Switerland: So Close, So Far Away

For years, when it was still called the Lugano Chapter, it was almost considered an extension of the Milano home base. Since February, when Michele Cassiani took the helm of the local Bocconi Alumni Association (BAA), it has changed name into the Ticino Chapter. It encompasses the whole of Italian-speaking Swtizerland, including Lugano, Bellinzona, Mendrisio, for a total of 350 alumni involved. "During this first year we worked a lot on networking, in order to increase the number of people involved in the organization and attendance of events", says Cassiani, who works as a financial consultant for Banca Finter.

"For this year, we have in mind a few career events. The first, open to all alumni, will be a talk with Claudio Ceper of Egon Zehnder. It will be held in mid-February in collaboration with the Human Resources Topic of BAA. It will be focused on locating weaknesses and strengths in one's curriculum. To remain in the domain of professional self-valorization, in April the group will organize an event devoted to a more senior audience, which will look at the best way to reposition oneself on the job market and start one's own business.

In the second semester of 2014, "we plan to focus on success factors in entrepreneurship, through presentations delivered by Bocconi alumni." So the Italian-Swiss chapter is currently a hub of activity. However, proximity to Italy is not an unmitigated boon. It makes much easier for Ticino Chapter members to attend BAA events held in Milano, but it also has its downsides. "It makes it harder to draw a stable number of people to our activities, because many of our alumni are in fact commuters: they work in Switzerland, but live in Italy", Michele Cassiani concludes.

areaticino@alumnibocconi.it