ABSTRACT
The power of an alumni system has been made immediately tangible for one of Sinclair's clients. Once the module was deployed, the client was able to query over five thousand of its alumni. Microsoft's alumni program was started in 1995 by a former employee who, after seven years at the company, found that he missed the easy relationship building inherent to in-house company positions. Those who run large corporate alumni programs have ample advice for companies of all sizes that are starting their own programs. The low-hanging fruit in the communication flow to former employees is information about company products, services, and milestones. Creating and managing corporate alumni programs is a relatively new responsibility in the companies that have alumni programs, and the person or team responsible varies from company to company. Great alumni managers are connectors, resourceful, service oriented, and enthusiastic.
