Armed with fancy clothes, sparkling smiles, and witty repartee (and Sauder name tags) our class “put on the ritz” and did our best to make a good impression on the alumni, business leaders and other guests who attended the Leaders Reception at the Terminal City Club on February 15th. Overall the mood in the room was light and energetic as we worked the room, trying to find the person who would identify us as “the person they’ve been waiting for” (or at least someone they could tolerate through an internship!).
After long enough to take advantage of a decent proportion of the free Heineken on hand, the room was ready for a presentation from a Calgary-based manager from Mackenzie Financial. He spoke at length about the state of the world and the need for leaders. Overall it was an interesting talk, full of facts and analysis, that exhorted us all to seize the day and strive to become the leaders of tomorrow.
The rest of the evening was an exciting blur of suits, hors d’oeuvres, exchanging cards, and trying to appear as good as a BCC-edited resume can make one sound. Great thanks are due for Denise, Ian, Mary, Holly, Elena and all the other staff of the BCC that worked really hard behind the scenes (for months) to bring all the guests there for us for one night. It really gave us the best possible platform to show ourselves off with some pizazz. Once the last of the chocolate covered strawberries disappeared (or really, once the open bar disappeared) the majority of the class made our way over to Steamworks and kept the party going until the wee hours. The Business Leader’s Reception definitely stands out as one of the most memorable social evenings of the program to date.
Garth Yule