The 11th HAA European Club Leaders conference, organized by the five Harvard Clubs of Germany, on September 11-13, 2009, was especially well-attended this year with 25 clubs and 63 club leaders participating. The Berlin experience left the indelible memory of a very convivial and stimulating gathering - with its unforgettable moment of gravitas.

With Berlin’s celebration of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall the backdrop for the conference, the meeting began with a short film to take all back to WW II, divided Berlin, and life in East Germany. Host, Tobias Pusch, LLM grad, President of the Harvard Club of Berlin, introduced the conference theme: "Opportunity", illustrating it with a story of how very transformative the Harvard experience can be.

Tobias read the very moving application essay of a soldier, a young border guard from East Berlin, who had grown up in the Soviet sector, whose dream was to get to the West and to attend Harvard. From the moment that bright, but unlikely candidate, was accepted, the course of his life changed forever. Looking back twenty years later, “the alumnus that soldier has now become still views his Harvard experience as a completely life-changing opportunity.”

You could have heard a pin drop. That soldier was Tobias himself. (Tobias is founder of the award-winning labor law firm Pusch Wahlig Legal.)

Harvard as an "opportunity" resonated with all throughout the weekend sharing of best practice, socializing and networking. 

Highlights of the weekend:
•    HAA President Teresita Alvarez-Bjelland announcing the HAA theme 2009-2010 of Public Service, and Clubs beginning to reflect on how they might try to carry out this theme in their programming;
•    A presentation on the resourceful use of social networking to form a vibrant alumni network for the Harvard Club of Russia;
•    Jen Flynn announcing the imminent launch new online tools, which will be rolled out over the next three years to all Clubs and SIGs, beginning in January 2010;

•    Prof. Charles Maier’s insightful talk and his four key factors determining the future of Western civilization: a wired world, the migration of world diasporas, the dissolution of territories, and the rise of the market – which, he notes, may have reached its limit; and the animated discussions which ensued;
•    Harvard winning the rowing competition against Oxford & a great barbecue evening,
•    Reception in the executive offices of Axel Springer overlooking Berlin, evening tour of the Pergamon Museum, and a guided tour in between raindrops of Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam;
•    Getting around town on a variety of forms of transportation including bike rickshaws, and a fleet of trabants!