EFR-Business Week
The EFR-Business Week is a student-organised conference in Europe. Every year around April, the EFR-Business Week takes place at the Erasmus University Rotterdam and other locations around the Netherlands and Europe. It is organised by a committee of six students from the EFR. The 32nd edition of the EFR-Business Week will be held between the 30th of March until the 8th of April 2016.
The Economic Faculty Association Rotterdam (EFR) is a faculty association in the Netherlands, with around 5500 members.[1] It is related to the Erasmus School of Economics, of the Erasmus University Rotterdam. Its aim is to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Over a hundred committee members of EFR organise various activities for all economic oriented students throughout the academic year, in order to contribute to the extracurricular self-development of the students.
The largest of these activities are the Erasmus Recruitment Days and the EFR-Business Week. The EFR-Business Week is amongst the most professional and prestigious student-organised conferences in Europe.
During the EFR-Business Week different aspects of a central theme are treated by the means of lectures, master classes, workshops and panel discussions. Internationally renowned speakers from the business world, politics and science put forward their ideas to discover and discuss topics in the central theme. EFR-Business Week aims to integrate theory and practice by means of making contact between students and inspiring individuals of their future working environment. In the past the EFR-Business Week has featured the following speakers:
- Mr. Wim Kok, Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands
- Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker, Prime Minister of Luxembourg
- Mr. Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the World Trade Organization
- Mr. Shimon Peres, President of Israel
- Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel
- The Rt. Hon. The Lord George Robertson, former Secretary-General of NATO
- Mr. Romano Prodi, former President of the European Commission
- Mr. José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission
- Mr. Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
- Mr. Josef Ackermann, CEO Deutsche Bank
- Mr. Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank
- Mr. Gerhard Schröder, former Bundeskanzler of Germany
- Mr. Rex Tillerson, Chief Executive Officer Exxon Mobil
- Mr. Morris Tabaksblat, former CEO Unilever and Chairman of the Committee Corporate Governance,
- Mr. Jeroen van der Veer, Chief Executive Officer Royal Dutch Shell
- Prof. John Forbes Nash, Jr., Nobel Prize Winner in Economics 1994
- Prof. Franco Modigliani, Nobel Prize Winner in Economics 1985
- Mr. Frederik Willem de Klerk, Nobel Peace Prize Winner 1993, Former President of the Republic of South Africa,
- Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev, former President of the Soviet Union
- Prof. Eric Maskin, Nobel Prize Winner in Economics 2007
- Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Secretary General of the NATO
- Dr. Jakob Kellenberger, President of the ICRC
Programme of the EFR-Business Week
The EFR-Business week generally consists of the following events:
World of Business (Opening day)
The grand opening of the EFR Business Week takes place during the World of Business. Speakers will present their views and experiences through keynote speeches, interviews and panel discussions for an audience of 900 students, professors, businessmen and politicians. The World Leader Cycle Award and the EFR-Business Week Award are granted to its recipients during this day.
Company Days
The Company Days (formerly known as the External Congress) offer students and companies a 6 day series of recruitment events. These events will range from formal in-house days, where students are given an opportunity to witness the work environment and participate in a variety of workshops; to informal dinners and activities, to become acquainted with the company employees. Only the hundred best students will be selected to participate.
Conference Platform
The Conference Platform is an opportunity for students to interact on a one to one level with notable global citizens. It will give students a more specific perspective of the EFR-Business Week theme. The programme will provide students the chance to discuss the central theme with representatives of multinationals, politicians and other people of interest. During the day there will be an informal debate between a large group of students and a group of knowledgeable speakers who will discuss the theme from both political, cultural and the business perspective. The Conference Platform will build upon its past with speakers as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mr. Balkenende; former Minister of Financial Affairs of the Netherlands, Mr. Zalm and former Prime Minister of Spain, Mr. Aznar Lopez.
EFR-Business Week Committee
Every year, EFR selects six students from the Erasmus University Rotterdam to organise the EFR-Business Week. The committee is a full-time position from August until April.
The EFR-Business Week Committee 2016
Laurine Touw - Chairman
Chantal Verhagen de Winter - Marketing Officer
Luc Whittaker - Commissioner World of business
Eva van de Kraats - Commissioner Conference Platform
Emmy Amsterdam - Commissioner of Commercial Events
Pita Duvekot - Commissioner of Commercial Events
The EFR-Business Week Committee 2015
Louis Ten Hacken - Chairman
Wouter Ten Brink - Marketing Officer
Rafik Ahami - Commissioner World of business
Arno Meijer - Commissioner Conference Platform
Priscilla Tang - Commissioner of Commercial Events
Dexter Voskamp - Commissioner of Commercial Events
The EFR-Business Week Committee 2014
Vincent van Wingerden - Chairman
Daan Evans - Congress Manager
Pia Bezema - Congress Manager
Jeffrey Meerpoel - Marketing Officer
Edda Beck - Commercial Officer
Veerle Vermeulen - Event Manager
The EFR-Business Week Committee 2013
Felix Haan - Chairman
Jesse Vonk - Commissioner Conference Day
Daneel Tielen - Commissioner Company Days
Marijn Compagner - Commercial Officer
Max van Oirschot - Marketing Officer
Arthur Dolk - Commissioner Opening Day
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to EFR-Business Week. |
- EFR-Business Week 2015
- Economic Faculty Association Rotterdam (EFR)
- EFR-Business Week's Twitter Page
- EFR-Business Week's Linkedin Page