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It was a night to catch up on old memories from the former days at “César Ritz” Colleges Switzerland. Twenty five hospitality alumni gathered at the HotelExpo Best Western in Sofia for a cocktail party to celebrate times spent together at their alma mater. Goran Yordanov, Area Manager of “César Ritz” Colleges, tells the story.
Our proud host and new chapter president, Svetoslav Panev, had organized everything to perfection just like he used to back in the “César Ritz” dining room: great food; a photo presentation from our college days; and impeccable and courteous service. Today, Svetoslav is the operations manager at the hotel so that helped a lot in organizing the event.
Some of the participants had come from both ends of the country and we even had some international alumni from Russia and Greece. The evening started with getting to know the new faces and listening to their stories. Some had travelled the world and were looking for a new challenge while others had taken over the family business. It was a great mix of backgrounds and, to my surprise, all have kept in touch over the years.
Once all had arrived, we welcomed Svetoslav as our new chapter president. Svetoslav has had a great career back in Bulgaria having started on the sales team of the Kempinski Hotel at the Black Sea. He then went to the capital Sofia with part of Starwood’s Luxury Collection, the Sheraton Hotel, and is now enjoying his role at the HotelExpo.
Svetoslav has many ideas for the chapter including a possible second Balkan reunion in 2010 (like the great alumni weekend in 2007). Svetoslav will be helped by Alex Popov as vice president with Reni Kirilova as secretary. I’m sure Alex will be a great help to the chapter with his great skills and motivation and I know we can count on Reni to wake up our “Black Sea” alumni.
After cocktails, we all went for a taste of Sofia’s bustling night life. I left Bulgaria with many dear memories and the hope for more reunions to come.
All the best to the chapter.
Goran Yordanov
Area Manager
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