Circle Of Influence

Baylor graduates have one more way to make connections in the business world, thanks to some enterprising alumni who have set up an InCircle community on the Web.
Kendall Cockrell, Alan Bowden and Eric Treszoks of the Baylor Network developed the InCircle site for Baylor alumni and friends who "live online.".
InCircle is a function of Affinity Circles, designed in 2002 by Stanford University students to help university colleagues stay in touch.
InCircle mirrors current Internet ventures overseen by Cockrell and others that help alumni connect with one another and with other Baylor supporters. It provides the added benefit of connecting with business professionals and companies who seek Baylor graduates to fill job positions.
"InCircle will be a great tool of community for Baylor grads," Cockrell says. "What InCircle will do is add numerous layers to the interaction that is available."
InCircle functions in a manner similar to MySpace and Xanga; the Network's MySpace page has approximately 200 "friends" of Baylor, with whom Network representatives can connect and share alumni event information.
Cockrell and others are inviting users of these two sites to make use of the Baylor InCircle site, which specifically will allow alumni and friends to search for job opportunities through the use of classifieds and a career module.
"We are making efforts to be in those communities that already exist, while providing InCircle with its unique Baylor feel and powerful tools," she says.
That's because InCircle's primary purpose is to connect university graduates with others in their desired field as well as with companies looking to hire graduates from a particular institution.
"Each person can set up his own profile and choose to interact in any number of ways - from groups to one-to-one messages, to bulletins," Cockrell says.
The group conducted a pre-launch event in October, which Cockrell says garnered a great deal of positive feedback.
"The response during this pre-launch phase ... exceeded our expectations," she says.
"We are realizing very quickly that we have tapped into a very strong desire for Baylor grads to communicate in a real and relevant way."
And, she adds, "There are groups based on interests, past activities and geography.'This thing is going to be huge for Baylor and its grads."
Cockrell and her colleagues hope the site will grow organically, and that it will remain friendly and content-appropriate for everyone who wants to participate.
"We realize the need in this day to meet our alumni where they are, and where a lot of them "are" is online," Cockrell says.