Plan of events for January - September 2018

Dear alumni
we are happy to share with you a new plan of our activities.

1. CEMS Alumni Welcome Drink, 25 January
2. CEMS Talk: Managing in Multinationals, 22 February
3. CEMS Alumni Sauna, February
4. CEMS Breakfast (organized by CEMS Club), 9 or 16 March
5. CEMS Family event, March
6. CEMS Talk: Modern managerial syndroms, 22 March
7. Global Alumni Week, 16-20 April
8. CEMS Day at VSE / CEMS Talk, 19 April
9. CEMS Talk: Learning in the fluid times, 19 April
10. CEMS Talk: Czech Republic – competitive or not?, 10 May
11. CEMS Soiree, 7 June

There is some planning still in progress therefore note that you will always find the most recent updates at our Plan of events site.

We are looking forward to meeting you at the events! No matter whether you are a fresh alumnus or alumna or a "senior executive" :-).

Vojtěch
on behalf of your CEMS Alumni Board Team
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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
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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
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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

• President: Pavlína Šimurdová, current president
• Vice-president: Vojtěch Opleštil, current vice-president and former president
• Treasurer: Jan Horáček, current Treasurer
• Regular Board Member: Katarzyna Gołąb, a new person on the board but already helping us :-).

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
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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 December. Please 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 6^th 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

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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

Pavlina, Vojta, Kasia and Honza

Drinks, e-mails, and Thursday - or what alumni prefer

Dear alumni
as you know we have conducted a survey of your preferences at the Soireé and also on-line. We have received 33 responses in total.

The outcomes in brief

• Alumni prefer events where they can more or less formally socialize and share their experiences and views.
• E-mail and Facebook are the preferred means of communications.
• For majority of you one event per month is ok - and you prefer events on Thursday.
• What is most pleasant is the fact that half of you want to give hand to us - the CEMS Alumni Prague Board. We are very pleased to hear that :-).

Check the detailed results below as well as the next steps of the Board.

Detailed results

The results are depicted on the pictures - we believe they are self-explanatory.

Next steps

Myself, Pavlína, and Honza will contact those of you whe expressed their will to take part in the CEMS Alumni activities. Also, we will start drafting the plan of events for the autumn and winter and let you comment on that.
We are really looking forward to utilizing whole energy and aspirations expressed in your answer!

Vojta 

on behalf of your CEMS Alumni Board Team
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Check the brand new issue of the CEMS Alumni Newsletter Czech Rep.

Dear CEMS Alumni,
there is a lot going on among CEMS Alumni in the Czech Republic!

Alumni Survey: we need Your feedback!

Share with us your thoughts about activities for the 2nd half 2017.
It takes up to 5 minutes to fill in the attached survey. There is no need to fill in the survey, if you have done it already during Soiree.
Deadline: 23rd June 2017. Thank you for your collaboration :-)

CEMS Alumni Drink in a cool bar!

Join this traditional unofficial gathering of CEMS Alumni on Thursday 22nd June:
We are looking forward to meeting you at Groove Bar (Vorsilska 6 nearby Narodni trida). The place opens at 7pm as well as our drink starts.
For additional information check the Facebook page.

Update from the CEMS Community: CEMS Soiree 2017 at VSE

• Check the beautiful photos from this great event PHOTOS
• You can also watch the video VIDEO
• And learn about what has been presented PRESENTATION

Pavlina, Vojta and Honza
Your CEMS Alumni Board Team
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Czech Alumni strongly represented in the global CEMS Alumni newsletter

We are happy to see how many great updates in the global CEMS Alumni Newsletter come from the Czech Alumni ;-). The new issue of the newsletter is to be downloaded HERE.

CEMS Roundtable: Students, Alumni, Teachers and Corporate partners brainstorming about the future of CEMS

• What are the current business trends influencing the CEMS Programme?
• What is the experience with the CEMS Programme seen from students', alumni's, teachers' and corporate partners' point of view?
• How can CEMS address current needs of the job market and prepare alumni that will star?

These are a few questions that were discussed during the CEMS Roundtable organized by Vojtech Oplestil and Ladislav Tyll at the University of Economics on 30th March 2017.

Each core CEMS Group (students, alumni, teachers and corporate business partners) was represented by the minimum of 4 participants. The whole program was organized in a very open-minded and informal atmosphere, which gave a space to many discussion and experience sharing.

Below you can find a few notes from the brainstorming evening:

What are top business trends these days? 

• focus on entrepreneurship
• digitalization trend
• increased competition of international business programs
• need of hard skills
• generation Y

How can CEMS address them?

