MBAs looking forward to their reunion

THE SEVENTH EDITION OF THE EVENT THAT BRINGS TOGETHER MBA GRADUATES AND ONCAMPUS STUDENTS WILL BE HELD IN APRIL FOR TWO DAYS OF MEETINGS AND TRAINING. NOT TO MENTION RECREATION.

After your last classes, your MBA adventure comes to a close, you say your good-byes. But you stay connected to this experience for the rest of your life and want to meet up again, to talk about your aspirations and the goals you've achieved. This is the spirit that prompts SDA Bocconi MBAs around the world to come back to Milano for the MBA Reunion. For the class groups included this year, it will be held during the weekend of 14-15 April. Like past editions (this will be the seventh), it will be an intense two days of continuous learning and networking. With this year's topic, Managing Paradoxes, MBA graduates and the program's on-campus students will attend sessions and workshops with speakers including the President of Global Biscuits and Snack at Campbell Soup Company, Luca Mignini. Because, says Francesco Daveri, Director of the Full-Time MBA, "the idea of bringing together various generations of former students who are now successful executives for both high quality events and opportunities to simply have fun is in the nature of the MBA community."

But what makes the draw to the MBA Reunion so strong and special? "There's an important reason," says Giorgio Diglio, MBA 32. He will be coming back for the second time, after attending the first edition (class groups are invited every five years). "Because the same class is recreated just like it was back then, with the same spirit that energized it. This is the difference between the MBA Reunion and all the other networking events." Giorgio, who says he would do an MBA again "once a year," can't forget those intense months. He describes them as "full of experiences, connections, exhausting, lived to the max. And that's why I would recommend it to all young people." To get ready for the Reunion, he started making plans with his former classmates last fall: "We started early because this marks the tenth anniversary since the end of our MBA. We're all very excited."

Sara Carnevale Schianca (MBA 22), HR Manager in the Corporate Division at Intesa Sanpaolo, agrees that the event is an opportunity to get the team from that time back together: "I did my MBA 20 years ago and our international class group would get together every year. With the Italian class group, we didn't see each other as often and this is a great opportunity for everyone to meet up." This will be her second time at the event as well. "I love being able to attend continuous learning events," she says.

And what about on-campus MBAs participating for the first time? "This is a completely new kind of event for me," says Stefania Bistoni, International Enterprise Manager at Vodafone who is currently attending the EMBAWE 2. "I think we'll experience lots of sharing of ideas and networking, that goes beyond Italy's borders." During these past nine months of her Master, says Stefania, "I've already been able to appreciate the strength in sharing the values, even personal ones, that make this experience unique. These values transcend what we're doing and they're about commitment and responsibility towards society."

This latter aspect can also be seen in another feature of the MBA Reunion, their support of merit. The MBA Reunion Scholarship Fund has been active since 2013, and has already supported five people's participation in the SDA Bocconi MBA.

Source: ViaSarfatti25