From the Director's Chair

Greetings

Getting out to see alumni is always great fun. I just returned from a visit to Atlanta where I contacted all sorts of alumni: real-estate brokers, entrepreneurs, teachers, corporate vice presidents, retired politicians, human resource directors, attorneys, health practitioners and homemakers. All had interesting stories and unique connections to Binghamton (wrestlers, baseball players, newspaper writers and French scholars). Several knew each other, but most did not -- and were thus missing important perks of being Binghamton alumni.

For me, visiting Atlanta illustrated the immense challenge of keeping our 80,000 alumni connected to both the University and each other. Of 525 alumni in the Atlanta area, roughly 36 percent registered their e-mail addresses with the alumni office. That's above average for BU, and far above average for similar schools, but we suspect that many more have e-mail addresses to share. We also have accurate home addresses for over 95 percent of our alumni Ñ that's tops among similar institutions. Yet only 60 Atlanta alumni have information on file with Binghamton about their occupations. I managed to connect with about 25 great people during my visit. But I can't help but worry about those I did not see Ñ alumni who may feel out of touch. How can we connect with them?

We need to reach out and discover more about the ÒrichÓ universe of Binghamton University people. We need to identify people to help organize events, find speakers, discover alumni with stories to share, track attendance, recruit volunteers, survey needs and develop a vigorous regional presence. Because of large numbers, metro New York alumni do this well already, and have a robust set of activities and an active steering committee. As numbers keep growing elsewhere, I know we can develop other effective regional networks.

Our new online community provides a terrific tool to stay in touch. Have you visited the website, www.bconnectalumni.binghamton. edu, to update your information so that other alumni may learn about you? Have you searched the database for people in your community, school or class?

Luckily, after my visit, I had several Atlanta alumni names to give BU admissions officer Paul Levine to help with college fairs. In Atlanta's active SUNY-wide alumni organization, spearheaded by Binghamton alumna Paula Brightwell '97, enthusiasm and participation are burgeoning. But neither the alumni office nor Paula alone can do all that's needed. Many cities outside of metro New York have profiles similar to Atlanta's. Can we get more alumni involved?

Volunteering is one of several ways alumni can help. We have a strong alumni/admissions network in the New York City region. Can we develop networks in other places to enhance Binghamton's growing national reputation? We need admissions helpers, career networking helpers and event planners.

If you are willing to volunteer as a regional network leader or helper, please contact Amy Spychalski at aspychal@binghamton.edu or me at rheck@binghamton.edu, or call the alumni office at 607-777-2431. Help get in touch with others in your area with similar hopes for improved networks. We would love to hear from you.

Regards,

Richard Heck, your alumni director