Reunion and Rematch

If you thought things would slow down after we had the last class on Friday, think again. At least it has not been the case so far.


Saturday morning was kicked off with a Career Services session where four alumni told the stories about their job search and answered questions from the class. From left it is Patrick Wang (MBA2007), OJ Skjelten (MBA2007), Mathieu Pointeau (MBA2008) and Thomas Buus (MBA2007). The overall message of their experiences were: 'Be focused and be prepared!'

The afternoon was spent doing mock-up interviews with a number of alumni who had volunteered to act as interviewers. The aim was to practise our skills of being interviewed and get some feedback, so we know what to improve in the future. And so we did! I had my interview with Dr. Peter Walti from the MBA class of 1979! Although his class is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Dr. Walti still attends the interviewing session every year. That is the commitment of the IMD network.



Until this point we had occasionally met alumni or had contacted them using the alumni database in connection with our startup projects, but we had as such not really felt the proclaimed strength of the alumni network. That changed completely Saturday evening, where the school hosted a networking event for our class to meet the alumni. More than 200 people showed up! Time flew by until my back and my feet started telling me that I had been standing around talking for five hours straight! For many of the alumni this was also a small reunion with many of their old classmates. Judging from the many hugs that were exchanged they had clearly made friends for life during their year at IMD.

Today Sunday was the day for the long awaited rematch between the 2008 and 2009 classes. On 16 April this year the 2008 class had suffered a humiliating 5-0 defeat so there was much at stake.



The 2008 team including some reinforcements.



The 2009 team including reinforcements from the 2003 and 2007 classes.


The game is on! It was very even and after one and a half hours of play the score was 2-2. In the last minutes before the whistle the 2008'rs attacked with a quick rush to the goal line by Janislav Marinovic [Chile]. Janislav put in a cross to Paul Holmes who scored the winning goal to 3-2. There are, however, witnesses that claim that the ball was out of bounds before it was sent across and that the goal therefore should be annulled. In the spirit of the game the 2008'rs were given the benefit of the doubt and thereby the victory.

This incident has certain similarities to the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final where England met West Germany. In extra time Geoff Hurst hits the crossbar and the ball bounced down on or just behind the goal line. England was awarded the goal by the linesman, but despite much subsequent technical analysis and discussion the two nations have never been able to settle the issue. You can read about it here or watch the video here.

The 2008 and 2009 classes do not want any ambiguity about the results, so a new date was immediately set. On 28 August the two teams will thus face each other again in what likely will be the final showdown!


After the match the partners had arranged for a lunch around the ping-pong tables in Parc de Milan.


Here it is Ryo Abe [Japan and MBA 2009] getting a bite.


3 x MBA2007! In the middle is Sergiy [Ukraine] who plays with us every Sunday. I unfortunately never got the names of the other two gentlemen.


Angela Akamine with a tired son!

Thank you to all of you that coordinated, cooked, transported and in any other way helped make this event so great:
Andres Akamine
Angela Akamine
Barbara Martin (MBA office)
Angelika Vytogiannis
Myriam Vacher
Aude Tavernier
Beate Gensel
Kanika Lakhwani
Chris Eaborn