The BDE represents the heart of student life at a business school. Guillaume Olmo, president of the Grenoble EM BDE, talks about his role and how the association adapted to COVID-19.
Can you introduce yourself?
Hello, I’m Guillaume Olmo, I’m 22 years old and I’m from Grenoble by heart and by birth. I graduated with a DUT in business and administration management, then I took the Passerelle competition to join Grenoble École de Management.
Can you present the GEM BDE?
The BDE is a team of 40 friends whose aim is to manage the associative life of GEM. Normally, we are also responsible for organizing the integration weekend and school evenings. Unfortunately, this year, a virus called COVID-19 decided to thwart our plans. We therefore refocused on the organization of the BDE list campaign. GEM has the largest BDE campaign in France, whether in terms of duration, events or even student engagement. It is made up of 8 lists of 40 people. It was therefore out of the question to cancel the campaign this year. We have therefore adapted by modifying our events so that they respect health standards and barrier gestures.
What is your role within the BDE?
My role within the BDE is mainly to act as a link between the administration, the various school associations and the members of the BDE. So I have a lot of meetings with the GEM management team. For example, this summer, I participated in a certain number of crisis units with them whose aim was to best understand the start of the school year and the integration of new students, while respecting the measures put in place by the State to fight COVID-19.
I also sit on the board of directors of GEM and participate in numerous association steering committees as well as inter-president meetings. This requires me to always keep an overall vision and to constantly take a step back.
Why did you choose to be president of the BDE?
When I participated in the BDE campaign last year, I was treasurer on the list Dead’Chickens. I really enjoyed this experience, and so I wanted to get even more involved. I loved organizing events, bringing together a team and pushing the group to surpass themselves to win the campaign. Finally, it was also an opportunity for me to put into practice all the managerial principles learned in class.
Did you imagine your role like that?
Absolutely not. I never imagined I would experience everything I experienced. The arrival of COVID-19 has obviously changed everything even more. While I expected to have to be involved in the organization of an integration weekend, I ultimately found myself constantly having meetings to manage the crisis. But it remains a very interesting experience which pushes you to always adapt.
However, there are some points in which I was not surprised. I knew, for example, that I would have to manage many internal problems, such as integrating new students or resolving inter-association conflicts.
If you had to do it again, would you do it?
Without hesitation. It is a very enriching experience. I take real pleasure in having a significant influence in the community life of my school and in carrying out such varied tasks. The only negative point is that this position is really time-consuming, especially in the current context.
What would you say to a first-year student who is hesitant about joining the BDE?
I would tell him to go for it. It is an incredible opportunity which has allowed each member of the BDE to enrich themselves professionally and humanly. Many projects are very interesting to carry out and, unlike other associations, the BDE list was formed solely thanks to the bonds of friendship formed in the first year.
What skills did this experience give you?
Without a doubt, a lot of professionalism. In particular, I developed many management skills by having to coordinate the desires and wishes of the 40 members of the list, in order to move them in the same direction. This task was all the more difficult because the list was simply a group of friends when it was constructed and we therefore had to be able to dissociate friendships from the work to be carried out. It also taught me how to organize big projects. I now understand the workings of creating an event much better.
From a personal point of view, this experience taught me how to take a step back between my responsibilities as president and my personal life. At the BDE, we must not think from an individual point of view, but know how to act for the interest and good of all the school’s associations.
How the BDE has it adapted to the COVID crisis?
We have adapted our events to government restrictions to allow Gémiens to continue to benefit from quality student life. This means reducing the number of people at each event, making wearing a mask compulsory and inviting each participant to respect barrier gestures, while continuing to have fun at the same time.
The final word?
Good luck to our successors, hoping that COVID-19 leaves them alone.
The interview was carried out by the GEM BDE team
