NEWSLETTER
ASSOCIATION DES AMIS DES GRANDES ECOLES DE FRANCE USA
No 4 - September 2007
Editorial | Focus on the job Database | Alumni in the News | How do we turn generation gaps into links?
Calendar of Events | News from AAGEF Schools | Consulate and Embassy News | Contacts
Summertime and the living is easy....not so much.
As it comes to an end, the reality of your summer might have been quite different than what your vision of it was. Harried parents seeking to plan meaningful activities for their children, the collapse of mortgage-backed securities raising financial markets' volatility to all-time highs, having to rush back to the office to put out fires, trying to just find the time to read and relax, you might just be entering the fall stressed out...
We live in a busy world even in the summertime. As my mind turns to AAGEF, I realize that one has less time to enjoy alumni club membership. This is caused by work factors and increasing travel, working mothers trying to do it all, the greater role that working fathers play in raising children, and competition from many Francophile organizations and top-of-the-line for-profit clubs. The bottom line is: how can we make you interested in continuing to participate in AAGEF's activities?
Over the past few years, our membership has been expanding and we now have seventeen Grandes Ecoles' US alumni associations on board. We are happy to report that we have had very active participation from our directors in our bi-monthly board meetings since we re-launched our organization and, during our last Annual Meeting of the Members and Directors of Association des Amis des Grandes Ecoles de France (held on March 15th, 2007), eight individuals were unanimously elected by the then-present directors to serve with me for a three-year term:
Alexandra Lauvaux, our General Secretary, who is keeping our files in good standing, was reelected and deserves a round of applause for regularly going beyond the boundaries of her legal duties and providing new strategic insights and guidance to our group.
Three fellow board members were elected to serve a second term as officers of AAGEF:
- Emmanuelle Bommier, who has been our reliable and trusted Treasurer for the past three years and who has kindly accepted to continue serving in that capacity
- Sarine Nieuwenhuis, our tech expert and Webmaster
- Celine Perrot-Johnson who changed hats to take the leadership of our Event Planning Team after having done a beautiful job as VP Employment for the past three years
Three volunteers have stepped in, willing to devote time and energy to our membership and were newly appointed as Officers:
- Etienne Ardant, VP Employment
- Helene Seiler, VP Regional Chapters
- Anne-Sophie Olive, in charge of Communication & PR
Our board members and officers have demonstrated their commitment.
Now, we hope that you will continue to show interest in what we do, volunteer to help organize our program of activities and show up at our events! Celine Perrot-Johnson is putting together an exciting calendar of events for the upcoming Fall and Winter seasons (See tentative calendar in this newsletter). Please help her make them a success by attending, telling your friends about our program and referring new members to AAGEF.
And as we are spearheading new efforts, especially the expansion of AAGEF to the major metropolitan areas in the US (See Helene Seiler's article in this newsletter), we welcome any thoughts as to how we can make AAGEF more effective to you and your fellow alumni so that you can make time for us despite your otherwise busy schedules.
Best to all and enjoy the rest of the summer!!
Anne de Louvigny Stone
President AAGEF
About a year ago, the AAGEF board decided to help young graduates in their job search. Etienne Ardant, our Polytechnique Board member and VP Jobs has done since then a tremendous job in developing our job base. This data base was launched on June 13th, 2006 and an alert system when a new job is posted was added on October 5th, 2006.
Here is a snapshot of the evolution of this database since a year…
72 job offers were posted since the launch of our database with an average of 5.5 job offers / month
Members Data Base usage:
- 193 people have accessed to the job database at least once since its launch
- They generated 1,014 connections (i.e average of 5.25 connections each)
- In average, they connect 1.93 time each month
Members Data Base usage per School:
70% of the users come from the US (90% of it being from NYC), 25% from France and 5% from the rest of the world
Thomas Zimmerman, our active EM Lyon Board Member is a successful thirty something executive living in New York. L’Expansion recently published a series of articles on successful French alumni. It focused on Thomas’s impressive profile as an entrepreneur.
