Dear Alums

We have started marking time to Solstice 2010 and the launch of ISB@10, our year- long countdown to turning ten. We have a phenomenal Solstice planned for you and I hope all of you have made plans to be present on campus on the 17th, 18th and 19th of December. This year we are also organising ‘Propero’, an investment day for alum entrepreneurs who are looking for various kinds of funding, on the 17th. We have lined up interesting networking occasions, and of course super fun activities all the three days. If that was not enough, December 18th is also the inaugural event of ISB@10 and we will have members of the Board and other dignitaries on campus. Check out www.isb.edu/solstice for more details and don’t forget to play around with the cool banner...it will bring back great memories.

Turning ten is no mean feat, especially when you reflect on the path breaking work that we as a School have put forth and the myths we have proved wrong. But as Dean Rangnekar said, this is not just an occasion for all of us to come together and celebrate our achievements, but an opportunity for us to set the tone for the next ten years. The ISB@10 celebrations will be held in ten cities all around the world, over the next twelve months, including San Francisco, New York, London, Singapore and of course all the metros in India. You will find all the details on the microsite which will go live soon.

The Bangalore event is planned on the 11th of January 2011, and Mr Narayan Murthy, who is also on our Executive Board, has kindly agreed to host the event. We will send out more details to the Bangalore alumni soon, but it will include a networking high tea and a panel discussion on Entrepreneurship and Social change. The invitees will include prominent faculty, business leaders, opinion makers, writers, bureaucrats, and of course members of the ISB community. We have a limited capacity, so I encourage you to sign up as soon as you get the details, to ensure you get a spot.

The Bay area event is being held on Friday, the 14th of January 2011 and Mr Vinod Khosla will be the host. Again, as in Bangalore, it will consist of a networking hour along with a panel discussion, with speakers talking about cutting edge ideas and effects of disruptive technologies. We will send out the details to the North America alumni soon, but do block your calendars and make it convenient to attend. We are also looking for volunteers to help us put together both the Bay area as well as the Bangalore event, so do write to me at nidhi_reddy@isb.edu if you would like to get involved in the planning and execution.

Now for a brief recap of the month that went by. Ikshaa -the Marketing conclave, the General Management conclave, the Energy conclave and the Private Equity conference were all held towards the second half of November, and all brought in renowned names as speakers to campus. The Khemka forum on social entrepreneurship was co-organised by the Centre for Emerging Markets Solutions (CEMS) and saw a large number of participants from the development world. Preparations are also on for the ISB Leadership Summit (ILS) which will be held on the 4th of December.

Nearly 40 alums spent two days on campus, last weekend, conducting mock interviews for the Class of 2011. Heartfelt thanks to them for taking out the time and doing this for ‘the soon to be alums.’ It was a huge activity with more than 300 students getting one-on-one time with alums from verticals of their choice. Hopefully, next time around, we will be able to organise this for all 560 of the students.

As usual, do write to us with comments, suggestions, or even just a shout out to say that you read the newsletter J

Looking forward to seeing you all on Solstice,

Warm wishes,
Nidhi