Spring Break
TechMedia Alumni Dinner A Major Success
Over 75 notable alumni return to campus to strengthen HBS tech and media community
Sunil Nagaraj (NA), Contributing Writer
Issue date: 4/22/08 Section: News
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The Williams Room was abuzz on Monday, March 17th as over 150 past and current TechMedia Club members gathered for the club's annual Alumni Dinner. The event allowed tech and media-focused alumni from the past 40 years to reunite while they networked with current HBS students.
After the initial cocktail hour, the evening kicked off with a welcome address from Professor Tom Eisenmann of the Entrepreneurial Management Unit. He shared his experiences and lessons from teaching technology and entrepreneurship at HBS over the years. In addition, he reflected on the difficulties of identifying the trends and companies that would win out in the long run in the midst of challenges such as valuation bubbles.
Professor Eisenmann's welcome address was followed by a new addition to the program -- a "Just a Minute" pitch contest which challenged entrepreneurial students to sell their idea in only 60 seconds. The event featured five student teams and a distinguished panel of VC judges including Ajay Agarwal of Bain Capital Ventures, Jeff Bussgang of Flybridge Capital Partners, and Steve Hallowell of Commonwealth Capital Ventures.
The student teams were not allowed to use visual aids of any kind -- only their persons and a microphone. The impressive competitive set included Ethan Kurzweil (OH) and Matt Witheiler (OF), Wan Li Zhu (NB), Dini Rao (OF), Mike McGlade (NC), as well as the winning team of Steve Gangwish (OD), Reagan Grabner (OJ), and Ron Harari (OG), who successfully pitched an online marketplace for sportsmen/hunters and took home the contest's $500 prize.
Rao's team pitched an electronic wine adviser and was awarded an honorable mention and was provided with feedback to improve the pitch and underlying idea.
The evening concluded with a warm thank you to the club's leadership including this year's Co-Presidents: Eric Engineer (OB), Sumner Paine (OJ), and Rajesh Swaminathan (OI).
The new club leadership, including Humberto Moreira (ND), Sunil Nagaraj (NA), Raj Ramachandran (NH), and Diliana Damianova (NB), laid out an exciting year ahead for the TechMedia Club. Goals include improving collaboration across campus and Harvard University, increasing the profile of technology and media on campus, and strengthening intra-club relationships between TechMedia Club members.
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