EMP-29

Greetings! This spring was a busy one for many EMP-29 alums, as we returned to the Allen Center to celebrate our 10-year reunion April 30-May 2. Jim Corboy, Martha David and Chuck Weinles worked hard to ensure that our class was well represented during Reunion and their efforts paid off: Fourteen of our classmates attended all or some of the many activities planned specifically for EMP alums.

Chuck, who has probably kept in touch with more of our classmates than any of the rest of us, provided the following summary of the weekend's events: "Friday afternoon there was a choice of attending one of two modules on 'Managing Your Career.' We could also visit various classrooms and learn more about the new Kellogg Web site and its valuable resources. These activities were followed by the keynote speaker from eBay, Bill Cobb '79, who heads up international marketing. Following Bill's address, there was a TGIF and, later that evening, a special EMP-29 cocktail party arranged by Jim Corboy. Afterwards, attendees reveled in food, games and drink until midnight. On Saturday, breakfast preceded a speech by Dean Jain. Later, attendees chose from four learning modules, followed by picnic under the tent at the Allen Center. Saturday night's festivities included a dinner dance at the Allen Center, attended by Erica Kantor, Dean Ed Wilson, Dean Jain, Dean Emeritus Jacob and several of our professors, including Allan Drebin, Ehud Kalai, Mort Kamien and Gene Lavengood. It was, without question, a terrific weekend!"

Larry Birch attended the reunion activities and had this to say about his life these past 10 years: "I left Baxter and spent five years with MCI running several of the company's software businesses. I then commuted to San Francisco as CFO of a venture capital-backed company. This was the heyday of the Internet and San Francisco was wild --- it was like a gold rush! We never got the company public due to the collapse of the market, but it was fun. Back in Chicago, I became CFO of Technology Solutions Co., a NASDAQ company. My challenge was to lower the cost structure and make the company profitable. I did that, but the corporate strategy was nonexistent. And with no strategy, there is ultimately no business --- so I left. I then started my own company with a couple of partners, called Stratego Partners. We excel at reducing companies' corporate costs: health, property and casualty insurance, information technology vendor costs, telecommunications costs, lease versus buy analyses, tax strategies and other large corporate expenditures. My partner and I have identical backgrounds, except he went to Chicago for his MBA. Therefore, he gets to be the geek and I get to do the fun marketing stuff. That isn't exactly true, but I enjoy tweaking him a little bit. We are happy in Lincoln Park and may be in the last home we will ever own --- so life is pretty good."

According to unnamed Reunion attendees, Larry apparently was unwilling to call it quits on Friday night, and continued merrymaking at an undisclosed location. In addition, Larry told me that he and his wife MaryRose were serenaded by Lionel Richie following their 1996 wedding ceremony in Rome, Italy. OK, Mr. Richie didn't actually serenade the newlyweds. Rather, he joined them for a drink following their wedding ceremony. I had no idea Larry was such a partier, did you?

Bill Christopher attended the Saturday night dinner dance and writes: "After graduating from Kellogg, I joined another EMP-29er, John Walden, at peapod.com. I was the VP of operations and helped the company develop its operational infrastructure. We had a ball at peapod.com, taking the company public in 1997 and growing it to $100 million in markets across the United States! However, like most dot-com companies, we could not figure out how to make money. Hence, I left to become chief of customer care and operations for sears.com. I got in on the ground floor there. Sears.com is part of the direct initiative at Sears, along with Lands' End, which we purchased several years ago. The divisions combined do roughly $2 billion in sales. Sears.com has grown at a 50 percent rate for five years and is making a 10 percent pre-tax profit. After six years of not making any money, it is great to be back in the 'black' again. With help from sears.com and Lands' End, Sears intends on becoming a major player in multichannel retailing. The Kellogg EMP degree has opened many doors for me. Attending Kellogg EMP was one of the best things I did from an educational perspective.

"On the home front, I have four healthy and active kids. I have two sons in college --- Iowa and Colorado. We enjoy college football --- Iowa, Colorado, Northwestern and Notre Dame. Loved the Gator, Orange and Outback Bowls we attended the past couple of years. We travel a great deal for pleasure and running. My wife and I run half-marathons and marathons. I will be completing my 20th marathon later this month in Michigan. We love running through major cities, exploring the people, architecture and landscape. Also served on the local school board for four years after graduation, helped raise lots of dollars for our church and coached a lot of baseball and basketball. Life is good and wish you all well. I hope to see more of you soon."

