From Friday, 3rd November to Sunday, 5 November almost 60 alumni joined our annual meeting 2023 in Munich.
On Friday evening we started our annual meeting with a guided tour of the Beer and Oktoberfest Museum as well as a Beer Tasting of all six Munich City Beers with a beer sommelier. After a lively explanation of the origins of the Oktoberfest as well as its evolution during the past 200 years (when it was only cancelled twice because of world war and twice because of Covid), all participants were served tasting glasses of each beer. Lively discussions emerged not only on whether Augustiner Bräu was superior to others in taste but also on a range of professional and wider business & political topics.
The meeting continued on Saturday afternoon with a guided tour of the Olympic Park titled “1972 - 2022 Faster, Further, Higher - Munich 50 Years Olympic City”. The tour revisited the extraordinary efforts to bring the Olympic Games to Munich and transform an entire city as well as tragic events of the 1972 terrorist attack. As the afternoon wind was a bit chilly already, participants enjoyed learning about the finer details of the famous rooftop construction in the warmth of swimming pool building, before continuing to the former athletic village and finally the BMW world, where the tour concluded.
The evening event at Bamberger Haus in Schwabing started with “Eisstockschießen” (Bavarian Curling) and an outdoor reception. Participants enjoyed catching up with old friends and making new acquaintances while enjoying a glass of mulled wine and and light snacks. As the weather had unfortunately deteriorated, everyone was happy to move inside where a set dinner was served in the magnificent baroque ballroom “Luitpold Saal”.
Professor Yaniv Roznai, LSE Alumnus and Vice Dean of the Harry Radzyner Law School, Reichmann University, Israel, unfortunately was not able to join us due to the situation in Israel. However, we were delighted that LSE Alum and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences of LMU Prof. Klaus Goetz stepped in at short notice and gave us a speech on “Why is contemporary politics so turbulent? And is that a bad thing?” Discussions and networking continued until late.
On Sunday, after a guided walk to Munich Mobility points, participants enjoyed a panel discussion of experts on the topic of Urban Mobility and its resilience at OutOfOffice München. Moderated by Imme Witzel, panelists Mara Cole (City of Munich), Craig B Davis (Clean Green Fast GmbH), Andreas Köglmaier (PTV Group) and Rajarshi Rakesh Sahai (Mobility Fund) discussed contrasting perspectives on mobility in urban areas and how to make them resilient for the next decades. The Annual Meeting ended with a networking lunch overlooking Munich and the Eisbach Wave.
