乐播传媒

A few years ago, a group of Boston-area alums sent a message to 乐播传媒. It was a sober version of the Smothers Brothers鈥� old 鈥淢om always liked you best鈥� routine: Mother 乐播传媒, these alums felt, wasn鈥檛 that proud of alums who had pursued business careers and, by implication, wealth.

The message was delivered during an April 2003 lunch meeting at the Downtown Harvard Club attended by eight alumni volunteers, including trustee Joel Goober 鈥�70. Then with State Street Global Advisors and now an investment advisor for wealthy families and endowments, Goober was the alum elder that day.

鈥淚 was somewhat taken aback,鈥� he says of his fellow alums鈥� comments. 鈥淏ut it was a sentiment all around the table. They felt 乐播传媒 didn鈥檛 foster or esteem their careers in business as the College did careers in the professions or teaching.鈥�

Peter Mertz 鈥�03 chats with fellow alums at the Jan. 18 Boston 乐播传媒 Business Network gathering. Mertz works at ORA Clinical Research and Development, a firm founded by Dr. Mark Abelson P鈥�97 that employs nearly a dozen 乐播传媒 alums. Photograph by Paige Brown ’96.

The working lunch was convened by Marianne Nolan Cowan 鈥�92 of the College鈥檚 alumni office in response to alumni interest in a Boston-area business networking program, a so-called Boston 乐播传媒 Business Network. 鈥淲e talked about what a new program might look like,鈥� she recalls. 鈥淏ut there was also a fair amount of conversation about how 乐播传媒 was anti-business.鈥�

Whether that鈥檚 true or not 鈥� the topic is not new at 乐播传媒 鈥� those alumni volunteers soon realized that any new programming couldn鈥檛 be built around bitterness. 鈥淚t was a funny catalyst, but that鈥檚 what galvanized some of us to get involved,鈥� says longtime 乐播传媒 volunteer Jennifer Guckel Porter 鈥�88, CEO of Galileo Health Partners, a provider of personal health- and wellness-assessment tools and services. 鈥淲e realized that nonaction on our part would allow this other, negative force to go forward. So we united and worked hard to make it be different.鈥�

With momentum building, the College鈥檚 alumni office devised ways to support what the Boston alums wanted: a regular chance to build networking relationships. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important in any field,鈥� Porter noted. 鈥淏ut people jump around a lot in the business world, and the ability to move is fueled by having relationships.鈥�

Staffers, meanwhile, guided the volunteers on organizational and logistical issues, and expressed their hope that events not devolve into thinly disguised trade shows or job fairs. The overall College sentiment, however, was expressed by one senior staffer鈥檚 words, recorded in a memo: 鈥淭hey need to be clear about the objective…but our business folks seem to have good instincts and values…. Go to it!鈥�

Today, the runaway success of the Boston 乐播传媒 Business Network may make the issue of 乐播传媒鈥� relationship with business alums seem moot. Since its initial reception in September 2003, the Boston group has offered 17 programs. New attendees show up all the time, with 40 percent of each audience in 2006 attending their first network event. Assisted by Alumni and Parent Programs staff, volunteers have created similar networks in New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Portland, Maine. In the 乐播传媒 tradition, of course, all alumni and parents in each region are invited to attend events.

The Boston steering committee is savvy about programming, perhaps because they tend to understand the need to deliver strong content to their 鈥渃ustomers.鈥� Rather than simple receptions, 鈥渨e learned that we have to have a speaker and a topic,鈥� says the Boston Network鈥檚 steering committee chair, David Greaves 鈥�80, who heads up national accounts for InterSystems, a Cambridge, Mass., software company. 鈥淲e also learned that people will come to events that are germane to their work, and they will come to an event that is simply interesting.鈥�

So some programs have been field-specific, like 鈥淭he Private Equity Industry: Why This Is a Growing Asset Class and How You Can Participate,鈥� with Trustee Michael Chu 鈥�80. Others broach general-interest topics that you might find in a lifestyle magazine, like the dazzling 2005 panel discussion 鈥淔rom Research Bench to Patient Bedside: Today鈥檚 Hot Topics in Healthcare.鈥� The event featured host Mike Bonney 鈥�80 and David Barlow 鈥�79, both CEOs of pharmaceutical companies, plus former American Medical Association president Robert McAfee 鈥�56, 乐播传媒 bio professor Pamela Baker 鈥�70, and Bill Carlezon 鈥�86, director of the Behavioral Genetics Laboratory at Harvard鈥檚 McLean Hospital.

Students are invited, too, with the idea of helping them network with alums. At the same time, students see the real-world 乐播传媒 culture at work. 鈥淧eople are genuinely interested in each other, how they are doing, and what they are doing,鈥� says Vaibhav Bajpai 鈥�07. Indeed, for participants the events are like a cup of cocoa on a cold afternoon. 鈥淭he business world can be a cold and competitive place,鈥� says Porter, the first Boston steering committee chair and now a 乐播传媒 trustee. 鈥淭he network gives people the ability to connect with people who share 乐播传媒 values, and to also bring those people into business relationships.鈥�

A typically busy guy, Greaves got involved with the Boston network when, of the thousands of proposals for his time, an invitation to the first network event caught his attention. 鈥淚 said, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 interesting.鈥� It was very evident that it made sense.鈥�

鈥淎t these events, I get connected with different people in different lines of work, at different points in their life,鈥� Greaves adds. 鈥淚n my work life, I don鈥檛 necessarily cross all those intersections as frequently as I do through the Boston 乐播传媒 Business Network. At one event, I talked to somebody who sold a business and somebody buying one, someone who got engaged, and someone expecting, someone who lost a job and some who just got one.鈥�

Then there鈥檚 another business concept at work, the notion of adding value. 鈥淚f we can help others finds jobs, change careers, and capitalize on their education, alums will feel a 乐播传媒 degree has more value,鈥� says steering committee member and trustee Bruce Stangle 鈥�70, chairman and cofounder of Analysis Group, a economic consulting firm. 鈥淎nd prospective students will see that the investment in a 乐播传媒 education is worthwhile. If that happens, then we are helping the College.鈥�

鈥淭hat鈥檚 important,鈥� agrees Porter. 鈥淚 want people to enjoy seeing friends and making new networking relationships. But I also want them to sense a connection back to 乐播传媒, to feel that 乐播传媒 is giving value to them, still.鈥