Audencia Around the World : thank you, see you in 2020 !

AUDENCIA AROUND THE WORLD : THANK YOU, SEE YOU IN 2020 !

The 8-day alumni journey has ended, but that feel-good factor continues. Audencia Around the World was 30 events in 8 days on 5 continents with 450 participants, but also:

- 5️⃣6️⃣ alumni involved in the organisation 
- 2 events on a beach, 1 on a boat, 1 in socks (easy, the yoga and digital detox in NYC) 
- 1 live gathering with online participants, 1 brainstorm session 
- inspirational guest speakers including a secretary of state, a cinema producer, Girls in Tech Dublin, an entrepreneur who is opening a zero waste supermarket 
- 3️⃣0️⃣6️⃣ new accounts created on Together, the alumni website

There are some great stories to tell; a huge thank you to all those Audencia Alumni, interns and students who contributed to the success of our first "Around the World". 

See you again next March, same idea, more cities!

And, in the meantime, if you want to make sure you know when and where alumni events are taking place, access the alumni directory, read the_mag alumni magazine, then activate your account on 
➡️ together.audencia.com

Short video, click on the picture or link !
 

 

A small but perfect brunch in Copenhagen...

To prolong the gatherings just a tiny bit longer, Audencia Around the World headed to Copenhagen on Saturday. Alongside alumnae Habiba Laraki (IMM 09) and Sophie Labrosse (EMBA 10), two other Audencians joined them for a relaxed and informal brunch.

According to Habiba, the atmosphere was warm, around a Danish brunch, in comfortable sofas, reminiscent of the famous “hygge”, the local way of life synonymous with warmth, safety, comfort and protection that is so popular in Denmark.

Habiba says “I felt that the group was happy to get to know each other, and reconnect indirectly with the school through this meeting.”

Photo gallery available here - Copenhagen

 

The 8-day Audencia Around the World journey came to a close in Shenzhen at the SABS (Shenzhen Audencia Business School) campus. This was an opportunity to celebrate the graduation of the first cohort of Shenzhen students who received their degree from Dean, Christophe Germain.

With nearly 300 participants from all horizons, including alumni, interns and students, the second annual SABS China Alumni Night was a huge success. A special thank you to Qing Sun (IMM 18, Shenzhen alumni ambassador) and Nicolas Constant (GE 02, CFO Asia, Tape à l’Oeil) for representing the alumni community.

Photo gallery available here - Shenzhen

 

Audencia Around the World headed to Casablanca for a cocktail reception organised by alumni ambassador Otmane El Amrani (GE 87) and Yassine Belhoussain (GE 11), for around thirty people.

Othman El Ferdaous (GE 03), Secretary of State for Investment to the Minister of Industry, Investment, Trade & Digital Economy was the guest of honour. “We are proud and grateful for him taking the time to interact with the guests.” Says Yassine.

A very pleasant alumni evening that took place at the Gray Boutique Hotel & Spa, a prestigious 5-star hotel in the centre of Casablanca.

Photo gallery available here - Casablanca

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Audencia Around the World headed to London and The Driver pub in the heart of King’s Cross. Over forty alumni answered the invitation from Florence Alix-Gravellier, head of Audencia Alumni, and Tristan Pelloux (GE 15), London ambassador.

The theme, of the gathering was “never stop daring” of course. Two guest speakers shared their stories and explained to fellow alumni what daring meant to them. Alicia Bulbeck (GE 17) presented her "Zero" project, a zero waste grocery store she opened in Wimbledon three weeks ago with her husband. Julien Planté, a TV producer chose to leave Audencia before graduating to follow his daring spirit and land his dream job.

This UK event allowed local alumni, some of whom had been outside the Audencia community for a long time, to get to know each other. “We hope it will be one of many more events in the future,” says Florence Alix-Gravellier. "I was truly delighted to be part of the London stopover of our Around the World journey. London is our biggest international chapter and I heard lots of daring stories from alumni there. I want to thank everyone for attending and being part of this worldwide event. I now dare Tristan to keep the Audencia globe rolling in London. No doubt he will be doing as fantastic a job as he did organising last night.”

Photo gallery available here - London

 

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“Audencia Around the World” stopped off at the Bistro des Arts in Dubai overlooking the marina. The bistro is well known for its quintessential Parisian atmosphere and authentic French cuisine reminding participants of the time spent in France.

An international and diverse group of alumni got together with the organiser, Snehanshu Verma (GE 12) and the evening was a great success. “We discussed how to make the Dubai Chapter more active and organise networking events,” says Snehanshu, before adding “I hope there will be many more such events to come.”

Photo gallery available here - Dubai

 

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Manila’s first ever alumni gathering took place in the Makati district in a French-style bistro. It all started when Singapore-based alum Samuel Jeanblanc (GE 14) realised he couldn’t make it to the Singapore stopover of “Audencia Around the World” on 21 March because he would be in the Philippines for business at the time. Samuel seized the opportunity to organise an afterwork in Manila instead.

