OUBS Alumni Newsletter

If you need to change any of your contact details, email, home or work please go to the alumni website at www.open.ac.uk/oubs-alumni click on 'update your details' on the home page. If you have not registered your details or opted into the membership directory please do so now and keep connected to this thriving international network.

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This newsletter's purpose is to keep you updated on news about the OU/OUBS and its various products, the alumni association, offers and affinity deals, alumni events and just about anything else that you request. Offers have been selected as appropriate for our readership. The companies and people offering them are not necessarily connected to or endorsed by the OUBS.

We would also like to receive news from you (with web links) that I can circulate to the rest of the association. You will see that many of the items link you back to the alumni web site at www.open.ac.uk/oubs-alumni where you will also find the news site, events listings as well as the on-line membership directory. If you are not there it is probably because you have not opted in and we need your permission and signature for data protections reasons.

Email oubs-alumni@open.ac.uk for the necessary paperwork.
E-mail newsletter format and unsubscribe requests
You are receiving this newsletter because you have supplied your e-mail address to the OUBS Alumni team. Your e-mail address will not be passed to a third party without your permission.

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If you would prefer not to receive future e-mail newsletters from us please click here or e-mail oubs-alumni@open.ac.uk
For all comments and contributions please contact:

Christine Sargent (c.sargent@open.ac.uk)
Alumni Relations Manager
OUBS Alumni Office,
Michael Young Building,
Walton Hall,
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Tel 0044 (0)1908 652874
Fax 0044 (0)1908 655102

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Newsletter produced in association with

Alumni Strategy Weekend - presenter Steve Berry on the Strategies of the Serengeti

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Buy-to-let, Northern Rock and Guinness – The Money Programme returns to BBC Two

The Money Programme, the popular Open University and BBC co-production, returned for a new series on BBC Two on Friday 05 October. The ten-week programme will explore issues as diverse as the buy-to-let boom which has left many people out of pocket, the soaring number of ideas patented in the UK, the Northern Rock affair, the rise in the number of millionaires, how Guinness is invigorating its brand and the Facebook phenomenon.

Professor Elizabeth Daniel from the OU Business School said: “Our partnership with the BBC continues to provide thought-provoking and entertaining programmes on a wide range of business and management topics. This is the seventh series the OU has been involved with, and we further support the programmes by providing related articles and blogs by OU Business School academics on the Open2.net website.

Link to: http://www.open2.net/money/index.html

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Regional events
www.open.ac.uk/oubs-alumni for further information, or click on the event below

18 October Fareham Coaching to Win

23 October Vienna The Leadership Challenge

25 October Munich Tour of the new BMW Welt

29 October Edinburgh 'Lone Voice' Innovation using Solutions Focus

1 November Frankfurt Rethinking KM - what can we learn from failure?

1 November Fareham SCAN Facilitations Skills Group

3 November Zuirch Trends in Corporate Finance

7 November Cambridge Developing Change Readiness

27 November Oxfordshire Wychwood Brewery Presentation,Tour and Tasting

27 November Dublin The Leadership Challenge

29 November Redhill The Leadership Challenge

29 November Bristol Managing Your Reputation

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Friday Morning Workshops
www.open.ac.uk/oubs-alumni for further information, or click on the event below

9 am registration for 9.30 start, finish at 12.30pm.

2 November Milton Keynes Motivation and Communication

9 November London What comes after the Handshake?

Joint Workshops with Henley Management College:
9am registration for 9.30am start, all at Henley, finish at 12.30pm with lunch

16 November Rejecting Descartes error: feeling, thinking and deciding in finance and management Professor Mark Fenton O'Creevy

7 December To Include or not include? Stakeholder management and the strategy process Dr Howard Viney

1 February Leading a Customer-Centric Organisation Professor Moira Clark

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Magazine subscription Offers

Take advantage of the lowest prices available on subscriptions to magazines such as The Economist, Time, National Geographic, Vogue and many others.

www.alumni-subscriptions.co.uk

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South East Business Awards

THE HUNT IS ON FOR THE BEST INSPIRATIONAL AND ENTREPRENEURIAL BUSINESSES IN THE SOUTH EAST

Do you have something to shout about? Have you introduced a new idea to improve efficiency? Launched a new product? Successfully exported to a new market or have you just had a really good year? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then there's at least one business award category for you to enter. Whether you are an individual, small business, or a large corporate, if you have achieved something you're proud of then the South East Business Awards provide a platform to share your success.

For more information on the awards and the application process visit http://www.thebusinessawards.co.uk/seba/

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News

STUDENTS GET A GRIP ON FINANCIAL REALITY
– Daily Express

There has been a surge of mature students applying to study personal finance in the last year. More than 2,000 people have taken a personal finance course at the Open University (OU) since the course began last autumn, three times the number of students predicted.

You and Your Money: Personal Finance in Context aims to educate students in financial planning. The Institute of Financial Services (IFS) runs a course called Programme in Personal Financial Planning at local adult learning centres. After completing 30 hours you will gain a GCSE equivalent qualification.

Ian Fribbance from the OU says: "Never has the need for financial literacy been more important. Savings crises, interest rate hikes and the so-called credit-crunch mean that, more than ever before, UK consumers are recognising the need to improve their understanding of such issues and how they will be personally affected."

http://www.express.co.uk/money/view/20234/Students-get-a-grip-on-financial-reality

Free research resource launched
– Higher Education & Research Opportunities (HERO)

With the cost of journals rising and a drive to make information accessible to everyone, The Open University is making its research available free of charge through the Open Research Online initiative, which was officially launched on 27 September. More than 181,000 people worldwide have already taken advantage of the online information bank and logged on to download published research by OU academics.

http://www.hero.ac.uk/media_relations/17361.cfm

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MyPal

My Personalised Alumnus Library (MyPal) of online library resources continues to expand in number and quality. The second stage of development provides a more user selected content offering practitioner orientated and business information.

New databases: Source OECD, Open Research Online and Best of Biz have been added. Major new journals including Management Today and the British Journal of Management will also be accessible. The OU Business School are financing this package which remains free access to alumni. This new package continues to put the OU Library in the forefront of service provision – most universities offer no online resource access to their alumni. If you don’t use it we might lose it!

To access MyPal go to the secure Members' area of the alumni website www.open.ac.uk/oubs-alumni

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Venture Navigator

The OU is participating in a joint venture with five other universities and a commercial partner to develop Venture Navigator, which is a unique and free online service with one clear aim: to help start-ups and small businesses improve their chances of success. Venture Navigator delivers business benchmarking, impartial resources and supports an online community for entrepreneurs to share experience and advice.

Venture Navigator will come on line in the next six weeks but you can gain early entry by volunteering to be a Beta Tester - for more details contact i.d.russell@open.ac.uk

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Alumni Offers

OUBS Courses. Discount vouchers are available to graduates who wish to take a further course (one per annum). Contact us for your personalised voucher. Contact: oubs-alumni@open.ac.uk

Your own website for £99 - ideal for small businesses and consultancies, includes your own domain name (eg, www.yourbusiness.co.uk). Details and enquiry form: www.getsetup.net.

All off peak landline phone calls + Broadband (up to 8 Meg) + International calls now only £5.89 per month. See www.getsetup.net/isp to check availability on your number and to join online. Other tariffs available with free broadband.

No charge sign up to Pay As You Use Call-handling service. Get your calls answered by your named PA in your company name and your administration sorted. No minimum or monthly fees, simply pay as you go, set up in minutes. Call 08451 30 00 30 or register on line at www.corebusinessnetwork.com and quote OUAO.