your achievement! I hope that you are all enjoying some time off – you deserve it. I am writing to inform you of some upcoming events, additional graduate information and offers available to you as members of the Columbia Business School alumni network.

Worldwide Alumni Club Event: Please join us on or around Wednesday, June 11, 2008 as we celebrate and recognize the global alumni network during the second annual Worldwide Alumni Club Event. Alumni clubs from around the globe will be hosting events such as happy hours, dinners, panel discussions, and walking tours to provide opportunities for alumni, students and new admits to network and connect with one another.

Reunion 2009: Save the date for Reunion Weekend 2009, when your class will celebrate your 1st year Reunion. The weekend, scheduled for April 3-5, 2009 will be a perfect time to catch up with friends, network with classmates, attend faculty presentations and enjoy activities coordinated exclusively for your class.

Access to Angel: Originally we had said that access to Angel would only be available for 90 days following graduation. Good news – this has been extended. You will now have access to Angel for two years following graduation.

Membership to the Columbia Club: The Columbia University Club of New York is offering a special membership opportunity for 2008 graduates. This limited time offer includes: no initiation fee, regular dues, 15-month membership (June ’08 through August ’09), free use of the gym for the summer months and 50% off your first overnight room stay (up to three nights). To take advantage of this special offer, you must sign up by June 30, 2008. For more information, visit www.columbiaclub.org, call 212-719-0380 or email info@columbiaclub.org. To apply online, visit www.columbiaclub.org.

Job Search: The alumni website is a valuable tool in any job search, featuring a job database and resume upload. Post a Job is a convenient place for employers to advertise job openings to current MBA students and/or alumni, while Job Search allows alumni to explore current job postings by keyword, company, industry, function and more. Visit Alumni Career Services on the alumni website for more information.

Stay Connected: Make sure to log onto the alumni website and update your contact information. By staying in touch you will have access to a wide variety of events each year that spotlight star faculty, notable alumni and key industry executives.

Happy Hour, alumni forever, blogging

Happy Hour last night was a good time. The new J-term was out there in full force and most of them were representing in their cluster t-shirts. Also, all the cluster alumni reps were running around with stickers that said things like 'Cluster X forever' and sticking them all over people. Do they do corny stuff like this at other business schools? :)

Actually, the whole point of the stickers is to raise awareness for the first 'Alumni Forever' week. The school is sponsoring a whole bunch of fun activities including breakfasts, a bowling night, and some other stuff exclusively for 2nd years.

In other news, I was contacted by the woman who leads web communications for CBS. I am going to be doing a blog post on the CBS blog that will show up sometime in the next week or two. I'm probably going to go with a 'back to school' theme but if anyone has some other topics they think would be interesting, let me know soon. Also, I asked her about RSS feeds...they're working on it!

great alums

Had lunch w/an alum who is working in the VC industry yesterday. Had a great time and it turned out we had very similar backgrounds - same undergrad, same graduation year, both worked in IT consulting, yadda yadda. Hopefully we will be able to keep in touch - and who knows, maybe we will be doing deals together in a couple of years :)

Overall, I have been very happy with the level of interest and contact that the recent alums keep with the school. They are great about sending along job opportunities, and I have found them almost always willing to take a call or meeting. Regardless of where you end up going to school, I suggest you do the same. It makes your degree that much more valuable. In fact, I would argue that the vast majority of the value (for any MBA from any school) is in the alumni network and how much of that you are able to leverage.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and don't work too hard on those applications :)