My name is Bolot Ebbing. This year I had the honor to be chairman of the Financial Business Dinner 2016. The Financial Business Dinner 2016 took place in Villa de Vier jaargetijden on September 29.  And I must say it was a great success!

The preparations for the Financial Business Dinner 2016 were launched in January. Along with Eline Bulsink, Jeanine Adams, Rianne Steinbusch and our coordinator Immo van der Veen, we started the first meetings with reading the conveyance and by discussing last year, also we started the brainstorm session about what we want this year. Just like last year, we decided to invite 5 Accounting and 10 Finance firms to participate in the dinner. The most important question was: which 15 companies should be invited? We are very proud of the 15 companies that were present at the Financial Business Dinner 2016. The Accounting firms which participated in the dinner were: BDO, EY, ING, KPMG, and Witlox Van den Boomen. The 10 finance companies were: ABN AMRO, Ahold, Delhaize, CZ, Delta Lloyd, ExxonMobil, FrieslandCampina, JUMBO, KLM, PostNL, and Rembrandt Fusies & Overnames.

It was also important that the dinner took place in a nice location which would be able to accommodate 100 people. The location that met all our requirements was Villa de Vier Jaargetijden. It was a beautiful location with the ambience we were looking for and also important: delicious food.

“60 top students participated”

Besides arranging the firms and the location we needed 60 top students to participate in the Financial Business Dinner 2016. The students were invited by the companies based on their resume. We started our promotion with distributing flyers at the master Finance and Accounting and minor Finance and Accounting. Also, we had a chat lecture for extra promotion of the event. After the intensive promotion period, we were very pleased with the number and the quality of the resumes.

Most of the work of the Financial Business Dinner 2016 started after receiving the registrations, namely matching the resumes. All resumes were sent to the companies and the companies communicated their top 10 to us. After receiving the top 10, we had to start with the big puzzle. Which 60 students may participate in the Financial Business Dinner 2016 and were selected by the companies.

Last Thursday it was finally THE day. After months of preparation we were pleased that the day of the dinner finally had come. The night before we made everything ready and controlled it, so that we would have no stress on the day. But of course, there were always things that could be better or need to be arranged last minute. First, at 14.00 hours, a workshop Business Etiquette provided by butler Laurens took place, in which 25 students participated. During the workshop butler Laurens taught the students how it’s supposed to be, so the students could make a good impression on the companies during the dinner.

At 18.30 the evening started and the first students and companies arrived. After the opening reception and the speech the dinner started. All companies saw the first 4 students of the total 16 students the get to see over the evening. After 50 minutes the students changed place, so the companies saw 4 new students and the students saw another company. Unfortunately, after four course the dinner was ended. All companies and students were excited, so this positive news was well received by the organization. After the closing reception, the Financial Business Dinner 2016 ended.

I am very proud that the Financial Business Dinner 2016 was a huge success. I want to thank all partners and Eline, Jeanine, Rianne, and Immo for all their help and effort.