Fabien Curto Millet, Winner of the St. Gallen Wings of Excellence Award 2005
The 35th St. Gallen
Symposium
was an extraordinary experience and without a doubt one of the best memories in my life.
I
had a very strong feeling that I was taking part in something exceptional and that it was important
to live it intensely. Luckily, it seems all the other participants had set out to do just that. The
atmosphere of the St. Gallen Symposium is difficult to describe. There is a common consciousness that
time is flowing in the sandglass and that moments, friendships and dialogues need to be seized. It is
not often that one can exchange thoughts with 200 students from all over the world and 600 or so business
leaders, as were assembled in St. Gallen on this occasion.
And
extraordinarily, the promised dialogue really did take place – with fellow students and seasoned executives
alike. This happened without the barriers or the restraint that we are all so used to in our “daily
lives”. I was very touched by many of the discussions I had then, with people emotionally and intellectually
committed to the topics under discussion. I have learnt immensely from my time in St. Gallen and I returned
from it enriched and with broadened horizons. I am extremely grateful to all the people I met for this.
The
ease with which dialogue took place is very much to the credit of the organisers. I had never witnessed
such excellence in organisation. Every detail was taken care of, thus allowing participants to devote
their full attention to the symposium. I notably think of the student hosts and helpers, who were wonderful
and full of generosity.
The speakers, the
smaller-group sessions and the themes discussed fuelled an intense exchange of ideas within the formal
programme as well as in the corridors. I remember in particular a session on African development as
one of the best I ever attended. The pre-conference programme (with à la carte visits to beautiful Swiss
landmarks) allowed participants to break the ice and start building bridges between them. Those bridges
do outlast the conference. The symposium has given me friends around the world with whom I am still
keeping in touch.
The St. Gallen Symposium
deals with very serious and important topics uncommonly well and is especially good at promoting fresh
thinking on them. At the same time, the symposium retains a human dimension that is characteristic and
gives it its full elevation.
It is unforgettable.
