1998 — Full-Time

Happy spring, '98ers. At least it will be spring by the time you read this. Currently, however, it is deepest darkest February and I am sitting at my PC, alternating between writing these notes and checking online ticket prices to the Bahamas. Goodness, I need a tan! I have to say I am impressed by you all. You have certainly been busy. And while no one exactly came to my rescue on the SweetTart Hearts front (though I did get some lovely V-day choccies from my husband), you were fab about getting your news to me. If I have not told you before, I will now: You rock.

I am going to take a bit of author's priority here and share my news first, well, because I can and I never, ever do. But I am going to write it in the third person 'cause it's weird otherwise:

Melanie Brownrout Honnor and her husband, Andrew, welcomed Zachary Benjamin Honnor into the world on Jan. 15. He weighed a healthy 8 pounds, 6 ounces. Melanie and Zachary are doing great and she is truly enjoying the beginning of her maternity leave. She is still at Discovery Networks Europe, where she runs the digital media (mobile, broadband and video on demand) department. Zach is already a techie child of the noughties, with several Skype calls, mobile pictures and YouTube videos to his name. The better to keep long-distance grandparents in the loop!

Marcus McElroy writes: "Greetings from Chicago — yes, Chicago! Marcus is back in Chicagoland! I was lured back by Motorola, where I'm strategic program manager for marketing IT. I get to work with Jason Ruger '00, a fellow Moose. I am living with my sister in River Forest until my West Loop condo is ready in June. I look forward to reconnecting with Chicago-area alums. Christy Uchida is cat-sitting for me and is doing a great job of introducing me to the arts scene in Chicago with the Redmoon Theatre Company, where she is managing director. Come see a show sometime. Keep your eyes open for a housewarming invitation sometime in midsummer."

Keith Quinn took time out from selecting his attire (dark blue tux, no tie) for the Vanity Fair Oscar party to send in this news: "I write this note form the border of Egypt and Libya. Our team is following three ultra-marathoners more than 4,000 miles (on foot, about two marathons a day for 100 days) for a documentary called 'Running the Sahara.' The journey is almost complete. The film has taken us to six countries (Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Libya and Egypt) and the way has been paved by the diplomacy of the United Nations. As part of the project, an NGO called H2O Africa has formed to raise funds and awareness for clean water programs across Africa (donations can be made at runningthesahara.com, and if you are a member of the ONE Campaign to end poverty — and really, who in their right mind is against that goal? — you will already have heard about all of this). Those of you who know my wife, Erika, and our daughter Charlotte need no clairvoyance to picture them anxiously awaiting my return. Thankfully, the Quinny girls put up with my adventures. I was away at Christmas and New Year's, too. As we approach nine years from Kellogg, I am happy to say that I've kept a good number of friends from that time, but I don't see anyone nearly enough. I do hope that the near term brings a chance to see more of you all.

"As for the film, I hope that everyone hears more about it than this itty-bitty preview in the class notes. I will go out on a limb and guarantee that it will be much better than the short film that Pat Marshall and I squandered $3,000 of Special K's money on in 1998. Having a bigger budget than 3K (but not much bigger) and an Oscar-winning director helps that kind of thing. I hope everyone I liked is doing well in their endeavors, and that those of you who didn't like me are successful, yet mired in a golden-handcuff-ridden existence, wondering if 'second-homelessness' is really a thing."

David Ransburg writes: "My wife, Jennifer (Scheff '00), and I met up with the families of fellow '98ers Alex Fuller, Greg Gutierrez, and Michael and Kris (Cho) Frank in Vail for a New Year's reunion. Alex, who lives in Madrid with his wife, Belen, and their son Lucas (3), just celebrated the fifth anniversary of his travel agency, Ambulo. Greg, who lives in Miami with his wife, Carmen, and their two children recently joined Diageo in a senior strategic planning role for the company's Latin American division. Michael and Kris Frank have two children: Oliver (5) and Charlotte (3). They live in New Canaan, Conn., where Michael is now in the third year of running his rapidly growing company, M2 Media Group. Already, M2 has struck significant partnership deals with companies such as Expedia, Match.com and Priceline. Kris is currently doing independent consulting and preparing to launch her own residential real estate business. As for me, I recently launched my own human capital consulting company, The Convergent Group. Between that endeavor, being a staff therapist at Northwestern's Family Institute, and helping Jen raise Cecilia (4) and Harper (1), life is pretty full!"

