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Dear IAAS Alumni,

welcome and good to see you here! We would like to ask you to add up your information to the database. Altough we do have lists of IAAS Alumni (and we could basically import them) we want you to choose what information you give, show and hide :-)

Special thanks to the OST participants at the Alumni event in Leuven (read the report); without you this would have not been possible!

Some FAQs...

Is my e-mail shown?

No! We need your e-mail for registration on the website and we might ask you if you would like to receive Alumni Newsletters. However, other IAAS Alumni will be able to sent you a message via a contact form, you e-mail adress will not be shown on the website.

The database only shows: Your first and last name. We highly appreciate if you add the 'years active in IAAS',a picture and your current activity. All other information you provide will be visible only for the IAAS Executive Committee and the Alumni Core Team. Thank you.

How do I edit my information in the database?

After registration, log into the website, go to the database and click on your profile. If you are logged in, you should see a small "editing" icon next to your name. That's it! Click it to edit.

If you receive an ERROR message (most probably because you already registered on the website itself) please mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . We will activite your database profile as soon as possible and you won't have to register here.and delete information. We really appreciate if you add your info to the custom fields being 'your active years in IAAS' and 'your current activity'. Thanks!

REGISTER NOW!

Every IAAS member knows that there comes a time when it is time to graduate and move on from student life to working life. End of story? Not if you ask IAAS Alumni.

On April 15-17 2011, nearly 50 IAAS alumnis gathered together in Leuven, Belgium to build up the alumni association and meet old friends. The weekend was the result of careful preparation of the Executive Committee and members of the Alumni core group. Numerous online meetings, emails and effective promotion resulted in a successful meeting, which we believe has set the direction for a thriving IAAS alumni association.

Dinosaurs and freshies

 The meeting in Leuven was both a gathering of IAAS alumnis and the 20th birthday celebration of IAAS being officially registered as an NGO in Belgium. Our most experienced alumnis at the meeting included EC members from the early 1990s who connected with recent alumnis from the past years. As we experienced it, there was no clear gap between the generations as it was the IAAS spirit that glued us together. The meeting gave an opportunity for the alumni to meet in person and establish a foundation for the alumni network.

Trade Fair

Since we are talking about an IAAS meeting, we cannot leave out Trade Fair. Trade Fair, the legendary party where all countries that are present serve delicious (in most cases) foods and drinks, has its own special place in every IAAS event. What most surprised us fresh alumnis was that Trade Fair was a new thing to the dinosaurs of IAAS. Of course, this lead to many surprising situations during the night. Romano Hoofman, alumni from early 1990s, has promised to write How to Survive an IAAS Trade Fair-manual. In true IAAS spirit, deep connections were made even during this stage of our lives.

Open Space Technology

On the last day of the meeting, it was time to bring our knowledge and experience together to plan further the alumni association. The Open Space Technology (OST) is a tool for generating and collecting ideas in groups. The main idea is to optimize time use and motivation – participants can freely move around from and to workshops if they feel like they are no more learning nor contributing. The OST session in Leuven was facilitated by 2007 EC members Laura Kihlström (Finland) and Michal Przyborski (Poland).

The OST resulted in brainstorming sessions on 1) website and social media development 2) why, how, what alumni? In other words defining the mission and vision of the alumni association 3) human resource management 4) fundraising

In the summary session the ideas were gathered together. The most concrete outcomes of the meeting include:

• IAAS Alumni meetings will be organised every year in mid-April, the weekend before easter. The alumni meeting of April 2012 will be hosted by IAAS Switzerland.
• The alumni core group will start gathering alumni information in the IAAS World website database
• The alumni core group will establish a social media strategy and a volunteer social media coordinator will facilitate the communication
• A national level alumni recruitment campaign will be initiated before next alumni meeting

If you are interested in reading more detailed notes of the OST session, the mindmap of the summary can be found if you register on the IAAS world website.

Last but not least, the alumnis would like to thank the EC, OC and everyone involved in the meeting for the fabulous work and team spirit. Long live IAAS!

We welcome alumnis to join the core group activities in order to rise our alumni association to great heights! If you are interested in joining the alumni core group, email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

We are family…

 There is definitely some truth to the quote ‘Life is good and I don’t want to go home’ (originally printed for the seminar t-shirts in Finland in 2007). We are a big IAAS family, and by establishing the alumni family our beloved organization will stay in our lives.

In Leuven, we were nearly 50 people from over 10 countries – next year we hope to see even more alumnis! We vision an IAAS alumni association where members can feel welcome to return to their favourite organization. While at these reunions, alumni will train new members, learn from each other,  and network on a professional level. In the future, alumnis may also support the association financially.