On May 5^th, the wonderful IMHI community celebrated its 40^th Anniversary. An afternoon of interesting conferences and panels, the gala evening at the spectacular Musée des Arts Forains and the nostalgic visit of the ESSEC campus the next day, and some individual gatherings per promo, that weekend was most certainly filled with lots of IMHI memories. 

One month after the celebration, it is time for us in the board to think back and reflect on this achievement. During, and immediately after May 5^th, the organizing team and the AAIMHI board members have received a multitude of positive and excited comments, the photos were shared on our social media in a what seemed to be an incredible push and motivation to keep our alumni network thriving. Thank you to all of you!

Of course, we have as well received negative feedback and suggestions for future events, and it is important for us to take them all into consideration. First, please allow me to share some details on the work the team did.

One and a half years ago, we have decided to start the planning of this milestone event. Knowing very well that everyone of us would have to take time for it besides a busy work agenda, important family life and many life hazards - all of it on a voluntary basis. 

Knowing very well that while everyone is excited at the beginning, over time the engagement and availability of the initially enthusiastic participants decreases. 

One year ago, we have started the communication with save the dates and early birds on all usual platforms, emailing, social media and WhatsApp groups. Of course, there were still some of our almost 1800 alumni that weren’t at all aware of the event (and did not hesitate to let us know), but then I might say bluntly, some individual effort must be done to update ones contact information on the ESSEC database and stay connected to the various existing platforms. 

130 participants to the conference and exactly 338 participants at the gala evening were a huge success in our opinion. 

As means of comparison, the 30^th Anniversary brought together 270 alumni in 2013. 

Could we have done better? Of course!! 

An alumnus per promo oversaw gathering as many alumni of his class as possible, the effort is immense and not always successful. Some groups have kept in touch over the years and naturally were more actively involved in all other alumni activities. Hopefully, the success of the 40^th Anniversary will bring a new spirit across all generations. 

We were thrilled that nevertheless 37 promos (out of 40, remember?) were represented on May 5th! The runner up was IMHI 2000 with 17 participants, closely followed by IMHI 1994 with 16 alumni, then IMHI 2003 with 15 alumni…

The date had been set and announced quite quickly for Friday May 5^th, even though (or just because) in some essential parts of the world, like Paris (right?), it was the end of school holidays. Even though (or just because) it was a long French Holiday weekend, one of the many. We had to take into consideration international and local industry events, ESSEC events, IMHI events,… dates are never perfect for everyone and the various reasons for not being able to join quite personal and most certainly valid. 

Negotiating reductions, freebies, hoteliers’ rates for the event have been our real challenge, as we see on a post-covid environment that prices went up around the globe (blame inflation? War? Greed?) and financial gestures amongst peers in the industry became quite rare. 

Through our personal contacts and IMHI alumni, major negotiations and time investment, we were proud to gather a considerable amount (a total of 88.192€ !) in sponsorship from 17 different amazing sponsors, which allowed us to reduce the fee for everyone attending. 

We must as well thank ESSEC Business School, IMHI and the ESSEC Alumni Association for their important financial contributions. 

Could we have done more? Probably. 

But I might be so blunt to say that a small financial contribution to the success of this particular event was a great opportunity for every alumnus to give back to the school and the community that has supported most of us in many ways during our career – and will for future generations. 

Having said that, the rates for the 40^th Anniversary in 2023 where the same than the rates applied for our 30^thAnniversary in 2013 (you might want to read that again).

By the way, have you paid your dues to the Alumni Association recently? No?

In the spirit of preparing for our next event (consider this your save the date for 2033) and helping a future team with the organization, we must of course review all constructive feedback, comments, and remarks to make it even better. 

For once, very late we realized that the venue did not provide any seating options at all, and we had to rent furniture on very last minute at an additional cost. A seated dinner however, as some suggested, was never a discussion point. In our common experience these rather static seated events do not favor communication and networking, the very essence of our nice little gathering.

We have been told that a “major failure” of the organization was not to provide name tags at the evening event. While this was done on purpose, having in mind the black-tie attire and elegant gowns, we take note for our future events. 

Another lesson learned: as we organized with the help of our current students the complimentary visit of the ESSEC campus on Saturday with transportation and catering, only half of the registered alumni attended. What a shame for the students, the amazing food from IMHI Traiteur and the amount prepaid by the association. Maybe free events do not engage us enough after all.

The edition of the anniversary book was an important cost, stress, and time factor for the team. While we still believe that gathering photos, memorabilia, and elements of the program was important to preserve the history of our beloved IMHI, reflecting back, we do not believe it was essential. 

By the way, some of you did not fetch the souvenir bag upon departure that included that book, so please do not hesitate to contact the AAIMHI board we would be happy to send it to you. We do have as well a digital version as this happened to be the preferred option for some (who would have thought..).

We have of course received some feedback of fellow alumni who were not happy with any part of the event. 

Our sincere apologies to them, we still have seats available on the board and would be thrilled to count on your experience for our 50^th Anniversary planning! As you all might know, our mandatory General Assembly is held as per our statutes in June every year, this year on June 20 (hybrid event, in presence and virtual). This is the perfect moment to stay involved, informed, and active in the IMHI community! Your opinion matters to us.

In the meantime, some fun facts. The 338 gala participants (including 42 current students) ate a total of 7.700 food pieces, drank 183 bottles of champagne, 80 bottles of wine and 24 bottles of hard liquor. The preferred drink seemed to be Gin, with a total of 12 bottles!

It looked like the photo boot was a huge success too, as 1.032 fun photos were made…We have them all on file, they clearly get funnier (crazier?) as the evening evolved.

I would like to thank again my fellow board members for their support. Organizing events like these is hard work, incredible dedication and not always gratifying – but your enthusiasm and love for the IMHI community made it happen. I am proud of the AAIMHI board. 

To conclude, we are proud of being IMHI.

Yours faithfully,

Monika 

PS: 

AAIMHI leitmotif:

“The power of a community”

“Giving back”

“The pillar of hospitality”

How can I do more?

We have communicated about our sponsorship fund Divers’IMHI, a direct monetary contribution from alumni to students. Please reach out if you are interested to learn more.

How can I stay connected?

LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aaimhi/

LinkedIn Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/1837330/

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/294285730582672/

WhatsApp Group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/Kq4X4ZHgXgeESA9GWeQXFF

ESSEC Alumni page: https://www.essecalumni.com/group/msc-in-hospitality-management-imhi/263/about

Pay your dues and support our work: https://www.essecalumni.com/page/cotisation

Any questions? Write to us at info@aaimhi.com