This year’s ConFest and General Assembly will be centered around the future of Indo-German DAAD alumni relations and the future perspectives of IndiAlumni itself with the motto “Fast Forward: The Next Steps of Indo-German Relations in a Changing World”. We want to follow up on the 2025 survey that shows that many senior members have moved on with their lives and openly ask the question if IndiAlumni is still needed and if yes, what shape it should take in the next years to be relevant and enrich people’s lives.
We will hold as many sessions as possible in a hybrid format to allow members from all kinds of places and situations in life to participate. This ConFest is important for our future course. Don’t miss out on it.
If you are a DAAD scholar or alumnus/alumna and want to participate, contact us at board@indialumni.org and we will get in touch with you!
This is the tentative schedule:
ConFest 2025
Friday 7 Nov 2025
16:00 – Arrival: registration & room assignment
18:00 – Dinner
19:30 – Evening networking: informal get‑together, ice‑breakers
Saturday 8 Nov 2025
07:30 – Breakfast
09:00 – Welcome: address by the association president & theme introduction
09:00 – Keynotes: online talk by an Indo-German scientist on Indo‑German intercultural workspaces and requirements of incoming students
09:30 – World Cafe with four tables/questions:
• 1: Do we need IndiAlumni in 2025? If yes, why would that be?
• 2: When Indians and Germans engage, what can they learn from each other?
• 3: When you first came to Germany/India, what did you need the most
to settle in?
• 4: If you spent one hour per month, what would you want to learn in the Indo-German context?
10:45 – Group picture preparation & photo
11:00 – Tea break
11:15 – Panel discussion: “Reviving Alumni Networks – Strategies for Engagement and Career Growth” (incl. Dr. Bala Subramanian Ramani, also
online) – 20 min keynote, 25 min Q&A, discussion
12:00 – Speed dating: What is your favorite IndiAlumni experience and would you miss it if you had to live without it?
12:30 – Lunch (hybrid; paid by IndiAlumni)
14:00 – Interactive workshop: “Visual traditions design language across the centuries in Germany and India”
15:30 – Short break
15:45 – Yoga session (low intensity to get ready for the end-of-the day challenge)
16:30 – Team competition: “If IndiAlumni was a company, what would you make out of it?” Grow it? Scrap it? Who would be the CEO? What would you be willing to invest?
17:30 – Presentation and awards
19:00 – Dinner & cultural performance (Indo‑German music, dance, etc.)
21:00 onwards – Evening gathering: games & networking
Sunday 9 Nov 2025
08:00 – Breakfast
09:30 – 13:30 General assembly
09:30 – Board reports and audits (activity, financial)• 10:00-11:00: The association in a crisis what next? Short presentation of the findings from the previous day (15 minutes), then a general debate (30 minutes, 2 minutes speaking time each) – keep or scrap the association, possible necessary reforms. Vote on disbanding the association if required.
11:00 – Short break
11:15 – Voting on new board members or defining provisions for disbanding the association
12:00 – Other decisions
1) Removal of dual checks on bank transactions to reduce incapacitation risk
13:30 – Wrap‑up: tea, snacks & end‑note speech by organizers
14:00 onwards – Farewell