Archive for January, 2011

Photo: Suchi “Jerry” Kuo ’02 on right

T-bird entrepreneur Suchi “Jerry” Kuo ’02 made headlines around the world when his Taiwan-based social media and online shopping company Atlaspost merged with U.S.-based Groupon in a deal announced Dec. 1, 2010.

Groupon.com features daily deals on a variety of things to do, eat, see and buy in more than 300 markets using the power of “group buying.” The social networking strategy helps online consumers make purchases together to qualify for group discounts.

Many industry insiders view Groupon as the next Web 2.0 star. “We sold this company to Groupon because it will help us provide better service to our merchants and customers,” Kuo said.

Atlaspost, which started as a family enterprise in 2007, quickly developed into Taiwan’s leading group buying site with more than 1.5 million users. Although the site was the first of its kind in Taiwan, Kuo said companies such as Groupon already had found success with the model in other markets.

“When I founded this company, Web 2.0 was pretty popular all over the world,” he said. “So I thought it might be a good opportunity for me to create my own business.”

Kuo’s brother, Andy, quit his San Francisco job at Yahoo and returned to Taiwan to collaborate on the project.

“When we started, blog service providers were popular in Taiwan, and location-based services were getting hotter and hotter,” Kuo said. “Our idea was to combine these two services to have people writing blogs on the map.”

Kuo had a background in business, and his brother had a background in computer science. So they merged their strengths and developed Atlaspost.

Kuo credits Thunderbird with teaching him the critical skills he needed to build a powerful team of employees. “Thunderbird was the most valuable period of my life,” he said. “I met a lot of good friends there, which helped me develop a better understanding of cultural differences.”

Shiraz Peera ’71 was recently interviewed in India West newspaper because he has known Rep. Gabrielle Giffords for more than a decade. Giffords was shot in the head Jan. 8 in Tucson when she was meeting with constituents at a Safeway grocery store. The news made global headlines. Peera told the publication that Giffords is a “good soul” said she is the type of person who would forgive the man who shot her.

Frank Scully ’71 was recently featured in the Minot Daily News for publishing a new book called Resurrection Garden. The article discusses Scully’s books, career and family.

Bob Dudley ’79 was recently named in a Fox Business article. Dudley is Chief Executive of BP, formerly called British Petroleum. The article discussed an upcoming meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Sven Henrich ’92 was recently profiled in The Arizona Republic. The article featured his dance studio Music Box Dance Center in Glendale, Ariz. Henrich and his wife Sarah met because of Irish dance and opened the business in August 2010. The studio offers ballet, tap, hip-hop, musical theater, lyrical, belly dancing and jazz among other dances.

Gonzalo de la Melena ’99 was recently named in The Arizona Republic for promoting from the interim president and CEO of the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to the permanent President and CEO. 

Andy Unanue ’04 was profiled in The Record for his newest enterprise, Trufoods, LLC. Unanue is Chief Executive Officer of AU & Associates and is also an owner, through the 13^th Street Entertainment group, of the popular Bagatelle restaurant, Kiss & Fly nightclub and RdV lounge.

A group of 47 T-birds and guests gathered in Seattle on Jan. 23, 2011 for the 2011 T-bird Alumni of Washington State kickoff event. The international potluck was organized by Washington state chapter leaders and held at the Hyatt hotel. This event is just one of many activities – some for fun and others for networking — that Washington state Chapter Leaders have planned for this year.

Tsewang Namgyal ’02 blogs about his home country of Tibet on Phuyal.com.

Read his most recent post called “Kalon Tripa Elections – Thoughts and suggestions”

Namgyal works in the investment banking field in New York City. He is one of the founding board of directors of students for a Free Tibet and the first Tibetan to officially enlist in the U.S. Military. He served as the Executive Director of the Tibetan Community Center Project in New York from 2007 to 2008. Tsewang currently serves on the Board of the Tibet Fund.

