On November 13^th, 2014, the Halifax Chamber of Commerce hosted its Annual Fall Dinner. Hundreds of guests from the Halifax Business Community gathered at the World Trade and Convention Centre to celebrate the successes of the community and inspire ideas for the future. Five international students from Dalhousie’s Rowe School of Business were invited to attend this fabulous event, which featured Dave Carroll, CEO of Big Break Enterprises Inc, who spoke about “Customer Service in the Age of Social Media”. To say thank to the Halifax Chamber of Commerce for generously hosting our students, a few of them wished to share their appreciation and thoughts on the evening:

Han Fu – Corporate Residency MBA, Class of 2016

“I would like to say thank you for inviting me to the Halifax Chamber of Commerce dinner. As an international student, it is my first time attending an event of this kind. My host was Darlene from Dream Industrial REIT. She was very nice helping me to get involved throughout the event.

One important reason for me to continue my graduate studies abroad is to explore the world from a different perspective. I am therefore very appreciative for being given this valuable opportunity that gives me a glimpse into how the business world works here in, and beyond, Halifax. A brand new journey has started and I am ready! ”

Sean Liu – Bachelor of Commerce, Accounting, Class of 2016

“I’d like to say thanks to the Halifax Chamber of Commerce for offering such an awesome opportunity to international students to get in touch with local businesses and professionals. And I would also like to thank KPMG for hosting me during the event. I couldn’t think of a better way than this for us to build our network, exchange ideas, and get a glimpse of the industries we are interested in.

It was also a great pleasure to meet with Mark Parkhill, Partner of KPMG; Steve Moore, Tax Partner of KPMG, and Elizabeth Brouse, Senior Manager Market Development at KPMG, to share each other’s stories and most importantly, their career experiences and their understanding of recent industry trends. I am glad that I had this valuable chance to sit next to them to discuss the development of the Halifax business community and to discover a path towards future success.”

Tongfei Wang – Corporate Residency MBA, Class of 2016

“It was really a great opportunity for me to network and experience real Canadian business culture during the Halifax Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Fall Dinner. I really enjoyed the valuable experience of meeting different business people from various industries, which gave me a chance to listen to their experiences as well as gain new insights and share mine at the same time. I also appreciated the Halifax Chamber of Commerce’s special consideration for students and for young professionals. This is very critical to the sustainability and further development of the business community. Overall, it was really a great experience for me.​”

Chenyu Yang – Corporate Residency MBA, Class of 2016

“The event gave me a perfect opportunity to get in touch with local business professionals. As an international student with a keen desire to start my career here, I think this event is a really rare opportunity for me to get involved.

Joyce Carter, CEO of the Halifax International Airport Authority, was my host at the event. I would say it was a perfect experience for me to sit down with her and talk about my career plan and the local business environment. The vision of the senior business leaders is something we can’t learn in class. Also, Joyce introduced me to a lot of professionals during the reception, which is an excellent first step for me to build my relationships here. ”