Sy Syms Student’s Team Wins Case Competition at Beta Gamma Sigma Global Leadership Summit Sy Syms School of Business senior Matan Horenstein was a member of the student team that won the case competition at the 2016 Beta Gamma Sigma (BGS) Global Leadership Summit in Dallas, Texas. The summit is a prestigious conference that brings together 400 student leaders from top-tier business schools worldwide to learn from industry experts, collaborate on business ideas, and compete for recognition by corporate and academic recruiters.

Matan Horenstein, left, and Dov Herzberg represented Sy Syms at the Beta Gamma Sigma Global Leadership Summit.

Sy Syms was represented at the conference by Horenstein, who is studying business intelligence and marketing analytics, and Dov Herzberg, who is majoring in finance. Both have been inducted into Yeshiva University’s chapter of BGS, an international honor society recognizing business excellence. The society is open to the top 10 percent of upperclassmen at AACSB-accredited business schools; this was the first year Sy Syms students were eligible to participate in the summit. “The best part was definitely meeting different ambitious college students from all over the world and hearing their stories and their thoughts,” said Herzberg. “It was fascinating to sit down at a table for dinner and speak to people from Hong Kong, Germany, Scotland, and all over the United States. I ended up staying up pretty late most of the nights just to spend more time with amazing people. I feel like I made connections for life.” Horenstein found the panel sessions particularly enlightening: "One which really stood out was a panel with social entrepreneurs who run for-profit businesses while supporting social causes around the world.” One of the conference’s highlights was the KPMG-sponsored case study competition, during which 45 teams of students competed on topics that ranged from creating marketing plans to solving moral and ethical dilemmas which face companies today. Horenstein’s team was named the winner for their proposed campaign for REI, an outdoor clothing and equipment company. “I was responsible for coming up with a social media marketing campaign through which people would be able to strengthen their relationships with other nature enthusiasts,” said Horenstein, who felt the skills and information he gained in his Sy Syms courses in digital marketing and social media marketing played a critical role in helping him craft his team’s business plan. “I came up with a campaign called Where I Am, where individuals would share pictures and stories on social media platforms using the hashtag #wheREIam to share their unique stories of where they are in the world and how REI equipment or clothing helped them get there.” “We are very proud of Dov and Matan,” said Michael Strauss, associate dean and entrepreneur-in-residence at Sy Syms. “The Sy Syms team, consisting of our faculty and administrators, has worked very hard during the last few years to enhance our students’ education and job opportunities as graduates through the addition of an honors program, new Judaic studies curriculum, and new majors and courses, as well as our AACSB accreditation. As our school’s first attendees to this conference, Dov and Matan have already demonstrated Sy Syms’ excellence in business education.”