All over the country and the world, Georgia Tech alumni belong to geographic groups, bound by common locations as well as their shared connection to the Institute’s traditions and academic excellence. And beginning this summer, those groups have a new name: The organizations once known as Alumni Clubs are now Alumni Networks.

“Over a year ago, we began to observe a shift in the way some of our peer institutions were engaging and marketing to geographic groups,” said Len Contardo, Vice President of Alumni Outreach. “Schools like Duke, MIT and UCLA decided to move away from a traditional clubs model to a more open and welcoming approach for regional alumni involvement.”

In theory, Tech’s geographic groups were already quite open—few still carry a membership fee. But conversations with select members showed that the “club” label felt dated and inaccurate, giving the impression of an exclusive, dues-based organization. And a branding test that axed the word “club” for “network” on event invitations did well among young alumni, as well as parents and other members of the Tech community.

Around the same time, the wildly successful launch of the GTAA’s Student Alumni Association drove home the importance of a more easygoing framework. “To explain the major success of SAA, students cited the ease of joining, clear value of involvement and openness of the group,” said Jane Stoner, Senior Manager of Alumni Networks. “With over half of our alumni graduating since 1992, we have to be continually adjusting our engagement model to meet their needs.”

So far, the response from the newly dubbed “networks” has been mostly positive. “Many have already moved forward with changing names on websites, Facebook groups, etc.,” Stoner said. “It is truly a small change in branding to demonstrate our movement toward attracting more young alumni and previously unengaged alumni.” After all, it’s never too late for alumni to start reaping the benefits of connecting with their fellow Yellow Jackets.

Over the past few months, Alumni Networks hosted more than 220 events around the country, from 70 student send-offs to the many Campaign Georgia Tech events hosted alongside President G. P. “Bud” Peterson. All of this in addition to a steady schedule of speaker events, meet and greets, business network panels, community service projects, sports events and game-watching parties around the country.

For more information and to find the Network nearest you, visit gtalumni.org/networks or email [email protected].