Networking New York 2011 – visiting swissnex Boston
Networking New York 2011 – visiting swissnex Boston
Written by the Students from the University of Applied Sciences NW
In the early morning on April 20 a group of twenty one students accompanied by three professors from the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland were rushing with great excitement to swissnex Boston. Swissnex Boston has organized two days full of compelling activities for the student group on the topics NETWORKING and INNOVATION. These topics are being addressed throughout the student project “Networking New York 2011”. The project comprises a one-week preparatory seminar in Olten, Switzerland as well as a two-week on-site seminar in Washington, D.C., Boston and NYC. The project is design by students for students and was initiated in the year 2007. The overall goal is to identify and convey the advantages of professional networking to participants, helping them plan their personal strategies. |  |
Pascal Marmier welcomed the group at swissnex and challenged them to introduce themselves using their elevator pitches. Thereafter they started the two days with meeting Prof. Felix Oberholzer, Associate Professor at Harvard Business School. They were given the unique opportunity to discuss the differences between US and Swiss education systems and the impact on business with Prof. Oberholzer. They concluded the morning with a campus tour of Harvard University. Their guide was Fabian Froehlich, a current Swiss graduate student at the Kennedy School of Government. They also had the chance to talk to Fabian about his experiences studying at Harvard. The group resumed the afternoon with a speech by Mr. Louis Alexander, Director Alumni Education for MIT. They were able to gain valuable insight into MIT’s approach to Alumni networks. Following the discussion with Mr. Alexander, the students enjoyed a session on networking in the U.S. with Mr. Craig James, the founder of Sales Solutions and an expert on the topic of networking. To conclude the first action-packed day in Boston, the group attended a Strategy Session organized by The Boston World Partnership and swissnex Boston. It was impressive to hear experts’ opinions and suggestions on Mr. Barkat’s business strategy. He gave the Swiss group a real-world insight into entrepreneurship in the U.S.
The second day of our program in Boston started with workshops at MIT, Sloan School of Management on crowdsourcing. The speaker Andrei Villarroel, Postdoctoral Fellow Technological Innovation & Entrepreneurship for MIT, gave the group the opportunity to analyze swissnex Boston and to find new ideas and tools for swissnex to expand its activities. It was impressive to see how the approach of crowdsourcing leads to unexpected results in conformity with Mr. Villarroel’s quote “Together we create more.” To conclude the visit at the MIT, they toured the campus guided by a Swiss postgraduate student. In the late afternoon, Ovidiu Bujorean, co-founder and president of mypaperlessbills.com, gave last practical tips in order to prepare them for the next session at The Venture Café. The American way of getting in contact with new people turned out to be straightforward and direct. Implementing this, the members of the delegation connected with dynamic start-up entrepreneurs from different industries at the Venture Café.
Many thanks for hosting us and for the great organization.
