Wind Chill Minus 20

Yesterday was my first morning volunteering with TAP, where I helped 4 low income tax payers file their 2007 returns so they could reap the benefits of their Earned Income Tax Credits. My ride to the facility didn’t come through, so I took the #4 south through questionable neighborhoods to Cottage Grove and Oakwood, braving icy sidewalks and rapidly falling temperatures. Still, the experience was a good one. And it felt strangely noble, filling out forms there in the church basement, like a regular Robin Hood taking from the rich to give to the poor. My economist friends might argue that the earned income credits are a net sum gain for the poor in the long run – as, by decreasing tax revenues, they reduce the government’s ability to pay for other much-needed programs – but the short-term gains for the families I worked with are substantial. A $4,000 refund is pretty damn significant when you’re only making $15,000 a year.

Had every intention of going out last night (to a birthday party slash dance party hosted by some of my Latin-American and European classmates), but ended up staying in and getting some much-needed sleep, which is good, as I will need all of my focus and energy to make it through the mountain of reading and mid-term exam prep I have slated for today.

My study group partner from the other Saint Petersburg was here for a couple of hours this morning to work on our assignment for Competitive Strategy, which is an analysis of the Microsoft take-over bid for Yahoo. Our task? To evaluate whether the combined assets post-merger would outvalue the sum of the assets of the two firms if they remain independent. Our initial analysis suggests that Microsoft is relying on some funny math [warning: certain portions of the video linked in the preceding text may be unsuitable for sensitive viewers (or the workplace)] in its valuation of Yahoo, for which it has offered to pay a 65% premium. Need to call my classmate who worked on this deal when he was in the corporate strategy group at Microsoft to see if I can gain any additional insights into the firm’s rationale in making such an offer. 

About to venture out into the world to buy cat food and various other sundries, which brings me to the subject of this post. Current temp is 1 degree Fahrenheit, but wind chill is minus twenty. Brrr! Luckily, it’s a short walk to the Jewel and I have a hungry kitty and pages upon pages of reading to compel me home again. Time to bundle up and get to it!

The sun is still sunny… Somewhere. (But not here.)

There is no outside, there outside my window. Only a thick blanket of fog. I’m munching on wheat toast and sipping my french roast with plain soy milk, viewing last night’s Super Bowl ads by way of preparation for my big interview with #1 firm later this week. Slept well (and long) last night, which really was quite necessary as, thanks to K and his Dirty Thirty, I’d had only three hours the night before.

Finishing up my reading from the textbook for Comp Strat and then headed to Gleacher to work on this week’s assignment for Managerial Accounting. Really struggling with this one, but instead of confronting my confusion head on I’ve been enjoying these Take-Away Shows from Blogotheque and fine-tuning my “well-marketed product” response for Wednesday’s interview.

Met the lovely Miz S at Peninsula Hotel yesterday for late afternoon tea. We sat by the window and watched the world turn from gray green to violet haze as we sipped our bergamot scented brews and contemplated the prospect of summer in Manhattan. Read my case interview prep guide on the bus ride there and back, which made me all the more grateful that I am not doing consulting interviews this term. Can you solve a company’s problems in one 20-minute conversation? Judging by the reports from the front (ding dong, ding dong, something went wrong), the success rate is truly variable, even for the brightest among us. (Aside: Who is the MBA mommy – linked above – blogging from the front lines of IM recruiting? How many other classmates are posting their experience to the blogosphere? I must find her IRL!) Memorizing my frameworks (5 Forces, 3 C’s, 4 P’s, STP, etc.) may help, but my ability to crack my mini-case on Wednesday is more dependent on my ability to remain unflustered and think on my feet than anything else. Hence, to stay focused and centered I am supplementing my interview prep with yoga. Still working my way up to warrior three and a less wobbly half moon pose. Have hopes that eventually I will make it to the end of that DVD. For now, I am just happy to see my torso and arms getting stronger. It is nice to have goals.

Speaking of which, I should try to squeeze in 30 minutes before I dash off to school. Namaste.

P.S. Have received feedback from one of my loyal readers that my blog has recently suffered from a lack of humor. It’s true that I am more focused of late on classes and recruiting, but I promise to return levity to its rightful place on these pages once I have an offer in hand. Until then, content yourself with the wit in these Valentine’s greetings.)

You Win Some, You Lose Some

As the old adage goes, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. And here at the GSB it seems the latter is more often the case than the former. If I were to sit down and count up all my losses since September (two super close elections, three pass overs for interviews with companies I really liked, not making the finals for the DMAC Case Challenge, no big prize at Golden Gargoyles for our cohort commercial, and the public humiliation that was LEAD Challenge… and many more little failures like failing to express myself well on a comment in class or getting a low score on a midterm, quiz, write up, etc.), as I just did, I would find a long list of well-won defeats.

But play the game often enough and you’re bound to win something. For me, that something was the Business Solutions Group final presentation of findings to consultant judges from Bain & Company. Remember that project I started working on last quarter? The one where I and four other GSB volunteers were teamed up to analyze growth strategies for a local designer and retailer? We presented the results of our analysis last Saturday and, lo, finally, by some stroke of grace or luck or other twist of fate, we won!

I’d like to think that our success was due in part to my pursuit of meaning in the company’s financial statements. Or my teammates’ intrepid research on the licensing industry and ways to break into it. But at the end of the day, I’m really not sure what it was exactly that set our project apart from the others. I’m not even 100% clear on what the criteria were for judging. But it doesn’t matter really. What matters is the fact that after months of losing, in multiple arenas, and oftentimes in public and embarrassing ways, I finally won something. Huzzah! All is not completely lost. Mom and Uncle D popped over from Michigan on the train today. We had tea at the Drake and took a little trip down to the Hyde Park for a tour of the Harper Center. Slept in this morning so I’m feeling rested and ready for a fun night, which is good as I am headed downtown in a few for a house party in celebration of the Croatian King’s dirty thirty.  At least a hundred GSB-ers have RSVP-ed their attendance, so it should be a good time, if a little crowded. I will do my best to keep the good times under control so I can make it to my study group meeting for Competitive Strategy tomorrow at nine a.m. Could be difficult as our birthday boy, a former DJ, has lined up some ridiculous deal at a local club. No doubt I’ll get little sleep tonight, but I’ll have coffee and talk of sustainable competitive advantage to compel me to Caribou in the morning. It’s an intense life. But oh so good.

Sweet Cold Chicago

Took the train north to Marina Tower last night for the Marketing Group Stress Buster event (at a new place called A Mano), which was fun in the way nervous talk about recruiting facilitated by free wine (a “barely oaky Chard with mineral notes” as was described to me by the server) is fun.

But the walk to and from the stations was the real adventure. On Roosevelt Road, though it was snowing pretty hard, none was sticking to the ground, probably because it was all blowing down the street (and into my face) at 30 mph. I also crossed the Chicago River on foot from the Loop to Marina Tower. It was only a couple of blocks, but WOW was that exciting. I knew I felt cold (it took me a while to mentally adjust to being inside once I arrived at the restaurant… my poor Florida bones were literally shaking in my skin for at least a few minutes after I sat down). But I didn’t realize that was because the wind chill outside was minus twenty. Next time I am totally taking a cab.  

But why such shock, you ask? The temps when I left for school yesterday were closer to 50 (light jacket weather). That’s a pretty significant drop in the span of a few hours.

Even stranger, last night’s wind has swept the sky clean leaving the morning brilliant blue and brightest sun. How often we’ve met of late, Mr. Sun and I, who, like our dear Mr. Darcy, keeps showing up in the most unexpected places. 

Results

The voters have spoken. Hexagon of Trust has been elected to lead the GBC through the calendar year. It’s a great choice for the GSB (I know they will serve the student body well)… but I can’t help feeling a little disappointed. What in the world will we do with all those leftover buttons? My dear friend (and classmate) M posted a link to this video to my Facebook wall. Helps put things in perspective. On to the next challenge! (Perhaps one with a little less competition?)

