On June 1, an anniversary online reunion of the 2014 graduates of the master’s program of the Graduate School of Management of SPbU “10 Years After!” took place.

More than 30 Master's alumni from 19 countries joined the meeting to find out what the Business School and the Alumni Community are living today, share their career stories, and learn about what inspires and fills each other's lives beyond professional fulfillment.

 

Evgenia Filippova, 2014 graduate, initiator, and one of the organizers of the meeting:

The idea that it would be great to organize a reunion started to come a year ago and was inspired by other GSOM SPbU online and offline meetups.

Now, on the one hand, it seems to be easy to keep in touch with each other, and on the other, it is so easy to get lost in some everyday worries, the flow of information, new challenges, and opportunities that communication is inevitably lost. 10 years is a great reason to restore this connection.

I am glad that we managed to gather so many guys. It turned out to be a really sincere, warm meeting, and the impression that these 10 years did not seem to have happened does not leave me until now.

Alexey Konovalenkov, one of the organizers of the meeting, graduate of the master’s degree in 2014, Best T&D Group, Client Director:

Of course, we follow each other on social networks, but offline meetings are always more productive: you can ask questions, exchange thoughts and experiences about something.

For example, we discussed who managed to launch their business (spoiler: there were no super-successful cases), how to leave hiring from companies with a big name to private practice, and this is also not easy… We have a common background, and this allows us to better understand each other's starting point in order to adequately assess the path we have traveled during this time. Someone needs support, someone needs recognition, and someone needs reconciliation with others. All this happens during such meetings. Hence, a warm and lamp-like atmosphere is born, which was noted by all participants.

Anna Rogozina, organizer of the meeting, graduate of the master’s degree in 2014, SegmentStream, Customer Success Manager:

Classic alumni meetings are always offline. Our year graduates were scattered all over the world, and it would be difficult to meet all together live. So, the idea came up to hold a meeting online.

It's hard to believe that 10 years have passed: almost everybody looked the same, but everyone has accumulated a lot of interesting stories! A very kind and warm reunion turned out!

The graduates noted friendly and supportive atmosphere of the event and expressed their intention to continue to meet and keep in touch with their alma-mater. And at the end of the meeting, the participants staged an interactive game: they wrote their thoughts online in one word and eventually collected a whole "cloud".

The next reunion of the main educational programs is planned in September in full-time format in Moscow.

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