CEMS Dach Forum:
In the first week of June 2020, the first ever digital CEMS DACH Forum was hosted by the University of Cologne. For four days, 40 motivated CEMSies from 10 different CEMS universities discussed the topic “Naturally Profitable: Strategies in the Face of Climate Change” in lectures and workshops with corporate partners.
- Planning Stage
When the CEMS DACH Forum 2020 Team formed and set out last summer to start organizing the DACH Forum, the world looked very different from what it is today. The Fridays for Future movement had just gained foothold globally and reached an unprecedented scale with four million striking on September 20, 2019. On this backdrop, the team started asking themselves: With all this public awareness and pressure building up, what are the implications for companies and doing business? What are the Strategies for Future? In the following months, the team coordinated lectures, corporate workshops and social events, marketed the event across multiple communication channels including Facebook and Instagram and welcomed more than 100 applications in February.
- Execution Stage
However, similar to other regional CEMS events, the DACH Forum also was affected by the Covid-19 outbreak. Following the closing of campuses in the CEMS community including that of the University of Cologne, the forum was switched from an offline to an online format after consulting with all relevant stakeholders. In fact, the team was able to keep both lecturers and corporate partners on board for the digital format and drew up a concept within eight weeks to create a digital forum experience.
Within the CEMS DACH Forum 2020 Team, 18 UoC students collaborated actively under the lead of Christine Schmitt (UoC & HSG) and Julien Bayet (UoC & UCD) in five working groups, namely corporate, academics, marketing, people and socials team, across the planning period. Each of those teams came up with innovative ideas to create an engaging digital forum experience including the Virtual Speed Recruiting organized with corporate silver partners and the Virtual Running Cocktail event on the closing night.
- Reception
The forum was well received among students, lecturers and the eight participating corporate partners including five gold partners and three silver partners. The great and insightful discussions, lively interactions, and engaging conversations that ensued between CEMSies, lecturers, and corporate partners in the more than 56,000 minutes spent on Zoom within the four days prove that the first-ever digital DACH Forum was a great opportunity to rise to the challenges posed by this global health crisis as a community.
Thank you to our supporting CEMS Corporate Partners, Bain & Company, Daimler, E.On Inhouse Consulting, Kearney, McKinsey & Company and many more.
We are looking forward to seeing you in St. Gallen in 2021!
- Contacts:
Find more information on cemsdachforum.com or follow us on our Facebook and Instagram accounts to get more news about this event. Do not hesitate to contact us.
Main organizers: Christine Schmitt, Julien Bayet