The silver lining in all this is the prospect of studying abroad next winter (an option I could not have pursued as GBC president). Where to? I’m taking suggestions!

In other good news, I am finally taking a class in which I feel I have something to contribute. Last Friday’s marketing strategy session helped me realize how much I know intuitively about the subject, which made my enjoyment of the case discussion that much richer. And today in study group I was actually able to apply some of the concepts we’ve been studying in Competitive Strategy (ex: pros/cons to focusing on core competencies). Working on my write-up for tomorrow’s lecture and case discussion tonight. Time to dive into those sales figures!

Also good news. Though I am at a considerable disadvantage to the majority of my classmates in Managerial Accounting and find that I still have little to add to our class discussion (except “whuh?”), I am still excited and engaged. I even volunteered to perform the break-even and cost analysis for our Business Solutions Group project and had fun(!) applying these newly grasped concepts to a real business problem. What’s more? I think I was successful in identifying ways to use the numbers to support our strategic recommendations. Rock on! My Managerial Accounting prof was even kind enough to offer his insights. I’m sure he’ll see ways to use the available data that I couldn’t even imagine. Bottom line? School is fun so far this term.

Trying to get all my ducks in a row before I leave for the Rollins Alumni Board meeting Thursday morning. So, this time for real. I’m off.

First Ding?

Didn’t make the interview invitation list for one of the firms I applied to. Bummer. Guess I’ll be bidding for one of the five (!) open slots when the system opens this morning at ten. /sigh/ And I thought that one was a lock! (“Now every defenses say, I, I, I, didn’t want it anyway. But you know sometimes I’m a liar.”) I seriously need to send out some more resumes. The good news? I’ve received a verbal confirm from one of my top choice firms that I made their closed list. So that’s something… And mock interviews have been going well. I guess it helps having relevant experience!

Campaign season is officially over. And online voting opened yesterday and will remain open through tomorrow morning. Results announced tomorrow night. We’re getting very positive feedback from lots of people on campus, including some public praise from the current GBC President. People seem to be mainly picking up on our enthusiasm (and passion), which is interesting because I think we have run one of the more tactical platforms of the bunch.

Trying to wrap up my homework assignments for tomorrow and Monday today so that I can spend a stress-free weekend with my lovely friend, who is flying in from Florida tomorrow night in order to enjoy one of the coldest weekends I’ve yet to experience here in Chicago. I’m actually wondering if I can make it to the North Face store before that happens. Still haven’t found the puffy, fluffy coat of my dreams. Perhaps S will indulge me in a State Street shopping trip on Saturday… If not, I can always bust out the heavy ski jacket my sister loaned me. It ain’t chic, but it’s awful warm.

Well, it’s time to wrap this post up and ship off to school so that I can prepare my case analysis for Marketing and get started on my reading/write-up for Comp Strat Monday. Still really enjoying all of my classes (including, surprise(!), Managerial Accounting… my reaction to this week’s assignment, evaluation of the break-even point for a small ski resort, was “ooh boy [rubbing hands together in glee], this will be fun.” And, for someone who likes tossing a bunch of numbers into a spreadsheet and then pulling different levers to change the outcomes, it actually was. Time consuming. But fun.).  

I Love Rock and Roll

 

I’ve spent the better part of the week by the mailfolders campaigning for GBC ROCKS!! It’s been so much fun hanging out with my slate and the others, talking to the voters (er, I mean classmates), and (the best part) rocking out to some awesome tunes! To support the GBC ROCKS!!! theme, S put together a righteous playlist, which has made this the week of rock and roll, GSB style.

Funny how much of a difference this introduction of music has made to the general vibe at school. We’re having a party, no? Sure feels like it. One surprising ancillary benefit has been the camaraderie our tunes have promoted between the competing slates. In some ways it’s not unexpected. Some of my best friends at the GSB are standing on the other side of the campaign table this week, so you’d expect to find a friendly vibe in the campaign corridor. But there is something about music that seems to ameliorate even the most competitive of environments.  I’m going to pin it on the music. Have you ever frowned when you were dancing to this?