Alumni from different programmes joined him for this highly successful inaugural event. “An excellent evening that allowed four Audencians from different programmes to meet. It was a real pleasure to meet alumni and widen our network from France to the other side of the world.” Samuel concludes.

Photo gallery available here - Manila

 

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Audencia Around the World stopped over in Vietnam where 20 alumni responded to ambassador Laurent Tam Nguyen’s (GE 91) invitation to a gathering in Ho Chi Minh City.

The evening took place at Chanh Bistro Rooftop Saigon, a restaurant that blends French and Asian flavours. Laurent remarked “There was a great turnout.

More than 20 talents gathered to share good food and experiences. Amazing to meet all these smart individuals and professionals and see how Audencia has really changed their lives and careers. Impressive! Long life to the Audencia Around the World Initiative!” See you again next year.

Photo gallery available here - Ho Chi Minh City
 

 

On Wednesday evening, Audencia Around the World returned to the United States, but on the east coast. New York Ambassador Eva Jean (GE 04) took up the daring challenge to organise a digital-detox event together with Laurene Hamilton (GE 09).

Eva and Laurene led the group for a yoga session alongside a disconnection challenge, as a fun and original way to leave smartphones, laptops and other emails behind.

For this very reason, it was quite a challenge for our community manager to post about the event today.

Anyway, we still managed to get back in touch with Eva and Laurene who said they are proud to have organised the first-ever Audencia Alumni afterwork… in socks! “And everyone enjoyed it”, reported Eva after 14 hours away from all digital devices.

Photo gallery available here - New York

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Audencia Around the World continued its European tour with a stop in Ireland organised by ambassador Brice Dufour (GE 11).

Brice was joined by four inspiring guest speakers; Coral Movasseli, Managing Director of Girls in Tech Dublin, Laurence Campbell, Performance & Leadership Coach, Célestine Falise (GE 11) Head of Sales Southern Europe - Middle East - Africa at Datadog and Marine Laurent (GE 18) Digital Marketing Consultant at Google.

During the evening, the all-woman panel shared their thoughts about daring. An animated and enriching discussion followed.

Brice was delighted to see the group's enthusiasm for this initiative, their engagement in the discussions, but also extremely inspired by our panel which showed us that we are all bold, and that the first audacity is to follow our intuition, the result counting less than the - journey -  .”

Photo gallery available here - Dublin

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The Audencia Around the World gathering in Nairobi took place on Wednesday. When organiser Sewu-Steve Tawia (GE 01) had to rush to Ghana on an unplanned business trip, fellow alumna Victoria Gathogo (MBA 16) stepped into the breach and ensured that the meeting could take place.

An evening that allowed for a cheerful reunion, as Victoria points out. "Always great to meet other people from Audencia in Nairobi, because it is very rare and reminisce about school life, Nantes and where life is taking us. Super nice and super interesting."

Photo gallery available here - Nairobi

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Audencia Around the World marked another stop in Asia, as Tokyo was on the road of our global journey.

Baptiste Bassot (GE 03) was at the helm alongside Mark Gobet (GE 10) for an afterwork including a live chat with students and Alumni worldwide to answer all questions about what it means to live and work in Japan.
 
A beautiful experience that should be repeated later on according to the two Frenchmen. Baptiste Bassot adds: “A lot of first's for audencia in Tokyo: first AMA, first "audencia around the world", first time meeting for several alumni, and first time joining alumni parties for others. Everyone onsite and remote had fun, and most importantly promises to meet again shortly were exchanged.”

Photo gallery available here - Tokyo
 

Audencia Around the World moved to German time for a few hours in Munich, where alumni welcomed their counterparts from EDHEC and GEM to the journey. And they were not the only guests since Uwe Supper, Audencia’s favourite German teacher, travelled to Germany to attend the event organised by ambassador Amandine Greisner (GE 11).

“A rich and interesting evening” according to Amandine who was delighted to welcome Uwe Supper to Munich. “What an evening! Audencians in Munich dared to widen their horizons by sharing drinks and conversations with alumni from GEM and EDHEC. A huge thank you to all participants, and a special dankeschön to @UweSupper for his visit. This was definitely the beginning of a new chapter in our book!”

Photo gallery available here - Munich

 

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Audencia Around the World stopped in Mumbai. No less than 13 alumni got together with Nushad Merchant (IMM 16), originally from Mumbai, now working (with Audencia Alumni) and living in Paris, but back home for a vacation.

The gathering was held at Shizusan Shophouse & Bar, and allowed alumni allowed to get together for a drink and some South East Asian food.

