Many have heard of Warren Buffet's famous lunches. Guests can ask the billionaire investor any questions about business and philanthropy over a fine meal in a restaurant.
很多人听说过著名的"沃伦•巴菲特午餐"。 在餐厅享用大餐的过程中,来宾们可以向这位身价亿万的投资家请教任何关于生意和慈善方面的问题。
Recently, Qi Lin, 23, a finance major from Nanjing University and 19 fellow students had the chance to quiz CEOs over dinner.
近日,在南京大学攻读金融专业、23岁的齐林(音译)及其他19名学生,便得到机会与CEO们共进晚餐,讨教问题。
They asked the CEOs of Bertelsmann China companies about careers and innovative ideas at a French restaurant in Beijing.
在北京的一家法式餐厅里,他们向贝塔斯曼集团中国区各家公司的CEO们询问了职业和创新理念的问题。
Qi asked how to deal with obstacles or frustrations at work.
齐林讨教了如何去处理工作中的障碍或挫折的问题。
Dennis Hu, CEO of avarto Systems China, a global IT full service provider replied: "It's important to have ownership of your own position. Instead of passively regarding your job as tasks, try to think of it in a more creative way."
全球IT全方位服务供应商——欧唯特信息系统中国公司的首席执行官丹尼斯•胡回答说:"对自己的工作拥有自主权这点很重要的。尽量以一种更具创造性的方式来思考你的工作,而不是被动地将工作视为任务。"
Unlike Buffet's lunches, the 20 students didn't bid in an auction for places at the meal.
与"巴菲特午餐"不同,这20名学生并没有在拍卖会上为获得餐桌上的一席之位而竞标。
The group got their invites by displaying entrepreneurship in the Talents Meets Bertelsmann (TMB) China workshop 2012 to enter the final. They stood out from hundreds of applicants around the country. At dinner they were encouraged to fire questions at the CEOs and produce creative reports based on the information collected during the dinner.
这组学生凭借在2012"贝塔斯曼校园达人" (Talent Meets Bertelsmann,以下简称TMB)商业策划大赛中的创业展示,最终晋级决赛,从而获得了邀请。他们从来自全国各地的数百名参赛者中脱颖而出。在晚餐过程中,主办方鼓励他们向CEO们发出一连串的提问,并根据晚宴上收集到的信息撰写一份创新报告。
They divided into five groups and each team sat at a table with a CEO from one of the companies of the Bertelsmann group, a transnational media corporation.
他们分成五个小组,每组与一位CEO坐在一起。这些CEO都是来自跨国传媒公司贝塔斯曼集团旗下的各个公司。
"This gave students the opportunity to have face-to-face, in-depth talks with senior bosses, to share not only their business insights but also their career and life experiences and advice," said Elyn Hu, a senior HR manager of Bertelsmann China Corporate Center.
"这使得学生们能够有机会与高层管理者面对面深度交流,这不单单只是分享他们的商业见解,更是听取他们有关职场和人生的经验和建议。"贝塔斯曼中国控股有限公司高级人事经理艾琳•胡说道。
The students' questions ranged from how the bosses see themselves in the workplace to even how often they cook for themselves at home. "I was struck by all the odd questions the students raised," said Hong Kong native Ricky Ng, General Manager from iClick China, a leading online performance marketing provider in Asia.
学生的问题可谓五花八门,从老板们如何看待工作中的自己,到他们多久自己在家做一次饭吃。作为一位土生土长的香港人,亚洲领先的在线效果营销公司爱点击(中国)总经理Ricky Ng表示:"我被学生们提出的各种古怪问题雷到了。"
"I realized that students have lively and *unconfined minds. I'm also glad that they seem to put an emphasis on work and life balance," Ng said.
"我意识到学生们思维很活跃,很发散。他们似乎很注重工作与生活的平衡,这点也让我感到很开心。"Ricky Ng说道。
Some students wanted to know how the CEOs started their in-house careers as entrepreneurs from an entry-level position directly after graduation.
一些学生想知道这些CEO是如何从刚毕业时的初级职位变身为独立创业者的。
Kevin Xu, CEO of arvato China, a leading third party outsourcing provider, told them how he once spent several nights working on an electronic version of his company's invoice to provide a standardized version.
作为第三方外包供应商中的翘楚——欧维特中国的首席执行官凯文•徐向他们讲述了自己的经历。有一次,自己是花费了好几个晚上的时间来钻研公司发票的电子版,以便做出一个标准版。
He reckoned the most valuable employees were those who are willing to do the basic hands-on work.
他认为最有价值的员工是那些愿意亲手去做最基础工作的人。
Career planning upon graduation was another area of students' interest.
毕业之后的职业规划则是另一个令学生们感兴趣的方面。
Wang Zeyuan, 24, an automation major from Tsinghua University, quizzed Annabelle Long, chief executive of Bertelsmann China Corporate Center.
就读于清华大学自动化专业、24岁的王泽源(音译)向贝塔斯曼中国控股有限公司总经理安娜贝拉•龙讨教了一番。
"She advised me to keep all options open before deciding on what I really want to do," Wang said.
王泽源说:"她建议,在我决定自己真正想做的事情之前,保留所有选项。"
"I also learn about the career path in the consulting industry."
"同时,我也了解了咨询行业的职业发展道路。"
Gao Tingfan, 20, a junior economic major from Renmin University asked Long: "When was the last time you cooked for yourself?" He was happy to know that it was just a week ago and this CEO would not put life after work, and he even learnt a tofu recipe from her.
来自中国人民大学经济学专业的大三学生、20岁的高廷帆(音译)向安娜贝拉•龙提问道:"你最后一次为自己做饭是什么时候?"当得知是在一周前时,他很开心。这位CEO并不会将生活放于工作之后,他甚至还从她那里学到了一道豆腐菜谱。
Owen Shi, China CEO of Gruner+Jahr Advertising Co Ltd, says that it was a conversation of win-win situation. "The students' questions made me think in different ways."
古纳亚尔广告公司的华人首席执行官欧文•史称这是一次双赢的对话。"学生们的问题让我以不同的角度思考。"
Winners will fly to Germany to visit HQ
这次大赛的获胜者将会飞往贝塔斯曼德国总部参观。
The final of this year's TMB China workshop, organized by Bertelsmann AG, the transnational media giant, was held from July 11 to 12 in Beijing.
今年由跨国传媒大鳄——贝塔斯曼集团组织的"TMB(中国)商业策划大赛"的决赛,于7月11日到12日期间在北京举办。
A total of 20 participants with an entrepreneurial spirit worked in five groups to present their business proposals to the company's top executives.
20名极富创业精神的参赛选手被分为五组,他们向公司的高管团队提交了自己的商业计划书。
This year, Zhu Hongxuan from Peking University, Tang Luqiao from Wuhan University, Zhou Yue from Columbia University and Zhong Mingxuan from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology were the winners. They will fly to Germany to visit Bertelsmann's headquarters and take part in the "Student Challenge" event in December.
今年的获胜者是来自北京大学的朱虹璇(音译)、武汉大学的唐璐桥(音译),哥伦比亚大学的周悦(音译)以及来自香港科技大学的钟明轩(音译)。他们将会飞往德国参观贝塔斯曼总部,并参加于12月举行的"学生挑战赛"。