Archive for February, 2011

By, Kelly Fuson, Traditional MBA ‘11

It has been nearly a month since the Brand Management Winterim in NYC and I feel as though I’ve had a good amount of time to reflect on the experience. I have the unique perspective of having attended this Winterim twice now. Last year was my first time as a student participant and this year I landed the honorable role of Teacher’s Assistant to help Professor Ettenson with organizing the fully-loaded two weeks of speakers.

The Brand Management Winterim (BMW) is somewhat unique from the other Winterims at Thunderbird. While most other Winterims take place in exotic foreign locations and include visits to company offices, the BMW is located in the heart of Times Square in the American Management Association building. By staying in one location, we are able to fit many more speakers into our schedule. The disadvantage is that we don’t get to visit company offices, but having the ability to hear from twice as many upper-level managers is invaluable. And while many may not consider NYC a cultural mecca, I did try my best to incorporate opportunities to explore american culture including: a broadway show, a visit to the Museum of Modern Art, a stand-up comedy show, and a good old fashioned walk up 5th Ave. Other classmates had the chance to visit Ellis Island, where immigrants first landed upon their arrival to America. Some also visited the Ground Zero Memorial in the financial district.

There were many themes that weaved through each of the presentations, including how important it is to have an authentic brand that lives up to its promise. We heard from professionals in a variety of industries and companies including: GE, Google, L’Oreal, Cadillac, MINI, Ethicon (J&J), Cisco, Motorola, Waste Management, and many other brand consultants as well. There were about 24 speakers in total and while students had many different favorites, the clear winner was Mr. Brian King from Marriott whose lively presentation told the story of the reinvention of the Courtyard Marriott brand.

I will have the pleasure of staying in a Courtyard Marriott next weekend when I travel to San Diego to compete in the Sony Electronics Marketing Strategy Competition. Sadly, that Courtyard Marriott is not one of the renovated locations but I can’t complain. I am too excited about the opportunity to compete in the competition. I hope to bring insight that I have gained from attending two Brand Management Winterims, and believe me there is plenty.

There is now talk about having a Brand Management Summerim this year, which would be a first. Clearly it is valuable and there would indeed be plenty of interest. And the best part is there wouldn’t be any snow!

Brand Management Winterim Participants

By Naomi Gunnels, ‘11 MBA

Lemonade Day introduces kids to entrepreneurship! This citywide event encourages kids to start a lemonade stand and sell their lemonade to the entire community. The children get to be creative while learning to set goals, develop a business plan, establish a budget, seek investors, and provide customer service - skills they will use for the rest of their lives. The youth also learn the value of hard work and the worth of a dollar. At the end of Lemonade Day, participants often open a bank account for the first time and give back to a charity of their choice. Schools, community groups and businesses get involved to make this all happen. Lemonade day is the perfect opportunity to show kids their community cares while training the next generation of entrepreneurs through a FREE, fun, engaging, experiential activity.

The Mayor of Glendale is incredibly excited about this program! Lemonade Day supports the Mayor’s efforts to foster positive development of youth and teach leadership skills. We want as many children within the City of Glendale to participate, and have backpacks for 1500 participants. We hope to work with the Glendale, Deer Valley and Peoria School Districts as well as private schools in the area. ASU expressed an interest in collaborating with Thunderbird, and several students may shadow our Mentors in order to take that entrepreneurial learning to a village in Ghana that the ASU Global Resolve initiative is working with.

Additionally, following in the tradition of the Walker Center, the Thunderbird Entrepreneurship Network plans to give back to the local community by not only bringing Lemonade Day to Glendale, but by also organizing a group of Thunderbird Mentors (current students and, potentially, Alumni) who will teach three classes focused around Pricing/Sourcing, Marketing and a Business Plan (location, investors, goals). The Thunderbird Mentors will volunteer one Saturday morning in late March or early April to teach these classes. We plan to reach over 300 participants with this Mentoring program. Recorded Mentoring sessions will also be available online.
Currently, we need help reaching out to the community to spread the world about Lemonade Day. We would love any help we can get! Volunteers are also welcome. For more information, please email Naomi Gunnels at naomigunnels@global.thunderbird.edu.

Lemonade Day Summary
When: May 1st, 2011
Where: Throughout the city of Glendale

Naomi Gunnels is pursuing her MBA at Thunderbird and is the Lemonade Day city director for Glendale. She has a BA in International Relations, comes from a family of Entrepreneurs and recently worked as a retail manager with locations in DisneyWorld and DisneyLand. She speaks German and can read Hieroglyphics.

By Ryan Conway, Thunderbird Full Time MBA

Well the holiday break is now over and it’s back to the grind, although the holiday break turned out to be not much of one. I arrived home last Saturday from Rio de Janeiro, the last stop on my five-city tour of Brazil as part of my “Winterim” course at Thunderbird. The Winterims and sister Summerims are a great way for Thunderbirds to get out and see firsthand how business runs around the globe; from visiting the financial players or discussing the latest branding techniques in New York, to learning more about international development in Jordan, to immersing themselves in the business climates of China, South Africa or India (among many others).

My Winterim of choice was Brazil, where we met local and multinational companies and discussed their efforts toward sustainability. Over the course of the trip it became clear that the definition of sustainability varied greatly, but the most successful in the eyes of our group were not only passionate about the issue but had also turned it into a competitive advantage.

Read the rest of this post on the Financial Times’ MBA blog, and watch the video summary below: