27 Dec 2017

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2018

Dear CEMSies,
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2018 :-)

Hope you will enjoy this short video update.

Have a great time with your loved ones!
Your CEMS Alumni Board Team: Pavlína, Kasia, Vojtěch, Honza
Blog :: Facebook :: LinkedIn

Wishes from the CEMS VŠE team

It is our pleasure to share with you Christmas and New Year wishes from the VSE CEMS team who is not only taking care of the whole CEMS program but also intensively cooperating with the CEMS Alumni Board.

CEMS Office Prague would like to wish a Merry Christmas and Happy Year 2018 to all students, alumni, academics and corporate partners.

Vojtěch
on behalf of your CEMS Alumni Board Team
Blog :: Facebook :: LinkedIn

14 Dec 2017

CEMS Alumni Association Prague - new board elected

Dear alumni
45 of us send our votes which is probably the highest number of election participants for years if not ever. Thank you all!

The results are as follows


What is even more interesting is the number of generations (or graduation years) which took part in the elections. I really like it's diversity which is important for the overall success of our activities.

Number of  election participants per graduation year

On behalf of the board I would like to thank you all for your votes! We really appreciate your support and we are looking forward to meeting you at one of our planned events (or even better - at all of them).

We will get in touch with you soon to inform us about our plans for 2018.


Vojtěch
on behalf of your CEMS Alumni Board Team
Blog :: Facebook :: LinkedIn

10 Dec 2017

CEMS Talk on the topic Digital First: Business and Philanthropy in the Digital era

Digital career as the main topic, three amazing speakers, no slides, informal atmosphere, a beautiful venue, engaged audience: great CEMS Talk with vivid discussions.


Our November CEMS Talk took place in a co-working centre Opero, a perfect location for the topic Digital First. A key question of the evening was rather simple: What is career in a digital environment like? 

This CEMS Talk offered not only a unique chance to uncover a bit of the magic behind companies such as Google, Uber or Airbnb but also brought a real variety of choices and approaches how one can direct his / her career in a digital environment. 


What are the key take aways from this CEMS Talk?

  • Use digital tools to get rid of repetitive tasks and focus instead on project bringing innovation and people development. 
  • Be bold, trust in what you do and and use the opportunities arising around.
  • Build your own network and use it - incl. the 2nd connections (i.e. friends of friends).
  • Don't give up and follow what you believe it even when obstacles show up. 
  • When going for a new job, choose a company culture fitting your personality. 
  • Do not evil in anything you do. 
  • Choose a career fitting your lifestyle and life values.
  • Find something you want to fight for. And do it.


Who were our three speakers?


Vaclav Graf: Turning from GO to become a shared economy expert

Trips Marketing Manager Central & Eastern Europe at Airbnb

Vaclav's career is the most colourful mix one can imagine. After submitting a thesis about selling visas on eBay, he got offered a job in a governmental office in the Czech Republic. Soon after that, he joined OECD. When working on a project solving a housing situation in New York, he got fasinated by the concept of shared economy and looked for opportunities in this area. Later he became a key expert on the shared economy in the Czech Republic - bringing both Uber and Airbnb to the region of central and eastern Europe. 

His main advice for others: Use social media to your favour. Get in touch with those your are interested in. 

Petr Smid: Inspiring CEMS & Google Enthusiast

Head of Consumer Marketing, Central & Eastern Europe at Google

To describe Petr, I would say a great wave of inspiring energy. Petr is well known for his passion for both CEMS and Google and his desire to help others to succeed. After finishing his studies, he became a consultant at McKinsey. Just before the financial crisis came, he joined the MBA programme at INSEAD. Almost two years after finishing his MBA studies, he joined Google and until today is a greatly passionate Googler. During the Talk he mentioned three reasons he likes about the Google company culture, i.e. appraising performance, driving informality and creating positive impact. This year, Petr has been nominated for the CEMS Alumni of the year as the first Czech candidate in the category of senior leaders. 

His main advice for others: Choose a company culture fitting your personality.

