Once more, an initiative from Instituto de Empresa alumni has attracted the attention of a prestigious magazine such as Business Week.

Four graduates from IE Business School International MBA program have launched Smart Wine Selections (www.smartwineselections.com ), a business project centred on the export of Spanish wines to Mexico and the U.S.

The founding of the company has appeared in Business Week on the 15th of February, in an article referring to the increasing importance of the wine industry and of career opportunities for MBA graduates that this industry can offer.

It all started last summer, when Juan Galí (IMBA05), one of the founders of the IE Gourmet Club, got the idea of creating this wine exporting company, taking advantage of the group´s contacts in the industry and the framework set by Instituto de Empresa with the AVE projects.

Juan Galí and Miguel Ángel Pérez from Spain, and Mexicans Isaac Ezban and Jerónimo del Villar, all of them IMBA05, decide to implement this project when they finished the International MBA. The team was perfect to set up a business related to wine: Miguel Ángel´s family has vineyards in Valencia, Juan Galí´s partner is American and works exporting Rioja to the U.S., and the Mexican graduates had good knowledge of international trade and contacts in Mexico who could help them introduce Spanish wine there.

Hence the 4 joined forces and decided to draw up a business plan for their company, Smart Wine Selections, with the help of professors from Instituto de Empresa Entrepreneurship Department. The company is now taking its first steps, offering a dual service to Spanish wine producers who are not large enough to have their own network in the U.S., and to American importers, to whom they offer what Miguel Ángel Pérez, one of the company´s 4 partners, describes as "a high-quality selection of wines and unique varieties of grape that would otherwise be extremely difficult to find, because they are only grown here in Spain".

Miguel Ángel is confident that the US market is open to new flavours, and is demanding "wines that are a bit different from the usual cabernet-sauvignon, with a hint of cherry or a full-oak flavour" he explains. That´s were Spain comes into play, with its potential, its exquisite wine-producing processes and its different varieties of indigenous grape. "They call Spain 'the sleeping giant' ", he adds, "because we are the world´s third biggest wine producer and our quality is constantly improving, but we have a long way to go where the international market is concerned".

Read the article in Business Week Download file

The Partner's Club welcomes Silvana to the IE Familie! On February 16, 2006 Martha and Paulino celebrated the birth of their new baby girl Silvana Romero Aguiar. Beautiful baby and beautiful mother are both doing well, as the proud father will attest. Congratulations!

El Club de Partners le da la bienvenida a Silvana a la familia IE! El 16 de febrero Martha y Paulino celebraron el nacimiento de su primera bebita Silvana Romero Aguiar. La hermosa bebé y la hermosa madre están perfectamente. Felicitaciones!

Madrid, 1st February 2006

Educational Session: What are the career opportunities in the banking and finance industry?

Today, the Finance Club and its members, Rodrigo Loureiro Teixeira, Cyril Mazeau, António Rus, Liam Hennigan, Deepanjan Mukherjee, Michele Fioretto, Judit Csikasz, Nino Gonjilashvili, Pierluigi Giverso, Andrew de la Mare and Nicolas Zapata (all from the IMBA2006 except António from Master on Financial Management) have held a "very successful educational event" according to the hundred of participants present. This second event organized in collaboration with the Careers Management Center was following the presentation of Mr.Roman Edelman, VP from Clariden Bank, the 23rd of January, on the careers in M&A and Private Banking.

The objectives of the education session were mainly to provide students from all programmes with a clear view of the different career opportunities that the banking industry has to offer.

To illustrate these differences, the Finance Club invited top-notch professionals from different and most representative areas of the finance industry:
* Oscar Martinez-Cubells, Managing Director of SES Iberia Private Equity (Private Equity)
* Gonzalo Azcoitia, Managing Director of Merrill Lynch Financial Managers (Fund Management)
* Joaquín Casasús Olea, Managing Director of Abante Asesores (Private Banking)
* Carlos Robles, Associate at Merrill Lynch (Top tier M&A deals)

These experienced panelists, with the help of the moderator Tomás Gutierrez, Professor at IE and Director at One to One Capital Partners, brought a very interesting insight over their professional experiences and answered a very complete set of questions that kept the debate very dynamic and interactive. Above all, they pointed out clearly what are the set of skills that an IE student needs to be qualified in the finance marketplace: past professional experience, business oriented, outstanding analytical capabilities especially for M&A and a strong set of interpersonal skills which reflect the flexibility to adapt to different situations on a day to day basis.

