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June-July 2008Welcome to the June-July 2008 issue of the Harvard Extension Alumni Association (HEAA) e-newsletter, the Extension Chord. In this issue, you will find a profile of John Vermilye, ALB ’80, results from our recent survey on alumni events, and a preview of fall 2008 events. As always, we welcome your ideas and suggestions for the Chord and the HEAA. Questions and comments may be sent to Grace Scheibner, HEAA president, at grace_scheibner@harvard.edu. We look forward to hearing from you! Grace Scheibner, ALB ’90 Karen Droisen, In This Issue
Profile: John Vermilye, ALB ’80
John Vermilye, ALB ’80, never intended to make airline baggage his career, but that is how it worked out. The company that he founded, Travel Sentry, now sets global standards for baggage security. John began his career in the airline industry when he was a student at Harvard Extension, putting himself through school by working as a baggage handler for Eastern Airlines at Boston’s Logan Airport. He juggled ever-increasing job responsibilities with courses on psychology and Japanese history, using his vacation time to complete his coursework and term papers. What brought you to the Extension School? I chose Extension because I wanted a general liberal arts degree. I had many interests—including Asian culture and history—that I wanted to pursue, and I wanted the breadth of opportunities that the Extension School offered. I worked as a baggage handler during the day at Logan Airport so that I could take courses at the Extension School in the evenings. My supervisors at Eastern Airlines were very supportive; they created special shifts for me so that I could go to class. For a while, I was based in Florida, so I commuted from there to Cambridge to take my courses. Did you stay in Boston after graduation? No. After graduation, Eastern sent me to Pittsburgh. It’s a great city. I took courses at the University of Pittsburgh because I enjoyed my coursework so much at the Extension School. I was used to juggling school and work, so I just kept taking courses. Eastern put me into a management training program for which I had to travel, so I spent a good deal of time in New York, Washington, and Miami. What was it like to work at Eastern Airlines? It was very different from Harvard. Many of my colleagues had military backgrounds, and I did not. Eastern CEO Frank Borman went to West Point, for example. I enjoyed the opportunity to work with colleagues that had a background so different from my own. I moved every year during this point in my career because Eastern wanted me to get experience in a variety of places. What type of projects did you take on at Eastern? Setting up Eastern’s routes in Latin America was one of the most challenging and fascinating projects. I oversaw the opening of the Panama Airport, Eastern’s first airport in Latin America. Then when I was based in Miami, Braniff Air went bankrupt and Eastern bought up all of its routes. I was put in charge of getting our airport operations team deployed on all of those routes and getting Eastern planes flying to those airports on the same day that Braniff was to file for bankruptcy. In a matter of hours, we managed a massive mobilization of airport operations experts to take over the open routes. Once we arrived in the airports in South America, we immediately took over the Braniff staff members who otherwise would have lost their jobs. Hiring those people was key to Eastern’s success because we were able to tap their knowledge and expertise as we took over Braniff’s routes. One of my areas of expertise is getting operational infrastructure set up quickly so that companies can run effectively during times of crisis, and the takeover from Braniff was definitely a crisis point for everyone involved. How long were you in Latin America? I was in Latin America for about 18 months. I was in Buenos Aires during the Falklands War when scrutiny of checked baggage became a vital issue in airline security because of the Air India bombing in June 1985 [in which a bomb in a checked bag detonated, destroying the plane and killing 329 passengers and crew. The passenger who had checked the bag never boarded the plane.] Prior to the Air India bombing, an Eastern jet was nearly bombed in the same way, but the bomb detonated prematurely, killing a baggage handler on the tarmac. Eastern put me in charge of creating a system to match checked bags with passengers boarding the plane so that terrorists could not check a bag containing a bomb and then disappear. Eastern was one of the first airlines to institute this type of security, which is now standard in the industry. We worked closely with IATA, the International Air Transport Association, to develop industry-wide standards for checked baggage. My group introduced bar codes on luggage as part of this process. What came next for you? In the months leading up to Eastern’s bankruptcy, during the period of deregulation under the Reagan administration, I oversaw all baggage-related operations at the airline. I was also part of a small team that worked in secret drafting the operational plan which was to be followed in the event of a bankruptcy filing. It was a difficult and emotionally charged time. My task was to “translate” the language of the bankruptcy lawyers to something that could be followed by the Eastern staff at airports all over the country. After leaving Eastern in 1988, I relocated to Switzerland to work with IATA on setting industry standards for checked baggage security and passenger and airport operations. IATA was a fascinating place, and our projects were diverse, such as directing Y2K projects and setting up air traffic systems in third-world and conflict-ridden countries like Somalia and North Korea. I enjoyed the sense of mission shared by executives at IATA; they understood themselves to be supporting the greater good of safe air travel for all. How did your career at Eastern and IATA prepare you for your next career move? At