Maria Foster also returned to Evanston for Reunion, and had this to say: "It was great to see everyone. I think none of us has aged much --- in fact I think we all looked better! What have I been up to? Well, after Kellogg I lived downtown in Chicago for a number of years being mentored by Scott McGowan, Larry Birch and Chuck Weinles. Needless to say, they had a PROFOUND impact on me and my life. I could not take anymore development and moved with Johnson & Johnson-ortho clinical to New Jersey, where I now reside on a beautiful 55-acre farm with three horses, three (and counting) cats, two black labs and two cockatoos. So, if anyone is on a family vacation and wants to stop by a petting zoo, please do so. The land is beautiful. The property itself was a bit neglected for multiple years, so it is a project that will take a few years. Anyone needing exercise or 'organic resistance' workouts will be welcomed. Furthermore, for all the gents in the class, I have a John Deere tractor and know how to drive it. All you with lawn mowers can now have tractor envy! Hope all is well with the class and I hope more classmates write in!"

And no, that was not a typo. Maria did say 55-acre, not 5-acre and not 55 square feet, like my backyard in Rogers Park.

Tom Guenth, another Reunion attendee, also took time to update us on the path his life has taken following graduation. "Four months after graduation, GBC (General Binding Corp.) went through a major reorganization that provided the opportunity I had dreamed of. Since my middle 30s, I had wanted and worked toward a position in general management. The reorganization at GBC offered me the opportunity to build a new business unit from a recent acquisition and a product line in which I had been deeply involved. This required that I move from Chicago to the Detroit area (actually nearer Pontiac). With the support of my wife, I undertook the task of running the newly created automated finishing division. The division was focused on developing, marketing and selling commercial-grade paper punch and book binding equipment and supplies worldwide. Sales were all within the United States and were focused on mostly smaller firms.

"I had a ball for three years. My team grew the U.S. business to $26 million per year by adding sales staff and new products. In addition, we branched out to Europe during the second year and grew it from essentially zero to $5 million by dedicating a knowledgeable individual to support the building of the European sales team within the existing European organization. Finally, during the last year, we branched out to the Far East, reaching $1.5 million in a short period of time by focusing on large insurance firms.

"During the second year, we acquired a binding supplies manufacturer in Ireland. I was involved from the early discussions through to the final signatures. Thank goodness for our negotiations class. During the two years I ran the business, we doubled the sales, leased a new facility and invested in additional equipment. And I loved visiting Ireland. The people were friendly, the golf was tough and the food was outstanding.

"Unfortunately, GBC made some other acquisitions and business decisions that did not do as well. In late 1998, another reorganization occurred, and this time, I lost out. After trying to find a new job, I decided to keep busy by going back to my 'geek' side and became involved with training and consulting through local CompUSA stores. I found that I enjoyed helping the nongeeks understand how 'easy' computers are, if you approach them with an 'experimentation' mindset. I developed specialized training packages for Taubman, FedEx, Domino's Pizza, Ford and Borders, as well as a specialized scheduling package for tracking sign-ups, as the corporate package could not manage the unique customer needs. I found that I still loved getting my hands dirty programming after 10 years of focusing on the management side.

"In 2001, I joined a small network management firm, Smooth Change Inc, with the goal of helping them move into consulting and software development. Over those two years, I took the rust off of my programming skills and helped increase the clientele, especially for custom programming. I developed two EDI packages for two medium-sized customers who needed to link to the Ford and GM parts scheduling systems. In addition, I became involved in the HEDIS audits with a local HMO, and at times sound as knowledgeable as the nurses and doctors about the subject. Well, I know the technical details and the requirements, but I'm not ready to make a diagnosis.