Hi, my name is Chris Rudolph and I am new to the staff at Thunderbird.  My exciting new role is the Corporation and Foundation Gift Officer.  In my capacity I will be making connections and building partnerships with corporations and foundations around the world and raising money in support of Thunderbird and all of its programs.  I will be leveraging our campus partnerships with Corporate Learning, the Career Management Center, the Centers of Excellence and many others to optimize our corporate and foundation relationships.  To do this effectively we need your help.

You can help by introducing us to your connections.  To which corporations and foundations around the world could you help us open a door and start to build a relationship?  Who do you, your family, friends, and colleagues know that could help?  If you have family, friends or colleagues that could help, reach out to them and share your personal story about Thunderbird to build their excitement.

Please facilitate an introduction with your corporate and foundation connections so we can further share the amazing Thunderbird story.  We can also then compare missions and priorities and look for strong areas of intersection and partnership between your connection’s organizations and the school. 

Please reach out to me.  If you could help by making a warm hand-off, setting up a preliminary call, or facilitating a meeting, that would be outstanding.   I appreciate your help.  Please contact me with any questions.  I look forward to hearing from you, getting to know you, and partnering with your connections.

 Chris

Chris Rudolph
602-978-7134
chris.rudolph@thunderbird.edu
www.linkedin.com/in/chrisrudolph1

“When celebrities get in the way” is the most recent post by T-bird Ben Malki, ’10, on his blog Your Brand is Showing.

Lee Abbamonte, ’10, has trekked the salt flats in Southern Bolivia, has lain on beaches in Langkawi and has taken a road trip through the United Arab Emirates.

The 32-year-old T-bird is trying to become the youngest person to travel to every country and territory in the world. And with only 37 more countries to go, and about five more years of time to get there, he just might beat the current record.

The current record stands at 320 countries and unique destinations in the world, according to Abbamonte. The record was set by a person who was 37 years, 9 months and 17 days old.

Abbamonte is a travel writer, global adventurer and worldwide travel expert. In between his travels, he calls New York City home.

Visit his blog to take a peek at his past travels, read his current trip blog and interact with him while following his adventures as he aspires to set a new record.

Gregory Duncan, ’82, is returning to Susquehanna Bancshares as executive vice president and chief operating officer effective Jan. 28, 2011. Duncan had been at Susquehanna from 1987 to 2008, rising to executive vice president and chief operating officer. Also, he was president and chief executive officer of its Susquehanna Bank Pa. subsidiary. Duncan then joined First Interstate Bancsystem in Billings, Mont. as executive vice president and chief banking officer. He soon promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer, serving in those posts until August.

Jim Ward, ’83, is now serving as the interim president and chief executive officer of The Phoenix Symphony. Ward is a classically trained musician and a seasoned corporate executive with years of leadership and management experience. Ward is currently a venture partner in the venture capital firm, Alsop Louie Partners, focused on early stage evernet/cloud computing start-ups. Prior to joining Alsop Louie, Ward was president of LucasArts and senior vice president of Lucasfilm, Ltd. where he led the business growth of the video game company and oversaw the planning, development and execution of global marketing and distribution programs for all of Lucasfilm’s theatrical, home video and television intellectual properties including “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones.” Ward was also an Arizona Congressional candidate in the recent 2010 election cycle. His more than 25-year business career began in advertising with Doyle Dan Bernbach in New York, then as senior vice president and general manager of BBDO/Los Angeles and onto worldwide account director for Wieden and Kennedy in Portland, Oregon. As an advertising executive, Ward has been involved in many major global product introductions including Apple Computer’s original PowerBook, Microsoft’s Windows ’95 with the Rolling Stones and Nike’s introduction of Tiger Woods. 

Marc Gallin, ’86, has joined the team at Chevalier Machinery in Santa Fe Springs, Calif. as director of marketing. Gallin brings 15 years of industry experience developing and creating marketing solutions that enhance performance, effect change, drive profits and stimulate growth to the position. Gallin’s previous experience in the medical equipment industry and his skill set as an innovative business leader with a proven reputation to excel in advertising, public relations and strategic marketing will help Chevalier Machinery move forward in the future.  Gallin’s goals include creating organization within the marketing department, establishing new advertising ideas and campaigns, taking over responsibility for the company’s public relations efforts and planning and executing the company’s trade expos.

