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Michael Taylor

Networking opportunities are routinely cited by MBA graduates as one of the key benefits of doing an MBA.

Many students find that they learn as much - if not more - from their classmates.

The chance to interact with mid-career professionals from different industries performing a wide variety of jobs can be one of the most rewarding aspects of a return to the classroom.

Because close relationships can develop among students as they work in groups or teams on projects, many keep in touch with each other after they graduate. Some do so on an informal basis, meeting with former classmates once a month for dinner or drinks.

Others take it a step further, organising or joining alumni associations, which engage in a variety of activities, most of which are aimed at keeping student networks alive and growing.

The Ivey Alumni Association Hong Kong Chapter was founded in 1999 shortly after the first  EMBA class was admitted to the school's then new Hong Kong programme.

'It was started to ensure continual networking and social/business exchanges between alums and allowed Ivey to have solid contacts with [an] alum network,' said Ross Chan, president of the Ivey Alumni Association Hong Kong Chapter.

'We started with 50 to 80 active alums, a figure that has grown to 400 today.'

The group organises activities with one goal in mind - keeping the lines of communication among former students alive.

'Networking is a key element as well as personal and knowledge development in our programming,' Mr Chan said.

'In the past year, we have organised a number of speaking engagements, inviting prominent business leaders from Hong Kong to address our alums. We have also held case nights whereby alums can engage the interactive case-learning environment for business learning. We held a number of happy hours as well as the annual dinner event, which attracted over 250 alums and friends.'

Community service is another key function.

'We work on a fund-raising event each year to raise money for an education-related cause. For the past couple of years, enough money was raised for Sowers Action to build two schools for children in Yunnan province.'

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Alumni Association was also established by the first group of bachelor's degree students and now has about 2,000 members.

Association president Sean Lin said: 'There has been no one more senior than us to offer us support or give us career advice for ourselves and support the university. We wanted to offer that kind of support to graduating students in the future.'

The association organises monthly activities, which provide a wide variety of networking opportunities. These can run from lavish dinners at five-star hotels to hikes in country parks, wine tastings and environmental awareness activities.

Enrichment programmes and community service activities are also held. These run from professional skills-building workshops to leadership development programmes, which target secondary school students.

'Most alumni associations focus on giving back to their alma mater, but we take a broader view,' Mr Lin said.

'We feel that we received something good from society so we want to give something back to society to help the next generation, as part of an endless cycle.'

Some students are so eager to take part in alumni association activities that they do not wait to graduate before joining.

Colin Chau is student representative of Manchester Business School Alumni Association Hong Kong.

Manchester Business School has a global alumni network of more than 30,000 in over 130 countries. It has 20 alumni associations, and the Hong Kong chapter is among the largest and most active.

'[It is a good chance] for members and non-members to get together for networking opportunities and meet alumni from other cities [that are visiting Hong Kong],' Mr Chau said.

'We get to meet a lot of people from different backgrounds. It also brings a new dimension to our daily lives and helps us [create a healthy] balance between work, study and our personal lives.'



Alumni groups nurture networks