Michal Zwinger: Socially conscious digital entrepreneur

Managing Director at Levebee.com (Vcelka.cz)

Yet studying CEMS and starting his career at Henkel, Michal is everything but a typical CEMS Alumnus. His desire to help others to live a happier life brought him soon from the corporate into the entrepreneurial world. Starting with the opportunity that seemed as the easiest back then - a tool helping people to read more efficiently, he created his first business. The company took off very well. Though the shining results were hitted by an unexpected law suit that his company eventually won. Yet it slowed down the company development considerably. The new restart came with a project vcelka.cz, an app helping kids and people with dislexia to learn to read. Michal mentioned a great thought: Find something you want to fight for and simply do it. 

His main advice for others: Be open, opportunities will show up. Do what you believe in.


We thank to our exceptional speakers for their time and effort as well as to all attendees for joining this great evening.
We are looking forward to seeing you at one of our next events.
Pavlina
on behalf of your CEMS Alumni Board Team
___________________________________________________________

CEMS Talk concept:

  • Every CEMS Talk is dedicated to a unique topic related to life and career in today’s world. 
  • Speakers are chosen based on their level of experience and relevancy for a chosen area. 
  • The audience is built from CEMS students and alumni, both Czech and international. 
  • The main purpose of CEMS Talk is to share real, authentic and honest stories and thereby inspire members of the CEMS Community in their future life and business choices

7 Dec 2017

CEMS Alumni Association Prague - candidates for the new board

Dear all
on 26 November we published the call for candidates for our board. Unfortunately no further candidates expressed their interest except for the current Board + Katarzyna who is already "on board". Maybe next time there will be more candidates :-).

The candidates for the new board are


Our program
We would like to continue our work from 2017 that is (from event perspective)
  • organize other CEMS Talks as our flagship events
  • organize also other events on our own (such as family events) or together with CEMS Club (such as CEMS breakfast)
  • add one big international event
  • and last but not least take active part in the celebration of 20 years of CEMS

Through all events and other activities we would like to focus on the following goals:
  • Get new Board members or one-off helpers for 2018 and following years
  • Mix different generation of CEMS Alumni as well as CEMS Students 
  • Bring up the topic of CAA membership
  • Keep the great and informal yet informative spirit of CEMS Talks


Please vote here via google form by 12 December. We will announce the results of the vote on 13 December.

Vojtěch
on behalf of your CEMS Alumni Board Team
Blog :: Facebook :: LinkedIn

3 Dec 2017

Pics from the family event

Once again we organized an informal gathering of alumni and their families. In the colder months it is better to play indoors so after being in the Cafe Koala last time we moved to Brumbambale.
This time we didn't have any specific topic to discuss so it was just a friendly chat interrupted quite often by our children requiring attention and support during their games and investigation of many of the amusement. But what would it be a CEMS event without discussing different business topics: working in Russia, business travels, running own photo atelier, or changing career to another direction.

Eleven families / parents and their children

Eva and Vašek :-). 

One of the children participants

I am pretty sure this was not the last time we went to Brumbale. Next family event to take place in the first quarter of 2018.

Vojtěch
on behalf of your CEMS Alumni Board Team
Blog :: Facebook :: LinkedIn

26 Nov 2017

CEMS Alumni Association Prague - Election of the new board

Dear CEMS Alumni,
After a year since our last election, the CEMS Alumni Association Prague (CAAP) is calling for new candidates for its Board who could join the current members who wish to continue their term. We are looking for alumni who have the willingness and little bit of time to develop activities of the Prague CEMS Alumni community and are ready to come up with new insights and ideas, cooperate with other alumni organizations across the globe and with the CEMS team at our home university – VŠE.

Requirements
Candidates must be CEMS graduated alumni and be ready to become official CAA members. Ideally they should work in Prague during their term. Note: Business travel is no problem.

Call for candidates
You may express your interest in running for a particular position or just contact us with your general interest by the 5th of DecemberPlease address your email to vojtech.oplestil@gmail.com. We will then constitute the list of candidates per position and distribute it to all alumni on the 6th of December.
Positions