Nushad, Volunteering Officer with Audencia Alumni in Paris, turned out to be acting ambassador for the night. He reports: "This was my first encounter with Audencia Alumni in Mumbai and it will be one of many. Such an interesting exchange of what Audencia meant for all of us and how life has changed since then. Thanks to all who could make it."

Photo gallery available here - Mumbai

 

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Among others, Geneva, as one of the strategic Audencia Alumni chapters, is a keystone on our journey Around the World! About thirty people gathered at the Café Jules Verne in the heart of the city: a beautiful address with an incredible atmosphere.

Flavie Lorre, President of Audencia Alumni traveled all the way from Paris to attend the event, as a guest of honour. Our Geneva "dream team" as we like to call them - Rodolphe Morvan (GE 90), Thomas Desbuquois (GE 15), Nicolas Jeantet (GE 02) - led a creativity session as an introduction to the afterwork.

 Some great ideas emerged and Thomas adds: "The Geneva Chapter enjoyed participating in this global event. Our brainstorming has also helped us to come up with ideas to help alumni and our community grow."

Photo gallery available here - Geneva

 

Hong Kong, and the Artist House, was the next stop of Audencia Around The World on March 18. Nearly 70 alumni joined Hong Kong ambassador Benoit Zoetelief (GE 14) and Qing Sun (IMM 18).

Attendees were made up of local alumni, interns, and France cohort (Nantes & Paris) of Executive MBA students on a learning trip in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. This was a terrific occasion to foster links and enlarge networks.

A touch of nostalgia for local alumni as Nicolas Brunau remembered his arrival in HK as did Benoit Zoetelief and Brice de Matharel (GE 12), who landed in HK on the very same day over five years ago.

Photo gallery available here - Hong Kong

 

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On the very same night, Madrid was also a highlight spot of the journey Audencia Around the World, with 19 Alumni attending the event and representing various classes of year from 1973 to present.

François Blin (GE 87), Audencia Alumni Ambassador in Spain, organized the gathering at “La Piscine” the first co-working café downtown Madrid, created and managed by Estelle Marie (GE 04), former President of the Audencia Alumni Association. La Piscine is used to host major networking events especially when it comes to talk about daring and developing new businesses.

Much fun and pleasant were the key words to describe the event for all participants. François Blin also highlighted the international side of the initiative, saying “Audencia proves this week that its network is truly Around the world, thanks to all of you!”

Photo gallery available here - Madrid

 

The journey continues on Sunday with Audencia Around the World marking a stop on the western coast of the United States.
What a day it was. Former students and fans gathered for a landmark event in San Francisco. Lucie Gouanelle, our ambassador, said: "On St Patrick's Day, no gold bullion for us, but to act and clean the beach with the Surfrider Foundation while raising awareness, exercising and talking. »

Then the participants met up around a fun brunch outside with warmth and music, in the shade of the mythic Golden Gate Bridge! How nice was it to do good together while having fun in the sun and the sand.

Photo gallery available here - San Francisco

 

The gathering in Algiers was a « sweet » surprise for attendees. Organiser Christophe Richard changed venues in the days before Audencia Around the World came to Algiers. This didn’t stop alumni heading across the city to the Hotel Mercure in the bustling university area of Bab-Ezzouar. Attendees were mainly from the Executive MBA programme with ESAA in Algiers, and the event was a perfect opportunity to catch up on the latest network news.

Photo gallery available here - Algiers

 

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Meanwhile, halfway across the globe in Beijing, alumni were entering the spirit of Audencia Around the World. For its biggest turnout yet, this dynamic alumni chapter gathered at Home Plate for a barbecue meal.* At the end of the meal, the inflatable beach ball, with its world map, symbolising the journey around the globe, was thrown enthusiastically from one alum to another. « This is just part of the journey, for our next event, we aim to have over 20 participants » says BJ ambassador Katherine.
*This isn’t the first time that the Beijing chapter has held events on a similar food theme to the Amsterdam chapter - is this serendipity?!

Photo gallery available here - Beijing
 

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And, in Toronto, ​the inaugural gathering of alumni was a huge success. « We spent a great time discussing our experiences in Toronto and remembering our years in Nantes » says Helene who co-organised the event with fellow alumni Siddharth. More importantly, the group chemistry worked and the date of the next event has been set. Remember, you heard it here first... watch this space for more information about the team of Audencians who will climb Toronto’s CN Tower on 14 April to raise funds for WWF!

Photo gallery available here - Toronto
 
The launch of Audencia Around the World took place on 15 March in the city of Chengdu in China. The Chengdu alumni chapter was launched with a champagne reception and a presentation of Audencia's global network. Vice Dean Andre Sobczak and Professor Rhona Johnsen announced the nomination of Nick Gong as ambassador.

Here's wishing a long life and lasting connections for this newest of alumni chapters!

Photo gallery available here - Chengdu