During the closing speech, Rodrigo Loureiro Teixeira thanked all the participants for their precious time and announced the future events of the Club, such as the Workshop with a Manager from a Social Responsibility Fund from an International bank, the Private Equity Day or the already famous Investment Banking Day.

The members of the Finance Club joined the speakers for a family picture

The IE Partners' Club welcomed on January 2 new members for their club. This represents the second intake of members as the new students from other programs arrived in January. As well as introducing themselves, current members, all partners from the International MBA students who arrived in October and November of 2005, got together to present their initiatives to the newly arrived. The club keeps on growing and so does its program!

The IE Partners' Club has, as part of its list of activities, an Almodóvar Movie Series. These take place regularly in the IE premises and all partners and students are invited. With this series, the Club tries to present an interesting view of Spain and, in many cases, of Madrid through the eyes of one of the most internationally renowned Spanish directors. Almodóvar has developed through his career a very characteristic style both thematically and aesthetically. It is through this that international students can be exposed to the "other" Spain and local students can enjoy some of the classics. The Partners' Club has played so far "Pepi, Lucy, Bom y las otras chicas del montón" (the director's first commercial film) and "Mujeres al Borde de un Ataque de Nervios" (the first movie to reach international exposure). Hope to see you for our next movie!

They gathered together for an evening of drinking, dining, dancing, and picture taking!

In the spirit of the Christmas holidays, friendship, and camaraderie IE students along with friends and family gathered at Café Oliver on their final day of classes for period 1. This celebration was organized by the IE Partners' Club (Joana Pérez and Renée Culver) and was attended by students from all branches of IE programs. With the establishment filled to capacity, this evening presented a unique opportunity for the students to mingle with fellow business students, as well as faculty and staff, from outside their groups, sections and degree programs. The evening was a fun filled collection of food and drink, music and dancing and new associations. It was the perfect way to begin the holiday break.

27th Oct 2005 played host to the first-ever Marketing Day at the Instituto de Empresa. Over 90 students from the MBA, Marketing Masters and IMBA heard guest speakers from three companies discuss the latest trends and real life marketing issues in their firms.

The event was organized by the Marketing Innovations Club: Yvonne Husmann (President); Ana Cristina Hammond; Ana Patricia Santos Nabeto; Cheryl Chuang; Deborah Waldmann; Giacomo Proli; Isabell Stein; Kevin Couthino; Kostas Tsoukalas; Sabine Eckhoff, and with special support of Nic Hawkins, who set-up the Clubâ's new website www.iemarketingclub.com

Santiago Íñiguez, IE's Dean, opened the Marketing Day with some insights into the increasing importance of marketing in creating innovation for business. This inspiring contribution was followed by the introduction of the three guest speakers and their companies: Gonzalo Brujó, Interbrand Executive Director for Latin America and Spain; Juan José Marco, British American Tobacco Head of Consumer Dialogue Area; and Luis Gasset, Folli Follie General Manager. Each speaker hosted a workshop where they explored the impact of their work and how their businesses were overcoming current marketing challenges. Students were able to meet and discuss career pathways into the industry and learn about the opportunities that the companies had for MBA graduates. These insight sessions led back to the main topic of the day, a discussion, chaired by Miguel Costa, IE's Director of Corporate Marketing, on: "Below-the-line vs. traditional advertising: How to achieve a fully integrated marketing communication". The discussion drew on the speakers'real-life experiences. Coming from industries that whether for reasons of consumer preference or regulation (as in the case of BAT) have to resort to ever-more creative promotion solutions, the speakers shared their realities where marketing practitioners need to stretch their imaginations to engage consumers who have become adept at avoiding traditional media. The event provided an opportunity for IE students to question the speakers on their methods and the ethical scope of below-the-line as means to target consumers.

