IMD Times

Last weekend was very much centered around IMD. It began when two awesome classmates rolled into town--one from the Netherlands, the other from Zurich--with their partners. We had dinner at Le Pinnochio, an IMD standard, and then spent the night just talking and catching up back at our place, where both couples were staying with us. For one of my classmates, it was his first time back in Lausanne since graduation!

Saturday was a glorious weather day--typical for Lausanne in the summer. While most of the household had a lazy morning, one of my classmates and I got up early and headed into IMD. Saturday was Mock Interview Day, during which alumni return to campus to give the current MBA students experience interviewing with real hiring managers. It is also a great chance for us to get to know some of the students, reconnect with the school, and partake in the famous IMD lunch!

In addition to the mock interviews, I gave a presentation to the class on using social media for their own professional branding. We live in an ever more connected digital world and your online presence can either help or hurt your career--but you have the power to control which! The presentation went very well and I have posted the slides on SlideShare. Take a look and I welcome any feedback!

Saturday night we had some of my IMD classmates over to the house for a pool party. Hmm, summer, pool, good friends . . . sounds like the perfect recipe for . . . SANGRIA! We made up a big batch of French-Swiss sangria (using French wine instead of Spanish, and using Kirsch instead of Triple Sec - and all local, organic fruit, of course!) and served it along with mojitos, bellinis, beer, and wine all night. It turns out that Katie and the rest of the gang weren't idle while we were at IMD all day. By the time the party started they had whipped up tables and tables of delicious, healthy, and mostly vegetarian food.

The party was a lot of fun! We had about 30 people over the course of the night and we didn't turn out the lights until about 3 AM. Several little groups formed and people just kept switching between them, talking, and catching up. Another IMD couple stayed with us Saturday night as well, so Sunday morning we had a four-couple breakfast reunion.

It would appear too that my sangria hasn't lost its touch: as one of my classmates came down the stairs Sunday morning, another one said to him, "Oh wow, you look how I feel." Mission accomplished!

Monday Katie and I trained into Zurich, where I had lunch with the sponsor of my IMD ICP. Here again it was great to catch up with someone from the IMD world. It was excellent chatting with him and he still contends that our supply chain strategy project helped them through the difficult financial times of the last two years.

It has been a great, IMD-filled four days. This is why I came back for the summer! (OK, also for the perfect weather and gorgeous lake/mountain views!)