The Carnegie Club: IDEA’s Conference

Last Friday, 5th October bore witness to the Carnegie Club of St Andrews’ inaugural IDEAS Conference – a day billed as unmissable for that august group who, like your humble reviewer, would consider themselves the “leaders of tomorrow”.

The prospect of a long – and, for those feeling the after-effects of Golf Place, potentially hungover – day was somewhat softened by aerial lyming of the sunlit Upper College Hall. Indeed, the Carnegie Club’s close relationship with the University was evinced by the day’s welcome address, given by none other than our very own Vice-Chancellor, Dr Louise Richardson, a keen supporter of the group’s activities, which have previously included a forum on her own field of expertise, the post-9/11 international landscape.

Support from an impressive group of sponsors, including Ernst & Young, the Careers Centre and St Leonard’s College – roughly half of attendees comprised post-graduate students – was reflected in the calibre of the conference’s speakers. An itinerary of morning panel sessions, followed by a generous (and again, appropriate – only the strongest of constitutions could have managed more than light sandwiches) and opportune networking lunch downstairs, led on to an afternoon of more workshop-based activities that focused on skills applicable to interviews – led by respected neuro-linguistic expert Gwyn Day – and strategic thinking, the latter including several business case studies conducted under the auspices of two IBM executives.

The presence of that rarest of St Andrews meteorological phenomenae, warm sunshine, might have proved too alluring for some; not, however, for those who made up the intimate audience of just under a hundred attendees. The prospect of surfing West Sands or choosing shoe combinations for Opening Ball was trumped, in this instance at least, by the invaluable experience on offer from a full day which included plenty of the eponymous ideas, on topics ranging from the changing digital commercial landscape to investment possibilities in Africa.

In a change to the usual raked seating – and accompanying proscribed ideas of “audience” and “speaker” – used at such events, the Carnegie Club opted for a more relaxed style of interaction, reflected in the unusually long period of time allotted to question-and-answer sessions with the professionals present. Indeed, the organisers had considered every angle of the day, and dealt extremely well with the usual last-minute hitches, including speakers dropping out at the eleventh hour – flexibility being one of the key attributes of a successful businessman, of course.

The relatively small body of the Carnegie Club, led by President Mona Tiesler and Chairman Matthew Short, ably assisted by experienced (and – I can say this, it’s The Stand – attractive) financial guru Fernanda Almanza-Gutierrez, equally well-qualified (but less attractive) marketing whiz Hendrik Geiger, and only half a dozen others, had obviously spent a considerable number of months putting together the pieces of what was an informative, invaluable and impressive day.

Even the influx of golfers to town and the resultant impossibility of booking any hotel rooms for speakers was overcome by the innovation of simply putting everyone up in Edinburgh and adding a boozy dinner in the capital into the bargain. But then, you wouldn’t expect anything less from the leaders of tomorrow.

The Carnegie Club’s IDEAS conference deserves to become an annual event, not least off the back of its being organised by such a newly-established and concentrated group. If you missed out on your fix of business acumen, never fear – they’ll be presenting, in conjunction with everyone’s favourite, the GIG, an evening with the world’s largest investment banking boutique, Evercore Partners, this Thursday at the Rusacks.

I’ll be there, and I’ll be probably be at MiniMood afterwards. This Friday I don’t have to get up for 9am.