Editorial | Help Wanted |News from AAGEF | Alumni in the News | AAGEF Partners

You’ve probably made some personal New Year’s resolutions for 2008. Most people do. A new year is always a great opportunity for a fresh start. At AAGEF, our team of directors and officers has to examine the year that has come to a close to see what we did right and what we could do better. We have to set new goals for the year ahead. We have to think about what special hurdles or opportunities this year might present. Another word for New Year’s resolution is a "business plan", and a lot of alumni clubs don’t have one. Our board of Directors is going to meet on January 25th, and I would like our Directors and Officers to talk briefly about what we did well in the past year, and if there are any areas for improvement we should focus on; if there are, then everyone should brainstorm a solution to that area for improvement. We are also going to spend some time looking at what kinds of opportunities we might be able to take advantage of in the coming year, and try to plan for these.

For example, we are trying to organize our first Grandes Ecoles Gala/Soiree in 2008 when the US economy is not doing that well. But we might still be able to gather some corporate sponsors and make our Gala a great success because that’s when the economy is not doing well that people need to meet and network even more. To such an end, you alumni are so important. It’s really important to make sure you are involved in it all, that you like what we do, that you are excited about our goals. We should really try to get you all involved. If we do not make a point to reach out to you, to keep on top of your needs, to organize events that raise awareness about our successful community of French Grandes Ecoles alumni, we are not doing our job. By being proactive in difficult economic environments, we might help some of you find a new job and make some American students think of going abroad to study in our Grandes Ecoles to get additional experience while times are more difficult here for them to start a career.

I believe that creating New Year’s resolutions requires some input from you, our stakeholders. That's why today, in our first newsletter of the Year, I am asking you to send me by email any suggestion you might have about what you think we need to improve and the opportunities we might be able to take advantage of. I will review all your suggestions and will discuss with my fellow board members on January 25th so that we can work harder on those things in 2008. Of course having a plan is not the same thing as achieving it. We will have to track our progress against our goals as Etienne Ardant, our VP Employment, has been doing so diligently on the job front in the past year. As the New Year begins, this is an appropriate time for an annual checkup. Here’s to making sure we keep the fires at bay and keep our resolutions on track in 2008. Please email me your comments.

Anne de Louvigny Stone

President AAGEF

More information on www.aagef.com

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Newsletter Editor

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 Newsletter / PR Team is looking for a volunteer to work hand in hand in the realization of AAGEF quarterly newsletter. The Team is looking for a volunteer right from January, willing to help in the realization of interviews, articles and design of the newsletter. We are looking for a pro-active, creative and dedicated volunteer! If you are interested, please contact Anne-Sophie Olive.

Accomodation

I am French, 22 years old and recently graduated from Sciences Po Bordeaux, France. I will do an unpaid internship from February until August within the EU council Secretariat's Office to the UN. I am currently looking for a place to live. I am ready to share a house with family, in exchange I can do baby sitting, housekeeping, help for school tasks, and teach French. Please contact me if you can help.

Isabelle

Thanks!

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AAGEF’s Chicago Chapters News by Hélène Seiler

Upcoming conferences

The founding team, composed of Patrick Simonnet (Sciences Po), Myriam Le Cannellier (HEC) and Damien Zinck (Essec) is currently initiating a partnership with the Consulate and other important actors of the French economic presence in Chicago (such as the Chamber of Commerce) to provide a series of high-profile conferences for the French/American and francophile economic community. The first conference is scheduled to take place at the beginning of the second quarter of 2008, and will feature the CEO or a senior executive of a major local company.

Update on AAGEF Job Base by Etienne Ardant

Since our last newsletter’s focus on the AAGEF Job Base, Etienne Ardant, our Polytechnique Board member and VP Jobs has continue to do a tremendous job in developing our job base. Since then, you can access via http://www.aagef.com/jobs/statistics.php. to the daily updated statistics (per school and per month).

