Nidhish Nair, MBA (2016) and Sonja Hiemisch, IMBA (2016) were chosen to join in the MBA World Summit 2016 in Miami during the Winter Term.

100 of the most inspiring MBA students from all across the world are pre-selected and invited to this event, which provides a forum for dialogue about best practices, international connection and a high-impact exchange of ideas.

Only three students from Canadian B schools were chosen this year, two of which were from Schulich. Nidhish and Sonja put down their thoughts and insights from the experience, and share with us below.

What is the Summit about?

This year marked the 3rd edition of the event in a spectacular destination- Miami.

Selected participants had to pass a two-staged application process consisting of a short online form and a video interview in the second round. For 2016, 3000 applications were received and after the process 100 most inspiring students were chosen.

It’s an exciting honour. The summit is about creating the environment for great people to connect and build a lasting global network. All participants become part of the Global Leadership Community, which is a community of all the inspiring future leaders since the MBA World Summit began three years ago. A member of the GLC has an opportunity to participate in all future MBA World Summits and local meet-ups.

Selected companies are also chosen to be part of this grand event and candidates can choose to interview with their preferred companies.

 So what was our experience like?

  • The first couple of days had very inspiring sessions on topics ranging from sex tech to fin tech. These sessions gave us a different perspective of various innovations being carried out in different geographies

Above: One of the workshops we attended was called ‘The most important discussion you never had in college’ held by Benjamin Fernandes from Stanford. This session was voted as the most inspiring talk at the event

… And chatted with Benjamin the next day over lunch at the garden party

  • The sessions ran parallel to some pre-arranged interviews by the companies participating in the summit. The candidates get to choose to interview with their preferred participating companies and get to also interact with the representatives at the casual dinner parties in the evenings.
  • Everybody is truly interested to meet new people! Even when running into each other in the elevator or when checking out of the hotel, the openness and curiosity of the attendees was truly mind-blowing. It was not like any other ‘networking event’ I’ve ever attended – the spirit was really unique.
  • The summit is a great mix between student-run sessions and fun activities. The sessions help broaden our thoughts more than what our coursebooks could, and it is an immersion into the cutting edge innovation ideas and first hand experiences. Also after three days, we had new connections from New York to Barcelona to Hong Kong and Sydney.

Above: Cultural expedition on day 2: The Wynwood Art District

What Insights did we gain?

  • We got a glimpse of what awesome people across various business schools were doing.
  • We built strong connections with future leaders all across the world.

And 4 reasons why you should apply to the MBA World Summit 2017:

  1. Expand your global network
  2. Get inspired by a diverse range of incredible people
  3. Meet company representatives in a casual setting
  4. Be part of the GLC (Global Leadership Community) which comprises of inspiring leaders from all the previous MBA World Summits and get an opportunity to participate in the future MBA world Summits.

 The next MBA World Summit will be in Berlin from March 1-4.

Applications are now open!

[button link=” http://www.mbaworldsummit.com/mba-en/apply-now/apply-now”]Apply NOW![/button]

Above: Group shot with all attendees and organizing team