IIM Ahmedabad alumni association meets-some observations

The (presumable) benefits of being an alumnus from any premier college, is the sheer alumni base which helps during campus placements, subsequent roles and so on. Of course, there can be some debate on who is an alumnus( http://iimaexperiences.blogspot.com/2011/12/so-who-qualify-as-iim-ahmedabad-alumni.html) but what cannot really be doubted is their role in making the institute what it is today.
 http://iimaexperiences.blogspot.com/2012/03/role-of-alumni-in-making-bschools.html

Since I graduated this year, I've attended 3 alumni meets, one in Hyderabad and two in Delhi(one normal monthly meet and one Diwali dinner yesterday). Some observations were

1. Clustering around batchmates happened in all 3 places, of which I was guilty also. Instead of interacting with other batches also, the main interaction used to happen within attendees from the same batch. this was true for graduates from more recent batches, while due to necessity or otherwise, those from batches with low attendance(pre 2000 etc) were more open
2. Hard drinks were the rule for these, not too surprising that. 
3. More enthusiastic attendance from the non PGP alumni(MDP etc), but I'm sure they must have felt left out as they do not belong to any 'batch'. Still some interesting attendees there like a DGH Finance officer who had attended the 'Advanced Corporate Finance' MDP at IIM-A last year. 

Overall, at a maximum investment of Rs 500 or so, this is the most efficient way to catch up with your batchmates and others(ANY place otherwise especially in metros would cost that much or more per head). An encouraging sign is the use of social media and email to communicate these events(thats how I found out about it), and the collection of visiting cards/contact details to keep in touch.  I guess the attendees need to look beyond their batch however tempting it may mean, but otherwise good.

Role of alumni in making bschools succeed-thoughts from IIMA Golden Jubilee Conference Dec11

A meeting of IIMA alumni is like a board meeting of India Inc's top professionals-such is the power of the brand. So when many alums met in Dec11 at IIMA to discuss among other things, their own role in helping the institution, I attended with an anticipation of listening to interesting ideas. And I was not disappointed. Below are some ideas of alumni reproduced with my comments. I have not personally identified the author of the comments to preserve their privacy

1. Reaching out to non traditional countries:-IIMA alumni and other professional executives have deep networks in South Korea, Latin America etc, which could be tapped for executive education, student exchange programs etc. Colleges should leverage their alumni networks in these areas
2. Funding:-For infrastructure, faculty chairs, scholarships and what not!
3. Projects:-Alumni are well placed to recommend their alma mater for research and other projects.
4. Mentoring:-Alumni could mentor students(this is done in Wellingkar's, not sure how well it works there in practice). IIMA student body starting it this year
5. Case Writing:-Alumni could get their organization approval for cases along with access to protagonists, and maybe co author cases
6. Advisory Council-An IIMA professor presented his research where he found that the top ranked colleges had a high alumni involvement on their advisory councils(when measured as a % of alumni on the board/council). This result points towards the future of Indian schools as well, as it is the alumni who have the deepest interest in maintaining the brand.
7. Faculty-Foreign Bschools have parallel tracks for academics and industry professionals to become professionals, and in colleges like Harvard, around 25% faculty are from non traditional industry track. This can be explored for Indian colleges too.
8. Tough Love/Frank Feedback
1. Industry perception:-Whether narrowing/expanding image, beyond rankings
2. Diversity:-If diversity(not just gender) is reducing, that has implications on the future alumni base, and also on roles offered on campus
9. You graduate as an amateur, you specialize in your job:-Instead of bschools trying to make candidates experts in marketing/sales/finance, it is better to admit that one can specialize only in the job, and to instead focus on honing core skills
10. Research rigour, Scale and practical relevance:-Colleges like ISB manage to combine all three(with batch sizes of 570+! ensuring largely expanding alumni base). Industry(alumni) can help with funding, grants, projects etc to help colleges achieve all 3. Even ISB is largely industry funded. 

All the above comments gave food for though, when I was 3months away from graduation at that time!