US Alumni Meeting

ALUMNI MEETING

Boston, May 9-10

US Alumni Meeting

IESE Alumni living and working in the States traveled to Boston to reunite and share professional experiences with fellow alumni and a number of IESE professors

San Francisco, Dallas, Denver, Miami, Washington, New York... Thousands of miles to keep a date: the IESE reunion in the heart of Harvard.

After welcoming the participants, the weekend started with the "Duck tour", an interesting sight-seeing tour of Boston using amphibious buses that enabled the Alumni and their families to travel the waterways without getting off the bus. The Coderchs were even brave enough to hold the helm to the cry "Excellent!" from the common captain's crew. The day concluded with a pleasant dinner at John Harvard building.

On Sunday, IESE's Dean, Carlos Cavallé, started the day's work with a welcome address. The professor explained IESE's current positioning and its projects for the future.

Maria Puig, Alumni Division Director, thanked the Alumni and professors for attending, particularly thanking Fritz Folz (MBA 91) and professor Alberto Fernández "for the enthusiasm and effort they devoted to the organization of the meeting".

The participants seconded Maria's proposal to formalize the US Alumni Association and to nominate Fritz Folz as its president. In his first address as president, Fritz outlined the goals of the IESE US Alumni Association for the future: the importance of collecting data on all US Alumni and plans for a forthcoming meeting.

Professor Eduard Ballarín talked on the Geographical Sources of Competitive Advantage in an address called: "The global economic perspective". The professor analyzed the possible changes, in terms of geographical specialization, that companies may undergo with the open-ing of frontiers.

Arthur C. Spinner, General Partner of the Hambro-Spinner Renaissance Fund, gave an address on technological impact on business and economy today and in the future.

This was followed by an interesting discussion which placed particular emphasis on the impact of Internet on businesses.

Acceding to the request voiced by many alumni, the e-mail service and innovations offered by the Association through its new Home Page (see pages 86 and 87 of this magazine) were briefly explained.

The event closed with a pleasant family lunch at the Harvard Inn.