In the meantime, Emmanuel Leonard, our new webmaster, has updated all the AAGEF website with Google Analytics Do not forget to register and check our Job Base: all AAGEF members can access to the Base’s jobs, internships and VIE offers If you are still unsure about the help that AAGEF can provide you, let’s look at some relevant informations:

• Since June 2006, 300 users have connected more than 1700 times (2 connections per user and per month)

• 110 offers have been published (more than 6 per month on average)

To be able to connect to the Job Base and in order to get a password, please go to http://www.aagef.com/Emplois.htm If you encounter any difficulties, please contact directly our webmaster. In order to publish your offers on the AAGEF Job Base so that you will reach all our 4000 members community, please contact Etienne Ardant.

"Share ideas to the maximum" By Chris Nuttall in San Francisco

Published: December 5 2007

Loïc Le Meur has come up with 10 rules for anyone wanting to be successful in business, after he learned to break all of the accepted ones himself. France's best-known blogger has at times alienated his audience, offended his countrymen and given away company secrets in pursuit of his ambition to lead a global company.

He thinks he may finally achieve that with his move from Paris to San Francisco this summer, where Seesmic.com, his new start-up, is being built as much by its users as his small staff. Seesmic allows bloggers easily to commit their thoughts to video and begin conversations with one another on topics that the website will arrange into different channels.

It is the fifth business set up by the 35-year-old since he graduated from HEC business school in France 11 years ago. As well as launching companies, the extrovert entrepreneur has also been a business angel, blogged for the World Economic Forum, founded an internet conference and become an adviser to the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy.

But despite his success on the Continent, his move to the US is based on the belief that Silicon Valley is the destination for entrepreneurs wanting to launch an internet company with worldwide influence.

His first company was B2L, a web design agency that won clients such as Chanel and Peugeot in the late 1990s before he sold it to the BBDO advertising agency in 1999. Next came Rapid Site, a web hosting company he launched in 1997 that offered to host corporate sites at a tenth of the price being charged by France Telecom. This is where he learnt what he regards as one of his most important entrepreneurial lessons. In 1999 France Telecom ran an advertisement for its web-hosting service picturing a Scottish castle - uncannily reminiscent of an earlier Rapid ad showing a Spanish castle. The pricing plan in the France Telecom ad was also virtually identical to Rapid's. "My first instinct was to sue them. The other option was to get them to lunch," he says. He chose the latter course and, 15 days later, Rapid was part of France Telecom. "I tell business school students you should respect your competitors. I always meet them, and if I'd criticised France Telecom, I would never have sold them the company."

In 2004 he founded Ublog, one of Europe's first blog-hosting companies. In less than a year he had linked up with Six Apart, a leading US service, becoming its European head until he quit in January this year. "I was still not global. I was feeling I should not be a European branch, so I decided to move to San Francisco. In Europe, it's much more difficult to have a global goal and a global vision because you struggle at first in your own market." He attributes this to the fact that the region has 22 languages and geography that complicates deal-making. In contrast, San Francisco is at the epicentre of deals, he says.

"The way you do partnerships here, everyone's a block away or 20 minutes away in Palo Alto. If I need to set up a partnership with micro-blogging service Twitter, I call them, we have coffee, and two hours later the deal is done. If I were in France, there's a nine-hour time difference and it's like you don't matter." In an effort to create such an ecosystem in Europe, in 2003 he launched the LeWeb conference, a gathering of about 50 bloggers, entrepreneurs and business angels. This year's conference, to be held in Paris next week, will host 1,300 people from 40 countries. He upset French sensibilities by insisting the conference is held in English, with no French translation. "If you don't speak English, the internet's official language, then this conference is not for you," he says. But he managed to create a blogging firestorm in 2006 when he allowed one person to break the language rule. Nicolas Sarkozy, now French president, came to the conference, gave a 15-minute speech in French and did not take questions. "This was my mistake. I acted too much on my own and rule number one of social software is that you involve other people," says Mr Le Meur. His engagement in politics had been growing for some time as he became frustrated at the lack of help for entrepreneurs in France. He began to meet politicians and persuaded Mr Sarkozy to record a podcast. "I broke all the [journalistic] rules - I said 'tu' to him, not [the more formal] 'vous', I gave him the gift of an iPod to show him what podcasting was. People said: 'How can you do this?'" Mr Sarkozy's policies for making employment rules more flexible led Mr Le Meur to say on his blog that he would vote for him to become president. For the bloggers, this was another faux pas, but it prompted an invitation from Mr Sarkozy to join his campaign team. Mr Le Meur helped with his internet campaign, marshalling bloggers to back him and building Sarkozy Island in the virtual world of Second Life. "The lesson on politics is that you must get involved, [politicians] rule our world and we need to talk to them and have them understand the way we talk is different," he says.

