On Thursday, April 1st, 2021, the Intercultural Management (ICM) program held its first Alumni Aperitif event. 

The completely virtual gathering brought together nearly 40 alumni and students of different class years, where they had the chance to catch up, network, and share their experiences with their peers and course leaders during the two-hour semi-structured event.

Once all the participants joined, the event was introduced by Chris Timmons, a first-year ICM student and part of the event organizing team.

“Thank you all for taking the time to get together and solidify our ICM community,” said Timmons. “Our intention is to allow current students and alumni to spend some time together face-to-face (or rather screen to screen) to learn more about their experiences since ICM, how the program has shaped their journey, and what knowledge they would like to pass on. ”

During his introductory remarks, ICM Course Leader David Bousquet thanked everyone for joining.

“I am very pleased to see familiar faces this evening, it definitely brings back good ICM memories, and I am very curious to hear what you have been up to and what you have been doing for the past months and years,” said Bousquet. 

Right after the opening remarks, the participants proceeded to the organized breakout room sessions, where students and alumni engaged in discussions structured by guiding questions. The three sessions proved to be rewarding experiences enjoyed by all participants, where they shared their past and current experiences, career prospects and tips, and their best ICM memories.

“I think that this event is a wonderful opportunity to establish networks between former and current ICM students, and see how things have changed while some others remained the same,” said one alumna.

After the three breakout sessions were concluded, Chris thanked all participants for joining, after informing them about the open breakout sessions set by class year that everyone could join as they wanted.

“Thank you everyone for attending this evening; it was a pleasure to have you all here speaking and participating in some great discussions. Considering how well this evening went, I hope that we can continue to have events like this so that the ICM community stays in touch and continues to learn from each other, ”Timmons said.

Before virtually clinking our glasses to the screen, ICM Course Leader Alexander Frame announced during his concluding remarks that he was very pleased learning about former students ‘journeys and current students’ aspirations.

“I have been going on about [organizing] the Alumni event for quite some time, so it was indeed great seeing it happen,” said Frame.

This event was organized by the ICM Communications Team, part of the Intercultural Management (ICM) program.