  • President – responsible as the main representative of CAAP, concrete workload depends on an agreement with other members. The president is one of the statutory representatives of the legal entity CEMS Alumni Association Prague. The president has access to CAAP bank account.
  • Treasurer – responsible for consolidating financials of CAAP. The treasurer is also named as one of the statutory representatives of the legal entity CEMS Alumni Association Prague. The treasurer has access to CAAP bank account.
  • Vice-president – shares responsibilities with the CAAP president, VP can take care of one of the main areas of CAAP (e.g. international collaboration, academic collaboration, organization of alumni events, cooperation with CEMS students).
  • Board members – can be any number of volunteers who would like to help organize events for alumni in Prague in the next term from time to time (event types can be various ranging from social through sports to educative events).
Note: If you want to have a better idea of what activities CAAP ran in the past, please visit http://cemsalumniprague.blogspot.cz/ or just send us a question.
Election
The complete list of candidates will be sent via email on the 6th of December and you will be asked to send your vote till 12th of December.
Results + term start
Results will be announced as soon as all votes are counted and the new team can start its work from 1st January 2018.
We are looking forward to welcoming you "on board". Please do not be afraid to represent the alumni community in Prague. We know everyone’s time is scarce, but you will be for sure rewarded with great feeling from organization of CEMS Alumni events and the time you have to put into this does not have to be any intense workload. For alumni working in corporate partner companies, running CAAP can be seen as great opportunity for career growth.

Vojtech, vice-president of the Board
on behalf of your CEMS Alumni Board Team

19 Nov 2017

Call for new teammates: Join CEMS Alumni Board Team!

Let's build together long-term CEMSational experience in the Czech Republic! 
We invite especially fresh CEMS graduates and international Alumni to come on board 

What is our team doing?
  • We keep the CEMS spirit is alive also after graduation.
  • We organize regular CEMS Talks and CEMS Social gathering.
  • We run CEMS Mentoring Programme.
  • We collaborate closely with CEMS Club and CEMS MIM at VSE to enhance life-long CEMSational experience.
  • Next year, CEMS celebrates 20 years at VSE, which brings vast amont of opportunities how to highlight CEMS Alumni! 

Who are we looking for?
  • Event facilitators, 
  • Creative thinkers, 
  • Community Managers, 
  • Marketing and PR experts, 
  • Technical & IT Specialists.

Interested in joining? Please contact us at cemslumni@seznam.cz.

Your Alumni Board Team

6 Nov 2017

CEMS Talk: Digital First

Thursday 30th November at 7pm: CEMS Talk - Digital First
Top digital leaders sharing their inspiring stories.


Location:
Opero Prague
Registration at: cemsalumni@seznam.cz
Speakers: Petr Smid @Google, Vaclav Graf @Airbnb, Michal Zwinger @Levebee.com
Petr Smid: Head of Consumer Marketing, Central & Eastern Europe at Google
Petr is an exceptional leader, great digital expert and truly inspirational personality not only within the CEMS Alumni Community:
  • Petr spent 7 years at McKinsey and initiated the process of them becoming CEMS corporate partner.
  • Petr helped VSE students to establish country's leading student consulting (Club 307) and digital club (ClickIt - a direct result of CEMS business project)
  • Petr hired 7 CEMSies to his teams at Google and supported several more in joining other teams.
  • Petr is nominated for the CEMS Alumni of the Year. You can still vote here!

Vaclav Graf: Trips Marketing Manager Central & Eastern Europe at Airbnb

Vaclav is an innovative leader passionate about technology with broad experience in both start-ups and global companies.
  • Vaclav launched Uber operations in Prague, the first CEE market
  • As Country Lead managed the expansion of Airbnb in he Czech Republic
  • Vaclav worked a Consultant for a governmental office, EY as well as OECD
  • Currently he is bringing Airbnb experience to Prague, Tel Aviv and Athens
  • In governmental office
Michal Zwinger: Managing Director at Levebee.com (Vcelka.cz)
  • Michal's own introduction says everything: "With passion for perfection and technology, together with my team, we build online services that make people happier. Our apps improve other people's lives."
  • Michal is a managing director at Legentas.com / Rozectise.cz and thereby helps people to read more efficiently.
  • For more than 3 years, he is leading Levebee.com / Vcelka.cz and thereby improves reading capabilities and helps people with reading disorder conditions, including dyslexia.
  • His specialities: User Experience, User Interface, Gamification, E-learning
Pavlína
on behalf of your CEMS Alumni Board Team
Blog :: Facebook :: LinkedIn

22 Oct 2017

Decide about the CEMS Alumni of the Year

Dear CEMS Alumni,
Take part in the CEMS Alumni of the Year Elections and decide, who are going to be two CEMS Alumni of the Year 2017.

