New chapter liaisons named

Hello chapter leaders! You may be seeing some new alumni staff at your upcoming chapter event. With Ken Lam's departure, we've re-assigned some chapters to staff who have shown an interest in getting "out-and-about" to meet alumni around the country.

Here are the new staff liaisons and the chapters they are responsible for:

Atlanta, GA: Pam Connor, Budget Coordinator

Boston, MA: Kristen Murphy, Assistant Director, Membership

Charlotte, NC: Gina Cali-Misterkiewicz, Communications Coordinator

Raleigh, NC: Andy Wilcox, Associate Director, Strategic Partnerships

San Francisco, CA: Joy Wrona, Membership Assistant


These staff will retain their liaison responsibilities for the following regions:

Albany, NY; Chicago, IL and Rochester, NY: Dan Brewster, Program Assistant

Baltimore, MD; Detroit, MI: Nancy Battaglia, Associate Director, Special Projects


And of course, the remaining regions are under Mike Jankowski's purview!
Houston, TX; New York City; Orlando, FL; Philadelphia/Delaware Valley; Cleveland, OH; Dallas/Fort Worth, TX; Denver, CO; Erie, PA; Phoeniz, AZ; San Diego, CA; Seattle, WA; Tampa Bay, FL; and Washington, DC.

Hello from Houston

From the approximtely 1000 UB alumni in Houston, Texas hello.

Jim Militello at the Super Bowl Media Day

Check out this UB connection to the Super Bowl.

Former UB Bulls football players and now Colts players, Jamey Richard, BS '08 and Drew Willy, BA '09 with UBAA Board Member, Washington, D.C. chapter chair and AP sports reporter, Jim Militello, BA '79 at the Super Bowl media day.

Way to show your UB pride! Thanks for sending the photo to us.

Talking Points at Events For Chapter Leaders Re. Membership

Ten Reasons why you should join the alumni association

1. It’s a pride thing
Membership is one of the most affordable ways for alumni and friends to demonstrate their pride in UB and support for the numerous programs offered by the UB Alumni Association.

2. What else can you get for less than 14 cents a day?!
An annual membership for one UB alum is $50 – less than 14 cents a day…plus you can take advantage of phenomenal money-saving benefits (see No. 8, below), and recoup your investment in no time.

3. Membership improves our competitive advantage
U.S. News & World Report references alumni engagement as one of several measures of quality used to rank major universities in the United States. UB’s ranking, therefore, directly impacts the perceived value of your diploma. When it really counts – when you’re vying for that dream job or applying for graduate-school admission, or when the university is recruiting new employees, students and athletes – we all want to trust that our degrees and UB’s ranking give us a competitive advantage.

4. Get 2(or more) memberships for the price of 1
In most cases, for no additional cost, you may become a member of you degree school association, as well as your regional alumni chapter – your UB home away from home. Participate in social- and professional-networking activities at the college and local levels, including reunions, seminars, game-watch parties, career panels, community service, mentoring and recruiting – or volunteer to serve on your college or chapter’s board of directors.

5. Sharpen your leadership skills and mentor a student
Take advantage of unlimited opportunities to serve on governing boards for your national and college alumni associations, as well as your regional chapter. Membership dues also support alumni to student mentoring and recruitment programs, learn more online at www.alumi.buffalo.edu.

6. Your UB connection
Alumni Association membership keeps you connected in a variety of ways, including UB Exclusive, the members-only newsletter and through advance notice and special offer emails for events. Plus, access to UB Connect, the online directory exclusively for alumni, where you’ll find addresses, e-mails and telephone numbers for former classmates and long-lost friends.

7. Career Services
Post your resume on UB Connect and search for jobs posted by other UB alumni. The UB Career Services office also provides support and assistance to all alumni, everything from resume reviews and test interviews to career testing and mentoring.

8. Save BIG on benefits
There are some 205,000 living UB alumni worldwide. That equates to a lot of buying power when we go to the table to negotiate group discounts on behalf of our members. We want to make sure we offer benefits that allow you to keep the bulk of your hard-earned dollars where it belongs – in your pocket. Here are but a few:

• Savings on cell phones, realtor fees, insurance, travel and more.
• Promote your business with our Business Exchange Directory.
• Save when you shop online at hundreds on retailers like Overstock.com, Target.com and Landsend.com.
• Members have access to university libraries including remote access to some online databases!

Find out everything you get by being a member online at www.alumni.buffalo.edu.

9. Your membership dues may be 100% tax deductible
Based on Internal Revenue Service guidelines and the estimated value of your membership benefits, the full amount of your dues payment may be tax deductible for those who itemize deductions. Consult your tax adviser.

10. Members help keep the alumni chapter program growing!
Membership dues support our alumni chapter program which brings a little bit of UB to 24 national and 11 international chapters. The more members we have…the more we can do outside of WNY.


General Information

Membership prices (for graduates of all schools except Medicine, Law and Dental**)
Memberships are valid for 12 full months after payment (therefore you can join at any time!)

ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS 3-Year MEMBERSHIPS LIFE MEMBERSHIPS
Single $50 $135 $750
Family $60 $165 $1,000
(Family memberships are available to 2 people living at the same address)

UB Employees - $30
NEW Grads (graduates of the last 3 years) - $30 annual, $75 3-year

**Medicine, Law and Dental alumni have different membership dues – contact the office at 1-800-284-5382 to learn more


HOW/WHERE do I join?
· Online at www.alumni.buffalo.edu
· By phone at 1-800-284-5382
· In person at the Center for Tomorrow on UB’s Amherst Campus or at an event!

Chapter Attendance Problems

Hello, I had an opportunity to discuss attendance with some local alumni. They stated that they did not or were at least hesitant to sign up for the event because it looked as if no one would be there. They told me that they had checked the "who's coming" list before signing up. I was left with the conclusion that no one wants to be one of the first few to sign up; rather, they want to be just one of the many who would be attending.

Has anyone else had this discussion with anyone in their region? If so, does anyone think we may be able to put up some events without listing the attendees?

Thanks! - Josh Ramos from Orlando

Membership Brochures

In follow up to the conference call on Tuesday, we have a new membership brochure available. You can view the brochure here: Side 1: http://bit.ly/8Gr4oH Side 2: http://bit.ly/7TgamE. I asked if it would be useful if we sent a small amount of brochures to each chapter leader for you to have available to use. By the way, we will have these available at chapter events. Please leave a comment to this post or e-mail me at dsb3@buffalo.edu if you would like me to send you brochures. We'll send you 50 to get started and you can always get in touch with us if you need more.