Review of SKOLKOVO's 5th Anniversary - 5 years is just the beginning!

On September 17, SKOLKOVO Business School Celebrated its 5th Anniversary.

The celebration event was divided into two parts: an official part (more interesting to the press) and an open programme (Open Doors Day) for all comers.

Traditionally the International Advisory Board of SKOLKOVO business school held a meeting on that day. At the end of the meeting the third group of SKOLKOVO MBA students received student ID cards.

Once the meeting was over, Ruben Vardanian met journalists to make an important statement: he handed the post of SKOLKOVO President to another founding partner - Andrey Rappoport.

Ruben Vardanian, who has been President of SKOLKOVO since its inception, will remain on the Coordination Council and head its Committee on International Cooperation and Strategic Partnerships.

Then a solemn part took place at the Congress Hall, where an opening speech was made by Ruben Vardanian and Igor Shuvalov, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and a member of SKOLKOVO’s International Advisory Board.

Ruben Vardanian emphasized that SKOLKOVO business school served as an example of how one could achieve everything, if he desired it passionately. He finished his speech saying "5 years is just a the beginning".

After that, special awards from SKOLKOVO – SKOLKOVO High Five Award – were granted.

Let’s take a brief look at nominees and winners:

I. 5 MOST LIFE-CHANGING MEETINGS at SKOLKOVO
1) 2005 – a decision to create SKOLKOVO business school. The winners are Vladimir Mau, Andrei Volkov, Ruben Vardanian
2) Beginning of 2009 – EMBA students Mikhail Kokorich and Yuriy Eremin started a business partnership
3) SKOLKOVO MBA student Artemy Subbotin described an idea of his project to Alexey Mordashov. Now it is an established business.
4) A sketch of SKOLKOVO Campus - Mikhail Kusnirovich, David Adjaye, Leonid Mikhelson.
On the way to the airport David Adjaye said: “You’re much crazier than me”.
5) Cooperation with a legendary sailboat Kruzenshtern – Vladimir Volkogon, Andrei Volkov.

II. 5 MOST INQUIRING EXECUTIVE EDUCATION CLIENTS
1) EVRAZ Group S.A. 2) TNK-BP 3) «United Aircraft Corporation» (UAC) 4) JSC FGC UES 5) Gazprom

III. 5 STUDENTS WHO FIRST BELIEVED IN SKOLKOVO
1) Natalia Barshchevskaya 2) Yuriy Masalkin 3) Julia Vakhidova 4) Anton Gardilev 5) Olga Arsentieva

IV. 5 FACULTIES FROM THE STUDENTS’ LIST
1) Elizabeth Sadova 2) Pierre Casse 3) Vikas Tibrewala 4) Zeger Degraeve 5) Moty Cristal

V. 5 MOST POPULAR SPEAKERS AND EXPERTS
1) Tatiana Tarasova 2) Mikhail Shamolin 3) Vladimir Pirozhkov 4) Mumin Azamkhuzhayev 5) Natalia Kasperskaya

The solemn ceremony finished with an important event – the second group of Executive MBA alumni was granted with diplomas.

At 3 p.m. SKOLKOVO Open Doors Day started. The most visited was Thomas Gad’s open lecture concerning Branding 2.0. Thomas Gad said that branding was a management of perception in people minds and described how that perception could be managed. At the same time a few round tables were held with such topics as entrepreneurship, fast-growing markets, corruption problems etc.

After that the programme was decorated with special Performance and Masterclass "The Art of Flowers". Then SKOLKOVO guests dispersed at various thematic workshops and master classes.

Moreover, throughout the Open Doors Day SKOLKOVO programmes were presented and a Campus tour was offered, which was very popular. SKOLKOVO visitors could also see SKOLKOVO alumni’s projects at a special “Projects fair”. There were also special SKOLKOVO gift shops selling a variety of products with the business school brand. The programme was finished by a film exhibition.

We thank all guests and hope that you liked it at our Campus! We did our best to make the day unforgettable and interesting!