Tune in as Ioana Talnariu, VP Finance, shares her experience at PwC's "Creating Brilliant Futures 2011" Leadership Conference!

PwC’s “Creating Brilliant Futures” was one of the most fun and informative conferences I have ever been to.

During the first day of the conference we attended various workshops where we had the opportunity to learn more about PwC’s culture and what makes it such a great firm to work for. I loved that all workshops were very interactive and educational. Many professionals working for PwC took time of their busy schedules to come and talk to us about their experiences. Issues that were discussed included diversity and inclusion in workplace – a seminar conducted by Sandeep Tatla, a PwC senior manager and James Temple, also known as PwC’s CR-guru talked about PwC’s Corporate Responsibility.

My favorite was “International Opportunities” workshop. Did you know that PwC employees travel the world for work including countries like Australia, England, Brazil, USA and more?

The first day ended with an amazing dinner at R5, the newest restaurant at the Fallsview Casino Resort. We had the opportunity to mix and mingle with other PwC representatives, including the former CEO of PwC Chris Clark, and Serge Cattesco, the National Leader of the Audit and Assurance Group was the key speaker for the night.

The second day of the conference was held a secret. Nobody wanted to give any details about the program. It started with Carol Huynh, the Canadian Olympian in wrestling that won the Gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics that was invited to speak to us about her career. She talked about her secret to success – hard training and work. What followed Carol was by far the most fun activity I ever experienced. We were divided into teams to design and decorate a cake that showed what PwC means to us. In the morning we had to compete in five different challenges to win points. In the afternoon we used these points to buy materials to make our cake look amazing. Here is a picture of my team’s cake:

The conference came to an end with a BBQ dinner. Gino Scapillati, the National Managing Partner of PwC talked about his personal career and what makes PwC such a great firm to work for.

I consider myself lucky and honored that I was part of this conference. I encourage every student to apply for future conferences -- the experience is unforgettable and unique.