Student Challenge Meeting in New York, March 2008

"Start spreading the news...I'm leaving today!"

It was Wednesday, March 12, when I was on my way to the first Student Challenge gathering of the year 2008. But other than normal, the stop of my train ride did not say “Guetersloh Hbf” but “Duesseldorf Airport” instead. Yes, you got this right! I was about to head to New York City in order to spend 2.5 great days along with the other Student Challengers Eva, Sebastian, Jan, Filip, Christina, Phillip and Rebecca. Dr. Nanne von Hahn, one of the two escorts from Corporate headquarter was expecting us at the airport while Judith Charles was already in New York. After some strategic considerations made on the flight concerning the US (“Do you think it makes sense to bring back an iPhone?”) we checked in at the Flatotel located very much downtown and met up with the ones from the group who decided that spending some days in NY and taking advantage of its splendid leisure offerings ahead of the meeting would totally make sense.

The official first meeting day was determined to take place at Sony BMG Music Entertainment. We heard a presentation from Carolin Kroeger, Senior Director Business Development, and got deep insights into the fields of consumer research, strategic marketing and artist & repertoire. It was such a great experience to see how committed the employees were and how much many of them live for the artists and the music they deal with on an every day basis! We were also included into some exemplary strategic decisions the company had to make at that time, especially concerning the very popular issue of physical records vs. internet downloads. It was a great surprise when Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, CEO of Bertelsmann Music Group in NY, entered the door because he unexpectedly had found out that we were visiting from Germany and was therefore up and ready to talk to us to give us his opinion on what determines great leadership in today’s time. Later on, the evening was a blast: Bertelsmann had some bowling ranks reserved along with local drinks and food while we could prove our bowling abilities!


Jennifer Meyer