Mr Le Meur began his blog at loiclemeur.com four years ago. He has also extended it into video with Loïc.tv, where his professionally produced pieces reveal a consummate performer able to deliver his messages with humour. Mr Le Meur is uploading a day-by-day video diary of Seesmic's development, inviting viewers to contribute ideas, vote on staff hiring decisions, choose a logo for the company or even come and work for it. Early users of Seesmic, still in its testing phase, are asked to vote on what new features should be included. He has won the support of influential bloggers such as Michael Arrington of Techcrunch and Robert Scoble by including them at an early stage. "I have applied my own rules here, which are share ideas to the maximum possible and then involve the actors like Arrington and Scoble in the conversation.

"I love the spirit here. By default, it is 'How can I help?' and you have the trust of a person. In Europe, by default, you have zero trust. That is the big difference."

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

Pour aider de jeunes entrepreneurs francophones à réussir leurs projets sur le marché américain

New York, janvier 2008 – Le Club 600 annonce la création du concours annuel du Prix d’Entreprenariat Dominique Mercier, qui récompensera un jeune entrepreneur francophone porteur d’un projet d’entreprise innovant aux Etats-Unis. Le Prix a été créé à la mémoire de Dominique Mercier, membre décédé du Club 600 qui fut un brillant entrepreneur de son vivant.

Pour être admis à participer au concours, les projets d’entreprise présentés devront être en phase de pré lancement ou de lancement, avoir pour objectif un développement d’entreprise privé sur le marché américain, et être pilotés par une jeune personne (moins de 35 ans) francophone. Les candidats devront présenter leurs projets selon un format prescrit par le Club 600. Le jury du concours sera composé de membres du Club 600 représentant des compétences diverses dans de nombreux secteurs d’affaires.

Le gagnant bénéficiera sur une période d’un an d’un ensemble de prestations de conseil d’une valeur estimée à $100,000, axées sur les domaines stratégique, juridique, comptable et financier et fournies par une équipe dédiée au projet, composée de membres du Club disposant de l’expérience nécessaire dans le secteur concerné. Le gagnant recevra en outre la somme de $10000 à titre de contribution au financement de son projet, et il bénéficiera du statut d’invité du Club 600 qui lui donnera accès au réseau des membres pendant un an.

L'AAGEF sera partenaire de cette initiative et sélectionnera un certain nombre de candidats diplômés de nos grandes écoles. Plus d’informations vous seront prochainement communiquées par l’intermédiaire de nos administrateurs.

Céline Perrot-Johnson (ESCP 89), our super active Vice-President in charge of Events

What made you decide to take a role at AAGEF? I am extremely sensitive about the need to promote the profile of our alumni in the US. Based on my experience, I understand how difficult it has been to present qualified French candidates to potential US employers. The careers and alumni bureaux of our respective schools in Paris have increased their efforts in presenting students with tools to interview and present their profile successfully internationally. They have also developed broader databases of internships and permanent jobs in various countries. However these efforts need to be reinforced locally. The AAGEF is an exceptional platform that assembles a large number of business and engineering schools and magnifies their impact. My initial role at the AAGEF as VP of Emplois was focused on creating a new database of jobs opportunities and a process to communicate to the various alumni associations. I am currently in charge of events and one of major goals in 2008 is to organize the first Gala AAGEF. This mission for this Gala is twofold: first to be a unique networking event between our alumni including senior executives whom we have enrolled thanks to the organization of the Club des Dirigeants breakfasts; second the introduction of our financial aid program that will offer one or several students/alumni with financial support to come to work in the US.

To what extent ESCP- EAP prepared you? Where you back at school an active student organization member? I was the president of the ESCP-EAP debate club (Tribunes). I have always been interested in creating networking opportunities for students and alumni.

From your experience, what are the key characteristics of a successful team? A team takes motivated team players as well as a leader that knows how to define projects, how to delegate tasks and how to communicate with the team.