For the first time, the Czech Republic has candidates in both categories:
Petr Smid nominated for CEMS Alumni Senior Leader and
Tomas Laboutka nominated for CEMS Alumni Junior Leader.

What makes Petr and Tomas truly inspirational leaders?
Both share an incredible passion for what they do, are innovative, have amazing leadership skills and business expertise, yet stay humble and modest.

Don't miss the chance and vote in the CEMS Alumni of the Year.

Category: CEMS Alumni Senior Leader

Petr Smid: Head of Consumer Marketing, Central and Eastern Europe @Google



Petr is a 2005 CEMS graduate. He is now working hard to bring the best of Google’s consumer technology to users in Central & Eastern Europe.
Being a CEMS and INSEAD MBA graduate himself, he’s passionate about education - leading frequent workshops for students, professionals, startups, and other businesses. He has always enjoyed travelling, skiing & ice hockey ... for the past 3 years all of this with his little daughter.
Petr’s Interview,  Petr on LinkedIn  Vote for Petr

Category: CEMS Alumni Junior Leader

Tomas Laboutka: CEO & Co-Founder, Board Member @HotelQuickly

Tomas is a 2010 CEMS graduate. He has been is CEO & Co-Founder at HotelQuickly and recognised by Forbes in the category 30 under 30.
His sharings - "Learn to make great decisions and develop the courage to follow them through. Embrace the CEMS network: the friendships you make and insights you gain from fellow students, alumni, partners, and colleagues fuel us for life. So make the most out of them and say “yes” to success!"
Tomas’s Interview   Tomas on LinkedIn  Vote for Tomas

Pavlína
on behalf of your CEMS Alumni Board Team
Blog :: Facebook :: LinkedIn

19 Oct 2017

CEMS Talk on the topic Going the Other Way: Are you living the life You want to live?


Alternative career choice as the main topic, three amazing speakers, no slides, informal atmosphere, beautiful venue, engaged audience: unique CEMS Talk with unique findings.


Our October CEMS Talk took place in an art gallery, a perfect location to discuss Going the Other Way choices. A key question of the evening was simple: Are you living the life You want to live? 

We are extremely happy that this topic raised a lot of interest among CEMS students and alumni and thank all for all the rich discussions that arose during and also after the CEMS Talk.

Although all three speakers have started their career in the corporate environment and until today they are managing projects and people, their career paths have been all but ordinary. It was such a refreshing experience to spend an evening with these extraordinary, smart, courageous and humble people, who do really create an impact on the society and world around us. 




What is the key take away from this CEMS Talk?

  • Explore what is truly important for You in Your life. Once You find it, do it.
  • Pushing does not work. Be open and let things, people and situations come to You.
  • Slowness brings answers to key questions in life.
  • Follow Your intuition first, before making any decision think it properly through  (not the other way around)
  • Have good friends, who will help You to come back on Your path, when You are wobbling. 
  • Have great teachers, who will inspire You. 
  • Leave your comfort zone & take a break from your normal life.
  • Follow Your personal values in Your life as well as in Your career without compromising them.
  • Follow the signs
  • Give back


CEMS Talk concept:

  • Every CEMS Talk is dedicated to a unique topic related to life and career in today’s world. 
  • Speakers are chosen based on their level of experience and relevancy for a chosen area. 
  • The audience is built from CEMS students and alumni, both Czech and international. 
  • The main purpose of CEMS Talk is to share real, authentic and honest stories and thereby inspire members of the CEMS Community in their future life and business choices

Who were our three speakers?


Dagmar Goldmannova: Philanthropy consultant and project manager


Dagmar has left her corporate career in order to do what she loves - helping others in a meaningful way. She was working on projects in many countries in Africa, Asia and eastern Europe. Since December 2016, she is leading a philanthropic consultancy company back in the Czech Republic.

Her main advice for others: Be the one, who is deciding about Your life. Let things come to You. 

 

Jakub Stransky: Spontaneous and inspiring financial expert


Jakub's dream was to serve a local community. He has been working in a local Czech production company, studied PhD, lived in Lyon, taught CEMS subjects at the university, joined the Institute for the examination of totalitarian regimes and recently is enjoying his sabbatical - i.e. parental leave. 