Even the folks just passing through seem to be catching our vibe. Which is a good thing. Because this is recruiting season baby. Stock an extra stick of antiperspirant in your locker dear, because the pressure is officially on. Just look at all the glum faces around the Winter Garden. It’s not that you didn’t get on the closed list for your top five all-time favorite slave ships, um, I mean investment banks. It’s just that you have to interview for all on the same day. And what’s that sound? Case study practice in the student lounge? Who’s got all Five Forces now, son? And what about the rest of us? Blindly shuttling off cover letters to this week’s flavor du jour? (What was the deadline on that resume drop again?) Stop. Collaborate. And listen. Have you perfected your corporate finance/strategy/marketing story? Why am I here? Why are you here? Yo, V.I.P. Let’s kick it.

So, needless to say, it’s the music that’s getting me through this week. Let’s put aside the two (surprise!) ITP mock interviews on the same day (can you give a cogent, on-the-spot answer to the question, “How do you define responsible drinking?” Thanks Diageo! Now I can!), and even put aside the campaign madness that has us all wondering what the true point of differentiation is between our slates (hint: ours rhymes with Vamp Us Cleaning, but sounds more like Campus Greening), and focus on the real issue at stake. Which is what? (cue Stevie Wonder) Being there for each other. Sharing a Coke and a smile. Introducing a bit of levity to this madness (because it is a bit mad, no?).

So, keep smiling. Keep shining. Knowing you can always count on me, er, I mean us. For sure.

 

One of Life’s Little Victories (#289)

One of Life’s Little Victories #289 Knowing you are going to be 20 minutes late to an important recruiting event and then finding out when you check the actual evite that you recorded the event on your calendar a half an hour ahead of schedule. (I tricked myself! Into being on time! Victory!)  Attended all three classes this week (Marketing, Competitive Strategy, Managerial Accounting). Love them (even Managerial Accounting… Mike was right when he predicted this!). Each prof will be looking at the subject of competition, but from three unique (and sometimes overlapping) perspectives. I’m doing the reading for marketing next week and thinking, “wow, we talked about the concept of variable costs and fixed costs Monday in Comp Strat and Tuesday in Managerial Accounting.” Conceptually, everything I’m learning is building on what I’ve learned already or am learning concurrently in another class. It seems like I couldn’t have built a more complementary slate of courses if I’d tried. This is going to be a great quarter. First mock-terview yesterday. Check.  All resume deadlines for the week have been met. Still prepping for wInterview tomorrow, but so far I feel good. Ready to dive into that “feedback loop.” Off to spend the morning at the Unilever Chicago office. Looking forward to learning more about their business. After that, I’m headed to campus for  the big GBC Slate Forum. Looking forward to hearing from my classmates. I hope they bring some good questions to the discussion. Per my lovely little sister’s suggestion, if I could work out the A/V component, this would be my blanket response to all. Check us out on Facebook. GBC Rocks!!!! 

Not on Academic Probation

Feeling good! Grades were posted today and though I am not at liberty to say what they were exactly, I will say that I was pleasantly surprised (and relieved) by the outcome. No academic probation for me. No sir. And next quarter I am only signed up for 3 classes (unlike this quarter, in which I had 4, plus LEAD), leaving plenty of time for studying recruiting! And more recruiting! Huzzah!  I’m back in Florida for the holidays and enjoying the down time with family and friends. My sister comes home from Mexico on Saturday. Looking forward to spending lots of time with her (when I’m not poring over PBS internship listings, sending off cover letters and resumes or preparing my SOAR framework for wInterview).  Funny thing about wInterview. In a moment of weakness, distraction, over-confidence, et al, I signed up to be one of 2 volunteers for the marketing industry segment who will be honored obliged to conduct their mock interview in front of the assembled masses, which means feedback! Lots of it! From anyone who cares to weigh in on my performance! So I have to be very, very prepared. Planning to spend much of my holiday practicing case questions.   Writing this post from the lanai (yes, a lanai, it’s so very Florida, just like the Golden Girls) overlooking the pool at my parents’ house, sipping on a glass of wine while Mom reads from Amy Sedaris’ entertaining book, I Like You. Life is good.  Tomorrow I am hosting a reception for prospective students at Spain in downtown Tampa, then off to Downtown St Pete with L, where we’ll meet up with friends at The Bar and other old haunts of mine.  It is strange and wonderful to be home again. But there is a part of me that misses Chicago. Even so, I am doing my best to enjoy the 70 degree weather while I can by doing things like wearing flip flops out of doors and driving around town with the top down, singing along with my favorite songs.  

