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Welcome to the Alumni Newsletter

May 2012

The Diamond Jubilee Edition

Most of you will be aware that next week we will be celebrating Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee. This is a big event, and in the UK and US momentum is really building up with tea parties and street parties happening throughout the respective countries. To join in the celebrations, we have called on you to share your own sightings and meetings with the Queen. Please see our Royal Alumni section for some amusing anecdotes.

In addition to this, we have an alum advertising her own Jubilee party in Downtown Manhattan; fresh jobs and a testimonial from an employer of a small marketing company in London who has just employed her third alum out of a 10-strong team, in our Jobs section; and, if you attended the NYC Alumni Spring Reunion, you can view all the photos from the evening under our Events section.

Happy Jubilee Celebrations…


NYC Spring Reunion 11 May 2012


Royal Alumni

So here we have some amusing anecdotes from the privileged few who have been lucky enough to see or meet the Queen in the recent history of the Programme:

Christin Marie Tomlin (August 2006 - London) was lucky enough to attend a London Symphony Orchestra performance in 2007, at which the Queen was also present; "She was wearing a bright green dress and was a lot shorter than I had imagined. After the performance, I saw her entourage of Rolls Royces outside waiting to pick her up."


Kyle Gisbrecht (August 2007 - London) has a memorable experience he shared with fellow Mountbattens Dana Bobrowski, Stephanie Zhu, Chris Holman, Steve Arnold and Trevor Owens at Royal Ascot; "We had been granted Royal Enclosure badges from the U.S. Embassy, and were privileged to enjoy the races on Ladies Day from the most coveted vantage point whilst sporting the required morning dress and festive hats. Her Majesty warmly greeted each member of the Mountbatten party… It is a special moment we will each remember fondly for a lifetime."

Lynne Ault (March 2010 - London) has a tenous "sighting" which makes for an amusing anecdote; "My very good friend in London works for the Royal Household as part of the Prince's Charities (in Clarence House), and through her kindness, I have had access to both the royal residences and the royals themselves. As a member of the Royal Household, my friend can buy tickets to bi-monthly movie viewings in one of the Queen's rooms - I have been twice!! So not an exact viewing, but hey... I've sat and watched a film where she has! Also, on the day of the Royal Wedding - I was able to stand in the Prince's private garden at St. James Palace and greet the happy couple, Prince, etc. as they arrived at the Palace for a more private reception. The queen wasn't there, but hey - got pretty close to the rest of the family!"


Trenton Holland (March 2009 - London) did get the chance to see the Queen, but it was actually before his Mountbatten year when he was studying for a semester at Regents College in Regents Park; "My mother had come out to visit me during my spring break. We were planning to go to Westminster Abbey when we found it closed off because the Queen was entertaining guests! We found out she would actually be coming out of the Abbey soon, so we decided to wait. After about 30 minutes she came out, and my mom got the picture above. It was pretty awesome to see her, especially given I've never even seen a US President before!"

  

Events


Blair West (March 2010 - London) and Laura Polidor (August 2009 - London).

11th May 2012
NYC Spring Reunion

More than 50 alumni and Mountbatten staff from the New York and London offices gathered at the Sky Room Bar and Lounge to reconnect over drinks and enjoy a dazzling view of the city from 35 floors above Times Square.
A variety of intakes were in attendance at the event.
Full Details.

Forthcoming Events


7th June 2012
The Diamond Jubilee Bash!

The Mountbatten Institute is sponsoring the George Diamond Jubilee Bash celebrating the best of Britain and the Commonwealth in NYC. Full Details & Tickets.


Andrea D'Alessandro (March 2007 - London)

2nd June 2012
Is this the UK?

Andrea runs a successful monthly club night in NYC - the spin off of the weekly London party "Feeling Gloomy" in Islington. Feeling Gloomy New York serves a slice of the UK in a Chinatown nightclub - playing British music spanning the 70s - 90s, with themed nights, providing a musical haven for both Anglophiles and ex-pats. On Saturday June 2, a Jubilee themed party night, going back to the last Jubilee in 1977. Full details.


Alum of the Month

Tim Pyke
January 2001 - New York

Tim now works in Melbournce, Australia as a Production Manager at the ABC. Read all about his career path, and how his experience with Mountbatten helped influence his choices to get him where he is today.

Last, but not least, Eric Strom (August 2008 - London) sent us this great piece not about the Queen, but about meeting and shaking hands with Prince Charles!

"It was September 11th, and BGC was having its annual September 11th fundraiser for the families who had lost loved ones working at Cantor Fitzgerald and BGC in the twin towers. I had arrived late for my August 2009 intake, so this was my first week on the job. We were told about the fundraiser and how some celebrities would be visiting; a few athletes, a female UK gladiator, Kevin Spacey, and then heard that Prince Charles would be making an appearance. I rushed down to the trading floor in the early afternoon to try and sight some celebs. I noticed everyone gathering around a podium so I found a spot near the side of the podium, by the elevators. A few moments later, several security guards walked through to clear a path and I happened to be the first in line for that path, which Prince Charles soon appeared to be walking down - directly toward me. I soon found myself face to face with the Prince of Wales; "I hope I am not causing too much of a nuisance." he said. I assured him he wasn't as he gave a big smile, I shook hands and said nice to meet you after he asked for my name. He then addressed the crowd with some well chosen words."

Thank you for all of your contributions!


Jobs

We are pleased to inform you that one of our recently returned alumni has just filled a marketing internship vacancy, which we advertised some weeks ago. Judith Powling the Director of Lodestar Marketing made these positive comments:

"Just a quick note to say thank you very much for putting our internship up on your website and on Linked-In. I'm delighted to say that we have recruited one of your graduates, ...and she starts tomorrow! This means we will now have three Mountbatten graduates in the office (which comprises ten people) – all at different stages of their careers. Thank you again, and I hope we can work together again when we are looking for internships or other posts in the future"

It's an extremely motivating thought that some potential employers are coming directly to us because they understand the quality of the product they are getting.

Check out all the current vacancies we have on our website, including 2 x Business Account Managers for an Architect and Interior Design company in London, Recruitment Consultants and On-Line Analysts.


Alumni Committee Updates & Announcement

The Mountbatten Institute's London based Alumni Committee will be meeting on Thursday 31st May at 6.30pm in our London office. The agenda will primarily focus on forthcoming alumni events. Any interested new volunteers are also welcome. Please contact Vicki for more details.

One of our Committee members, Catherine Allcock (September 2006 - New York) will be leaving the Committee due to an exciting overseas posting in Singapore. We would like to thank her for giving us her time and help over the past couple of years, and look forward to receiving updates from Singapore. We wish Catherine every success in her future endeavours.

email: vmccordall@mountbatten.org
web: http://alumni.mountbatten.org

Feedback

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