1997

Greetings my fellow Kelloggians! I sit here compiling this entry at the start of an exciting year -- lots of new spouses, new babies, not to mention a new president and a new/old economy. I hope you enjoy reading this edition as much as I did compiling it. All the best until next time.

Last July 29, Dan Teree married Katherine Fork, a New Jersey native. "No, she's not a b-school type person, but I love her that way! In attendance from Kellogg were: twin brother (and best man) Bob Teree, '98, Michael Dobler (the first classmate I ever met at Kellogg!), Corneille Burt '98 and Lisa Becket '98. "I still work as vice president of corporate development at TicketWeb, Inc. in Berkeley, Calif. With the exception of battling mood swings caused by the fluctuating price of Citysearch.com's stock (TicketWeb's new owner), all is quite well!"

Ken Jones landed his most recent position through the guidance of classmate Michael Breault. "As if I did not get enough of Mike as a teammate in "Financial Decisions," I will be working with him at Renaissance Strategy. Look out world!"

Keith Rakow is still in Los Angeles, where he began a job with TelePacific Communications, as product development manager for DSL and integrated voice and data products. "Everyone's welcome to visit me at my new apartment in Hollywood."

On July 8, 2000, Chuck Vidano and Michelle Cesped Vidano were married in Sausalito, Calif. Kellogg Class of '97 grads Suzanne Hemmer and Christina Heitz were in the wedding party. For their honeymoon, Chuck and Michelle spent five weeks traveling round Africa. They live in San Jose.

Nico Ortiz had a baby boy Jan. 17, 2000. His name is Porter Alexander Ortiz, and weighed in at 7 lbs., 9 ounces. Nico writes, "Turtle Mountain Brewing Company has received some national press over the past few months. We have been featured in the July 2000 issue of All About Beer magazine for being a kid-friendly brewpub and also got a four page feature in the September/October issue of Brewpub magazine. "I went to Brian Korn and Sue Gouws' wedding in Portland, Maine, last July, presiding as best man. There we saw Dan Seligson, Gil and Sue Penchina, Matthew Beckwith, Amy and Addison Snell, and John and Karen Larson. It was a great three-day affair, highlighted by a harbor cruise aboard Sue's dad's 55-foot motor yacht."

Benoit Besson left KPMG Financial Services Consulting to join META Group Consulting as a director in their strategy practice. He lives in Chicago.

Ellen Taschioglou writes: "Earlier this year, after healing from an amicable divorce, I left Hewitt Associates and Chicago to move jobless and homeless to the Bay Area -- a place I've wanted to live since I was 13. Life is both literally and figuratively much brighter now. I took a challenging position in Schwab's retail marketing area (currently I focus on very low balance accounts). Even more challenging was finding a home. After spending weeks with a slew of generous friends, including Monica Gessner, Sharon Foote, Jennifer Hargreaves, and Mike Hilberman, I finally settled in Berkeley. It's been great splitting my time between the East Bay and downtown San Francisco. Best way to reach me is the_boo@hotmail.com. Just be forewarned: My enthusiasm for life here is infectious!"

Jen Schlein moved to St. Louis. She is still working for Kraft doing a two-year sales rotation so she can be with Matt who is a first-year at Olin. "Business school sure is fun when you don't have to worry about the work!"

Charisse Ford is doing well, still living in New York and working for Sara Lee.

Scott Whitaker writes, "Jennifer and I were married April 29, 2000, in Chicago. Sarah Jo Sarchet '98 co-officiated the ceremony, and David Henry, Julie Stahl '96, Julian Posada, and Sandra Diaz, among others, were in our wedding party. We had a dozen Kellogg grads share the celebration. I am now with Proxicom's Chicago office working as an industry consultant generating Internet- and wireless-based engagements within the media and entertainment industries. Jennifer is from Northville, Mich., has a MSW from Loyola, and works in sales. We met at a Park Community Church picnic in July 1998. We are moving to a new home in April."

Stephanie Hanson writes, "I had a baby boy March 23, 2000, named Joshua Sam Hanson-Kaplan. He weighed a whopping 8 lbs., 7 oz. and was 20.5 inches long. He is healthy and beautiful! Already six-months old, he's 18.5 lbs. and 27 inches. They grow like weeds! He's so much fun. Talk about changing priorities."

	Brad Swanson '97 gives his new daughter, Alexandria, a lift.

