CDTM Kick-Off 2010

In the beginning of March, the class of spring 2010 made its way on the still snowy and winding roads of southern Bavaria to meet at Fischbachau. The kick-off taskforce and center assistants had organized a weekend to welcome the 26 new students with CDTM in a nutshell: action, community, work and party.

After having a short warm-up breakfast with coffee and brezels we were joined by Lothar, our coach for the action day. He led us back outside for the first of many challenges to come. The task was to get everyone from one side of a field to the other though the field could only be crossed with “magic shoes” on. We had a short discussion about the best approach and then decided to try out a strategy that literally brought us closer together as we had to carry each other. It became very clear right from the start that we had to work as a team to master the physically and intellectually demanding activities. During the day we became aware of how difficult it can be to discuss and make decisions in a big group. But we also built trust and learned to overcome obstacles by combining our skills.
After a hearty dinner at a close
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Kickoff (9)
by Bavarian place we were joined by CDTM alumni and students of higher classes for a get together. The alumni told us about their most memorable moments at CDTM and shared some good advice for getting the best out of our time at CDTM. That evening we got a sense of what the CDTM is all about: the community.

The following day, we immediately got a first opportunity to show how good we could already work together in teams. A consultant from Roland Berger Strategy Consultants presented us a case study dealing with the concentrated solar power industry in Spain. After a short introduction, we split up into five teams, all trying to find the best solution to our potential client’s problem. Having to cope with enormous time pressure, we were required to have our very first working lunch. “Better get used to it, it won’t be the last one”, we were told – and this held true throughout our complete first semester at CDTM. Later on, each team had to present the results in front of a mixed jury consisting of consultants and center assistants.

Exhausted after working all day long, we would never have guessed that the real challenge of the weekend was still to come. We were all longing for a delicious cheese fondue at a popular hut on a
nearby mountain, but: how to get there when your bus doesn’t show up, the weather is cold and stormy, and meters of snow are all around you? A combination of adventurous car rides, short Glühwein warm-ups and brave walking through the snow-covered landscape finally brought us to the hut. Before we could enjoy our cheese fondue, the owner had told us about their traditions. In case someone dropped the fondue-bread, a severe punishment would be executed: Men had to run barefoot around the hut whereas women were “allowed” to kiss every man at the hut. Surprisingly, no one refused so that running and kissing became key elements of that evening.
After our delicious dinner we headed off for a local night club we liked to call “farmers’ disco”. Nevertheless the club was way better than expected and we got to know the other half of the CDTM motto “work hard – play hard”. Having danced for hours, our bus finally found us in the early morning and drove us all back to our houses, where we all fell asleep immediately.

The morning after, we were roused by the kickoff taskforce from a very short sleep. After our Sunday breakfast, we experienced the entrepreneurial spirit at CDTM. First, Alumni and former CAs who have founded their own startups provided us valuable insights into the life, risks and opportunities of entrepreneurs. Afterwards it was our turn to become creative: splitting up in small teams, we had to come up with a convincing business idea of our own. In the afternoon (again, we had a “working lunch”) the enterprising ideas were presented in front of a jury. This inspiring day was concluded by organizational information about our next steps at CDTM before we headed back home.

Our time at CDTM started with an unforgettable weekend at Fischbachau. Although it was only a weekend the challenging tasks, the inspiring environment and a lot of fun brought us together as a team. The Kick-off set a good basis for the tough and exciting weeks of the trend seminar to come.