Eastern and IATA, I was always sent in to fix problems and put new organizational structures in place, something akin to a company doctor. I was an entrepreneur within a big organization, and both Eastern and IATA appreciated my abilities. But I reached a point at which this work began to feel repetitive. I wanted a new challenge that would get around the difficulties of working within and across large organizations. So you struck out on your own. Yes. I made the jump into full-time entrepreneurship with a venture to create a clearinghouse for airline electronic tickets, but immediately after 9/11, the airlines cut back severely, which sank the business. Based on my project experience with Y2K, I was asked to be an advisor in Washington, DC, to help set up the new Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The government contracted people with widely varying experiences, skills, and expertise and deployed these teams to 438 airports to upgrade the security checkpoints and recruit and train new screeners. I developed the training program that helped these people hit the ground running, understand and execute their mission and, most importantly, work as a team. In the wake of 9/11, it was critically important that governmental agencies, airlines, airports, and unions work together. My role at TSA was to help put all these parties together and get them on the same page. What happened next for you? After about nine months at TSA, I felt I had done all I could within the administration, and I was ready to try something new. I knew from experience that unlocked baggage at an airport was a big problem, but TSA needed to be able to get into checked bags if x-rays showed something suspicious. I saw the need for a new type of luggage lock, one that could secure luggage to all but TSA officers with special keys. I realized that luggage manufacturers needed a way to collaborate on new industry standards. So I came up with Travel Sentry as a collaborative business whose products would meet new TSA standards. This product was in my “sweet spot.” It drew on my lifelong experience working collaboratively with governmental and corporate organizations in the airline industry. It’s funny because I tried all my life to get away from handling luggage, and now my business revolves around it! I never intended to make the airline industry my career. In the beginning, it was just a way for me to pay my tuition at Harvard Extension School, and it has always been surprising to me how useful my coursework still is. Some of my favorite courses at Harvard were on Japanese history and culture. I still enjoy learning about it, and I often travel there for business. It has been a real asset in my business dealings to speak with some fluency about Japanese culture during my dealings with Japanese industry and government officials. At the time that I took the courses, I had no way of knowing how useful they would be for me now. News from 51 BrattlePower Dynamics in NegotiationsOn May 3, the Harvard Extension Negotiation and Leadership Forum was held at the Yenching Institute in Cambridge. Despite the cold, rainy weather, it was a record-breaking event. The two-panel forum was attended by more than 240 people, making it the largest forum in Harvard Extension School alumni history. The event was organized by the Harvard Extension Service and Leadership Society, in conjunction with the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. The first panel featured Mark Passacantando and Moshe Cohen, who discussed personal and financial negotiations. Passacantando, an instructor on personal financial planning at Harvard University and Boston University and managing member of Financial Planning Partners LLC, provided advice on approaching negotiations as a process. He listed questions and elements to consider, such as the importance of reading body language and understanding the goals of the people you work with. Cohen, president of the Negotiation Table and an instructor at Boston University, discussed key techniques for success and emphasized that a successful collaborative effort takes time and planning. The second panel, which began after attendees were treated to a light lunch, focused on the roles that culture, race, and ethnicity play in negotiations. Jeswald Salacuse, JD ’63, professor of law at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, delivered the keynote address. His presentation demonstrated that culture is “a silent language,” and the role it plays is critical to a successful agreement. Many more panelists followed with their own experiences and research in the field. Ashleigh Shelby Rosette, assistant professor of management at Duke, moderated the panel and took questions throughout the forum from a very enthusiastic audience. The event was a rewarding experience and is sure to be a long-term tradition given the high level of interest and participation. — Christine Frost, CPC ’02, ALM ’08 HEAA Survey Results: Alumni EventsMore than 100 HEAA members took our Alumni Events Survey during its first week online. We are very grateful to all that completed it. The results indicate widespread enthusiasm for HEAA events, particularly the wine tasting events, the Alumni Banquet, and the new Alumni Speakers Series. Many respondents also requested more events with networking opportunities, more cultural and educational events, and more outdoor events such as hiking trips. The Alumni Affairs Office will draw on their ideas for the future. Upcoming HEAA EventsFor more information and to view slideshows of past events, please visit the HEAA Events page. To browse other Harvard alumni events, please visit master alumni event calendar at Post.Harvard, the website of the Harvard Alumni Association.
Questions or comments? Please contact the Alumni Affairs Office. More information regarding these and other events are posted to the HEAA Events page as they become available. Return to HEAA Publications or HEAA Home. | |||
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