His main advice for others: Live the life that you want to live. Have great people around you.



Valerie Kozelska Schafer: Socially conscious entrepreneur


Valerie has managed to combine her great business talent with the deeply rooted wish to help and support others. During her MBA studies in Taiwan, her and her husband, have started to build their social enterprise. Living in a small Moravian village, Valerie is managing their own company and at the same time is renovating a historical building in the center of Znojmo.

Her main advice for others: Be open, opportunities will show up. Do what you believe in. A life is too short to waste it. 

  


We thank to our exceptional speakers for their time and effort as well as to all attendees for joining this great evening.
We are looking forward to seeing you at one of our next events.
Pavlina
on behalf of your CEMS Alumni Board Team
Blog :: Facebook :: LinkedIn
PS: Thank You for Your positive feedback shared during and after the event :)

E.g. One of the many reasons why CEMS is a great choice: The frequent and insightful events with Alumni. Shoutout to the Alumni Team for organizing this talk! 
Florian, current CEMS Student

15 Oct 2017

Membership benefits

Dear alumni
Have you ever thought of becoming an official, paying member of the association or renewing your membership?

The benefits

There is a number of benefits which you can get by doing so:

  • You get access to the CEMS Student & Alumni Directories currently consisting of 11 000 alumni and 1 000 students.
  • You get access to all global events - e.g. the Annual Events, Career Forum, Waltzing Days, or events organized by professional groups.
  • You get access to online and in-person mentoring as well as the online job market.
  • You will receive the CEMS magazine and eNewsletters.
  • Last but not least: By paying your membership fee you allow the local committee (yes, it is us :-)) to organize more and better events. And - you somehow give back what you get from CEMS.

If you want to know more please let us know or check the CAA website.


Our plan for the next year

In the upcoming year our goal is to increase the number of paying members and thus improve our activities and also re-gain our right to take part and vote at CAA Assembly.

Vojtech
on behalf of your CEMS Alumni Board Team
Blog :: Facebook :: LinkedIn

10 Oct 2017

Impressions from the General CEMS Alumni Assembly 2017

What an impressive team of dedicated, smart and mature people, who can not only discuss, share best practices and brainstorm about future direction of the CEMS Alumni Association but also create a clear strategy, split responsibilities and motivate each other to act upon them.

This is the very first impression that comes to my mind when reflecting on the General CEMS Alumni Association (CAA) Assembly held during the first October weekend in Warsaw.



The General CAA Aseembly 2017 was hosted by the LC in Poland and the Warsaw School of Economics. The participants were CAA global board memebers, CEMS Alumni global team and presidents of LCs. 

The Czech Republic did not take part in this event for several years. Nevertheless it seemed as if we were always represented considering the very warm welcome from all other attendees and the immediate inclusion into the future strategy setting. 




The CEMS Programme is very well known for the highly engaged community of CEMS Students. 

Yet seeing the same level of dedication and commitment among experienced CEMS Alumni reminded me again how unique the CEMS Alumni Community actually is and that CEMS is without any doubt an amazing life-long learning journey.
  


Apart from the intense official programme, there was also space for social gathering and informal get-together. After the weekend in Warsaw I again understood the full meaning of the unbelievable Polish hospitality



What are the key updates from the Warsaw meeting?
  • We have a new CAA Board with Alberto Constans as the new CAA President. There is tremendous amount of experience, expertise as well as the dedication among the team members of the new board team and LC Presidents. 
  • Thanks to the broad CEMS Alumni sruvey held recently, we have objective in-depth insight into the preferences of CEMS Alumni all around the world
  • CAA Board has defined a clear global strategy:
    • Getting the basics right
    • Building strong and unique value proposition of CEMS Alumni  


Which global projects will be Czech Republic contributing to?
  • Delivery of the CEMS Alumni LC start-up package 
  • Driving Thoughtleadership and CEMS Social Partnership
  • CEMS Talk to become a global concept


What are the goals of the Alumni Community in the Czech Republic after the Warsaw event?
  • Increase the number of active CEMS Alumni and work pro-actively with fresh graduates
  • Expand the CEMS Alumni Board Team
  • Continue with regular CEMS Talk and bring them also online
  • Deliver one flagship social event per year
  • Intensify the collaboration with CEMS Club Prague 


