When CS alumnus Roland Geisler first moved to the Bay Area in 1999, he looked for ways to connect with other Illinois alumni. With no active Illinois alumni club, it was difficult to make those connections. When he returned in the Spring of 2007 to find that there was still no alumni club, he decided to take matters into his own hands.
Geisler first contacted the UI Alumni Association. From them he learned that while they had often thought about establishing a club in the Bay Area, they had trouble finding alumni who were serious about starting it. Geisler was.
Six months and 700 registered alumni later, the Silicon Valley Alumni Club continues to grow.
"There's lots of potential to grow beyond 1000," says Geisler. "So far, alumni have found out about the club entirely through word of mouth. We haven't advertised or spent any money marketing the club."
Club membership demonstrates a cross-section of not only the Illinois alumni base, but also of the Silicon Valley culture, with members who work in all aspects of the IT-based economy. Among the membership are professors, engineers, venture capitalists, developers, and entrepreneurs.
In the spirit of the Silicon Valley start-up culture, Geisler says that so far all club activities have been free for members.
"We want to make sure that first we are bringing value to the club members," says Geisler. "Once we have demonstrated that we create value, then we can build a revenue model that supports it. It's very similar to growing a company here in Silicon Valley."
The club hosts monthly pub networking events and co-hosted a kick-off event with SDForum in December. The two groups sponsored a presentation by Nokia's Joe McCarthy on Social Networking at Work. The event drew more than 100 alumni.
Geisler sees the club as much more than a networking tool, however.
"We want to create a great club environment, with lots of activities, but we also want to be a key contact point for the University. We want to help connect professors with companies that are looking for their expertise, and help companies find research and funding opportunities in line with their goals," says Geisler. He also looks forward to harnessing the power of alumni, faculty, and staff to bring Illinois expertise to bear on projects that will benefit the planet and address important social causes.
To achieve the goals that he has set out for the club, Geisler has assembled a team of talented managers and advisors. Philip Lachman (BS, EE) will serve as VP of Business Development. Lachman currently serves on the Engineering Leadership Development Program with Lockheed Martin. Grant Kien (PhD, Communications) will serve as VP of Operations. Kien is currently an assistant professor of New Media and director of the graduate program in the Department of Communication at Cal State. Ivy Li (BS, MS, Accounting) will serve as VP of Finance. Li is also Senior Internal Auditor at Xilinix. Finally, Alice Liu (BS, Physics) will serve as VP of University Relations. Liu is a product manager at Neophotonics. Quintin Anderson (BS, Accounting) serves as the first member of the Advisory Board. Anderson is a Principal at Exodus Capital; while at Illinois, he was also active in directing one of Illinois' award-winning volunteer tutoring programs.
With this powerful team assembled, the club is poised to begin expanding its scope and achieve Geisler's goal of creating the most dynamic, successful, and fun Midwest university alumni club in Silicon Valley.
"It's about a community - the freedom to define what this club will be. There is an opportunity for everyone to participate."
For more information or to join the club, visit www.siliconvalleyillini.org.
Other ways to connect with Illinois engineering alumni include: Always Illinois and LinkedIn.