Tech Topics - Fall 2008 - (Page 9) ALUMNI HOUSE Get LinkedIn Feedback from focus groups and surveys shows that Georgia Tech alumni are seeking opportunities to improve their careers by networking with fellow alums and students. LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) is an online community for professionals who want to expand their networks. This free service provides a forum for reconnecting with classmates, colleagues and friends. Its design is similar to the “Six Degrees of Separation” used by many online communities, according to Len Contardo, vice president of Outreach for the Alumni Association. In March, Contardo created a group within LinkedIn exclusively for Tech alumni. Now the Georgia Tech Alumni Association LinkedIn group has more than 2,000 members, a number Contardo said is growing every day. “This is a great resource for our students and alumni to increase the value of their degrees. Our alumni are always looking for ways to leverage the Tech network and our LinkedIn group is another way to do that,” Contardo said. “Over the coming months, we will use the group to launch other career enhancement services, including student mentoring, promotion of JacketNet Jobs to employers and the Alumni Admissions outreach program.” To join LinkedIn, visit www.linkedin.com and search for the Georgia Tech Alumni Association within Groups. Request to become a member of the group. Once you’re verified as a Tech alum and approved for membership, you will be free to network. Calling All LAWYERS ‘Georgia Tech Bar Association’ unites Institute-educated attorneys By Van Jensen eorgia Tech may not have a law school, but it has plenty of alumni practicing law. And now a new group sponsored by the Alumni Association is bringing them together. The legal affinity group, which members have dubbed the “Georgia Tech Bar Association,” holds lunch outings, seminars and other events for grads to network and pick up skills and knowledge. The group began this spring. One of its advisory board members, W. Clayton Sparrow Jr., Phys 68, said the group came about in part because most attorneys are licensed only in a single state and have to seek help from other lawyers for cases that cross state lines. “I thought it would be a good referral source for Tech alums in other states,” Sparrow said. “At least I’d know they had some common sense, and we’d have common experiences.” Like most Tech alumni who go into law, Sparrow took a circuitous route to his current position as a business lawyer at the Seyfarth Shaw firm in Atlanta. After leaving Tech, he signed on for four years in the Navy, spending much of it as a line officer on ships off the coast of Vietnam “lobbing shells and looking for submarines,” he said. One of his shipmates had gone to Harvard Law School, and their discussions fostered Sparrow’s interest in the subject. After ending active duty, he graduated from the University of Georgia School of Law and began practicing. “The law was attractive to me intellectually,” Sparrow said. “It shows the way our institutions actually work, the rules of the game. I wanted to learn that. And I did.” Now Sparrow is eager to spread that knowledge and experience among younger lawyers. Already he’s G MELISSA BUGG Clay Sparrow got a Tech diploma before a law degree. Reunion Goals Milestone reunion classes have set their fundraising goals and beneficiaries. The Class of 1983 will celebrate its 25th reunion during Homecoming, Oct. 23-25. The class gift will support study abroad scholarships. The overall fundraising goal is $3.2 million. The Class of 1968 also is funding study abroad scholarships for Tech students and has set an overall fundraising goal for its 40th reunion of $10 million. The Class of 1958 is marking its milestone 50th reunion by supporting a professorship in communications at the Institute. The overall fundraising goal is $7.5 million. helped connect a grad working as a mediator with another alum who needed mediation on a case. He also advised a young lawyer who had just moved back to Atlanta and needed help finding a job. “Affinity groups are a great opportunity to reconnect with other alumni and with Tech,” said Len Contardo, vice president of Outreach at the Alumni Association. “So many of our alumni pursue legal careers, and this group supports alumni making that transition.” The group just launched its Web site, www.gtbar.org, and is scheduling events such as quarterly seminars on legal topics, lunch gatherings and a Homecoming outing. The site also offers a directory of members and a place for members to post legal articles they’ve written. “I’m happy to see it taking off,” Sparrow said. “I think it’ll provide great service, to lawyers and also to Tech alums who may need legal service.” ALUMNI 101: WHAT IS AN AFFINITY GROUP? Georgia Tech Alumni Association affinity groups offer unique ways to engage alumni in shared interests. More than 7,000 alumni have attended events hosted by the groups. The 12 chartered affinity groups include the Military Affinity Group, Black Alumni Organization, Hispanic Alumni Network and Georgia Tech Band Alumni. More information may be obtained by contacting the Alumni Association’s senior manager of affinity groups at debra.thompson@alumni.gatech.edu. TechTopics | Fall 2008 9 http://www.linkedin.com http://www.linkedin.com http://www.gtbar.org
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