Network in style

Former classmates are a valuable resource, Ann-Maree Moodie discovers.

In the early days of the men's health charity Movember, founder Adam Garone had neither the know-how nor the funds to design a website or set up credit-card payment gateways. But he could rely on his alumni network, drawn from his postgraduate student days at the Melbourne Business School where he completed a masters in marketing.

"Movember was started by a group of marketing guys who could sell an idea but who didn't know a lot about other aspects of running a charity," he recalls. "Nor did we have the money to hire those skills. Instead, we used our alumni networks to find people who could help write a business plan or test the financial viability of the idea."

Alumni ties also helped when it came to finding early participants for the moustache-growing challenge.

"In 2003 we had 30 people participate by growing and wearing a moustache during the month of November," Garone says. "The following year 450 men joined us to raise money for prostate cancer. All of those people were from our networks, particularly from our university days."

From those humble beginnings, Movember has grown into the biggest annual event in the charity calendar, last year encouraging 97,000 men to raise $14million for prostate cancer and male depression. The charity has since expanded into New Zealand, the United States, Canada and Britain.

After the last exams are finished, the textbooks put away and the weekends no longer filled with syndicate group meetings, spending time with former classmates is last thing many newly minted graduates would want to do. But maintaining contact with your student network, attending alumni functions and giving back by being a speaker at an event or helping organise an executive education day is often paid back in kind.

And with email and social networking tools such as Facebook and LinkedIn, staying in touch has never been easier.
"The greatest advantage of alumni networks is the ability to connect with other graduates and develop new relationships," says Peter Leunig, executive director of institutional advancement in the vice-chancellor's office of Macquarie University. "Alumni may be working in areas that you want to work in, or may like to work in, or they may be people who can help you refine your career goals," he says.

University alumni associations typically have member benefits such as discounts with various retail outlets, and membership of the university's library and sports clubs. A regular magazine might keep members abreast of events at the university, as well as the latest research, issues and trends in their discipline.

A database of members usually allows alumni to contact other graduates and to maintain relationships with people who have returned to their home country or who are now working as expatriate executives.

Importantly, alumni associations have networking events where guests can meet other former students, some of whom are senior and respected members of their field. This is especially the case in management schools.

"The alumni association usually will engage a speaker for an event who is a prominent alumnus," Leunig says.

"This is an opportunity for former students who are developing their career to meet important and influential people."

Unlike US universities, which have a strong history and reputation for supporting alumni networks, Australian universities struggle comparatively to attract funding and staff.

"Australian universities more and more rely on graduates for assistance, so this is an opportunity for alumni to be actively involved with events, which is another way to meet people and to get noticed," he says.

Andrew Horsley, the president of the Graduate Management Association of Australia, says "being a joiner" can be enormously valuable to developing your career as well as helping the alumni associations, which are heavily dependent on volunteers.

"If you make a contribution, things come your way," says Horsley, who is also the managing director of executive search firm Horsley & Company and is actively engaged with alumni networks forged from his university days. He holds qualifications in political science and law and is a master of business administration from the University of NSW.

Another key attraction is the opportunity for continuous education and learning, through workshops, seminars and conferences.

"A degree is just the beginning," Horsley says. Giving back to your network of fellow graduates is critical, Garone says. "I'm still in contact with my former marketing lecturers and I intend to offer Movember as a case study for new marketing and business students to work on," he says.

"My network is still a valuable source of information and support, so it's important also to repay that in kind where possible."

Since the next goal for Garone is to make Movember a global campaign, those masters students will need to be prepared for an interesting challenge.

"Our aim is for Movember to become the biggest charity event but, like any brand, we need to make sure we remain fresh," he says. "Sustainability is our key focus, so we can continue to raise money for beyondblue and the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia."

Published: 02 February 2008