November 9, 2010

Drucker Day 2010 marks the culmination of the Drucker Centennial celebration

On Saturday, November 6th, a beautiful fall day in Claremont, the Drucker School welcomed over 350 alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends of the School for Drucker Day 2010.

Drucker Day 2010 marked the final event in the Centennial celebration that saw over 25 events over two years across the globe.  The day began with a coffee social in the Drucker Expo tent.  School clubs and programs highlighted upcoming events and opportunities for involvement by alumni and friends.

Interim president Joe Hough delivered an update on the Drucker School and the Drucker Institute, both of which are entering exciting chapters in their growth and development.  Tom Peters, author of The Little BIG Things: 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence followed with an energetic keynote address.

During lunch, the Alumni Board conducted a community engagement experiment in which all attendees were asked to provide a business card and an idea about how the alumni association could develop a form of engagement that would be meaningful to them.  Within five minutes, 187 business cards were collected, and 78 of them provided feedback about how we could engage them more effectively.  The Alumni Board plans to use this information at its annual retreat in January to help develop its initiatives for 2011.

After lunch guests chose from four concurrent sessions:

“Marketing Through Turbulent Times: Lessons From the Great Recession” with Professor Jenny Darroch.
“Value(s)-based Management” with Professor Jim Wallace.

Along with author panels:

“Turning the World Upside Down” featuring co-authors of the Puritan Gift, Kenneth and Will Hopper in conversation with Robert Chapman Wood
“Lessons from Drucker’s Life” with Jack Beatty, William Cohen ‘79 and Bruce Rosenstein

A second set of sessions followed immediately:

“Managing Yourself Means Managing Your Nervous System” with Professor Jeremy Hunter.
“Strategic Planning for the Drucker School” with Professors Jay Prag, Jenny Darroch and Hideki Yamawaki.

Along with author panels:

“What Would Drucker Do Now?” with Jorge Vasconcellos e Sa’ ’79, Winfried Weber and Gladius Kulothungan.
“Drucker in Historic Context” with Professor Joe Maciariello, Jack Bergstand and Mike Wood.

Drucker Day 2010 closed with a candle-lit social in the Burkle courtyard where guests mingled, enjoyed a live jazz band and were treated to a book signing by the many visiting authors.