From October 7th to 9th 2022, 20 CEMS Club Presidents and 3 organizing members from the Student Board were gathered at Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) in beautiful Sweden. During the three-day conference, the Presidents had the opportunity to network, share best practices, discuss common issues, and brainstorm on development and collaboration between their local CEMS Clubs.
The Presidents were welcomed on Friday by the Student Board Representatives and CEMS Academic Director of SSE, Ciara Sutton, who started the conference off by introducing the school and the CEMS Master at SSE.
Following this insightful session, each CEMS Club President had the opportunity to introduce themselves and their CEMS Clubs through a one pager. This was followed by a workshop on executive presence, hosted by one of the CEMS corporate partner, Gartner. Representatives from one of the world's leading information technology research and advisory companies provided presidents with information, tips and insights to better perform in their roles as CEMS Club Presidents. After the workshop, the President and Gartner representatives had the opportunity to mingle in the coffee break, which in Sweden is referred to as “fika”.
The latter part of this day included a short update from the CEMS Global Office, represented by Margaux Berras, brief introduction to the CEMS Entrepreneurs thanks to Victor Tibo and an explanatory presentation on the role of the CEMS Club Support Team that is part of the Student Board. To conclude this day, all participants joined a brief finance workshop to get best practices, share their experiences and find support for their CEMS Clubs.
The second day of the conference began with an introduction to the Student Board, presented by SB president, Stephanie Nützel (KUBS), and Global Engagement & Alumni Manager, Triona Campell. The workshop allowed students to discuss essential topics and to further strengthen the work between all CEMS stakeholders.
This was followed by a brief introduction on projects and initiatives led by the CEMS Diversity & Inclusion Team, represented by Student Board Representative Yinfeng Benny Shen (USYD). Continuing the overview into the various projects led by the Student Board, Charlotte Müller (HSG) and Vaibhav Jain (IIMC) joined the conference online to introduce the CEMS Club Buddy Program for the Presidents. The CEMS Club Buddy Program is designed to support each CEMS Club by allocating them a buddy club from which they can get inspiration, insights and tips from to enhance collaboration and global integration for all CEMS Clubs and schools.
The CEMS Club Presidents then had the opportunity to present their “elevator pitches” on topics they found particularly relevant to discuss and to share knowledge on, such the recent flooding of Pakistan but also other social issues relevant to some schools.
Later on, to conclude this second day, the conference moved forward to announce the results of the CEMS Club Awards. The awards are divided into six categories, as well as a “Best CEMS Club” award. The winners of this fall semester were:
- Alumni: #1 St Gallen, #2 Prague, #3 Vienna
- Corporate: #1 St Gallen, #2 Prague, #3 Vienna
- Marketing: #1 Bergen, #2 Prague, #3 Lisbon
- Responsibility: #1 St Gallen, #2 Prague, #3 USA
- Socializing: #1 Prague #2 USA, #3 Seoul
- Desired: #1 Prague, #2 USA, #3 Lisbon
- Best club: #1 Vienna, #2 St Gallen, #3 Prague
We would like to extend our congratulations for all winning CEMS Clubs and all other CEMS Clubs for their participation and work throughout the semester!
The third and final day of the conference consisted of an insights sharing session facilitated by SBR Christoffer Dyran (CBS), and a time management workshop, facilitated by SBR Catherina Schwaiger (WU) & Çağla Şevketoğlu (KOC). The conference ended with a workshop on CC elections and handovers to prepare the Presidents to handover their role and responsibilities at the end of the semester.
The Student Board sincerely hopes that the Presidents found the three conference days eventful and insightful, and that the Presidents have returned to their local CEMS Clubs with new ideas and inspiration, as well as renewed motivation for the remainder of their tenure.