Brad Swanson has both baby and job updates to report. Alexandria Isabelle (Lexi) was born last November and is keeping mom and dad busy. On the job front, Brad recently returned to Alex.Brown (now Deutsche Bank Alex.Brown) in the corporate finance technology group. "We opened a new office in Atlanta raising capital and doing m&a for tech companies in the Southeast and Texas. We are keeping up and having fun with Atlanta's Kellogg alumni club members."

Troy C. Ihlanfeldt left strategy consulting and joined Russell Reynolds Associates Executive Search in Chicago. "Having a terrific time -- great firm and people."

Antonio Guerra recently switched jobs. He writes, "The companies I had started (tequila, white goods, etc.) are doing fine, but my partners now run the day-to-day. I am now the CEO of Marindustrias, one of Mexico's largest food processing companies, mainly concentrated in tuna packing with national distribution and our own brands."

Matt Lowell, his wife Rebecca and son Ethan (18 months) moved out to Palo Alto, Calif. six months ago as part of a job change. "I was an investment banker for DLJ in Chicago and am now working as an investment banker in the global technology group at Credit Suisse First Boston covering the technology services sector. Fortunately I made the move before CSFB decided to buy DLJ! We love the California weather and being in the heart of Silicon Valley. A few weeks ago we hooked up with John Ganz but we know that there are a lot of other classmates here we have yet to meet."

Charlotte Vere and her husband Alfredo became proud parents of baby Hector on Sept. 11. Hector weighed 9 lbs., 4oz. and measured 22 inches. She writes, "What's more to say? I feel like I haven't slept since! Trying to run my company room-in-a-box. co.uk whilst juggling the responsibilities of being a new mother."

Asha Morgan and Marty Moran were married on Sept. 3, 2000. Asha reports, "It was great to catch up with a number of Kelloggians: Beth Lambert, Nancy Blair, Mary Heil, Julia Acer, Annette Herz, Richard Murphy, Paul Dillon, Glen Dils, Arturo Zacarias, Mark Van Bell, and Brian O'Leary. After a great wedding weekend and a relaxing honeymoon, we are back in Minnesota. I am working for a company called Creative Memories and leading the expansion into Europe. Marty is a client partner with Surebridge, a Boston-based application service provider (ASP)."

Christopher Maxcy married Daniele Levy (Stanford GSB 1997) this past June. "The wedding was tons of fun and a bit of a travel whirlwind. We had two wedding receptions; one in my hometown of Boston and one in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where Daniele grew up. It was fantastic seeing so many of our business school friends at both events. Keeping with the theme we also enjoyed two honeymoons; one on Cape Cod and one in the Turks and Caicos Islands."

Michael Teh recently returned to Boston having been home in Sydney for the Olympic Games. Michael reports, "The city, the games, the food, the wine, the weather, the beaches, the fireworks, the atmosphere, the spirit, the parties and the women's beach volleyball were all awesome!" So good he actually missed a meeting with Warren Bright and Patrice McAree while he was down there ("Sorry mate, I was hanging with the Thorpedo!"). He has enjoyed seeing Julie Kim, Matthew Thomas and Laura Hollister over the last few months, but has been busy integrating eGrad's first acquisition -- a company called College Publisher that owns a powerful online publishing and content management technology, that's being rolled out in the U.S. college newspaper market.

Following graduation, Victoria King Meyer moved to Houston to join Shell Chemicals. "It's been a great three years, I'm in my third position with Shell. I started out in the M&A group, which rapidly turned to divestitures as we sold off 40 percent of our chemicals businesses. I spent a year in one of our joint ventures, Equiva Trading, doing strategy and e-business. Definitely a lot of excitement. I led an eBusiness project which resulted in a venture with Houston Street Energy. I returned to Shell Chemicals in April to implement an eBusiness, extranet offering for our customers. So, while I feel a bit left out of the dot-com revolution that many classmates are participating in, there is E in the corporate world!

"In August 1998, I married Tod Meyer whom I dated while at Kellogg. We're having a great time in Houston. We recently purchased a home in northwest Houston and are having fun decorating and personalizing it."

After managing Gillette Mach3 in North America for more than a year, Emmanuel Mercier was promoted to the 2002 FIFA World Cup Manager position within their global business management group. He writes, "My objectives: 1. Have France win again in Japan; 2. Get tickets for the games; and 3. Optimize Gillette sponsorship."

The big news for Christopher Drews is that he left CSC Index and joined ICG Commerce doing business development in San Francisco. ICG Commerce is an online comprehensive procurement services company.

