Once again the IUM community teamed up for a great cause. This year’s edition of the No Finish Line was headquartered on Monaco’s Port Hercule from November 12 to 20.

The No Finish Line initiative permits to raise funds for Children & Future, a not-for-profit organization which seeks to raise awareness about child abuse and fund various projects aimed at protecting or giving a brighter future to unprivileged children. The No Finish Line is perhaps the organization’s most visible event. Over 8 consecutive days, individuals or teams walk, run, or relay (24/7) in order to accumulate the greatest distance as private donors contribute a euro for every kilometer. In 10 years the initiative has welcomed more than 30,000 participants who have accumulated more than 750,000 km (the organization has raised more than €830,000 to date). In 2011, the IUM community’s modest contribution has helped break the record since 223,644 km have been accumulated this year (compared to 168,992 km a year ago).

Between November 12 and 20, IUM students, staff, faculty, and friends relayed and participated either individually or in groups. Celine and Michelle (respectively Head of website development and Alumni relations, and professor of finance) were seen on the track. In particular, Michelle proudly accumulated 50 km. Tsegezab, a student enrolled in the Master Sustainable Peace through Sport program and former top contender in 5 and 10 km races in Eritrea, swallowed more than 82 km in just five days (a great performance which leaves us speechless!!!).

Animated by the same (but more reasonable) spirit, a small team gathered on Friday November 17 in the evening and braved the chilly weather. Together, Nadine, Ines, Klaus and Moïse accumulated roughly 50 km in just 90 min. During the run, the participants had great fun and experienced hilarious situations. While running, some participants managed to better their language skills. It appears that one can learn German’s basic survival words in a matter of minutes (obviously knowing the minimum seduction vocabulary is more vital for some than others…). Moreover, the team nearly bumped into a prisoner. In fact, he was not breaking away but was a participant disguised as a prisoner, wearing black and white stripes, and even dragging ball and chain!!! At last, the IUM squad enjoyed the fruits and snacks offered to participants and the wonderful fireworks which were organized in relation to Monaco’s National Day.

On November 23rd, IUM students, faculty and staff had the pleasure to host Mr. Eric Manasse, a football agent highly experienced with the Italian and South American football championships. For about an hour, Mr. Manasse presented the football agency industry, discussed career opportunities and outlook for the industry, and enthusiastically answered to questions.

Among the audience, it was easy to identify football fans. Etienne (French), Jacquelyn (US), Dana (Czech), Tim (German) and Hossam (Egyptian) were all very keen to know about the sport agency industry. In fact, Mr. Manasse did provide them with some inside about transfer deals, communication patterns, crunchy stories and incredible success stories. The topic was very interesting not only to students enrolled in the MSPS and MSBM programs but also to other programs since the debate echoed contemporary issues (including communications and interpersonal skills or money issues).

Born in Milan, Italy, Eric Manasse went to Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida (USA) where he graduated with honors in economics and sociology. He played soccer in college and later in the Metropolitan league of New York for 18 years. Eric became the first FIFA soccer agent in the USA in 1996 and began representing players from CONCACAF such as Eduardo “El Tanque” Hurtado of Ecuador, “Chaka” Palacio, Diego Serna, later to begin bringing the first Ecuadorian players to the English Premier League such as Agostin Delgado to Southampton and Ulisse de la Cruz to Aston Villa. Eric then “discovered” Uruguayan striker Edison Cavani bringing him to Palermo, and Argentine striker Osvaldo to Atalanta. Now an FIFA and USSF agent for over 15 years, Eric lives in Monaco and works with such legendary players as Diego Maradona, Carlos Dunga, and Ruud Gullit.

The IUM Community would like to sincerely thank Mr. Manasse for his time and professionalism.

The ceremony took place in the throne room of the Pink Palace on the eve of Monaco National Day, celebrating the sixth anniversary of Price Albert’s investiture. After the ceremony during which a small group of donors received their medals, HSH chatted with our two representatives about various developments taking place at the IUM, showing his interest in our University.

Out two medallists give blood an average four to five times every year. “It does not hurt at all” says Jean-François, and every donation can save up to two lives. It is also very convenient since the mobile blood collection centre parks in front of the IUM once or twice a month. The Monegasque Centre de Transfusion Sanguine offers a free blood analysis and also gives you a sandwich and a drink.

Blood availability is the key to proceed successfully with surgical operations or transfusion following accidents that can befall any of us and our loved ones, and blood shortage is known to become a real issue because of the small number of donors.

A few other IUMers, namely Patrice Sargenti and David Ansiau, are also regular donors. So what about giving a tiny bit of you to save people’s lives during the next collection on 5th December?