What makes your AAGEF journey an exciting one? Since its recreation, the AAGEF has successfully brought together a large number of alumni from various schools and professional backgrounds. The positive feedback of our alumni to the services offered by the association is certainly a key motivating factor.

How the Event team is working on a weekly basis? Who comes up with the event ideas? How the workload is shared etc…? The team communicates weekly via conference calls to provide updates on current projects. New ideas are also proposed and discussed during the AAGEF quarterly boards. We allocate the tasks based on individual interests and expertise.

What are you looking for when you choose to organize an event? The main goal is to offer events that are meaningful for our alumni from a personal and professional development standpoint. • What is your AAGEF dream event and panel? The Gala is certainly our key event. We have also been involved in the preparation of a Virtual Networking event which is a very important theme to present to our alumni.

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Edhec

Marc-Albert Michaud will replace Caroline Verrot Moore as Director of AAGEF and in that role will assume responsibility for representing EDHEC on our board. We thank Caroline for her commitment to AAGEF over the past few years and wish her great success in China where she is moving with her family. And we look forward to working with Marc-Albert Michaud who is a Vice President at Morgan Stanley in their MSIM risk management team.

Ecole des Mines de Paris

Jean-Yves Magnan became Director of AAGEF in December 2007 and assumes responsibility for representing Ecoles des Mines on our board. He is replacing Veronique Monier who is concentrating on her new job as a Mom. We thank Veronique for having been one of our passionate pioneers who lead the AAGEF recreation process in 2002-2003 and we look forward to working with Jean-Yves who is a Vice President in the M&A division of Citibank.

ENSAE

The ENSAE (Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Economique) has brought its educative experience and research potential to the Fondation du Risque (the Risk Foundation), together with other institutions with which the ENSAE usually collaborates (Centre d'Etudes Actuarielles, Ecole Polytechnique and Université Paris Dauphine). Launched in March 2007, the Foundation is sponsored by AGF-Allianz, AXA Group, Groupama and Societe Generale. It aims at creating an international center of excellence for research and training focused on risk. Its ambition is to cover the scientifical, statistical, economical, legal and societal aspects of Risk. More information on: http://www.fondationdurisque.org/

HEC

HEC recently organized a visio-conference hosted at the New York office of L'Oréal. Dean Valery Gauthier presented the HEC MBA program and its global strategy to prospective students in New York. The event was well attended from both shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Current MBA students, teachers and staff members provided key insights from the campus while HEC alumni in New York and students from the NYU-HEC dual program shared their personal experiences, their views on the knowledge gained at HEC and the value they have derived from the school. The HEC MBA Program trains high-potential managers to assume positions of international business leadership. Compared to its US peers, the MBA program of HEC is characterized by a human class size of 200 participants. HEC MBA participants represent 55 different nationalities and pool over 1,000 years of professional experience in a wide range of industries and functions. Participants develop a multicultural perspective by working in close collaboration with classmates from around the world, becoming uniquely qualified to take on leadership roles in global organizations. Recognized among the world's top business schools, HEC Paris consistently earns a place in the top-10 rankings for European MBA programs and the top-18 rankings worldwide. Over the past years, « HEC au Féminin » has been at the forefront to promote women in leadership. Founded in 2001 by HEC graduates, « HEC au féminin » is the 1st women networking and advocacy forum created by a French « Grande Ecole». It paved the way for the development of similar organizations across the « Grandes Ecoles » community and led towards common initiatives at both a nationwide level (HEC is a founding member of GEF) and a pan-european level. HEC au Féminin dynamics is now spreading internationally through partnerships with prominent foreign networks and local secondment teams, such as « HEC NoW ! » (standing for « HEC Network of Women ») a team recently formed in New York which currently works on several initiatives to be launched in 2008. HEC au Féminin is a key exchange-platform for the alumnae all over the globe. Its mission is to promote communication and opportunities for women, to address their specific issues, personal, professional and family-related and to provide tailor-made tools, networks and skills required to stand-up towards leadership. Initiatives include gatherings (e.g. the Trajectoires Price), conferences, mentoring, workshops and academic courses. For further Information on HEC NoW in NY contact fanny.bourdais-de-charbonniere@mailhec.com

