On October 12, approximately 200 business leaders gathered together at IPADE’s campus in Mexico City for the 2017 ISTMO Forum. The 2017 event was organized around the theme “Encouraging Reinvention” and featured a series of keynote and panel sessions focused on personal, professional, and societal reinvention. The audience of businesspeople, academics, and members of the IPADE community enjoyed talks from IPADE faculty and outside experts, including Silvia Cacho-Elizondo, Professor of Marketing Management at IPADE; Ferenz Feher, CEO of Feher & Feher; Eduardo Gutiérrez, Vice President of IBM México; Florentino Bernardo, CIO of Grupo Empresarial Ángeles; Guillermo Güémez, Deputy Director of Innovation of Grupo Financiero Banorte; Rodrigo Pacheco, Grupo Imagen; and Mexican alpinist and entrepreneur Héctor Ponce de León.
“When it was founded in 1959, Carlos Llano, Co-founder of IPADE and ISTMO Magazine, said that ISTMO would take on the ultimate task of challenging and broadening the horizons of executive leaders regarding modern issues,” said Carlos Ruiz, President of the Editorial Board of ISTMO Magazine, in his opening remarks. “…Today, on the one-year anniversary of the presentation of the new, relaunched ISTMO Magazine almost 50 years later – and during the 50th anniversary of IPADE – I’m proud to say that this essence still drives the spirit of our publication.”
The afternoon began with a workshop focused on the meaning and the importance of reinvention following times of crisis, led by IPADE Professor Silvia Cacho-Elizondo. The workshop provided attendees an opportunity to discuss the meaning and importance of reinvention, as well as a cathartic opportunity to discuss the future of the city and the country following the series of major earthquakes that struck during the month of September.
Additional sessions focused on the role of reinvention in business, including the importance of offering global solutions on a local level and the advent of artificial intelligence in the new industrial era. The day concluded with a session imparted by renowned Mexican alpinist and entrepreneur Hector Ponce de León, who focused on the importance of personal reinvention.
“Metaphorically, each one of us has mountains that we need to climb in order to see our full potential,” said Ponce de León. “It’s important to set goals and work towards them, without losing sight of the fact that it’s not the summit that counts. It’s the climb.”
ISTMO Magazine was founded in 1959 as a medium for speaking about philosophy with businesspeople, and about business with philosophers. Learn more about ISTMO Magazine and explore its content here (in Spanish).
