What were you doing in New York the weekend before Thanksgiving?
Business Today, a student organization run by Princeton students, holds an international business conference every year. This year’s topic was Sustainable Growth: Taking Responsibility for the Future.

Tell us a little about your experience at the conference.
In more personal language, it rocked my socks off. Not only did I get to fly up to New York, my future home and current obsession, I also had the great privilege of meeting with and talking to some of the leaders of global business today. I heard from several great keynote speakers, and had intimate, small group discussions with business leaders such as Al Reese, Jr., CFO of ATP Oil & Gas Corporation, Day Wray, CEO of BioFilm, Inc., Ryoichi Ueda, President and CEO of Mitsubishi Corporation, and Martin Nisenholtz, Senior Vice President of Digital Operations of The New York Times, to name a few.

What did the conference focus on?
This conference presented the idea that corporate social responsibility, or CSR, is not just something that a corporation, due to its social function, is obligated to participate in as a contract to society, but a working business model. The entire theme of the conference was based on the idea that CSR is not just a good thing to do, but profitable. Models were presented, graphs were analyzed, and statistics discussed that all showed how and why engaging in activities that help protect the environment, give back to the communities, and protect global human rights standards actually increase revenues, can cut costs, and capture a greater market share.

What made this conference so appealing to you?
I believe in corporate social responsibility(CSR) because I feel that businesses, individuals, and governments all have obligations to the greater society, but this conference taught me that CSR is so much more: a working business initiative. Attending this conference, hearing the speakers, and interacting with other student business leaders from all over the world helped me gain a broader perspective on this vital part of today’s business. I really felt that this conference helped me find a way to utilize all the crucial business skills I’ve learned at Mays in order to fulfill my own sense of what is required of the business world today.

Any advice for other students who want to learn more about CSR?
Business Today is hosting a regional conference in Dallas in March of 2008. If you have the opportunity to attend, jump at it! It was an eye-opening experience for me, and I highly recommend either the regional conference or international conference for anyone interested in getting ahead in today’s business world.

Learn more about Erika’s trip on her maysblog.