Eyes on detail, Fast hands And creative mind!
IUM students working as habillers and hostess during three nights of fashion at MICS 2011.

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Students enrolled in the Master in Sustainable Peace through Sport (MSPS) and the Master in Sport Business Management (MSBM) took great pleasure in attending this year’s edition of the Peace and Sport’s Annual International Forum, which gathered nearly 500 individuals.

Between October 26 and 28, students and faculty had the opportunity to meet and interact with individuals of great quality, whether Head of State, Ministers, Presidents of Sport Federations, or representatives of organizations actively involved in peace and/or sport endeavors. The forum, being organized in several workshops, has allowed students to participate in debates, ask questions and learn from experts of the worlds of peace and sport. For instance, Hossam (Egyptian), who is enrolled in the MSPS program, participated with great enthusiasm in the workshop addressing the Middle East conflict, which is with no doubt a topic dear to his heart.

His classmates, Jacquelyn (US), Dana (Czech), David (US) and professor Rinaldi-Larribe followed the session dedicated to disability sports. Students were overall impressed by the energy and charisma exhibited by the panelists who shared their experience and views about the role of disability sport in the peace-building process.

Tsegezab (Eritrean), Etienne (French) and professor Louisy-Louis attended the workshop which addressed how sport can be used as “an effective tool in overcoming trauma following natural disaster.” The debate was again of great quality as the moderator, Ms. Margaret Talbot (President of ICSSPE) and the accompanying team of experts discussed best practices from previous interventions and help participants better understand the challenges faced by NGOs and federations on the field.
Also present at the Fairmont Hotel for the event, Dr. Antonella Patras, IUM’s Dean, closely followed the panel discussing the role of sport in challenging urban environments.

Debating has got a long tradition; it started already in the early 19th century in England. Universities like Oxford and Cambridge organized competitions where students had to show their rhetoric skills. In the US debating competitions are as common as sports.

Recently, three Monegasque organizations, i.e. the Junior Economic Chamber of Monaco, the British Association of Monaco, and the Association of Young Monegasques started a debating tournament in English. The idea of a debate club is that a pair of contestants has to quickly think through a complex issue, either supporting or opposing it, structure their arguments and present them in front of an audience. One of the requirements is that the participants have to present their arguments in English, which is not their native language. While the counterparty is presenting their arguments, the other party has to listen actively to what they are saying so they can directly refute their arguments and present better ones in order to convince the audience. A good structured argumentation and rhetoric communication skills will decide between victory and defeat. Two competitions took place – for Monegasque schools and for organizations.

Three IUM teams were in the semi-finals for organisations: Tassilo Labuzinski and Patrick Buhmann, Marina Ivanova and Nicolas Bouzanne, and last, but not least, Sascha Kamenetsky and Eduard Aghajanyan. This year the semifinals and finals took place at the Princess Grace Theater, in front of the jury made up of the representatives from the three organizations. We were proud to see that Mr. Masseron, Conseiller de Gouvernement pour l’Intérieur, Mr. Valeri, Conseiller de Gouvernement pour les Affaires Sociales et la Santé, and Mme Bonnal, Ministre de l’Education Nationale, de la Jeunesse et des Sports were in the audience. Dr Patras, Dr Sargenti and Dr Rinaldi, and few other professors as well as students from the IUM were also there to support out teams.

All participants impressed the audience with their sophisticated and self-confident appearance on a huge stage, which can be very threatening even for professionals. During their speeches the atmosphere in the audience was passionate and excited. And then the long when jury debated who should be in the finals. Well, maybe not that long but it felt like it!

The schools competition was won by students from Lycee Albert I. Tassilo and Patrick got into the finals against a team, which included two employees from Meridien Beach Plaza Hotel, obviously older and more experienced, and certainly more confident. The topic was ‘Less is more’. When the announcer got it wrong and said ‘More is less’ all participants got a shock. This made the situation even more difficult for Tassilo and Patrick, who presented the motion, using famous theories, quoting authors, and presenting principles of sustainability.

Then another wait for results! In the end we were all very proud of Tassilo and Patrick, who convinced the audience with their well-structured, well presented and convincing arguments, which led them finally to win the debate!

Well done for our Teams and especially Tassilo and Patrick! It felt really appropriate to toast their victory with the champagne provided by the organizers.

We hope that next year the IUM will be represented by even more people!

On October 23, 2011, a team of 8 IUM students, professor, and friends participated in this year’s edition of the “10 km Pays de Grasse.” The event gathered in Grasse, the French Riviera city renowned for its portfolio of floral perfume, about 1,550 participants. Faithful to its reputation, this 13th edition of the race helped raised €2,300 for a not-for-profit organization called “STIMUL’ACTION,” whose goal is to help finance the medical needs of Matéo Grauby, who suffers multiple disabilities.