• Building strong CEMS brand by offering excellent life-long education
• Minor specialization for CEMS students
• Increased offer of courses targeting deeper knowledge of technical disciplines
• Practically oriented guest speakers and lectures, e.g. real life case studies

How can CEMS Alumni Association support the future needs?

• Building the CEMS brand by organizing regular monthly CEMS professional events (e.g. Friday CEMS Stage) focused on the hottest topics that CEMS community is interested in
• At least once per year prepare big CEMS Community event with external top guest speakers

In the upcoming weeks, we will be gathering inputs from you, CEMS Alumni, about topics that are the most relevant to you, so we can plan the events for the 2nd half year of 2017 accordingly.

You can also have a look at the video with photos from this evening here

In case of any questions, let us know to: cemsalumni@seznam.cz

Pavlina on behalf of the CEMS Alumni Board Team

CEMS Alumni Association Prague - Election of new Board

Dear CEMS Alumni,

we are pleased to announce that we got candidates for the CEMS Alumni Board in the Czech Republic. In order to appoint the team into the role officially, we are calling for the CEMS Alumni Elections.

VOTING
It is very simple, just send an email to cemsalumni@seznam.cz, where you express that you vote for the full board. Add your full name as well as your email address. We need at least 10 voting members in order to fulfill all official steps. You can vote from today, 10th December till Friday, 16th December 2016.

CANDIDATES
Candidates for the CEMS Alumni Board Team are:

• Pavlina Simurdova for the president role (Pavlina's profila at LinkedIN)
• Vojtech Oplestil for the vice-president role (LinkedIN)
• Jan Horacek as a treasurer (LinkedIN)

PROGRAM
The new CEMS Alumni board team is primarily focused on preparing events that will bring additional value for both CEMS Alumni and CEMS Students as well as on preparing social gatherings, family and sport events.

FURTHER INFORMATION
Due to the change in the Czech legislation, the Alumni team has prepared updated version of the statutes of the CEMS Alumni Association Czech Republic z.s.. For those interested, you can contact Pavlina.

Thank you for your cooperation.

CEMS Alumni Association Prague- Election of new Board members - Applications time

Dear CEMS Alumni,

With the start of the spring 2015, the CEMS Alumni Association Prague (CAAP) is calling for new candidates for its Board who would take over from current board members and continue running CAAP during the next term (1 or 2 years). 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 12 of April. Please address your emails to olga.cigler@gmail.com. We will then constitute the list of candidates per position and distribute it to all alumni on the 12^th of April.

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 check the CZ CEMS Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/66903111641/events/.

Election: The complete list of candidates will be sent via email on the 12^th of April and you will be asked to send your vote till the 26^th of April to an email address of one of our current Board members.

Results + term start: Results will be announced as soon as all votes are counted and the new team can then take over from the old team during May 2015.

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.

Best regards
Olga Cíglerová

Vice president, CAA Prague 2012-2015

Saying goodbye

Dear all
I have already announced the results of the elections.

 

I would like to share with you the last e-mail I sent to all alumni in the president position:

 

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank all board members and people who cooperated with us:

• board members: Olga Nydlova, Valerie Schaferova, Katerina Chodounska, Pavlina Simurdova and Richard Bejlek
• people who supported us by organising various events, bringing some creative ideas and also taking part in the board activities: Vasek Duda, Honza Kubik, Judita Bihellerova, Lucie Zadrazilova, and Klara Miksickova (I hope I haven't missed anyone)
• and also all people who participated at the events - both speakers and audience

 

I would like to give special thanks to

• Richard Bejlek who was a treasurer since the foundation of CEMS Alumni in Prague and was the one who kept the knowledge from previous terms and passed it to the new boards including ours
• also, my big thanks go to Olga Nydlova who, as my vice-presidnet, did a great job both in supporting me in "operational" management as well as organising some of the greatest and most successful events like Networking Dinner or Coaching Seminar.

Last but not least, my thanks go also to David Kolesa and the whole CEMS Club team as well as the representatives of the university Jiri Hnilica, Gabina Bohmova and Martina Fischerova for great cooperation and support.

 

THANK YOU ALL, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN - YOUR COOPERATION MADE THIS YEAR FOR ME EVEN BETTER!

 

I feel honoured to be allowed to do this job. I believe we have moved to a new level especially by organising some quality events which required intensive preparation: Networking Dinner, Networking Seminar, Wine Tasting, Travellers Brunch, Student Profile Roundtable or Meet the Luxury.

 

There were also some other parts of our work which are less visible yet still pretty important: establishing a new shared drive accessible to the new boards with all relevant knowledge, promoting experience with our events among other local committees or obtaining the membership fees from the previous years.

