Alumni Association News 2009
Expanding the EMBL alumni communities
LinkedIn
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To help track down its alumni and extend the community beyond the existing chapters, the Alumni Association has decided to employ the latest in Web 2.0 technology – the social networking sites.
"Many alumni use these sites to keep in touch with their ex-colleagues," says Mehrnoosh Rayner, responsible for Alumni relations at EMBL. "They're an incredibly useful way to track down alumni, and we already have 38 members on Facebook and 94 on LinkedIn."
The official website remains, as always, www.embl.org/alumni, with 1,500 members, but the association has also joined Twitter and XING, two emerging networking sites. "We're curious to see how these groups will grow, as they attract very different user types," says Mehrnoosh.
"We're currently exploring ways to use the services on the sites, like discussion boards, announcements and open reference letters," adds Alumni Association board member Anastasios Koutsos. "We hope to have a plan within the next few months, and any ideas are welcome."
In the meantime, search for 'EMBL Alumni' to join the groups at any of the sites.
