Stuart Ballan KR-04 and Dean Jain with the International Kellogg Alumni Club of the Year Award.

Kellogg-Recanati alumni club: Using value to create value

by Stuart Ballan KR-04

The Kellogg-Recanati Alumni Club has big news: In mid-2004 the Kellogg School announced it would for the first time recognize top domestic and international alumni clubs with special awards. Of 47 international clubs, the Kellogg-Recanati Alumni Club won the honor of "International Kellogg Alumni Club of the Year." It was with great pride that club president Stuart Ballan accepted the award on the club's behalf at a special Kellogg School award ceremony in October.

"The award sets the standard by which our alumni club can measure itself in the future, and is a key indicator that we are progressing toward our vision --- that the club will make the Kellogg School an even more attractive option for students selecting executive MBA education in the Middle East," Ballan said. "This award is also a testimony to how our team has performed over the last year."

Not ready to rest on its laurels, the club used the award to generate additional value for members. Club leaders organized their largest alumni event to date, giving all members the chance to celebrate together at a Dean's Dinner on Nov. 21. More than 150 attended the event, which featured a surprise live video conference with Dean Dipak C. Jain. Alumni left with a sports bag, T-shirt, towel and other items celebrating the Kellogg School brand.

Club leaders also found an interesting way to preserve memories of the event. Members videotaped the Dean's Dinner, creating seven- and 50-minute movies. Club leaders sent about 700 DVD copies of the movie to Kellogg-Recanati alumni, Kellogg School administrators, professors and faculty, as well as leaders of other Kellogg clubs and co-chairs of the Kellogg Alumni Advisory Board. Club leaders say they hope the DVD shines a positive spotlight on the entire Middle East region. They say they also hope it will motivate other Kellogg School club leaders to find new ways to create global value. Both movies are available on the club's Web site.

Two years ago, the Kellogg Recanati Alumni Club launched its own slate of club-level awards, granting "silver awards" to alums who have sponsored alumni events three times and "gold awards" to those who have sponsored events five times or more. At the Dean's Dinner in November, club leaders presented silver awards to Ronen Shay KR-01 and Marcel Amariglio KR-02.

As they look to the future, club leaders plan to maintain the current roster of quality club events, as well as add interesting new ones. Additionally, the club is strategically targeting how it can add value to the global Kellogg alumni network, which in turn should immediately add value to its own customers, the Kellogg-Recanati alumni.

"In the same way that the Kellogg School strives to maintain its position as a top business school year after year, I strive to keep the KR Alumni Club as one of the top international Kellogg School clubs this year, next year and beyond," Ballan said.

Comprehensive information about the Kellogg-Recanati Alumni Club's activities is available online.