The Annual Alumni Evening held by the Dubai Chapter of the UAE Strathclyde Association took place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Dubai on October 22. The Annual Alumni Evening held by the Dubai Chapter of the UAE Strathclyde Association took place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Dubai on October 22.
The ballroom was initially thrown into a stampede as 88 Strathclyde alumni, friends and current students took part in speed networking and elevator pitches, while exchanging business cards and making new acquaintances.
The theme returned to entrepreneurship and Alistair Munro (CEO/founder of Projecx) set the tone for the evening with his entrepreneurial personality traits and unique insights into the minds and thinking of entrepreneurs. Wasef Shaka’a (local counsellor at Strathclyde, former strategy director at Honeywell and entrepreneur himself), shared his experience of the crucial first year of a start-up – between the acceptance of the business idea and the generation of initial revenues. Mohammed Johmani, (or MoJo- the serial entrepreneur and founder of O2 network) shared his success/failure stories and cautioned that successful entrepreneurs are not those who take risks, but those who are able to minimize those risks.
Dr Ronald Bradfield, Associate Dean, Academic Director of the MBA and Director of the Strathclyde UAE campuses, thanked the speakers, gave out prizes and all the news from Glasgow as well as forthcoming events at Strathclyde UAE. He also introduced the new MBA course on Entrepreneurial Management and Leadership. The Alumni Committee thanked the Strathclyde Alumni Relations Office for their fantastic support and discussed future spin-offs from the event including a Strathclyde Entrepreneurial Network UAE and a future workshop to be led by Professor Jonathan Levie of the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship.
‘Branding Yourself in the Social Media World’ was chosen as the theme for the next annual alumni event, and networking over dinner rounded off this year’s meeting.