Lisa Rosenberg Silverman welcomed a new arrival: "Hannah (2) was joined by brother Ethan Ben Silverman on Aug. 16. I am the director of corporate finance at Georgia-Pacific, which is now part of the largest private company in the world, Koch Industries."

Danny O'Shaughnessy says all is well with team O'Shaughnessy: "I remain one of the few who is still doing the same job that I was doing when we graduated. We recently moved, but remain in Evanston, about half a mile from the hallowed halls of Leverone/Anderson. We had our fourth baby and third daughter, Lael Kathleen, in August. I hope all is well with you and all my other classmates in 2007."

Grey Staples and family (Lisa and kids Noah and Emmy) are firmly settled in the Twin Cities. Greg writes: "It's cold, but we're enjoying winter activities and the much-cherished but all-too-short summers (quite a change for two Arizonans). I recently left Xcel Energy, where I was director of financial forecasting, to start my own management consulting firm focused on corporate, regulatory and financial strategy with a particular emphasis on energy efficiency and renewable energy — The Mendota Group LLC. Through this I have connected with Kellogg alums who are doing or are interested in energy stuff, including Isabelle Gecils, Drew Marsh, Michael Payne '07, and Sam Nejame '97.

Brad Armistead writes: "Things here in Los Angeles are going well. I just celebrated six years with Mattel. Who would have thought that my longest relationship ever would be with Barbie? I was recently promoted to senior director of global softlines, overseeing the development of Barbie and Hot Wheels apparel, accessories, footwear, home, and health and beauty aids for little kids to enjoy. I've got a great team, and we have a lot of fun with it. Travelling a bit too much (February trips alone included Vegas, Arkansas, New York and Paris) but at least it breaks up the monotony of being in an office every day. Had a bit of a scare while visiting Rob (Tyler) Marcolina '99, his partner and their daughter in Australia. I went for a scuba dive for the first time (only 10 meters) and ended up with a cerebral artery gas embolism, meaning an air bubble got into my circulatory system and found its way up to my brain. After being helicoptered to an airport where I caught a medical emergency jet, I finally made it to a town with a hyperbaric chamber where I spent five hours getting the bubble out. I wasn't allowed to fly back right away, so I camped out in Sydney for a month. Not a bad place to be trapped (thanks, Rob, for being such a gracious host!). All's well now, though, and I'm back in action with no permanent effects except a renewed perspective on life."

Ellen (Chung) Kinney and Chris Kinney are proud to announce the arrival of Deirdre Shiu-Lin Kinney on June 6. They write: "She was 8 pounds, 10 ounces. We are still living in Seattle. Chris is working at Microsoft in the server and tools business and Ellen works in corporate marketing at Washington Mutual. We welcome anyone traveling through Seattle to come visit us!"

Dan Glennon reports: "Life is hectic, but good, with 2-, 5- and 7-year-olds keeping us busy. In October, I joined Cybera, a small but growing private networking company, as senior vice president of marketing and strategy. The experience has been tremendous and I enjoy the pace and variety of responsibilities that working at a 90-plus person company offers. In February I visited Evanston after a too-long absence to speak on a panel at the Kellogg Technology Conference. It was great to re-connect with Bill Eldredge, see a couple of former professors and realize that, yes, those Kellogg students are getting younger and younger. If you are in Atlanta (or Nashville, where Cybera is based), don't hesitate to get in touch."

Adriane Brigden McDermott writes: "In October, I moved from Kellogg-ville, San Francisco, to Portland, Ore., with my husband, Dave, and two girls Maddie (6) and Darcie (4) to start a new job at Nike in retail development for the Asia Pacific region. I was happy to find a few Kellogg grads to help me settle along the way, including Dain Bussewitz, Brian Daly (a recent whirlwind travel companion), and even Tomohiro Tezawa (based in Japan). Although we miss friends and the beauty of San Fran, we are happy with the change. Dave's started his own plumbing business called Red Roo, and our girls are getting used to umbrellas as a new fashion accessory."