In his concluding remarks, Miguel Costa thanked the speakers and their companies for continuing to invest in the development of IE students and looked forward to the Marketing Day becoming a regular addition to the IE calendar.

Organizers of the MKT Day, participating speakers and IE Dean gathered for a family picture at the opening of the event

El pasado miércoles 23 de noviembre se celebró la charla "Por Qué creer en Colombia desde España". El objetivo de esta charla fue presentar, a través de ejemplos concretos y mostrando cifras contrastables, que Colombia se ha convertido en los últimos años en uno de los países más atractivos de la región latinoamericana para la inversión extranjera y el turismo. Buscaba también demostrar que es posible confiar y hacer negocios y proyectos exitosos en Colombia desde España.

La charla "Por Qué Creer en Colombia", fue presentada por el fundador y director mundial de la Fundación "Yo Creo en Colombia" (http://www.yocreoencolombia.com), Pedro Medina, quién cuenta con la experiencia de haberla presentado ya en 55 ciudades de 11 países del mundo y que ha llegado con sus palabras a más de 300.000 personas, incluyendo CEO's, Jefes de Estado, diplomáticos, científicos, profesionales, estudiantes y público en general.

Se aprovechó la oportunidad para potenciar la creación del Club de Amigos de Colombia en el IE y así explorar todas las posibilidades de network que un club de estas características podría generar.

On November 24, Thanksgiving Day, the IE Partners Club got together to celebrate with their student partners, other Americans, and anyone who felt like "giving thanks". The event was a "Pot Luck" and every member brought a typical dish from their country or just something they wanted to share. Dishes varied from Guacamole, to Samosas to Chocolate Mousse and although there was no giant turkey, we were thankful to share the evening together.

Joana and Renée, coordinators of the Partners Club 2005-06, organized a delightful night at IE for Thanks Giving Day

Sunday, November 27, 2005 marked the "the first of many" IE soccer tournaments. IMBA2005 hosted two guest teams: the promising IMBA (Newbies) 2006 and the seasoned IE Veterans. Prior to the tournament there was much talk about whether IMBA2005 had recovered from its last two international tournaments as well as whether the IE Veterans still had it in them, having dominated past tournaments (MBA Olympics in Paris, Spring Fling in Barcelona and the "big cup" in a the USA). The stadium at Canal Isabel II was filled almost to capacity and dedicated fans endured temperatures reaching 3ºC.

Some of the players of the IMBA2005 team also played with the IE Football team at the MBAT of 2005

The cup began with the IMBA Newbies challenging the IE Veterans. The IMBA Newbies came out strong, very strong, and quickly showed the "old men" that they meant business. Until the middle of the match, the kids were able to keep the score respectable, only down 2-1. Pretty good considering it was the first time they were playing together. As the IE Veterans put in a third goal, the rhythm of the match quickly turned to their favor and they easily found the net again, bringing the final score to 4-1.

Next, and with only a very short rest, the Newbies found themselves facing IMBA2005. A much more even match, both teams showed lots of intensity as they battled to the very end. The final score: IMBA2005 2 - IMBA Newbies 1.

Lastly, the IE Veterans returned to take on the host team. Both teams began strong; IMBA2005 continuing with their momentum from the previous match and the IE Veterans relieved from a nice little rest. Juan Gali had an incredible opportunity exhibiting awesome precision (he found the goal's frame wonderfully), but almost just wasn't quite enough in this game. The IE Veterans had the chance to put the game away, but Alberto's penalty shot hit the goal post. It has been rumored that Alberto just wanted to show Gali that he could hit the frame just as well. The IE Veterans were, however, able to finish on another scoring chance and walked away with a 1-0 victory and with the copa IE.

IMBA 2005 would like to thank all those who participated in the tournament and send a special thank you to the fans!