The rest.

Tech Trek 2008 wasn't all business. We couldn't stay in the Bay Area without seeing the sites in San Fran. A group of us had a blast playing in the city Friday night and Saturday morning. Even though Friday was a bit soggy, we checked clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl off our must-east list (as well as the Cali classic In N Out Burger). Here are the highlights:

Eatin' (inside thankfully) at Boudin at Fisherman

Justin and The Rock (Alcatraz)

Marta at a ginormous crab sculpture at Pier 39

Marta, Justin, Cray, Dave, me overlooking the Bay Bridge

Coit Tower

Alcatraz from the Coit Tower hill

Tech Trek: Day 3

Our third and final day of visits in the Bay Area began at Cisco. They also brought in some great presenters for us. Our executive-level speakers covered the spectrum: from marketing to finance to hr. Here are some of the things that I took away from the discussion. Cisco is looking for people that have leadership capability. They emphasize three areas in their hiring decisions: process, results and relationships and value people who can work in cross-functional teams. Next, anytime you are interfacing with a company (be it for a group information session or a informal networking event, make sure you have done your homework. In addition, become a well-rounded person. While your forte may be in finance, for example, you should gain perspective along the way in other areas like hr and marketing so you can understand your own business better.

One of the things I thought was most interesting was that Cisco recognizes that different generations of workers want different things and work in different ways. For example, they are restructuring their work spacing into larger, group cubicles to be more collaboration friendly.


Our last and final visit was to the #1 tech company right now: Google. It was everything you've heard it is: fun, casual, colorful, free food, free gym, hip, cool etc. etc. etc. We did a little walking tour of the campus, they fed us a delicious lunch and then had a Q&A session with some BYU grads and a few others. It was incredible to hear about life as a "googler" working in the "googleplex." I see now why literally EVERYONE wants to work there.

Tech Trek: Day 2

On Day 2 of our BYU MBA approved field trip, we scheduled visits to two more leading tech companies in Silicon Valley: hp and Apple.



We started our day off a hp. We listened to several presentations about the company and learned more about some of the hr strategies they are implementing as they increase their mergers and acquisitions. We also got to see a demonstration of their awesome new teleconferencing technology called Halo. It was incredible and will change the way companies do their business all over the world. Very very cool.





Then it was on to Apple. They really brought in the big guns for us. Our host, Scott gave us a great intro to the company product lines and the structure of the company. Then we heard from Frank Casanova, a very senior VP and one of the big guys behind Quicktime, the mega popular Apple application. In addition, they treated us to a yummy lunch in their cafeteria (which featured sushi, a real brick oven for pizza and calzones, and basically anything else you can think of), plus a couple more presentations/Q&A sessions. Then we finished off the day in their company store. Thanks to a 10% discount, several of us took the opportunity to buy some exclusive merchandise for the loved ones back home.


A couple of my takeaways: Apple says they look for people who are passionate about stuff (and that "stuff" doesn't necessarily mean Apple). They want to see that you have passion and you'll bring that passion to your work.

Next, they discussed the approach to their brand. They aspire to make every part of a customer's experience consistent and that includes everything from how they design the stuff, all the way down to the customer service (called AppleCare). Lastly, they expect perfection in everything they release and this philosophy is why they are so successful.

Later that evening, we attended a networking event at a chapel in Palo Alto. It was a great experience to informally talk to former BYU students and Utah residents about life in the Bay Area and their places of employment.

The evening concluded with a competitive round of Super Mario 3 on the class NES system. Good times.

Tech Trek: Day 1

After arriving in San Francisco a little later than expected (thank you flight delays), we got an early start for our first visit of the trip, ebay over in San Jose!

ebay gave us a great perspective on their business: about the different spaces they are in and where they are going. Something interesting I took from their discussion was this. When asked what the biggest threat to their business is, they said it is complacency. They explained that while they are right now at the top of the their game in virtually all their lines of business, if they don't stay up on the latest technology and what consumer wants, that won't last. This was a valuable insight to me.


Then we hopped on over to Palo Alto (home of Stanford U.) for our visit to the creativity experts at Ideo. They have an incredible philosophy and approach to solving problems. One of the things that spoke to me was they hire what they call "T" people: people with expertise in a specific area (depth), but also have skills in a variety of other disciplines (breadth). Very cool. And seems like it working pretty good so far for them. :)

Merry MBA Chrismas

So last weekend our dear friend Marci invited a bunch of us to her house in Midway, Utah for a little fun. Although the first large snowstorm of the year hit earlier in the day, we did not let a few flurries deter us from some sorely needed time away from Provo.

We had dinner, drank yummy hot chocolate, laughed, sang, and enjoyed the break from our studies. But the highlight of the evening was going to the 9th annual Interfaith Creche Exhibit. It was amazing to see more than 900 nativities from all over the world. So in the spirit of the activity, we took the opportunity to make our own nativity. See the final product below.