Beatlemania!

Last weekend, Geneva invited me up to the bustling metropolis of Harrison, AR where she is interning with FedEx Freight. We had a great time catching up, watching Juno (I know! It's disappointing that I haven't seen it yet...but hey, I've been in graduate school), and playing a little golf.

We also decided to take a little trip up to the famous Branson, Missouri (mecca for midwest country music fans and traveling inclined retirees.

Dick Smith, the director of the MBA career placement office, recommended Liverpool Legends, a Beatles revival show so we braved the snail-paced drivers of the Branson strip to see and hear John, Paul, George and Ringo in the flesh.

And wow, look here we are with The Fab Four. If you ever make it to Branson, and want something without country music and no sequins, then check these guys out. The show was really good. They play all their own instruments (the Paul even plays left handed). They actually sing (no lip syching) and sounds just like the guys.

After such an exciting afternoon, Geneva and I took advantage of the shopping. We found some great deals and although she didn't buy this shirt...we HAD to take a picture. Geneva is famous for calling out any and all trashiness.

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. :)

Watch out Demon Deacons!

Every year, the Babcock School of Management at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC hosts a marketing summit. As part of the summit, they have a case study competition just for MBA's. Only 8 schools get to participate and one of those is WF. So basically there are only 7 spots. So seven of us Marriott School-ers put together a team and sent our application (our resumes and just 300 words on why they should choose us) off into the great beyond.

They chose us!

BYU has never been invited to this competition before so it's a pretty big deal. There is usually a high profile sponsor corporation that provides the real life problem to be solved. Previous sponsors have been Yahoo!, Motorola, Apple, Coca-Cola and more that you would recognize. Top MBA programs like Harvard, Dartmouth, Virginia, MIT, and UCLA are some of the past competitors. So we will be up against some tough competition.

We are definitely thrilled to be invited and are looking forward to showing what we can do in 36 hours with no sleep and no coffee! Hopefully we will come home with the $5000 first prize! WOOT! Go team!

Don't Mess with Texas!

Last weekend, myself and 116 of my closest Marriott School MBA friends headed down to Houston, Texas for the National Society of Hispanic MBA (NSHMBA) annual conference. Over the last few years NSHMBA has developed a reputation for being THE job fair for b-school students. It did not disappoint. More than 300 companies were there recruiting for internships and full-time positions and more than 8000 students were there to network/schmooze/work-it and try to get that once in a lifetime job or internship opportunity.

Here are some of the highlights:

The Show Floor.





The off-the-hook Target party.










And the aftermath of being on your feet (in heels) all days for two days...



(Yep those are our feet soaking in the bathtub).

We had a fantastic time during out 48 hours in H-town. I interviewed with three companies, talked to countless more, and got to meet some awesome MBA students from other schools. It was well worth the money, time and extra stress. Plus, more than anything else and most importantly, it really forced me to get myself into the finding-a-job mindset. We did mock interviews during orientation but nothing prepared me for the real thing.

I'm still waiting to hear how some of my leads from the conference will pan out. But even if I don't get an internship directly from NSHMBA, I know the experience I gained will play a large role in the internship I eventually land. It was valuable just from a personal and professional development perspective and I'm already thinking ahead to next year about ways that I can make it even more valuable.

Also, there is also one more thing I learned that I will carry with me throughout my life....