After traveling for a few weeks in Pakistan, Jennifer Lowry updated us on her life. "I'm living in the D.C. area and have purchased a house! I have plenty of space, so if anyone is ever in the area, give me a ring (or drop me a note via e-mail at jlowry@aesc.com)."

Nikki Tarlton Cole reports, "The Kellogg alumni of the BMA had an happy hour during the National Black MBA Association Conference in Chicago Oct. 3-8. The class of 1997 was the most represented with the following people in attendance: Kellye Tisdale Wicker, Vimla Gupta, Tolani Ogunleye, Veronica Walton, Charisse Ford, Carolyn Bryant Webb, Cecil Brown (all the way from London!), Ray Woods, Joycelynn Stone, Stacy Byers, Shawn Cooper, Marcellus Moore, Nichol Robinson, Melanie Wright, Sandy Alston, and me -- Nikki Tarlton Cole. Other class of '97 alumni sightings during the conference: Magaly Dauphin and Shaun Rowan." Want info about BMA alumni social events? Send a note to Nikki at ptarlton1997@ kellogg.nwu.edu.

Michael Payne writes: "I have been out of the loop after spending a year in Panama City, Panama, but recently moved back to Houston. It was a nice break from the heat and humidity of Texas, and I highly recommend it if you are looking for small, tropical country with a nice canal, and lots of empty U.S.-quality buildings. I am happy to report that the assignment culminated with my marriage to Jessica Uhl, whom I met at an orientation meeting shortly after joining Enron. I am currently working for our wind energy subsidiary, with a focus on building the wind energy trading markets."

Burt Lampl and Trina just hosted a housewarming party in their new home in the Bay Area. Kelloggians in attendance included: Sharon Foote, Ellen Taschioglou, Addison Snell and family, Gil and Sue Penchina, Brian and Sue Korn, Mike Hilberman, and Joseph Urban.

In May 2000, Tracey and Guillaume Darrousez had a little girl named Emilie. She is a joy to her parents. Emilie looks forward to meeting all of Guillaume and Tracey's Kellogg friends. She and her parents want to say thank you for all the lovely presents she has received. While dad still supports the Wildcats, she supports Dallas after Kenji sent her a Cowboys outfit!

Matt Daniel left his post as head of finance for Comet Systems in New York and headed south on a Latin American adventure with his girlfriend, Nadia. They plan to spend two months in Mexico, followed by Costa Rica, Peru and Argentina. If you're interested in hooking up with Matt, send an e-mail message to him at matt_s_daniel@yahoo.com.

Derek and Pam Gerow welcome the arrival of their second child, Jack William Gerow, born on Nov. 10, weighing 8lbs., 13oz. Big sister Grace is excited that her "baby brover" is finally here. Derek is still with Bain and was promoted to manager a year ago. Pam writes, "Life is great and we are thrilled about the new addition to the family."

Brady Corporation has appointed Stacy Laszewski as vice president-finance, responsible for strategic planning and financial measurements for Brady's graphics and direct marketing groups.

Veronica Walton has volunteered to lead the Young Black Achievers program sponsored by the Winston Lake Family YMCA. The program is part of a national program providing college and career training for African-American teenagers. The program runs throughout the school year.

David Meyrowitz and his wife Jenn "are doing great! We are ecstatic to announce that on Oct. 5 we were blessed with a new addition. Haley Elisabeth weighed in at 7 lbs., 11 oz and was 19.5 inches long. She is doing well but we have learned to live with constant sleep deprivation. "Tampa has a few people from Kellogg.

Nick Konstantinou and Flinn Flexer ('98) both work at Raymond James. Nick is an investment Banker and Flinn is the other assistant to the Chairman at Raymond James. Actually, I should say was. After two years in the role, Flinn just accepted a position in our merchant banking group. Bryan Crino from our class is also down here. He is working at a small investment bank -- Communications Equity Associates. He and his wife Mary have a one-year-old child, Katie Lynn."

Rob Dreier has had an extremely busy time of it during the past couple of years, including: Promoted to vice president in Tucker Anthony's mergers and acquisitions department during 1999; married at the end of 1999; bought a house in early 2000 in Duxbury, Mass.; he and his wife had a baby boy (William Marshall Dreier) in September 2000. Rob has spent time with fellow Kellogians Corrado Giaquinto, Marco Azzaretti, Kevin Dame, Rand Lewis, Patrick Imholz, and Chris Cassanega, not to mention his annual golf pilgrimage with fellow Kellogians Wali Bacdayan, Sanjay Kapoor and Kenji Hashimoto.