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'07</title></head><body>
<div>MIT EDITORS' CLUB</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>*Meeting Notes from March 20, 2007*</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Our guest speaker at this month's meeting of MIT Editors' Club
was Kirk Kolenbrander, Vice President for Institute Affairs and
Secretary of the MIT Corporation. Some 40 Editors attended. That's
HUGE, folks: "regular" Editors' Club meetings usually
attract about 10 of you.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>*What He Said*</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>I asked Kirk to tell us about what he *does* as VP for Institute
Affairs, Secretary of the Corporation, AND the President's Chief of
Staff. To turn it around a tad, here's one thing he does little of:
sleep (my inference).</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>First, however, I wanted to share with you what I thought was the
most important part of Kirk's talk: his passion for MIT.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>"It is not an overstatement to say that when airplanes fly
into the World Trade Center or a hurricane slams into New Orleans the
federal government really does pick up the phone, call MIT, and say
'how can you help us?'" Kirk said.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>So: "when we fail to share the story of MIT (its research,
etc.) to the world, everybody loses."</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Here, of course, he was alluding to the importance of WHAT WE DO
as communicators. "We have to make science, engineering,
and management compelling" to the public, he said.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>*What He Does*</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>These minutes could go on for quite a while if I accurately
summarized Kirk's job(s) and goals over the next year or so, so I'll
simply pick out a few highlights:</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>First, as Dr. Hockfield's chief of staff, "probably the most
important function I have is to help her build her senior team."
You've all read recent announcements about MIT's new general counsel,
new VP for human resources, etc. Kirk says there's one key slot left
to fill: that of VP for external affairs, which is a new job at the
Institute. That search is moving along well, he said.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Kirk handed out a list of his goals for the 2006-07
academic year organized by each "hat," or job
responsibility.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>For example, with respect to internal communications, he wants to
build on our process for responding and communicating about the
inevitable crises that come up. Specifically, the idea is to move
senior leaders such as the President out of day-to-day communications
management.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>With respect to goals underlying "all of our activities,"
Kirk's list concluded with: Share the fun of MIT with the world.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>"We change the world every day around this place, and by
golly that ought to be fun!"</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>*Take the Survey!*</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Just a reminder: if you haven't done so already, take the
communications survey Kirk distributed earlier this week to the MIT
community. It is titled: Help MIT improve Institute
communications.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>*Next Meetings*</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The next meetings of MIT Editors' Club will be as follows. All
meetings are in the News Office, 11-400, from 12-1, unless I invite
another rock star, in which case I'll alert you to the new
venue.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Thursday, April 19</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Monday, May 21</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Friday, June 22</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Elizabeth</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>================================</div>
<div>Elizabeth A. Thomson</div>
<div>Senior Science and Engineering Editor</div>
<div>Massachusetts Institute of Technology</div>
<div>News Office, Room 11-400</div>
<div>77 Massachusetts Ave.</div>
<div>Cambridge, MA 02139-4307</div>
<div>617-258-5402 (ph); 617-258-8762 (fax)</div>
<div><<a
href="mailto:thomson@mit.edu">thomson@mit.edu</a>></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><<a
href="http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/www"
>http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/www</a>></div>
<div>================================</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
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