Business Today Conference

Business Today is a non-profit organization founded in 1968 by Steve Forbes.
The purpose of this organization is to connect prominent leaders from the business world with top students from all around the world, to help develop the leaders of the future.
In light of this, they have been organizing an annual international conference in New York for the last 48 years which is attended by students from different countries around the world.

At the beginning of November, both of us, Nimrod Goldstein and Rotem Maniv, second year students double-majoring in Computer Science and Entrepreneurship, had the privilege of taking part in the 48th international conference and representing Reichman University and Israel.
This year's theme for the conference was "Community through Business". Other than us, 100 students participated from a wide variety of countries such as: Sri Lanka, Mexico, India, Uganda, Great Britain, Romania, Vietnam, Ukraine, Rwanda and many more. Throughout the conference, a wide variety of panels and keynote speaker lectures were held, but we chose to focus on three key events we attended and the main message we took from each of them:

1. Meeting the CEO of Mitsubishi - On the first day of the conference, we were chosen to participate in a special seminar, the only off-site seminar that took place during the conference, held at the Mitsubishi offices. The seminar was led by the CEO of the Mitsubishi International Corporation, Mr. Jason Stevens. During this seminar we learned about Mitsubishi's activities and the challenges they face, with the main emphasis regarding the CEO's role in the processes. Afterwards, we were given a tour of the offices and learned about the rationale behind the interior design and build, which directly affects the corporate culture and promotes collaboration.
The main message we left this conference with was the importance of ESG (Environment, Society and Governance) in decision-making at Mitsubishi. This area is reflected in every decision the company makes and contributes to the company being much more environmentally "friendly" in order to meet the recommendations of the 2015 Paris Agreement.

2. Executive seminars - throughout the conference, twice a day, we were divided into small groups of about 10 students together with a senior manager from the American Industry. In each seminar, we met with managers from various fields such as finance, consulting, media, real estate and more. The most interesting and prominent part of these seminars was the atmosphere of openness and intimacy that was created. The CEOs spoke to us as peers, and the students felt comfortable asking any questions they had. The main message we took with us from the seminars is that, as we know, it is important to specialize in specific areas, but the more important part is the way you lead and the principles that guide you. The common denominator between most of the managers who spoke with us was their management principles - management of people and not of tasks, combined with vision-oriented and long-term thinking.

3. Networking - beyond the fascinating content that was conveyed, one of the most significant parts we took from the conference was friendly and professional relationships with leading students from around the world. There was a big emphasis on networking at the conference, to the extent that an entire hour was dedicated to walking around the conference hall and "speed dating" the other students to break the ice and get to know each other better. The main message we took from this is that the basis for a successful professional relationship, is a strong interpersonal relationship. The fact that we also spent time together both during the day and in the evenings, contributed to the fact that we continue to keep in touch with some of them to this day, and we mutually and frequently help each other.

In conclusion, we were very privileged to take part in this extraordinary experience which contributed a lot to our growth, both on a personal as well as on a professional level. We feel very fortunate to have had the privilege of representing Reichman University, and the State of Israel at such a significant conference in front of representatives from the best universities around the world. We are sure that the things we learned and the connections we made throughout the conference will be of great use to us during the coming years at the beginning of our entrepreneurship journey.