ESSEC 100th Anniversary and Universities Panel

The centennial festivities on Saturday October 6 started with a convivial brunch at CALYON offices in New York City and drew 67 ESSEC Group alumni and their spouses from all over North America. Braving the temptations of a long week-end (in the Caribbean for example?), they arrived from as far as California or Florida, from Canada and Chicago, from Boston as well as from the Tri-State area. France also sent famous emissaries: Pierre Tapie, Dean and President of ESSEC Business School, and Jean-Luc Decornoy, CEO of KPMG France and President of ESSEC Alumni. At the end of the lunch, Anne Stone delivered a speech to:

- thank all sponsors of the 2-day celebrations: Calyon represented by François Pagès, SGCIB by Philippe Mathé, Pernod Ricard by Alain Barbet, Van Cleef & Arpels by Emmanuel Perrin, LVMH Watch & Jewelry thanks to Philippe Alluard.

- acknowledge all USA alumni instrumental in the organization of the week-end: David Rigaud, Lucie Campos, François Luiggi, Daniel Schimmel, Isabelle Hen-Wollmarker, Sylvia Naumann.

- thank Jean-Xavier Barthélémy and Alexandra Lauvaux for making the fundraising campaign legally possible.

- honor Stanislas Debreu for his commitment to the school for which he was presented by Pierre Tapie with a “Exception Club” certificate.

There is a notorious absent from the list above: Anne whom we all thank for her tremendous work in making the centennial week-end happen and for her leadership as President of ESSEC USA Alumni.

After lunch, no time to take a nap, as, joined by 20 guests from AAGEF and Alliance, all gathered into the auditorium for the panel discussion on “Educating tomorrow’s business leaders: Reaching out to China and India" with panelists: Joel Podolny, Dean Yale School of Management, Jean Luc Decornoy and Pierre Tapie. Daniel Schimmel stepped in as moderator for George A. Bermann, Walter Gellhorn Professor of Law and Jean Monnet Professor of European Union Law, who was unable to participate due to illness. We all wish George well. The audience was riveted as Joel Podolny and Pierre Tapie explained the latest changes in their respective schools and innovative trends in business leader education worldwide, and as Jean-Luc Decornoy described the new business reality through concrete examples from his experience at KPMG.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world …. The France and New-Zealand rugby teams were battling for their chance at the world cup semi-final.

 

The panel gave place to the live broadcasting of the 2nd half of the game and the numerous pictures attest of the passion, but fairness, of the USA alumni … and Pierre Tapie who sneaked back into the auditorium to cheer France to victory together with the others.

After the game, Pierre Tapie addressed a smaller crowd in the boardroom, taking it through the new geography of the ESSEC campus, in both Cergy and Singapore. Many alumni were worried as they could not find their former dorms in the pictures of the new Cergy campus but were quickly reassured by Pierre who pointed it out on the maps! Pierre strikingly highlighted the merit of ESSEC education, despite moderate financial means, by showing statistics of per capita funding and size of faculty for the top business schools in the world.

It was then time to get dressed and pampered for the evening cocktail at Van Cleef & Arpels. All enjoyed the luxurious environment of the 5th Avenue boutique but none as much as the women relishing in the opportunity to wear marvelous Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry for a few minutes. Van Cleef & Arpels pledged 10% of the proceeds of all sales to alumni that evening to the newly created ESSEC USA Alumni scholarship program for American students.

 

The highlight of the evening was the decoration of François Pagès with the Alumni medal and Exception Club certificate for his longstanding dedication to ESSEC and its alumni association.

The festivities on Sunday were a more intimate and relaxed affair, in the beautiful and serene surroundings of Tuxedo Park, thanks to the hospitality of Douglas and Anne stone. While some ventured upstate New York on their own, others gathered in Manhattan to share a fun minibus ride provided by FOUR SEASONS (don’t expect any gossip: what happened on the bus stays on the bus). All enjoyed the brunch in Tuxedo Park so much that they begged to anniversary the event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Page d'information du site du Consulat relative à ces élections

Association des Centraliens de Lyon en Amérique du Nord

M Jean-Hugues Monier, Board Member / Mme Séverine Rey, Alternate