Ryan, Kristin, and Ellen start with Jeffrey LaValley’s LinkedIn essay arguing that alumni engagement is a relationship strategy, not a program, and that attendance and open rates never tell you whether someone actually left more connected.
The conversation turns that into a practical fix: rather than counting activity, measure movement, borrowing annual-giving logic to track first-time and repeat engagers and moving people along a continuum from a class note or a social comment toward a real conversation and a defined role.
They pair it with Upjohn Institute research on where graduates settle, which shows flagship alumni scatter to major metros while regional-public grads stay close to home, and agree the geography is interesting but secondary to simply asking alumni what they want and resourcing the people who do the work.
Referenced in this episode:
Jeffrey LaValley, “Alumni Engagement Isn’t a Program. It’s a Relationship Strategy.” https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/alumni-engagement-isnt-program-its-relationship-lavalley-m-ed--e0zac/
Brad Hershbein, “Brain Drain or Brain Gain? Where University Alumni Locate,” W.E. Upjohn Institute: https://www.upjohn.org/brain-drain-or-brain-gain-where-university-alumni-locate
