Posts Tagged ‘MBA Experience’
The MBA Road Less Traveled by Taralyn Day
Posted by: tday in MBA Experience, Student Life on October 27th, 2010
Let me start off by introducing myself. I’m Taralyn and you’ll probably get to know me a bit better as I navigate my way through the full-time MBA program this year.
I’ve always liked the idea of holding an MBA but I didn’t start out in business so it only emerged as a reality for me in the last couple of years. I completed a biology degree at the University of Victoria in 2006 and thought I would follow my classmates in to research or medicine. That thought was short-lived, however, and within a week of writing my final exams I packed my bags and moved to Whistler. Read the rest of this entry »
Vancouver Celebration of Light: A Big Business
Posted by: ryan-schmidt in Student Life on July 28th, 2010
Every year near the end of July, Vancouver experiences a 4-day fireworks spectacle that rivals most international fireworks competitions. Since 1990, the residents of Vancouver and the Metro Vancouver have been able to look forward to this incredible show, as they line the beaches, parks, and hills that surround Vancouver’s English Bay to catch the show. As a matter of fact, it brings nearly half a million people, from all over Vancouver’s Lower Mainland (Metro Vancouver, 2010 Est. population 2.7M). The fact of the matter is that for retail businesses in the West End, English Bay, and Kitsilano, the fireworks mean a huge boost in sales. Further, corporate sponsorship of the event changed drastically in 2008 when HSBC withdrew as the principal sponsor, forcing the event to look at a multiple sponsor model.
While for most students of SFU Graduate Business these four shows spread over two weeks mean four nights off and some great entertainment, others see it as an opportunity to have something in common with a local Vancouver business. The Vancouver Celebration of Light is sponsored by companies such as The Keg, London Drugs, HSBC, Concord Pacific, FCV (an up and coming interactive agency), BC Hydro, and the YVR airport. With such an impressive sponsor line-up (these are BIG BC businesses) it would be wise for a newly minted MBA student to get involved as a volunteer with the logistics and organization of such a huge event. The SFU Business’ Career Management Centre highly encourages volunteer involvement with local events and charities. This is one of the easier ways to gain exposure and come across as a hard worker in the eyes of potential hiring managers.
Another example of a great event to get involved with is the Vancouver Canary Derby. The Canary Derby is a soapbox race, held in Burnaby’s Deer Lake Park, that raises money for research toward early cancer detection. The race teams consist of local Vancouver companies, many of which are in growth phases and rapidly hiring staff. The extra exposure in a volunteer situation may just give someone that boost of a familiar face once the interview comes. For others it may provide an interview opportunity where one might not have previously existed. To read more about the Canary Derby or get involved you can visit the Official Canary Derby Site. I also encourage you to read this past post by A Few Good Minds MBA Blog.
Ambush Marketing: Do They Teach This Stuff at Biz School?
Posted by: ryan-schmidt in Student Life on July 13th, 2010
We live in a world where organizations pay billions of dollars to have their logo front and centre during the most watched sporting event of all time (The FIFA World Cup). For the most part, this money is well spent, especially when you’re a company that will see a million-dollar plus revenue boost with as little as a single percentage in market-share increase. These are companies like Adidas and Nike, Budweiser (Anheuser Busch InBev) and Miller (SABMiller), or Microsoft and Apple. For smaller companies looking for a big increase in sales, events like the super-bowl, world-cup, and the Olympics are out of financial reach for prime sponsorship coverage; enter ambush marketing. Depicted in the video above, several beautiful women with the promotional colors and logo of a small Dutch brewery called Bavaria NV dance, strip, and get escorted from the stadium by police… Sounds odd until you learn that Budweiser is an official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup, and these girls were getting a lot of attention. This is the definition of ambush marketing, and like the guy that strips down naked and streaks across the field with the web address for an online gambling casino, it can receive a lot of attention. The SFU MBA Program in Vancouver has two professors that are particularly interested in this type of marketing, so much so that they’ve published a paper about it. Read the rest of this entry »
SFU MBA Alumni Network – MBA Tune-Up
Posted by: ryan-schmidt in MBA Experience on March 17th, 2010
Every year in April, the SFU Alumni Board organizes what we refer to as an “MBA tune-up”. This half-day MBA networking and learning event features seminars from two of the Business Faculty’s most reputable professors. The SFU Business professors that present at the event are invited based on their current research projects. The idea is that MBA Alumni who have been out of the educational arena for some time have an opportunity to learn about current business research. This year’s SFU EMBA “Tune-Up”, scheduled for mid-April helps to exemplify the connectedness and breadth of the SFU MBA Alumni group. The two presenting professors will be Leyland Pitt (Marketing) and Anton Theunissen (Finance, Risk Management). Both of these professors are actively involved in the current MBA and EMBA classes offered by SFU Business. Currently these networking reunions are only available to Executive MBA Alumni from SFU, however there are plans to open this popular event to all MBA Alumni from SFU Business in the future. For more on this, read on: Read the rest of this entry »
Graduate Business MBA and Your Personal Brand – Authenticity
Posted by: ryan-schmidt in MBA Experience, Student Life on February 10th, 2010
This post is part-one of a multi-part series from the international branding expert Christof Appel. Christof was born and raised in South Africa, and has been consulting with individuals and groups on their online brands for over 5 years. In this series Christof will write about personal branding techniques which can be used by current and soon-to-be Graduate Business students.