We chose to portrayed this young MD and co-shareholder of Altios International, a company specialized in helping companies to develop themselves abroad, who arrived in the US after a VIE.
Altios helped 500 companies in the last 15 years (2000 French companies are implanted in the US) and is present in France, US, Brazil, South Africa, India, China and Australia.
What made you decide to become an entrepreneur?
I didn’t really decide to become an entrepreneur, it was more an opportunity or maybe a trap, only the future will tell… After graduation, the idea of starting my career in Paris in a large corporation was just not what I was looking for. I was way more attracted by international horizon. So I just bought a summer work permit and moved to San Francisco. My “Entrepreneur career” began as a waiter for a fancy restaurant in La Jolla, California. After a few months, this non-typical experience for a young graduate apparently appealed to an other entrepreneur, owner of a small company in France. He was looking for someone to develop his company in the US and gave me that chance!
To what extent French Grande Ecole prepared you?
The Grande Ecole scheme opened my eyes without any doubt. Studying (a little), brainstorming (a lot) and socializing (even more) was a great mixture and gave me a level of self confidence I never got when attending law school.
From your experience (yours or fellow entrepreneurs you know) what are the differences between American and French schools in their training of future entrepreneurs?
After 2 years spent with undergraduates, I was extremely impressed by the sense of independence and freedom these students receive. Almost left alone, they really have to experiment things by themselves. Every action taken, even the wrong ones, is usually seen with a positive outlook.
What have been your 4 best moments as an entrepreneur? And your 4 lowest moments?
Best: My first week in New York 3 years ago when I realized I was just leaving and working in this city. When your friends and family tell you they are proud of you. When I met this very successful entrepreneur in New York City that manages to stay so accessible and friendly.
Not so good: The long hours, be the same day the delivery guy / the tech support desk / the Salesman / the collector and the cleaning person… The time not spent with friends and family, And of course my brand new iphone already stolen in our non secured office…
What does it take for a French entrepreneur to become successful in the US?
A little bit too early to tell, lets start with work work and work…
What advice would you give to French aspiring entrepreneurs in the US?
Don’t be afraid to start from the bottom, opportunities will come across. Be direct, honest and push your luck. Emails are not always enough to get what you are looking for
How do you think alumni associations such AAGEF can support entrepreneurs?
By giving exposure and creating networking opportunities.
What is your opinion on your sector and its evolution? Don’t know
What attracted you to your job/sector at the beginning and what are the key elements that make it still exciting?
Diversity… Diversity in the business fields. Diversity with strong ties to France and the US.
Given your experiences, would you have pursued the same education and career choices?
Yes probably. I only regret one thing, I didn’t do a semester abroad as a student. L’auberge Espagnole is here to remind me what I missed…
The Four Seasons recently published an article on the need for companies to understand and mix generations in the workplace. Here are some interesting quotes.
The term “generation gap” in the past referred to describing conflicts between a parent and a child. Today the gap has a significant presence in the workplace and throughout cultures. Employees from different generations are finding it difficult to work and expectations of the organization differ. “People resemble their time more than they resemble their parents” Arab proverb
There are four generations in the workplace. The traits of each generation stem from a combination of five major life shaping influence: family, education, morality, peers, culture.
The most common names for the four generations are :
1. Traditionalist (1926-1945)
2. Baby Boomers (1946-1964)
3. Generation X (1965-1980)
4. Millennials (1981-1999)
The overall work attitude of each generation is: Loyal and dedicated for Traditionalist, Optimistic and eager to add value for Baby Boomers, independent and result driven for Generation X and Team oriented and diversity tolerant for Millennials.
There are major gaps in the work environment between generations regarding: Relationship with authority, relationship with organization, work styles, management styles and learning.
A few years ago, this topic of generation differences was considered not worthwhile. Today, the incoming of Millennials workforce has changed that perception.