Brian Menzies recently organized an alumni event in northern California. "We had a great turnout of Bay Area alums to celebrate the passage of 10 years since we all first met at Kellogg. In attendance were Curt Jennewine, Rick Wolfgram, Dan Clifford, Craig Michaels, Marc Chaput, Jeff Blount, David and Dawn Gibel, Rami Kahlon, Leif Welch, Brian Menzies, Liz Settimi, Jen Toton, Segey Shneyerson, Jen Schoeneman, Isabelle Gecils and Janet Morrison '99. Without going into the full who-is-doing-what, the group is collectively looking forward — over the next 6 months — to a couple of job changes and a whole lot of fun. Special mention goes to David Gussmann, who helped organize the event, then chose not to show up, but instead flew off to Washington, D.C., to start his new job."

When he last checked in, Reamonn Smale was off to Switzerland with his family. He writes: "After three fabulous years there, we came back in time for Christmas '05 and settled on the world's best West Coast (that's right, Florida's — just south of Tampa).There's something odd about putting up Christmas decorations when the temperature outside is 70 degrees, but we love it. For me, the Florida climate is like a never-ending summer — the kind that we rarely got before global warming turned Great Britain into a tropical island. When it got really hot, Chris Lee, his wife Julie and their three children came down from Atlanta for a long weekend. We had tons of fun at the beach, and by the end of the stay Chris had gone totally Euro and was swimming naked in broad daylight (sorry — no photo available). I've recently started as vice president of marketing for an owner and operator of private schools in the United States and around the world. It's a small company that's growing rapidly and it's based in Fort Lauderdale, which means the endless summer continues! I love not being in a huge corporation and it's a nice challenge to figure out how best to present and promote a fairly exclusive service. On my first tour of our schools, I met up with Rick Keller for dinner on the other West Coast!"

Stacey Moore writes: "I finally tied the knot! Martin Schalk and I were married on Oct. 28 in my hometown of Pittsburgh, Pa., surrounded by friends and family over a two-day celebration. Other Kellogg 4Qs who made the journey from every corner of the nation to celebrate with us were Megan O'Scannlain-McDonagh, Karin Tierney-Broughton, and Elizabeth Reid-DeWitt. I'm still very happily living in Manhattan and enjoying all the Big Apple has to offer!"

	Sari and Blake McConnell (both '98) and family

Sari Makofsky McConnell writes: "Blake '98 and I gave birth to our second son, Ellis Sidney McConnell, on May 29. OK, well, maybe I gave birth, but Blake provided excellent moral support. This year was filled with get-togethers with Kellogg friends we haven't seen in some time. We spent our babymoon in Buenos Aires and saw Grillo Grimaldi, who impressed us with his calmness at being the father of five. We had a nice Kellogg gathering at our new home in Port Washington, N.Y. in the fall that included the families of Len Ross, Harley Ungar, Brett Adams, Sanket Akerkar and Eric Reynolds and the cutest little Kelloggians! We've connected with East Coasters like Dave Contract and Tony Shurman, who have helped us recover from all the friends we left behind in San Francisco. Both Blake and I successfully transferred our jobs to New York last year. Blake is at Symantec and I am still at SUGO.

Kate Riley Smith writes: "My most exciting news is that we welcomed our daughter Alison Hope Smith into the world on June 5. My husband Tom and I have been having a great time learning the ropes on our new adventure of parenthood. While I had a blast working in marketing innovation for PepsiCo for the past five years, I enjoyed my time on maternity leave with Ali and decided to mix things up even more. We just made the move from Connecticut back to the Twin Cities to pursue new job opportunities and be close to family. I'm still with PepsiCo, but now will be working three days a week from our home in Minnesota instead of at HQ in Purchase, N.Y. Trying to strike that work/life balance."