The EO Berlin University was my first University experience. Simply put, it far exceeded my expectations, and here’s why:
1. Incredible Location. Berlin is an amazing, vibrant city. The Ritz-Carlton, Berlin is one of the many flashy new developments, and it’s set alongside beautiful new skyscrapers and shopping plazas that, 18 years ago, were located in what was called the "Green Zone" or "Death Zone" along the Berlin Wall. The theme for the University was "Tearing Down Walls."
2. Memorable Speakers. Shelby Scarbrough, our new EO President, gave one of the most moving opening speeches. She recounted the last time she visited Berlin in 1987, when she worked on United States President Ronald Reagan's personal staff. That was when Reagan made his famous speech at the Brandenburg Gate and declared, "Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
In addition, our University host, Marcel “Otto” Yon, delivered a presentation on what it meant for Germans who experienced the Wall’s creation and how it divided a country, friends and families. Otto demonstrated the sheer emotion of those unbelievable events that occurred on 9 November 1989, when the Wall was finally torn down. Every single person in that room was touched by the emotion, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.
3. Invaluable Connections. I soon came to realise that for me, the take-home value of the University was not the events or what I learned from the keynote speakers; it was the relationships and friendships I built with some of the most incredible people I’ve ever met in my life.
4.Outstanding Activities. We had dinner at the Mercedes-Benz Financial Complex and danced to a cello quartet that played Led Zeppelin. We also had a tour of the beautiful museums and art galleries of East Berlin. And then there were the after-parties. And the after-after-parties. More incredible people and friendships were formed.
The culminating event for Berlin was a gala dinner on the pristine lawn of the Berlin Olympic Athletic Stadium. Nothing like this has ever been allowed before, since the facility is only used for major events such as the FIFA World Cup. It was truly an amazing experience. And to cap it all off, they marched us into the stadium in the order of our home country as we carried our country flags and listened to our national anthems. It sounded like the entire stadium roof was actually one enormous loud speaker, and you couldn't help yourself from cracking an ear-to-ear smile.
5. Stellar Business Networking Opportunities. I'm currently raising investment capital to take my new company, GO.PC, to Silicon Valley. So you can only imagine how thrilled I was when we had the opportunity to tour eBay Europe. I have eBay pegged as one potential exit partner, so this was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me. The Managing Director of eBay gave a fantastic presentation about eBay Europe and its US$2 billion takeover of Skype. eBay Europe’s creator was also there, and after the presentation I asked him if he could talk about my GO.PC project. He said, "Sure, I'm actually an EO member and attending the University, too, so let's talk back at the hotel.” The next day, he and another Internet mogul friend sat with me for two hours and saw my full investor presentation about GO.PC. What an incredible opportunity. Where else on earth would I have been able to have such an encounter, and then find myself making friends with these guys?!
I’m so thankful that I made the effort to attend an EO University. I met people who made this experience one of the most unique and personally rewarding experiences of my entire career. I'll certainly be attending another University as soon as I can.
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