Even though the Millennials have different influences in their local cultures, telecommunications, and media are linking them together. So, why all the fuss about the Millennials? Well, who else is going to have a bigger impact on the work environment when the Baby Boomers retire?
The workforce is shrinking and the Millennials will be the most sought after generation in history! How did the workforce shrink? Each generation has played a part in it:
1. Fewer babies were born (Baby Boomers),
2. People are living longer (Traditionalists),
3. Fewer working-age persons participating in the labor force (Generation X, Baby Boomers – early retirement),
4. Geographical separation of jobs and workers and net immigration (Generation X and Millennials outside the US)
The countries that will be hit hardest by the diminishing workforce are France, Spain, USA, China and Italy.
Linking the generation gaps in the workplace so they are able to understand each other will have a huge return on a company’s investment for each employee:
· Increase recruitment and retention of staff member
· Diversify managers’ motivational techniques
· Further a management coaching and mentoring skills
· Assists in resolving conflict
· Creates and environment in which staff members can learn from one another
· Increases team effectiveness
· Increases confidence in managing other generations
The formula, which will assist companies in adapting to the four generations in the work place, is The Golden Rule. If this is carried into interactions with others, companies will be able to utilize the strengths that exist in each generation. No matter which country or culture!
Bibliography
Chester, E. “Employing Generation Why?” Colorado: Tucker House Books, 2002
Coy, J. “Shrinking Labor Force is Top Challenge for Global Hospitality, Tourism and Service Industries”, International Society for Hospitality Consultants, “Young Global Citizens”, 2005
Harris, P. “Boomer vs Echo-Boomers!” American Society for Training and Development, 2005
Kovary, G. “The Generational Divide” Global and Mail, 2005
Lancaster, R. and Stillman, D. “When Generations Collide” HarpersCollins Inc., 2002
Martin, C.A. and Tulgan, B. “Managing Generation Y” Rainmaker Thinking Inc., 2001
Metaxes, D. “Reaching Teens and Young Adults in the Middle East”, 2005
Putnam, R. “Bowling Alone”, 2000
SUPAERO
The French government has recently launched several research and industrial competitiveness clusters in France. The city of Toulouse and the Midi-Pyrénées region have been granted the space and aeronautics cluster. Consequently, the « Délégation Générale de l'Armement » joined Toulouse’s two aeronautics schools ; Supaero and l'Ensica, within «Institut de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace ».
If you want more details on ISAE, please click on the following link : http://www.supaero.fr/fr/ecole/rapprochement-supaero-ensica.html
ENSAE
Fabrice Wilthien has been re-elected as President of « Association des Anciens de l'ENSAE » on June 21st, 2007
ENSAE will move onto its new campus in Palaiseau by 2010. This move is part of the grouping of « Grandes Écoles du Pôle de Recherche et d'Enseignement Supérieur (PRES) ParisTech », which ENSAE is a part of, in order to create an internationally accredited scientific excellence cluster
Appointement on August 2nd, 2007 of Mr. Pierre Vimont as French Ambassador to the US
Previously, Mr. Vimont was chief of staff (“directeur de cabinet”) of the three last ministers for
foreign affairs
We are looking for help to assist the current officers of AAGEF in their mission. You are invited to volunteer. Otherwise, you can help us to identify the right candidates amongst your fellow alumni as follows: The Events Team is looking for some volunteers to work on its Fall projects:
The Team is looking for two volunteers right from the first week of September, willing to help in the organization of an event on Virtual Networking (this event will focus on the evolution of professional networking in the cyber world). The event is scheduled for the end of October.
The Team is also looking for two volunteers willing to help on an Entrepreuners event scheduled for this end of November. The Team is looking for three volunteers willing to help to organize the “Gala AAGEF” scheduled in January 2008. This would be the first Gala AAGEF!!!
If you are interested, please contact CELINE PERROT-JOHNSON at (212) 846-3580 or celine.perrotjohnson@viacom.com. Thanks!