Bravo HEC Paris! The FT ranking of all European Master in Management programs has been running for two years, and each time my business university HEC Paris was ranked 1st. Congrats to all alumni, students, staff, executives, and corporate sponsors.

Although I don’t believe so much in rankings in general, the Financial Times is extremely influential and no doubt there will be positive consequences for the soon-to-be-graduated students like me (June 2007). Furthermore, leading such a European-wide ranking helps build the reputation of HEC Paris worldwide.

As far as I’m concerned, the strengths of HEC Paris are:

- the drive of its students; the non-profit life of the beautiful HEC campus is just amazing, and we students have the opportunity to apply what we’ve learnt during the day straight after classes when preparing for extra-curricular events. For instance, I was deeply involved with AIESEC as the local comittee President; I was running AFIDORA, a French-speaking community on Middle Eastern geopolitics; an active member of the HEC rowing team; and taking part of all HEC Israel cultural events. It was frantic but great.

- the quality of its course content. Thanks to its reputation in France, HEC Paris attracts the very best executives and scholars. Most classes are challenging although some may sometimes be boring – but all classes, all of them, are useful. Definitely.

- its 30,000-strong alumni network; there’s a joke comparing it to the mafia: as long as you are dedicated and give it some time, the alumni will help you.

- its increasing international intakes and overall people diversity. Many sorts of profiles are taking management classes there: foreign or national lawyers, mathematicians, engineers, medical or pharmacy doctors, chemists, philosophers – the bulk of each intake coming from an intensive preparatory class to business school entrance competitive exams of which HEC Paris is the hardest to get in.

See the Financial Times 2006 European Masters in Management ranking right here. Feel free to leave me a comment or e-mail if you have any question regarding the HEC Paris Master in Management program.

A marketing coup that’s great for Skype (high acquisition cost but low churn rate (= high retention rate) and for Skypers. Instead of spending huge amounts of € on TV ads, banners and keywords, Skype transfers the value of a marketing campaign to the consumers.

An excellent way for Jérôme Archambeaud, VP France at Skype (see picture), and his teams to build a community, make lead-users like me (I used to use Wengo for IP to landlines, I’ve just switched to Skype) create a buzz, and most of all secure a positive mindset towards Skype products.

Excellent job! Everybody’s happy about this offer except maybe for media buyers and advertisers… Let’s not worry about them.