The founding editor of Alliance takes a trip down memory lane to recall how a dinner in Paris set off a sequence of events that a quarter of a century ago led to the creation of the magazine

The request for reflections on Alliance’s infancy brought a flood of happy memories. Such as its conception. After Kluwer Law International had securely launched the groundbreaking book, International Charitable Giving: Laws & Taxation – truly a pioneer, with three major publishers competing for it – there was a grand celebration dinner in Paris with the brilliant Kluwer editors. Many laughs and a lot of champagne. At one point, Alan Stephens, our principal editor, leaned over to ask, ‘So, do you have any other bright ideas?’ ‘Well, as a matter of fact, yes. How about a quarterly journal? Not for lawyers this time. For people in the field.’ Kluwer jumped at it. We were off!

October 1998 – Alliance with an @.

Next came the years of regular lunch meetings in New York. We were a jolly band of volunteers: two from my most enlightened corporate clients; the director of the AT&T Foundation that was making its mark in arts funding; and representatives of IBM, which had distinguished itself in the education field. We had not a particle of experience in journalism, but we had gusto and enthusiasm; we were creating something new, in a field that was just picking up speed. To illustrate how long ago that was, the stylish original template created by our volunteer graphics designer expressed the first letter of Alliance as @, and we were frequently asked about the significance of that symbol. Can you imagine?