What do we need?
  • We need Your help and support. If you are interested in the CEMS Alumni Community and want to join as a new member of the CEMS Alumni Board or rather offer a hand on an ad-hoc basis - please let us know at cemsalumni@seznam.cz
Stay tuned. There is a lot coming in the CEMS Alumni Community :)
Warm regards from Warsaw,





Pavlína
on behalf of your CEMS Alumni Board Team
Blog :: Facebook :: LinkedIn

9 Oct 2017

CEMS Breakfast: connecting CEMS Alumni and Students

On Friday, October 6th, CEMS Alumni and current CEMS Students got together for a delicious CEMS Breakfast at Secret of Raw in Prague. 

The official topic of the day was Digital transformation and its implications on the future career of CEMSies




The whole event was held in an informal atmosphere, so the open discussion between graduates and soon-to be graduates was covering as broad topics as career opportunities, hiking and exotic vacations.

Key take-aways from the event:

  • If you are not 100% sure of what you want to do, choose a career that allows you to experience different functions.
  • CEMS is just the beginning of a truly international experience.
  • Stay connected with the CEMS community after graduation :)


Feedback we have received:

It was great to discuss new ideas accompanied by a delicious breakfast! Kate, CEMS Student

What I found very nice is that Alumni are still interested in meeting CEMSies. Also it was really nice to hear about their experiences from studying and working and career paths. Personally, I was lucky to have met a person from my future exchange university and I got really useful tips. All in all the unique value of being a CEMSie was proven and it was an inspirational morning. Monika, CEMS Student

We are looking forward to seeing you on other CEMS events co-organized by CEMS Alumni Association and CEMS Club Prague,

Florian Brezina (CEMS Club Alumni Representative)
and Pavlina Simurdova (CEMS Alumni President)

on behalf of your CEMS Alumni Board Team
Blog :: Facebook :: LinkedIn

30 Sept 2017

CEMS Breakfast - Digitalization and its career implications on 6 October

Dear alumni
Enjoy the breakfast with current CEMS students and discuss the hot topic of digitalization and its career implications. This event is co-organized with CEMS Club Prague. There is a limited number of available places (for alumni as well as students) so register as soon as possible. For more info you can check the facebook event.

Location: Secret of Raw Cukrarna, Rumunská 265/25, 120 00 Praha 2
Registration: cemsalumni@seznam.czcemsalumni@seznam.cz.

Vojta
on behalf of your CEMS Alumni Board Team
Blog :: Facebook :: LinkedIn

CEMS Talk - Going the other way on 16 October

Dear alumni
I would like to invite you to another CEMS Talk event. This time it will be devoted to cemsies who chose not so typical career path for a cemsie.
How did they end up in the role they are doing now? What are they enjoying and what are  struggling with at their careers? What does the statement "make an impact" mean to the? What kind of lessons have they learnt about life and career choices so far?

Who are the speakers?

Jakub Stransky: CFO at Institute for Study of Totalitarian Regimes
Jakub is an exceptional financial expert. Instead of living in Wall Street, he has been managing finances in a one of the top institutes in the Czech Republic. Before that he worked in a NGO and also taught at the university. Come to explore his story, find more about his motivation as well as learn about the reality of a daily job in a non-corporate sector.




Dagmar Goldmannova: Executive Director at Via Clarita
Dagmar has left her HR career at L'Oreal to lead international NGO projects. In 2016 she founded a company providing philanthropic consultancy. Join our CEMS Talk to explore what is means to manage philantropic consultancy, how corporate HR differs from HR in an international NGO and what working in NGO is really like.





Valerie Kozelska Schafer: Founder at Coelsol & Preserver of Stara pekarna
After working at Henkel, Valerie relocated to Taiwan to study MBA. Back in the Czech Rep., she has founded a social entrepreneurship business importing solar systems and also started to renovate an old bakery house. Which learning from the corporate world can be applied in own CSR business? Why studying MBA can change one's life? How to run business from a small village?


Where does it take place?

At Nová galerieBalbínova 26, Praha 2

Ready to come?

