Calling all MEET Alumni: Get an update, then get involved!

The following is a letter to MEET alumni from Leemor Zucker. She would like to give you an update on the last Alumni Steering Committee meeting, inform you of the decisions that we made, and ask you to join with fellow alumni to become part of the Alumni Steering Committee where you will plan the future of MEET’s Alumni Network. 

Dear Fellow Alumni, 

On the 26^th of October the first meeting to build the Alumni Steering Committee took place at Givat Ram campus. With high spirits and great enthusiasm for taking part in this important process, 11 brave Alumni from all across the years attended the meeting. Moran Chen, MEET’s Alumni Coordinator, opened the meeting by presenting us with two questions: “Why did each of you come to this meeting?” and “What do you think the Alumni Steering Committee is for?”. The answers were as varied as the number of alumni present, but a couple of ideas were heard more than once. For example, we all wished to stay part of the MEET family and find ways to give back. Also, we feel the Alumni Steering Committee should, and will, take great responsibility for planning alumni activities and deciding how to use the resources that MEET wishes to provide.

At the meeting we heard a short update about the alumni activities that have already started to operate. Please see these blog entries to read more about the MEET Alumni Accelerator Lab and the other Alumni Initiative Launches such as the Alumni Portal. 

Talya Schwartz, MEET’s Program Manager, gave us an introduction to our tasks by presenting some additional questions to address in the process of building the Steering Committee. We proceeded with a discussion in which many questions and wishes were raised. We planned how to gather information, find out what alumni want, and how to achieve these things. We also discussed what MEET as an organization wants from the alumni and how to fit this with alumni desires. Finally, we discussed the role of the steering committee and how to define its mission statement, choose representatives, and determine a working method for the next 6 months. 

At the end of the meeting we summarized the discussion and decided on next steps. We came to the following decisions:

1. We would like to get as many alumni as possible involved in this stage of planning by having more alumni physically participate in the meetings or give their input in any way possible.
2. We would like to take responsibility for running all meetings. So, for every meeting, a group of alumni will prepare the agenda for the next meeting and will be in charge of running it.
3. Someone will take written minutes at each meeting so that anyone who was not present at the meeting will know what was discussed and what decisions were made.

Call to Action: We wish to use this as an opportunity to call all MEET alumni back home, to join us in this important challenge to build an Alumni Steering Committee for the alumni network—This committee will help to form OUR future as well as the future of the region.

We warmly welcome any comments, questions, or requests from every alumnus. Please feel free to contact me, Moran, or anyone else on the committee. 

The Next Meeting: The next steering committee meeting will be held next Saturday, December 3, from 20:00-21:30 at the MEET office. If you would like to attend please contact Moran, but if you are unable to attend we are still interested in hearing your voice! Please send us your ideas!

Best regards and wish to see and hear from ALL of you soon, 

Leemor

Contact us: 

Moran Chen: moranchen@meet.mit.edu

Leemor Zucker: leelee737@gmail.com