Two students attended the third annual Beta Gamma Sigma (BGS) Global Leadership Summit (GLS). This year's Summit was held November 1 - 4, 2018, in Chicago, IL. Representing Romain College were Katelyn Bueltel, a senior accounting major, and Andrew McGuire who graduated in 2017 with a bachelor's degree in computer information systems and currently works as a graduate assistant while earning his MBA. Katelyn and Andrew were inducted into USI's chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma in 2018.
The BGS Global Leadership Summit is a premier annual event where hundreds of the highest achieving students from the top 5% of business schools around the world gather for a unique learning experience. BGS takes great pride in putting exceptionally knowledgeable and insightful thought leaders on the Summit stage who discuss innovative leadership and what it means in today’s business world. The speaker list included executives from companies such as KPMG, AACSB, First Block Capital, and GEICO, to name a few. The Summit culminates in a case competition where teams present their solutions to a business problem to a panel of corporate leaders.
Beta Gamma Sigma is the international honor society recognizing the "best in business" that provides the highest recognition a business student anywhere in the world can receive in an undergraduate or graduate program at a school accredited by AACSB International. The Romain College is one of only a small number of colleges globally that is accredited for both its business and accounting programs. USI's chapter of BGS includes more than 700 inductees.
Andrew reflected on his experience attending the Summit:
I found the people that I met and the connections that I made to be the most enjoyable experience from Beta Gamma Sigma’s Leadership Summit. Every attendee at the conference was enthusiastic and outgoing – there’s little wonder as to why these students are considered the future leaders in business. A pleasant surprise regarding my fellow conference-goers was just how international the conference really was. Throughout the trip, I was fortunate enough to befriend fellow Beta Gamma Sigma members from China, Germany, Canada, Romania, Italy, Vietnam, Colombia, and more. When Beta Gamma Sigma described the conference as a Global Leadership Summit, they truly meant students would be flying in from all over the globe. With these travelers came unique perspectives and valuable insight I may have never learned were it not for this trip.
One of the most exciting parts of the conference was the Summit’s case competition. We were given a business case with just three hours to find a solution, create our presentation, and practice before presenting our proposal to a panel of business leaders. This case brought our team’s members together as we all worked hard against the clock and against our assigned dilemmas. Although we did not win the case, it was a thrilling opportunity to put to the test the lessons we’ve learned in and out of the classroom.
If I were to offer advice to any future USI Beta Gamma Sigma attendees, it would be to take care of as much homework or any other responsibilities before the conference as possible to allow you to take the fullest advantage of the networking and social opportunities provided by the conference. Beta Gamma Sigma Global Leadership Summits have been held in cities such as Orlando, FL, and now Chicago, IL, so it’s nice having time to see the city and make new friends (while still making enough time for the conference itself, of course). Another piece of advice is to come with resume’s prepared, as there are employers and graduate schools there always looking for their next new hire.
Published November 13, 2018