Then sign up at cemslumni@seznam.cz and join us on Monday 16 October at 7pm! Check out the Facebook event.



We are looking forward to seeing you there!

Vojta
on behalf of your CEMS Alumni Board Team
Blog :: Facebook :: LinkedIn

24 Sept 2017

CEMS Talk on the topic Building BIG: What an impressive start to CEMS Alumni autumn 2017!


Three top speakers, engaged attendees, beautiful venue, and great wine tasting created an unforgettable CEMS Talk.


What is the key take away from the CEMS Talk on the topic Building Big?
  • Learn from the best ones: Get the job in a top company in your area of interest
  • Become an industry expert: Understand the business you are in
  • Follow your personal values in your career as well as in your business without compromises
  • Find what you enjoy: Go for it, work on it, stay hungry, humble and persistent
  • Find a gap: Fill it in with a unique offering
  • Grow wisely: No need for rapid jump up
  • Choose great people who are better than you are: Don’t go only for good ones.
  • Be flexible and adaptive: See and use new opportunities that are constantly arising
  • Follow the signs
  • Give back

 

CEMS Talk is an event concept inspired by TED talk:

  • Every CEMS Talk is dedicated to a unique topic related to life and career in today’s world. 
  • Speakers are chosen based on their level of experience and relevancy for a chosen area. 
  • The audience is built from CEMS students and alumni, both Czech and international. 
  • The main purpose of CEMS Talk is to share real, authentic and honest stories and thereby inspire members of the CEMS Community in their future life and business choices.



Who were our three speakers?


Jan Hrdina: an extraordinary entrepreneur

Jan has managed to grow a family owned business into an internationally recognized company, #1 on the Czech market for wooden products. 
His success lies in the combination of:
  • unique product offering, 
  • focus on top quality, 
  • choosing the best people and 
  • following and embodying his personal values such as: fairness, honesty, transparency, family business, ecological approach, giving back. 


Radomir Salitros: a top star all across

Radomir became a VP in an Austrian banking group before he turned thirty. 
With his CV and experience, he could have had easily an amazing and secured career in the financial industry. 
Instead he decided to do what he enjoyed. He moved back to his home town in eastern Slovakia and founded a company producing luxury beds that is one of the top companies in this field internationally.
What is the magic behind? 
  • being transparent and honest,
  • staying hungry and humble, 
  • following the signs, 
  • learning from the best companies and then applying that in own business and 
  • based on his experience not trusting anyone.


Frantisek Peterka – a modern start-up entrepreneur

Frantisek does not see a difference between doing business in a digital or real world. Frantisek has already managed to establish and grow several top digital companies. 
His passion is the first stage of the entrepreneurship journey: building new company. 
Aiming to build a business for his wife, he founded the biggest and most successful shopping platform for kids and mums in the Czech Republic. 
Frantisek’s secret is build upon:
  • his desire for building new solution for customer needs, 
  • being adaptive, flexible and open to new opportunities and 
  • doing business with people he can trust as his family, friends, former colleagues.


We thank to our exceptional speakers as well as to all attendees.
We look forward to seeing you at one of our next events.
Pavlina on behalf of CEMS Alumni Board

PS: We are extremely happy for you feedback, below a few notes:

Hi Pavlina
Just wanted to thank you for a great event on Thursday, I had to leave quite early so didn't have a chance to say it in person Looking forward for more events like that
Nika (CEMS Student)
_________________
Dear Pavlina, 
thank you so much for organizing the event yesterday - we all loved it! 
Kate (CEMS Student)
_________________
Ahoj Pavlíno, 
včerejší akce totální liga, smekám za organizaci a děkujeme za úsilí, které jsi tomu věnovala.Budu se těšit na dalších akcích
Richard (CEMS Alumnus)
_________________
Ahoj Pavlina,
Este raz dakujem za pozvanie a perfektnu organizaciu vcerajsieho eventu. Bol to velmi inspirativny a myslim, ze aj najviac autenticky event zo vsetkych CEMS podujati, ktore som dosial navstivila. Tesim sa uz na dalsie stretnutie. 
S prianim pekneho dna,
Gabriela (CEMS Student)


Pavlína
on behalf of your CEMS Alumni Board Team
Blog :: Facebook :: LinkedIn