Quarter in Review

It’s been an amazing quarter. To cover the things that have been left off in previous posts, here’s a high-level recap of what’s hot and what’s not from my first four months in Chicago and at the GSB.        What’s HOT:

1. Boots – stylish, citified, lined for warmth, waterproofed against the elements and treaded to prevent falls (of which we all know full well I am extremely capable of)
2. Public art – it is everywhere in Chicago, but I am particularly enamoured with the art along Michigan Avenue and in Grant Park and Millennium Park, as well as the You Are Beautiful campaign in and around Chicago
3. Meeting American Express CEO, Ken Chenault 
4. Walking. Everywhere. My calves have never looked better!
5. The novelty of one’s first real change of seasons – I think that I shall never see anything so lovely as ice hung upon a tree.
6. Whiskey Club – underground, unofficial, unregulated – also held exactly 2 blocks from my flat, the perfect distance for the kind of blistering cold days that merit a warming dram
7. LEAD Challenge – the most challenging thing I’ve done thus far has also been my most “transformative” experience at the GSB
8. Blommer Co. and the aroma of chocolate that wafts down the Chicago River and wraps itself around me like a delicious blanket as I trudge across the Michigan Ave bridge nights on my way home from Gleacher
9. Thrill Jockey
10. And the award for best use of award show format in a B-school setting goes to… Golden Gargoyles! [cue theme music]: hands-down the best GSB-sponsored social event of the quarter. What’s not to like about Old School parodies and Thrillers about recruiting? 

What’s NOT:

1. Technology at the GSB: Logging in 8 million times to the same system – cMore, Chalk, GSB Portal, faculty pages, Career Services databases (at least a dozen within that site alone: resume databases, company surveys, industry research), Mac/PC discrepancies, computer lab printer melt downs, and the surfeit of listserv emails
2. Apostrophe bars, esp. those after hours watering holes we have a habit of stumbling into when the lights come on at 2 (lessons learned through the ceaseless repetition and observation of unrecountable errors, are that no good, whatsoever, in any way, can ever come of drinks after 3 a.m.). Just as no good can ever come of burritos consumed past midnight. Yes, I know I’ve been on this rant before. It’s nothing personal really. So why do I keep going? Let’s just say that in the battle between my love for the people and my dislike for the apostrophe, the people win out every time.
3. Coffee prices at Kovler Café (and, for that matter, any prices at Kovler). Is this what Priscilla Parker meant when she cautioned us not to spend like CEOs as students, lest we live like students as CEOs?
4. Pizza Pirates at LPF’s. Yes you, swooping down with the other early birds like a pack of shrieking vultures. You, with your plate piled so high you have to keep one hand atop the steaming heap else the pile tumbles and falls to be trodden by the thronging crowd. You, dashing off to consume your ill-gotten hoard while the rest of stumble forward in awed shock to find the boxes stripped of all but the bare bones of crust and stray bits of cheese stuck to greasy cardboard. I don’t even eat pizza, but I swear now upon the growling stomachs of my lactose-tolerant classmates, we will have our revenge.
5. Course prices at an all-time high. Managerial Decision Making for 16,000+ points? Really?
6. Flip cup, beer pong, beirut, slap the bag – like the apostrophe, they are simply not for me
7. Stolen coats
8. Mailfolder stuffing – waste of paper, waste of time, waste of space
9. Rumors about the Hot List
10. I can’t think of a #10 for “What’s NOT.” That’s a good sign, right?