The first speaker in the 2003-4 Distinguished Alumni Lecture Series was Edgardo "Ed" Rivera '88. He is vice president of marketing and planning for J Records, a private joint-venture record label created by Clive Davis and BMG Entertainment. J Records is the largest private label to have been introduced to the public in 20 years.

Rivera led an overflow audience of IC business and communications students through an interactive, step-by-step presentation of how the music industry functions. Students learned how the industry requires executives to blend rigorous financial decision-making skills with intuitive artistic judgments as talented, popular-music acts are identified, recruited, developed, and promoted. As crucial decision points emerged in the case Rivera depicted, students in the audience were asked what decisions they would have made had they been working for J Records. The presentation combined recordings and videos of music performances with the business of promoting and compensating performers.

Rivera is a member of the Ithaca College Alumni Association's board of directors as well as an admissions local area representative and a career network volunteer.

David H. Lissy '87, chief executive officer of Bright Horizons Family Solutions, described the business model that supports profitable growth in an industry that has low profit margins, low barriers to entry, and high labor costs. Lissy's company conducts business in the United States, Europe, Canada, and the Pacific Rim. It has created more employer-sponsored child care and early education programs than any other organization.

Lissy impressed on students that, under the right management, a company could make worthwhile contributions to families and turn a profit at the same time. In his words, Bright Horizons has "the soul of a nonprofit organization and the muscle of a profit-making firm." He noted that the necessary organizational components for "doing well while doing good" are a viable corporate strategy and a strong organizational culture.

Bright Horizons reported quarterly earnings that were 28 percent ahead of the prior year's earnings for the same quarter. Its net income for the first nine months of 2003 increased by 29 percent over the same period in 2002.

Suzanne Sheppard '71, founder and chief executive officer of Executive Conversations, engaged her audience in a dialogue in which she helped students understand the reasons people become entrepreneurs. She described the steps involved in creating a new business venture as well as the management skills required to maintain growth and profitability in a privately held company.

Through customized instructional programs presented by CEOs, CFOs, and COOs, Executive Conversations teaches sales professionals how to successfully market their products and services to executive-level clients. With offices in England and Singapore, the company has presented its programs in over 40 countries.

Sheppard provided students with a number of illustrations and insights into how they can manage their careers and personal lives as if they themselves were entrepreneurial businesses.

Michael DeVito '86, senior vice president for enterprise projects and e-business at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, together with his associate, Raghu Kakumanu, an e-business strategy con- sultant at Wells Fargo, led a presentation titled "E-Business Strategy and Financial Services." After defining "business strategy," DeVito addressed the following questions: What effect does the "e" have? What influence does e-business have on financial services? What makes a "great" financial-services website? How do companies compete today?

DeVito briefly revisited the history of the dot-com bubble, pointing out the mistaken assumption made at the time that the Internet constituted a strategy. DeVito said that the Internet is merely one of a number of distribution channels used to reach customers, although one that is growing in importance. With this in mind, he advised the audience that "a company's approach to e-business is built on the foundation of its core business strategy."

DeVito pointed out that many customers use the Internet to supplement information gained from other, more traditional channels that customers continue to use. Information available from the Internet makes transactions with the firm transparent to the customer, which has the effect of transforming financial services into commodities.

DeVito described his role within the company as leading and maximizing the profitability of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage's project investments -- including selection, execution, and implementation of business and technology initiatives. He is also responsible for developing and implementing the company's e-business integration strategy.