 

If you have ever the chance to participate in the alumni activities do not hesitate - and use the opportunity as much as possible.

 

I will pass my duties to the new president officially on 1 May. After that I will remain in the CEMS alumni world, however I will be the one who rather enjoys the benefits :-). I am looking forward to meeting you at one of the events organised by the new board or at any other cems related opportunity.

 

Best regards

 

Vojtech Oplestil"

And the candidates are...

Originally, I was a little bit afraid of not having enough candidates for the new board of CEMS Alumni Association Prague. Fortunately, the result is different.

8 alumni have taken the challenge and run for all positions:

• Jan Plajner (class of 2011) - for the President position
• Lucie Zadrazilova (2012) - Vicepresident
• Olga Nydlova (2010), Judita Bihellerova (2010), Tomas Mucha (2012), Karolina Stochlova (2012), Petra Pistkova (2010), update: Katarina Paulickova (2010) - Regular Board Members
• Jan Horacek (2011) - Treasurer

Two candidates - Lucie and Olga - are members of the current board so there will be a good knowledge transfer combined with the new "fresh blood".

How can you vote? There are two options

1. At the galla night organised by students and taking place 13 April or "on-line".
2. Or just send an email to Marie Biancon, our former president, list the candidates and indicate whether you are in favour, against or abstain. Please send your votes by Th 11 Apr 6 PM.

I am looking forward to your voting!

Regards

Vojtech

What will be the future CEMS graduates like

I believe one of the roles of alumni is to bring CEMS stakeholders together and let them discuss openly their concerns and ideas.

Therefore, a month ago together with VŠE we organised a roundtable aimed at the following questions.

All relevant stakeholders were present:

• corporate partners (ŠKODA AUTO, HILTI)
• VŠE representatives (programme management + teachers)
• Students
• and us, alumni

Together, 16 people + one child with various backrounds, professional as well life experience and lots of motivation to share their views.

Together we created the following SWOT

What I personally found interesting was the shift from promotion of the programme (which was one of the key issues of the first roundtable in November 2011) towards the academic aspects of the programme. It seems like the core - curriculum and learning outputs - is coming to the fore of attention.

Analysis is just the first part. We moved on and created a list of tasks for all stakeholders.

It will be a responsibility of all the stakeholders to accept their tasks and support CEMS. Alumni will definitely play an active role!

Vojtech

P.S. If you want to see the full presentation please just send me an e-mail.

Profile of CEMS MIM students - a discussion roundtable organized by alumni

UPDATE: The event starts at 17:00.
We believe a part of the alumni role is to help developing the programme we are all graduates of. The best thing we can do is to gather various stakeholders of CEMS MIM and let them discuss openly all the issues the programme is facing and let them take responsibility for its future progress.


Come and join us on 27 Feb.

Becoming a member of CEMS Alumni Association Prague

Hi,

This time I am not posting an invitation to the event organized by CEMS Alumni Association Prague, CEMS Club or someone from alumni, nor offering you the opportunity to lecture at the University of Economics :-).

Beginning of the year is the best moment for registration and payment of membership fees of CEMS Alumni Association.

What are the benefits membership brings has been already written. To recap - it's e.g. discounts on events in the Czech Republic, access to various databases including EBSCO, for some of you the greatest benefit can be the possibility to participate on annual events.

We think, however, that the main reasons for membership in the association are different. It is mainly an expression of belonging to a growing number of students and graduates of all CEMS and what environment CEMS means. Opportunity to study at good schools meet during their studies and after with smart people who have different interests and motivation to do something extra. It also means supporting alumni activities not only on global, but especially on the Czech level.

What do you think? Does it make sense to you? If so, I encourage you to pay yearly (€ 60) or lifetime fee (600 EUR) or its variants for couples. You may pay via cems.org or by using our Czech account (more here).

Together with this and previous boards of CEMS Alumni Association Prague we devoted quite lots of energy to alumni activities, so we would be happy if the number of Czech alumni once again slightly increases and moves the Czech Republic to the front of the peloton.

Best regards

Vojta & Olga, Katka, Lucka, Klara, Richard

CEMS alumni members in Prague - numbers and value

Ever wondered how many alumni are there in Prague?

So far, more than 300 cemsies from VSE graduated in CEMS MIM. Even though tens of alumni have participated in various professional, fun and sport events the average number of CAA members (i.e. the paying members) is just above 17, if calculated from 2007 it is 22.

As we are developing especially new professional activities and increasing the quality of our events we are looking forward to reaching much higher numbers of alumni this year.

