With this blog I want to give you some insights into the Master in Management (MiM) program at the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT) from a current student’s perspective in order to help you finding a suitable Masters.

Last Friday I got an e-mail from the ESMT MIM-Office with the following subject line: “Your last Friday update-mail” – I was immediately asking myself “Why is this the last update-mail?” Once I opened the e-mail, it reminded me that my MIM-cohort will graduate next Friday. At the cost of repeating myself: time flies!

Extra-curricular projects during the Master‘s in Management

Last time when I wrote these words, time was passing by quickly due to the different parts of the MIM-curriculum. However, this time, it is different. Even though all of us were busy exchanging our learnings from the internships, Social Impact Projects, specialization tracks, and writing our theses, one extra-curricular project dominated our MIM-experience: the DigitalFuture Summit at ESMT Berlin.

ESMT student support

It all started with a request for feedback from ESMT: “What are you missing and/or what should be improved at ESMT and/or in the MIM-program?” Besides other ideas, we pitched a student-for-student conference, that is a conference entirely organized by MIM-students designed for fellow university students. ESMT’s president, Professor Jörg Rocholl, immediately bought into this idea and guaranteed full support from ESMT side. But where should you start the organization process sitting in front of a blank paper? The first thing what you need is a topic and a name. An initial brainstorming yielded the breakthrough. With ESMT standing for the management of technology, and Berlin as one of the world’s most vibrant and dynamic cities and a European hub for digitalization, we decided to centre the topic around digitalization – more precisely, the future of digitalization. And that’s how the name “DigitalFuture Summit at ESMT Berlin” was created.

DigitalFuture Summit

The summit’s goal is connecting the upcoming generation of leaders with the future of digitalization. Participants have the opportunity to engage with leading companies, apply their knowledge in hands-on workshops, and network with fellow participants. We want the DigitalFuture Summit to provide a unique learning experience by offering exciting panel discussions, inspiring keynotes, insightful master classes, and hands-on workshops. This sounds all well and good, but putting theory into practice is sometimes a hard process. Forming a team, defining work streams and goals, setting up the infrastructure, designing a logo and a corporate identity, programming a webpage and app, acquiring partners and sponsors … you see where I am going with this. After many hours of work, the first DigitalFuture Summit took place on June 23, 2017. The line-up included leading companies such as Allianz, Daimler, Facebook, Google, McKinsey & Company, and Microsoft. With over 300 participants from over 40 nations and more than 90 universities, the 2017 summit was a highly diverse event.

Hands-on mentality

You might ask yourself why I am elaborating extensively about the DigitalFuture Summit – the reason is twofold. First, the summit perfectly showcases the hands-on mentality of ESMT and ESMT’s trust in its students. From initial student feedback and ideation to execution in under nine months and everything student-led. Second, as the 2017 summit marked the successful inauguration of an annual conference series, I want to raise awareness for prospective ESMT MIM-students – it is now your task to organize the DigitalFuture Summit at ESMT Berlin! Trust me, it is a truly rewarding opportunity to learn, grow, and put theory into practice.

Cheers

Benedict (LinkedIn)