"I had hoped to build into a partner position with the firm. Unfortunately, we could not come to an agreement, and in January, I started my own business --- Binary Star Technology Inc. While I am presently a one-man band, I have a five-year plan to build the business to at least $1 million. My business plan (which needs a lot of work) targets the small to medium-sized businesses that have computers and networks but cannot afford to have full-time knowledge resource on staff. The targeted services are network management, custom programming, security audits, technology consulting and resellable software packages. I have four monthly customers for the network management service. In addition, I have two customers for the custom programming service. I have been lucky so far starting out with the 'feast' phase. Working now toward surviving the 'famine' phase, which is sure to come. I may not make a lot of money with this, but I am having a lot of fun, especially for an 'old' geek.

"Also, in 1999, I began teaching as an adjunct professor at Baker College in Flint. I teach computer-related courses, mainly programming courses for C++, Visual Basic and C#. I enjoy the interaction with the students, who challenge me with their mistakes, as well as helping to force me to learn new technologies and tools. It is so much fun to see their faces when they finally understand a tough topic, despite my poor explanation.

"After leaving GBC, my wife convinced me to downsize our home. We moved to a smaller home in Troy, Mich., that has a lake in back (OK, a large pond). From May to September, we enjoy the glories of swimming and water sports. I have taken up windsurfing and can be seen skimming across the lake whenever there is enough wind to get out. Not good enough yet for the ocean, but working toward that goal. In addition, my wife and I began ballroom dancing lessons about seven years ago and have developed a nice group of couples who take the lessons with us and enjoy occasionally going to ballroom dancing dinners. Our greatest enjoyment is having everyone over after a lesson and shooting the breeze for two hours each week. It is certainly not because we are good dancers, we do it for fun and exercise.

"I greatly enjoyed Reunion. Other than Phil Preston, I have, unfortunately, lost contact with most of my study group. I look forward not only to the next Reunion, but am also hopeful that Martha (David) can get a weekend get-together planned for fall. I greatly enjoyed just discussing ideas with everyone who came and would love to do it again. It would also give my wife another chance to return to Chicago and shop."

Ralph Lambka, who attended the dinner dance Saturday night, writes: "My family and I are still in 'beautiful Naperville, Ill." The 10 years since graduation from EMP-29 in 1994 have been busy. My wife Margaret and I will be celebrating 25 years of marriage this year. Our oldest daughter graduates from Colorado University this spring, No. 2 daughter is finishing her second year at U. of I. in mechanical engineering, and our youngest, a first-grader when EMP-29 was in session, is finishing his junior year at Naperville Central High school.

"Career-wise, these years have been a bit of a roller coaster. I've been through eight companies, including three mergers, two start-ups and a brief stint as a product manager. I have stayed in sales in the telecommunications field, and am currently the regional vice president of sales for Tekelec, a publicly traded company with a strong portfolio of products in the voice-switching market. It was great to see the EMP-29ers at the recent 10-year Reunion, and I hope to see more of our group at the 15-year mark, if not before!"

No longer mentoring Maria Foster, Scott McGowan found time to attend Reunion and to update us on developments in his career: "I remained with Material Sciences Corp. for about a year after graduation. They reorganized and I left them with a severance package and a consulting contract at the end of 1995. In early 1996, I joined with three partners and formed my first start-up, The Cognitus Group, a Web development and consulting firm. (Maybe it was technically my second, as at the same time, I formed a company called SDM & Associates Inc. and had subcontractors working with me on my consulting contract.) Cognitus initially focused on the trade and professional association market, then branched out to build Web solutions for companies such as Amoco Chemicals, Bank America, Searle (thanks, Hooman) and a number of small organizations. We built some interesting technology that I realize in retrospect could have made us dot-com multimillionaires, but none of us picked up on it at the time.

"After four years building Cognitus, a mortgage banking client engagement turned into my next start-up, NextNewHome.com Inc. We incorporated in January 2000, and had plans to raise $20 million in a few months, build the technology and sell out in a year. We all know what happened in March 2000. As the venture capital dried up, things took a little longer than expected. I worked on NextNewHome as a part-time project for about six months, then was asked by the major shareholders to join full time, which I did in mid-2000. We developed Web-based software that integrates real estate and mortgage functions into one comprehensive application. The system is used to build and run Web sites where realtors and lenders generate and manage business together.

