With the changing of the leaves and the influx of cooler weather on Columbia Business School’s (CBS’s) campus comes a series of student-run conferences that give both first- and second-year students the opportunity to expand their knowledge across a variety of disciplines via panels and keynote speaker addresses, and to network with like-minded students, conference sponsors (who are often also big CBS recruiters), and even industry professionals.
In October is the popular Social Enterprise Conference, during which speakers discuss the ways leaders and managers can use strategy as a tool to maximize social change and how organizations can incorporate a broader spectrum of social gains into their organizational strategies, among other issues.
The CBS Healthcare Conference follows. The 2014 conference featured the chairman and COO of Roche Pharmaceuticals and the president and CEO of Intermountain Healthcare as the keynote speakers.The Marketing Association of Columbia (MAC) Conference is up next and, like the Social Enterprise Conference, usually enjoys a packed house. The MAC Conference has focused on such topics as the elevation, enhancement, and personalization of the brand experience for today’s mindful consumer.
Conference season at Columbia continues into the second semester and features the India Business Conference and the Columbia Women in Business Conference. CBS often touts its New York advantage—students have the business world right outsidethe school’s door, ripe for exploration. Obviously, however, this advantage does not mean that CBS neglects to bring the business world to its students.
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