Cynthia Curtis, ’90, has been promoted to vice president and chief sustainability officer at CA Technologies. In her new role, Curtis oversees the CA Technologies Office of Sustainability and is responsible for global sustainability strategy and initiatives for the company. Since Curtis joined the company in 2010, she has established a track record with measurable results for the company’s sustainability program. Curtis has extended the scope of the company’s sustainability initiatives and established a cross-functional advisory board and program management office. In addition, she has helped enhance the environmental performance of CA Technologies operations by working with internal teams to further leverage the use of the company’s energy, carbon and sustainability management solution CA ecoSoftware. Prior to joining CA Technologies, Curtis was chief marketing officer at Utimaco Safeware. Previously, she was senior director of marketing for EMC Global Services. She also held positions in the public and private sectors including vice president of global marketing for Unisys Corporation’s network and desktop services division and director for the United Services Organization (USO) in Germany.

Peter Zapf, ’96, has been appointed chief operating officer of Global Sources, a leading business-to-business media company and primary facilitator of trade in greater China. The company’s chairman and chief executive officer, Merle Hinrichs, ’65, is also a T-bird. Zapf has served as deputy chief operating officer of the company since January 1, 2010. Zapf began his career in software project management with the U.S. Air Force. He then joined Global Sources in Phoenix, Arizona, working on the development, sales and marketing of the company’s early software and e-commerce products. Later, he worked as a research analyst at Bear Stearns in New York, focusing on the B2B market, after which he joined Hong Kong-based AsiaCommerce, a startup incubator, as chief executive officer. He rejoined Global Sources in 2001.

Josh Dorfman, ’00, is now the vice president of marketing for GoodGuide, a young, fast-growing company that scientifically ranks thousands of products based on their health, environment and socially responsible attributes and shares those ratings via its Web site and iPhone app. Dorfman has relocated to San Francisco with his family and is embracing his new adventure. Dorfman will continue The Lazy Environmentalist, including his role with Brita as spokesperson for its FilterForGood campaign.

Thunderbird Mobile is coming soon! This free mobile app will allow alumni and other members of the Thunderbird community to connect with the school and each other from the convenience of their phones. Users of smartphones and other internet capable phones will have access to news and information, global business research, blogs, videos, and podcasts as well as mobile access to the global Thunderbird community.

Thunderbird Mobile will be available free to anyone, but only alumni, students, faculty and staff will be able to tap into the Thunderbird global network allowing them to update and search profiles, find one another by current address and/or GPS location (optional) and map their search results. This capability mirrors and draws from the current MTB profile and search function, so it is imperative that alumni fillout and/or update their MTB profiles at my.thunderbird.edu. Alumni also will be able to update their profiles from within Thunderbird Mobile. If you have forgotten your student ID and log in information, please contact alumni@thunderbird.edu.

 Mobile applications will be available for iPhone and Android users. All others will have access via mobile Web technology.

 Features available to everyone:

News and information, including push notifications on request

Global Business research, blogs, videos, and podcasts from the Thunderbird Knowledge Network

Calendar of Events, both on and off campus

Referrals: Recommend potential students

Donations: Support the school through donations

Additional features available only to Thunderbird alumni, students, faculty and staff:

Update personal profiles

Find a T-bird and T-bird businesses around the world both through directory search and real-time GPS when enabled (optional)

Locate chapter leaders and events

Filter and map search results

If you would like to be notified when Thunderbird Mobile is available, please send your contact information to alumni@thunderbird.edu

A group of 2010 T-bird alumni and their friends gathered in Taipei on New Year’s Day. Andy Chen, ’05, has provided the picture to share.

In the photo: (Row 1) Sabrina Chou, Kuan-Wen “Sandy” Lin, Jeff Tsai
(Row 2) Tony Chen, friend, friend, Sandia Chiu, Hsin Tseng, Kayla Wu, Cheng-Yen “Stanley” Wang, Fu-Ming “Ted” Wang (Row 3) Hsuan-Jung Shih, Brian Wang, Calvin Wong, Ivas Yang, Yung-Chuan “Peter” Chen.