"After a few difficult, underfunded years building our systems, things are going pretty well. We closed the mortgage company in 2000 to concentrate on software development and marketing. We are now in the process of acquiring a mortgage bank and plan to expand into a few new markets later this year. We believe that our current direction will make us an attractive target to a national mortgage, real estate online service company (think Interactive Corp, Lending Tree, First American Mortgage Services, Cendant, GMAC, etc). With that on the horizon, I am looking ahead to determine what my next career move should be. Of course, I should note that it was great to see a lot of old faces at Reunion, in addition to seeing the usual suspects who have been good friends over the years since Kellogg."

Lisa Rosenkranz writes, "The 10 years since graduating from the EMP program have been busy and wonderful. I still live in Glencoe with my husband Jeff and we have two terrific sons, Benjamin, 9, and Joshua, 7. They are true sports fanatics and love nothing better than to play, watch and talk about sports --- any sport! Until last fall, I remained with Baxter, doing a wide variety of marketing and business-development jobs. I am now busily 'retired,' raising my boys, joining several nonprofit boards and exploring what this next phase of my life will contain. I also continue to run (when I'm not injured!) and have completed three marathons, including qualifying for and running the Boston Marathon. It was wonderful seeing so many of our classmates from the EMP-29 class at Reunion, and I hope we can get even more of us together again soon!"

Was running marathons a prerequisite for gaining admission to our class?!

Gary Yarkony planned to attend Reunion, but was unable to do so at the last minute. He writes: "Sorry I missed Reunion. My wife Kirsten totaled her Volvo the night before. She is bruised but doing OK. I have been in private practice in Elgin, Ill., for three and a half years. We are adding a fourth doctor in July. Best thing I ever did. My daughter Judith just completed her master's in speech pathology at Northwestern and will be working in the Chicago public schools. Rachel is asophomore at the University of Texas-Austin and, if you can believe this, recently attended a Passover Sedar with Jenna Bush at a mutual friend's house. Seth is 12 and plays traveling baseball and soccer and recently played in a basketball tournament at Disney World. Lauren is 10 and a dancer, softball player and does traveling soccer. We are currently investigating safe family cars and still reside in Lake Forest."

We hope that Kirsten experienced a speedy and full recovery, and that Gary was successful in finding a new car. No more of those flimsy Volvos, let's hope.

Also in attendance at Reunion were: Hooman Bahmandeji, Martha David, Phil Preston, Vijay Rangineni and Koshy T'Velil. None of these deadbeats were willing to put in writing what they have accomplished since graduation, however.

Unfortunately, Win Billingsley wasn't able to attend Reunion. Win did, however, find time to drop us a line. He writes: "Following my Kellogg graduation I continued to work for NCR until qualifying for retirement. My wife Maxine and I then decided to take a year and do some world traveling that we had longed to do for many years, but with four children and a busy career, time was never available. Our most memorable trip was to Australia, where we leisurely visited Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane on the Great Barrier Reef. The Australian people are joyful, fun loving, and the flora and fauna are both interesting and beautiful.

"After a year's sabbatical, I decided to return to the business world, but in a different capacity than working for a large corporation. A fledgling company in Philadelphia caught my interest and I moved from Chicago to Philadelphia to accept a position to build its sales and marketing organization. After a period of revenue and profit growth, the company was sold.

"We have remained in Philadelphia, and I am currently doing some board of director work that I enjoy, as well as selected business consulting. Maxine and I now have seven wonderful grandchildren, whom we travel to visit frequently, and I have finally found time in life to enjoy my passion for playing the classical guitar."

The Class Notes section of Kellogg World is a great vehicle for keeping in touch with former classmates. When I asked Larry Birch to consider writing an update for inclusion in this issue, he stated what I think many of us who read Kellogg World feel. And that is while it's great to read about what others are doing, it feels awkward to sit down and write about what you yourself have been up to. And yet nine of our classmates put their hesitations aside and took the time to jot down a few notes about their whereabouts. Because of their willingness to write in, this issue is EMP-29's most successful yet. But let's not stop here. When you put down this issue of the magazine, head to your computer and shoot me an email for inclusion in the next issue. That includes you Hooman, Martha, Phil, Vijay and Koshy.