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NOVOCASTRIANS LIVING OR TRAVELLING AWAY FROM their home city all know how it goes. Whenever you meet someone from Newcastle, you always find a point of connection.
When he moved to Melbourne in 1999, University of Newcastle graduate Brendan Swift noticed something extra. A lot of the time that connection was the university.
Six years ago, Mr Swift decided to make this connection something more than just a conversation starter, and the Melbourne alumni network was born.
The network started small, organising functions where people could connect, make friends and share their stories. It worked. People came along, keen to reminisce about Newcastle, their uni days and the infl uence both had on their lives.
These opportunities to make connections show that one of the huge benefi ts of being part of an alumni network is having access to a pool of local knowledge.
New graduates looking to move to a city with an alumni network can link in with a community of their own who can provide information on work prospects, spark professional relationships, and even give advice on places to live, shop and play.
“We want to be a community where graduates can touch base with us, and know they are talking to people who know where they come from and who genuinely want to help,” says Mr Swift.
From those early days, the Melbourne alumni network has grown, and the events have grown with it.
In 2013, the inaugural Melbourne alumni network debate brought together 130 graduates in Melbourne’s National Gallery to hear a panel of fi ve thought leaders battling it out over issues like online learning on a smart phone and education versus experience, as well as the hot topic, that Newcastle has a sense of community, while Melbourne does not.
Joining the University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Caroline McMillen, were multiple award-winning author, editor and critic, Dr Janeen Webb; the 13th Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne, Archbishop Philip Freier; the winner of 11 gold medals for Australia in three Paralympics, IPC World Championships and the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, Heath Francis; and Director of Propeller Studio, Ewan McEoin.
All are alumni of the University of Newcastle.
In 2014, the event was a Q&A style panel, with five industry leaders asked to “Invent Tomorrow”.
This time former students vice-president external communications at BHP Billiton, Simon Westaway; founder and director of Renew Australia, Marcus Westbury; executive director head of investment strategy UBS Wealth Management Australia, David Sokulsky; and Professor Phil Morgan from the university’s Priority Research Centre in Physical Activity and Nutrition joined the Vice-Chancellor on the panel, with each mapping out their policies to change Australia. The enthusiastic crowd challenged the speakers and provided their own ideas for a better tomorrow.
The network followed up with its fi rst professional development event last October, with ABC radio presenter Lindy Burns. Also a graduate of Newcastle University, Ms Burns spoke about how she came to be in the media, how it operates, and where it is going.
“It’s been fantastic to work with other graduates of the university to organise these Melbourne events,” says Mr Swift.
‘For example, the committee of Emma Rae, Emma Shepherd and Danielle Hodgson volunteered their time to make sure everything ran beautifully. They are women doing amazing things in their careers and have that connection with Newcastle.”
As president of the network, these are the type of events that Mr Swift had always envisaged for the group, and hopes to take even further in the future. The key, he says, is keeping them engaging.
“We don’t want our alumni events to be selfcongratulatory, but rather inclusive and interesting. Something that is so innovative and unexpected that if you asked your partner to come along, he or she would jump at the chance.”
Mr Swift hopes too that the events will not just entertain but also spark ideas among the attendees.
“You go to uni to learn ideas. I want the network to be a continuation of that.”
The University of Newcastle has Australian alumni networks in the Hunter, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra, and international networks throughout Asia, Europe, Africa, North and South America. To find contact details for your local group, visit newcastle.edu.au/alumni.