Baron Paul Buysse Graaf Jacques Rogge Gerard ... - Vlerick Alumni

Dirk Bontridder: New Head of the Executive MBA section
Alumnus lifecycle basis for ambitious Executive MBA program
Dirk Bontridder is the new Head of the
Executive MBA (E-MBA) Vlerick Alumni
section. The decision was taken on 4
September by the E-MBA board. Dirk
Bontridder succeeds Kurt Martens who
has occupied this function between 2001
and 2004. In this period, he reformed the
E-MBA section from an ‘old friends club’
to a result-oriented Alumni section. In
this way, he laid down strong founda-
tions that will support the ambitious pro-
gram of Dirk Bontridder concentrated
upon innovation and execution excellen-
ce. The key idea of the program is that an
alumnus lifecycle consists of four stages
and that for every stage adequate activi-
18
ties ought to be organized.
During the period he assumed the leadership
of the E-MBA section, Kurt Martens
radically opted for a new course. He had
immediately become member of the board of
JMP (the Dutch-speaking Vlerick MBA program)
after his graduation. Two years later he was elected
president of JMP. A first important achievement
was the merger between JMP and the
International MBA Alumni section in 2001. The
synergy between JMP and IMBA was baptized
the Executive MBA or shortly E-MBA. Whereas
before the separate sections had been a kind of
‘old friends clubs’, E-MBA became more and
more a result-oriented Alumni Section that
embraces efficiency and professionalism.
Whereas before JMP and IMBA had been a kind
of ‘old friends clubs’, E-MBA became more and
more a result-oriented Alumni section.
This new, almost spontaneously grown orientation
was accompanied by an event upgrade that
made content driven events more important
than the traditional socio-cultural ones. Typical
events of this new orientation are the organisation
of some successful Vlerick Informeel (ASLM
Format), Company visits and MAIS (MBA Alumni
International Seminar) which first edition took
place in October 2004.
Students more involved in E-MBA
, Magazine Alumni Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School, March 2005
Kurt Martens made a priority of having the students
more committed to the Alumni organization
by supporting different student events. In
this way, the ‘distance’ between students and
alumni is covered which lowers the ‘Entry
Barrier’ for students to enter the alumni organization.
He also introduced the so-called ‘skinning’
of the EMBA board: each year, the graduating
student representatives from the different
MBA programs join the board. This ensures that
the EMBA board is constantly renewed (or ‘skinned’)
and consequently remains very motivated
and full of creative ideas. The yearly ‘skinning’ of
the board turned out to be a very successful concept.
Nowadays, the E-MBA board consists of sixteen
very committed members who each are
‘assigned’ to at least one particular event or activity.
Kurt Martens looks back quite satisfied on his
three years at the head of E-MBA alumni since he
managed to make EMBA a fully-grown Alumni
section, whereas before it was somehow in the
shadow of the other sections. He considers it ‘a
great privilege as well as an unforgettable experience
having coached a group of ambitious
MBA volunteers who worked hard on the development
and consolidation of the Vlerick Alumni
network’. Personally, he was able to establish a
great personal Vlerick network, based on
friendship and/or transfer of knowledge. He
decided not to go for a second mandate because
he considers his ‘project’ as done. In the near
future, he will concentrate on the development