The mission of the IE entrepreneurs Club is to continuously provide its members with access to knowledge and experiences from professors, alumni, students and other professionals. The added value from the club will contribute to successfully create and develop businesses by stimulating the exchange of ideas and networking among its members.

The main objective of the entrepreneurship club is to foster the creation and development of new businesses by IE students and alumni. In order to meet this objective the club organizes activities and events that include:

- Promotion and organization of the "Speakers' Series" in which successful entrepreneurs share their business experiences and knowledge with IE students.
- Organization of Investor Panels to supply IE students who aspire to become entrepreneurs with advice on writing business plans that attract financing resources. Organization of lunches between local entrepreneurs and club members that are looking for the exchange of points of view and networking.
- Establishment and development of links between entrepreneurship clubs of top Business schools to promote networking and exchange of ideas.
- Bringing awareness and promotion of social entrepreneurship and corporate responsibility.
- Creation and development of the IE entrepreneurship club's website, a source of information and meeting point on the web for IE Entrepreneurs and club members.
- Development of permanent relationships between members and IE alumni, the school, other Entrepreneurs and Investors through membership
- Cooperation with the Entrepreneurship Department to help IE in the organization of IE's Venture Lab (the school's incubator for business start-ups developed by IE students and alumni).
- Support IE with the organization of the IE Entrepreneurs Day, bringing entrepreneurs, investors and advisors together by featuring conferences, discussion panels and fostering networking.

OUR VISION
We aim to further enhance IE's image with the consulting industry, educate students about the consulting business environment, and maintain an ongoing relationship with professionals in the leading consultancy firms.

OUR GOAL
- Establish, strengthen and maintain relationships with the consultancy firms and professionals.
- Educate IE students about the consulting market and industry by organizing events that attract speakers and experts in the field.
- Train students and equip them with the necessary skills to survive and compete in the consulting industry and career interviews/cases.
- Enrich students' understanding and exposure to the different consulting career options and areas (strategy, management, IT, HR, etc.)

OUR ACTIVITIES
2006 will represent a key year for the growth of this club, as a significant set of activities will take place in the forthcoming months. These will include:

IE Consulting Day. A full-day event hosting consultants from top firms to discuss a hot subject in the market. A series of mini workshops to follow an initial speakers' panel (to be hosted by IE Dean).
A series of mini informative sessions/lectures during the year on various related subjects.
"Know-how" sessions (to be organized with IE Careers Center) to train students on how to "crack a case" and "mock/simulation interviews".

WHO WE ARE
The IE Consulting Club seeks to help IE students understand, prepare for, and develop careers in the Consulting industry. Please contact any one of the members below for more information about the club.

Andrea Ghizzoni
(President and Treasurer) S2-IMBA ahizzoni.imba2006@alumno.ie.edu

David Millán Planelles
(Vice President) S2-IMBA dmillan.imba2006@alumno.ie.edu

Faisal Al-Kadi
(Vice President) S2-IMBA fal-kadi.imba2006@alumno.ie.edu

Deepanjan Mukherjee
(Communication coordinator) S3-IMBA dmukherjee.imba2006@alumno.ie.edu

Andre Naef S4-IMBA anaef.imba2006@alumno.ie.edu

Daniel Hanna S4-IMBA dhanna.imba2006@alumno.ie.edu

Laura Trueba MBA latrueba.mba2006@alumno.ie.edu

Luis Felipe Muñoz Vildoso S3-MBA lfmunoz.mba2006@alumno.ie.edu

Nicole Shillingford S4-MBA nshillingford.imba2006@alumno.ie.edu

On the 23rd of February, James Dress, International Group Product Manager for Freixenet flew in from Barcelona to give a presentation to the Marketing Club.

James focused on how marketing has been used by the company to make it so successful: it is Spain´s largest cava producer. Using what we are currently learning in our marketing course, James put into context how Freixenet uses the 4 Ps -product, price, place and promotion-.

For example, we learnt how the average person in a supermarket spends 2 seconds in choosing a product; so placing at eye-level becomes important. In terms of advertising, its Christmas adverts in Spain are well-known and it uses celebrities such as Demi Moore to help promote the product.

Freixenet has a large portfolio of different cavas and still wines and is present in all the major markets around the world -so it was interesting to see how the company's strategy varies geographically-. In some markets, such as the US, Freixenet is sold as a premium product, but in Germany (where the average per capita consumption of cava is 6 bottles per year!), sales are price-driven. The black bottle is popular in the UK, the white one in Spain.

To end a very interesting presentation on a high note, Freixenet generously donated bottles of MiniBlack cava, innovative for having an attachable glass and very popular with IE students!

The marketing of Freixenet has been the fisrt event organised by this year IE Marketing Club. The Club´s members are Kysha Gibson (Club Coordinator), Alexander Corrie, Vanessa Espasa Sancho, Vygantas Tutlys, Deepanjan Mukherjee, Álvaro Carpio Colón, and Teresa Molina Talavera, all IMBA 2006.

The marketing club thanks Freixenet for a successful event!

Comment on the Marketing Innovations Blog http://blogs.ie.edu/marketingclub
Email us at marketingclub@ie.edu

A group of students from England have been lucky enough to have Giovanna Lagos Cabieses as their personal interpreter this week. Several MBA students from Manchester Business School used their student contacts here at IE to obtain a personal interpreter in Madrid while they are performing their International Project; their last academic requirement before graduating.

The students are here to discuss business opportunities with companies in Spain and they needed a Spanish/English interpreter for several of the meetings they had with multinational companies. In addition to serving as the interpreter for these meetings, Giovanna has been assisting in planning the meetings by making phone calls on the students' behalf.

This experience was positive for both the MBA students and Giovanna. Giovanna did well enough during these meetings to have been offered a job as an interpreter by one of the companies that the students met with!

Well done Giovanna!

Giovanna is one of many bilingual members of the IE Partners' Club. The partners' business experience range widely from architecture, law, teaching, NGO's, marketing, design, communications, medicine, biology, public relations, engineering, to international economics. The bilingual (or tri-lingual) partners' languages include French, German, Spanish, English, Portuguese, Korean and Hindi.

If your group is in need of assistance, please do not hesitate to contact the Partners' Club coordinator Renée Culver at vannee96@gmail.com or at Partners@ie.edu