a letter from the chair
“If you build it…they will come."
That was the premise for creating the McCombs MBA Alumni
Network (MMA) Network 10 years ago. The theory: If the
business school would create, fund and manage an alumni
organization that benefited our entire MBA alumni
population, this same population would not only
participate—they would give back their time, ideas, and yes,
maybe even a little money. Just like in “Field of Dreams,”
you have to have faith that once you build it, people will
show up and use it.
Well, it’s built, and it’s been successful so far—with more
than 15,000 alumni, 27 chapters, a full-time staff, ongoing
funding and dozens of programs!
Now what?
Use it, that’s what. Use it in as many ways as you
can:Attend local events: Winter and summer receptions are
hosted each year by local chapters all over the country.
This is a great opportunity to reconnect with classmates and
build business relationships with other local professionals.
Find alumni you’ve lost touch with: The MBA alumni database
now has greatly enhanced security. It contains contact
information for more than 15,000 alumni with whom you may
like to rebuild a professional or personal relationship.
Get involved with current and prospective students: You can
become a student mentor or volunteer to help interview
prospective students (a great way to help maintain the
integrity of the McCombs MBA brand).
Attend events in Austin: Every year, the McCombs School
hosts 5- and 10-year MBA reunions. (More than 200 alumni
from the classes of 1996 and 2001 attended the most recent
reunion.) The annual MMA Network Alumni Business Conference
in March is also a great way to continue your education and
network with other business leaders.
Remember, the MMA Network isn’t limited to graduates of the
full-time program. As many of you know, McCombs now has six
MBA programs. Including alumni from all of these great
programs increases the value and power of the network. And
the network isn’t just for recent graduates. While we have
always had incredibly strong support and involvement from
recent grads, we welcome the recent surge in involvement
from earlier MBA classes. Some of these “experienced alumni”
are just hearing about the MMA Network for the first time.
This is a network you can access—free of charge or
obligation—to enhance your career.
Reed’s Law states, “The utility of large networks,
particularly social networks, can scale exponentially with
the size of the network.” Now is the time to take advantage
of this phenomenon with our alumni network. The
infrastructure and programs are in place, we have a great
school behind us and 15,000 business professionals are
engaged. The only thing that can keep the MMA Network from
becoming one of the largest and most valuable professional
networks in the country is a lack of willingness to use it.
So get on the field and “play ball.”
Sincerely,
Dave Hendrix, MBA ’97
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