To give you an overview of how successful we are in the international context just check the chart below. As you can see last year the Czech Republic was in the middle of the field dominated by Switzerland and especially Germany.

The beginning of the year is the best time to become a member and be a true member of the alumni "family". Even though there is a number of benefits the membership offers, the main benefit is something that is usually not on the list: being a member of a community of open- and internationally-minded persons with similar background yet different personalities, hobbies and careers who can share their experience and enrich you both profesionally and personally. Also, with your membership you help promoting the CEMS MIM degree and thus expand the cems family.



In the following weeks we will update you on the benefits, the planned events of CAA Prague and the way you can contribute. I am looking forward to welcoming you personally at our events and in the CEMS Alumni community!
Vojtech

New Board elected

Last two months brought some big news to the CEMS Community. Beside the farewell with Renata and warm welcome to Gábina as a new CEMS Program Coordinator at VSE, the leading body of CEMS Alumni Board has come to the annual changeover. Since 1st of April there is brand new CEMS Alumni Board.

Who are those people?

Vojtěch Opleštil – President

Vojta has already presented a big drive and organization skills in the Vice-President role that he hosted last year. With his already senior experience in the CEMS Alumni Board, we are happy he decided to be part of the team also this year.

Vojta works as a Senior Consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Vojta is well known for his crazy hobby – winter outside swimming. Beside that he likes visiting art exhibitions and enjoying the taste of good whiskey. Currently, he is also preparing for a brand new role in his private life – in summer he will become father of his first born child.

Olga Nýdlová – Vice-President

Olinka has already proven to be a valuable asset of the CEMS Community while being a member of CEMS Club during her studies. Even though, she considered CEMS as done – at the last stage she decided to candidate for the role of Vice-President, which is a great message for the whole CEMS Alumni Community.

Olinka works as a Project Manager at Cisco Systems. Olinka is a person sparking with energy that simply brings good mood to each society. In her leisure time, she enjoys various activities including social events with friends, sports, travelling, reading&films, piano playing, listening to all sorts of good music and blogging.

Kateřina Chodounská – Board Member

Katka brought to our team a piece of French culture. She is real lady that you can easily imagine sitting in a café at the bank of Sienna River enjoying good wine. As a CEMS student Katka represented CEMS Community in the Czech Republic on the international field as a Student Board Representative.

Katka works as a Brand Manager at Pierre Fabre. No surprise that Katka likes French culture, good food and wine and also exercising port-de-bras and playing volleyball.

Valerie Schäferová – Board Member

Valča brings to our business oriented team a piece of humanitarian mission. Previously, while being a CEMS student, Valča organized different humanitarian events. She decided to put this topic on the table also at the CEMS Alumni Board.

Valča works as Key Account Manager at Henkel ČR. Valča is a friendly and helpful person. She likes enjoying various cultural events as well as active participations in volleyball matches.

Pavlína Šimurdová – Board Member

Pája is extremely energetic and hyperactive person living her life on one hundred percent. During her studies she took twice a role in the CEMS Club. To our team she brings a massive amount of enthusiasm and positive approach.

Pája works as a Customer Logistics Consultant at LEGO (yes – the bricks you know from childhood ). In the free time, Pája is occupied by salsa dancing, running, mountain hiking, theater visits and of course building LEGO.

Richard Bejlek – Treasurer

Richard is the most experienced member of the team – being a member of class 2000 he has been an active alumnus for many years and contributing to the alumni board many times he will take care of our finance. Entrepreneur in solar energy field, passionate alpine-skier Richard recently limited the time he can offer to CEMS because his wonderful daughter Julia was born. However, his knowledge and CEMS soul will be beneficial for the board.

And the candidates are...

...after presenting the call for candidates for our Board the following alumni have taken the challenge:

• Vojtech Oplestil (class of 2007) for the President position
• UPDATE: Olga Nydlova (class of 2010) for the Vice-president position
• Valerie Schaferova (class of 2010), for the Regular Board member position
• Katerina Chodounska (class of 2010), for the Regular Board member position
• Pavlina Simurdova (class of 2010), for the Regular Board member position
• Richard Bejlek (class of 2000), for the Treasury position

That seems to be a good mix of experience (Vojtech has been a member of the Board and Vice-president during the last two terms while Richard has been a Treasurer and Board Member for many terms) and new "fresh blood" with great experience from very active CEMS Club which can achieve great results.

However, as you can see we are still looking for a candidate for the Vicepresident position. So how about you? It is a great opportunity for enhancing your skills, developing your business networks and also enjoying the CEMS spirit of fresh and ambitious minds.