The IUM squad not only found great joy in participating in this cause but also had a lot fun. Despite the cool weather (some 8°), IUM students, Rodrigo, Pierre, William, Julia, Ines, IUM friends, Nadine and Klaus (the team trainer), and IUM professor, Moïse, never hesitated. When asked about her feelings once she crossed the finish line, Ines, a bright undergraduate student, replied that “it was a marvelous feeling!”
In fact, Ines’ testimony reveals well the team spirit: “the fact that I knew I was faster than I had planned to, was reason enough for me to be happy. As I saw the others of our team congratulating each other the feeling got even more intense, because at that moment I realized that we all did it! The whole group! We all managed to run 10 kilometers in a really good time! Everyone was just so joyful and we all had a right to be proud of ourselves.”

Everyone finished (yes at respectable distance from the winner, a running machine born in Burundi) and had great satisfaction about individual and group performance. Shortly after the race and the traditional group picture, the team sat at a café to share experience, comment the race, and make plans about the next running events (including the Monaco’s No Finish Line and Cursa de Natale). Again Ines showed great enthusiasm when asked whether she would participate in the school’s next athletics event: “that is definitely not a question for me anymore after this race! Not only because I like running, but also because I think it bonds people together. You want to achieve a goal individually but also as a group and even if you don’t achieve it, it is so much fun just to participate!”

This October, Ms. Annalisa Tarquini, Master in Luxury Program Director, organized a trip to Bordeaux for a group of 9 IUM students.

October 20th was a sunny yet chilly day. The conference was held in the heart of the city at the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The speakers covered different issues: brand cycle management, how to preserve the “made-in” and the “know-how” of developed countries, how to be successful in the new markets, the importance of innovation and techniques in the brands’ future. Amongst them were directors and presidents of different companies, professors or interesting and experienced practitioners in their fields such as Mr. Mauro Grimaldi from Salvatore Ferragamo, Ms. Laure Grateau from Chacok and Kathy O’Meny from Abc-Luxe. The debates were interesting and informative.

Later that day, our small group went out to a nice restaurant “Le Petit Commerce” where we shared our ideas and thoughts about conference as well as celebrated Lina Bustillo’s birthday! Tired, but happy, we turned back to the hotels looking forward the next day.

The next day the bus took us to Château Smith Haut Lafitte. It was an experience of taste and smell. We all felt great pleasure being in the countryside for a while and enjoyed the tour of the chateau’s white and red caves.
After the tour we were invited for a tasting of the wine produced by the Château Smith Haut Lafitte. And that was when we understood the real meaning of the words said the day before by Mr. Mauro Grimaldi (Commercial Director for Eastern Europe, Salvatore Ferragamo): “Luxury needs to take a distance from mass marketing techniques. We need craftsmanship.”

Few of the students stayed in Bordeaux for one more day, but some had to say “good bye” and start back home. It was an outstanding trip!

We would like to thank Ms. Annalisa Tarquini, all the speakers who took part in “The Sixth Edition of Empreintes”, INSEEC Bordeaux, Château Smith Haut Lafitte and everybody who did their best making our trip to Bordeaux such a success!

On Saturday the 15th of October, 9 truly international students from IUM embarked on a hiking trip. After a long night out at the IUM Oktoberfest at Brasserie, we met up really early in front of Uni. We loaded the van and started driving towards Mercantour National Park.

Once we arrived we had a picnic and prepared our equipment for climbing up the mountain. 2 hours into the climbs we were all exhausted, so we took a break, and a few brave students jumped into the ice-cold river. We continued our journey to the “Chalet de Nice”. On the way we were able to observe and admire the beauty of the national park, the mountains, the trees, the river, and some of the region’s animals like the chamois.

We finally arrived at the “Chalet de Nice” after having walked approximately for 4 hours with all our equipment and bags. We were warmly welcomed by the staff of the “Chalet de Nice” and we were given a room for 9 people consisting of 5 bunk beds. We then went to the dining hall where we met other motivated hikers and shared stories and experiences. The dinner that was served at the “Chalet de Nice” was good. Afterwards we spent a nice evening playing games. When the time finally came to sleep we had a hard time actually sleeping because of the cold and the noise of certain people (Tassilo).

The group leader Klaus woke us up early because breakfast was served between 6.30 and 8. After the huge breakfast, we started our walk down which was not so easy as it may sound (it was horribly cold and there was even ice on the path so we slipped all the time!) When we finally made it down after 3 hours we were all really exhausted, but at the same time happy and proud of ourselves that we could manage to climb such a big mountain. All in all, the trip was really fun and we are looking forward to the next trip into the nature!

IUM 2010-2011