EHL hosts innovation talk with US ambassador to Switzerland
On October 27th, EHL hosted an inspiring panel discussion on the conditions to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. |
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EHL hosts innovation talk with US ambassador to Switzerland
On October 27th, EHL hosted an inspiring panel discussion on the conditions to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. |
Category: Europe - Switzerland - Careers
- Career
This is a press release selected by our editorial committee and published online for free on 2016-10-28
Last night the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) hosted an inspiring panel discussion on the conditions to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. The prestigious panel comprised the Honorable Suzan LeVine, US Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Eric LeVine, entrepreneur and founder/CEO of CellarTracker.com, as well as EHL faculty, namely Dr. Margarita Cruz, Assistant Professor of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship and Dr. Carlos Martin-Rios, Professor of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship.
The event was inaugurated with an opening speech by EHL CEO, Michel Rochat, and Mr. Rémi Walbaum, Chief Innovation & Infrastructure Officer. In their address, they reminded the future leaders in the audience that “much of the education received at EHL will likely be done outside the classrooms”, and that if they wished to acquire the necessary skills to become successful entrepreneurs, trial and error was an absolute prerequisite.
After taking a moment to urge American guests to go to the polls on November 8 for the US presidential elections, Ambassador LeVine kicked off the discussion by describing the Swiss innovation culture with respect and admiration. Echoing Mr. Walbaum, she underpinned the notion of learning from one’s mistakes, and that what made Silicon Valley such a success was “the freedom to fail, and the freedom to fund failure and learn from it”.
The panel agreed on the fact that the paradigm of creativity and openness to risk-taking must be integrated in education, and that it should come as early as the primary years. The panelists also shared their views on the respective strengths and differences between the European and American entrepreneurial ecosystems, regularly coming back to Switzerland’s century-old track record of ingenuity. What lies ahead for Switzerland, as they all seemed to agree, is the challenge of renewing its past successes by supporting home-grown talent and making sure the cultural, educational and financial conditions are conducive.
About Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL)
EHL is an ambassador for traditional Swiss hospitality and has been a pioneer in hospitality education since 1893. It has created and inspired a unique professional community of 25,000 hospitality managers, united by the values and legacy of EHL.
EHL is regularly recognized as the best hotel management school in the world, offering university studies to over 2,600 enthusiastic and talented students from 107 different nationalities. EHL is a member of EHL SA, a Group dedicated to hospitality management education.
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