More than 50 alumni of the Graduate School of Management of Saint Petersburg University (GSOM SPbU) building their careers in Great Britain, Germany, Netherlands, France, UAE and other countries gathered at the online reunion of the Business School Community. The event became part of the 30th anniversary celebration of GSOM SPbU. 

Olga Dergunova, Deputy President and Chairman of VTB Bank Management Board, GSOM SPbU Director, gave a welcoming speech. She talked about the Business School's latest news and achievements: triple crown international accreditation by AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA, higher positions in rankings, development of research activity and the school's inventions in the sphere of teaching in the digital environment.

Then the participants discussed the development of the Business School and the Alumni Community in mini-groups. The discussion was moderated by Konstantin Krotov, GSOM SPbU alumnus and professor at SKEMA Business School. The participants searched answers for the following questions: 

• What is the modern Business School like as viewed by the business and academic community?

• How can the Business School support the alumni?

• How to develop local alumni communities?

The event was concluded by an informal conversation.

"The most valuable thing about such reunions is a chance to get to know better GSOM SPbU alumni from other countries and meet like-minded people. Europe is not that big — we are all neighbors! It is great to have friends here who to turn to with various questions and share the experience I gained living in Portugal. It was very interesting to know the Business School's nearest development goals. It means a lot to me how GSOM SPbU evolves. I left Russia in 2022, so I can't participate in offline events. I would be happy to join online reunions or offline meetings in Europe," — shared Anna Shorina from Portugal, 2016 Bachelor's graduate.

"Participation in the international alumni community meeting is important to me due to several reasons. The first one is the feeling of being united with a great number of talented people from all around the world. The second one is maintaining connection with the Business School — I don't see learning at GSOM SPbU as a completed step, it is interesting to search for the new ways of interaction: speaking at the events, teaching, mentorship and so on. The third one is exchanging ideas on how to develop local alumni communities, discussing the meeting formats that alumni from other regions prefer. We discussed the last topic in detail. It will be interesting to the Dubai community," — believes Dimitry Zaytsev from UAE, 2015 doctorate graduate.

The Business School's alumni work in more than 50 countries. In GSOM SPbU community we support the beginners with their relocation and

maintain close ties within the region. We are glad that the alumni keep in touch with the Business school, are willing to support its projects and take part in the development of local communities.