Students at SFU’s Graduate Business School have the unique ability to be involved with his “Mastermind” program. This is an elite group selected to be involved in an ongoing online workshop with Christof, building their own personal online brands. As newly minted Graduate Business students in Vancouver, this online presence is critical for networking and job seeking. Be sure to read Christof’s first article below, and feel free to comment or email for more detail. Read the rest of this entry »
Podcasts for MBAs (Not Just Graduate Business)
Posted by: MBAStudent in Student Life on February 8th, 2010
Long commute to B-school? These Podcasts will help pass the time. Best of all, you’ll arrive a little smarter and be warmed up for the day’s MBA learning experience. Below are a series of links that will take you to podcast “channels” suited well to graduate business students, or anyone keenly interested in business.
Many of these Podcasts can be listened to and easily understood buy non-business students.
A Quick Guide to MBA-Friendly Web Links
Posted by: MBAStudent in Academic Survival on January 28th, 2010
Every MBA student can use a helping hand once in a while. Here are a few tried, tested and true links that can give you a leg up in SFU’s MBA program, whether you’re applying to join us, or your a current student at SFU in Vancouver. As a matter of fact, these links links are so universal, that even if you’re planing to study at LSB or Insead you’ll still want to keep them handy. Read the rest of this entry »
MBA Mentor in Residence – SFU’s Entrepreneurial Resource
Posted by: ryan-schmidt in Student Life on January 26th, 2010
It’s opportunities to meet business people like Jim Derbyshire, Mentor-in-Residence, that truly define the power and depth of the SFU community. Vancouver is often thought of as a small town, with few global career opportunities and a limited network to the outside world. Jim Derbyshire, hailing from the UK, and who has grown companies in the UK, New Zealand and Ottawa, Canada, would completely disagree. Jim is a Mentor-in-Residence for Simon Fraser University’s (Vancouver) Venture Connection Network. Throughout his nearly 35 year career, Jim has been a serial entrepreneur, Angel Investor, CEO, Mentor, and Consultant in several different industries and vocations. Jim has a very large global network and knowledge base which he is more than happy to share with the SFU students who attend his one-on-one advising sessions. Read more about my experience in an advising session with Jim: Read the rest of this entry »
Master of Technology Semester in Review: Leadership
Posted by: Dave Reichert in MBA Experience on January 20th, 2010
Leading by learning how to work together
– Homer Simpson
It’s a brand new semester here at SFU’s Segal Business School, which means it’s time for me to write about my impressions of last semester in the brief period of time I have before it gets pushed out of my brain.
The beginning of the school year can be a frightening time for new students, and business school is no exception. Coming into the part-time Management of Technology/Biotechnology (MOT) MBA program I knew that the majority of people in my class would have more work experience than the average MBA class and, as one of the younger students in the class, I would be at a bit of a disadvantage in this area. I was feeling a little intimidated, especially when I heard what some of the more experienced students had accomplished. Fortunately for me, our first course was an intensive three-day leadership course with Gary Wagenheim as our instructor. Read the rest of this entry »
MBA Speaker Series: The CMC Presents Brian Josling: Common Sense Refined
Posted by: ryan-schmidt in MBA Experience on January 19th, 2010
An "A Few Good Minds" Rendering of Brian's Presentation
“Common sense refined” is Brian Josling’s tag line, and the moment Brian started speaking it was clear that he has a large amount of “street” experience for our hopeful MBA’s to learn from. Brian did a speaking tour here at Segal; he began by speaking to the Management of Technology MBA’s, and moved on to the Full Time MBA class. The average age of this class is about 26, and most everyone has fewer than five years of work experience. The program only takes a year, which in Brian’s words “will seem like it was 3 weeks long”. His talk was one in a series of seminars organized by the SFU Graduate Business program’s Career Management Centre (CMC). The CMC’s main goal is to prepare the graduate business students at Segal for the world after the MBA. Brian’s talk was about as congruent with this goal as it comes, for a brief summary click here: Read the rest of this entry »