On Thursday, 17 July 2014 the SAHETI Alumni Office hosted a cocktail evening which marked the inaugural event of the ΣAHETI Alumni Association. With its central theme “A new era of excellence”, this special event in true SAHETI style also welcomed SAHETI’s Executive Headmaster, Warwick Taylor.
Hosted in the magnificent Pouroulion Building which also houses the SAHETI Alumni Archives, guests were entertained by the vibrant performance provided by the school’s talented bouzouki players. The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly the guest speaker appearance of zealous Hellene, Peter Economides. Peter, who travelled all the way from Athens especially for this event, delivered a fascinating talk about creating a narrative of your life. Having delivered similar presentations in the USA, Australia and other parts of the world, this was a first of its kind in South Africa.
Master of ceremonies Aki Anastasiou (1986) welcomed Peter, a world renowned brand strategist who has been doing work that has impacted brands and consumers almost everywhere. His journey through the world of advertising and marketing started in native South Africa and took him via Hong Kong, Greece and Mexico to New York, and back to Athens. Peter has worked and learned from some of the best: John Dooner, Michael Sennott and Marcio Moreira at McCann; Jeff Weiss and Lee Daley at Amster Yard; Sergio Zyman and David Wheldon at Coca-Cola; Bill Tragos, Uli Wiesendanger, Adam Morgan, John Hunt and Lee Clow at TBWA; Steve Jobs at Apple; and Horst Sambo, the man who created and executed the incredible Red Bull campaign. Peter drew comparisons to his role in the re-launch of a bankrupt Apple back in 1997. “I met Steve Jobs for four hours and came away with two comments: ‘Let’s make a dent on the universe and good enough is not enough’.” The result was the iconic Think Different campaign, which created a narrative that has helped Apple now become the world’s most valuable company.
‘Greek is the new cool’, he said. ‘We are full of stories, the world needs our stories. We need a narrative. We need a SAHETI narrative. Think Iconic. Think Epic. Think New Era of Excellence. Weave every story of your urban fabric to create a narrative, that narrative that provides the glue that holds nations together.’ Peter urged SAHETI Alumni to dedicate themselves to safeguarding our heritage and the survival of memory – the survival of the SAHETI memory and to carry this treasure of resilient Hellenic spirit for generations to follow.
Thank you to all the Alumni who supported and to those who were involved in making this event exceptional. To the Archive Committee for the SAHETI Alumni display, Mrs Martha Cavaleros and Dr Mary Reynolds (archivist). A special thank you to the SAHETI Alumni Organising Committee – Paulette (Yiallouris) Comninos 1987, Ria (Georgiou) Mouskides 1983, Anthea (Christelis) Sotiropoulos 1986 and Aliki (Elia) Ttappous 1983. To Salamander Design Concepts, John and Melissa Generalis, for their generous sponsorship toward this memorable event.
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