HSA 65th Anniversary Book

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08
FEBRUARY 1, 2007 –
JANUARY 31, 2008
PRESIDENT
William
Hauser
OFFICES
67 Mt. Auburn St.
17 Holyoke St.
52 JFK St.
HARVARD
STUDENT
AGENCIES
LET’S GO TITLES
The end of a 28-year partnership
between Let’s Go and its publisher
Both the good and the bad came with FY08. The beloved Bob Rombauer departed after more than eight
years of mentorship as General Manager, but Jim McKellar began his tenure in July. McKellar was the
hiring committee’s unanimous choice out of over 100 applicants. In October, HSA turned 50 years old with
a celebration attended by alums from across the country. The dinner was highlighted by a keynote speech
from Thomas Stemberg ’71, MBA ’73, and capped by a tribute to Michael Cronin with the rechristening of
the Cronin Center for Enterprise (CCFE).
Facing serious budgetary pressures, HSA
continued to experiment with new ways
to generate revenue. Distribution had a
banner year thanks to several new businesses
like the shuttle-advertising service. HSR
reintroduced HSA Translation, the Wine
Course, and Graphic Design. Cleaners saw
record profits as Collegeboxes atoned for
its sins of the previous year by serving 600
happy packrats.
The tradition of catering to the Harvard
Summer-School began in earnest, as
Rentals, Cleaners, and The Harvard Shop
set up shop in the Yard on move-in day. The
Center for Enterprise debuted a condensed
version of its Business Leadership Program
for summerschool students, and the SAT
SOS Course surpassed its budgeted annual
Vice President AJ Tennant ’08 at one of the weekly barbecues. No
managers were harmed in the taking of this photograph.
revenue in June alone. On one particularly sweltering day, Rentals got a call from the dean requesting to
rent 800 fans for $15,000; despite possessing a grand total of zero fans, HSA took the order and cobbled
together the inventory from stores around Boston.
HSA also laid the foundation for several future new agencies by co-founding the Harvard College Innovation
Challenge. Better known as i3, this incubator for student startups lassoed budding entrepreneurs on
campus with the promise of prize money and the support to make their business idea a reality — in other
words, HSA. Under the feet of noshing freshmen, HSA hired, trained, and completed payroll for the first
staffers of the Cambridge Queen’s Head pub; unfortunately, a licensing issue kept HSA from any long-term
involvement with the sudsy social space. Finally, HSA hit upon a recurring moneymaker by partnering with
the College Events Board to provide shuttles to New Haven for the Harvard-Yale Game. Amid a flurry of
school spirit (and extensive marketing), HSA sold out all 32 shuttles.
Members of the FY08 management team at the
winter ski retreat in Maine.
The Harvard Shop continued to modernize practices in the
storefront and expand the product line. With an aggressive
Google AdWords campaign and the improvements made
to the website the previous fall, online sales more than
tripled, representing 15% of The Harvard Shop’s business.
The success almost caught the shop flat-footed — initially,
operations struggled to keep up with demand — but by the
end of the year no fewer than five associates were specifically
designated to fill online orders. Novelty shirts, notebooks,
backpacks, and keychains were among the new products
introduced — low-cost, high-margin items all. Despite
multiple sewage leaks in its basement stockroom during the
fall semester, revenue hit a new record high, and the agency
shattered its budgeted net income by more than $40,000.
On May 4, Rombauer received the long-awaited call from
St. Martin’s Press informing him that Let’s Go’s publishing
agreement would not be renewed past 2009. The Board’s new
Let’s Go Strategy Committee worked all summer to chart a
course for Let’s Go’s uncertain future.
With the search for a new publisher underway, Let’s Go staffers worked to update 15 guides for the 2008 series, and Let’s Go
experimented with more direct control over The Unofficial Guide. At the end of the summer, four staffers hit the road again to
promote Let’s Go, this time at Midwestern universities.
• Europe
• Britain
• France
• Italy
• USA
• Greece
• Spain & Portugal
• Mexico
• London
• Ireland
• Eastern Europe
• New Zealand
• Western Europe
• Amsterdam
• Puerto Rico
OTHER TITLES
• The Unofficial Guide to Life
at Harvard
• The Unofficial Guide to
Prefrosh Weekend
• The Harvard Guide to
Summer Opportunities
AGENCIES
• HSA Cleaners
• Let’s Go Publications
• Harvard Student Resources
• Harvard Distribution
Services
• Let’s Go Ad Sales
• Unofficial Publications
• Center for Enterprise
• HSA Rentals
• The Harvard Shop
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HSA 65th Anniversary History Book 89