Archive for the ‘Kelly Fuson’ Category

By, Kelly Fuson, Full-Time MBA ‘11

I had the immense pleasure of competing in the 2011 Sony Marketing Strategy Case Competition which took place in San Diego, CA, the weekend of February 19th. First, I must mention that I did sign an NDA and therefore will not disclose any details about the case itself, but I will share my thoughts on the experience. It is a rare opportunity to compete in such a high-caliber competition amongst MBA students and this was no exception.

I first applied for the competition back in December (or was it November? It feels like a century ago). I was very attracted to the uniqueness of the competition based on the fact that I would apply as an individual and be paired randomly with students from other schools if I was accepted. However, when I found out that I was accepted, I wanted only to know who was on my team so I could start strategizing right away. But the true beauty of the competition was that not only are you figuring out recommendations for a very complex case but also going through the group norming process all within less than 8 hours (excluding the pre-competition dinner the night before).

When I arrived in San Diego on Friday afternoon I quickly scoped out my competition and wondered at the same time which of those students would be on my team. And in true Thunderbird fashion, I made sure to connect with everyone, regardless of whether or not they became my teammate. As a networker at heart, I knew it was not only a good opportunity to showcase my talent but also a great opportunity to make connections with other extremely bright MBAs. Indeed it was. Although it was an extremely fast and short weekend, I am confident that I now have added value to my network.

The team at Sony was very impressive and made sure to show all 60 students a good time. Every one of them was very friendly and welcoming. The building (HQ) itself was fantastic and played true tribute to the founders of Sony. It is no wonder why they decided to relocate the competition from Texas to San Diego. The best part (or another one at least)? The Sony team made sure that no contestant walked away empty handed as every student brought home a Sony product.

Let this be a lesson to all MBA students that you should take every opportunity you can to apply for case competitions. They are a great experience, win or no win. They are the best way to put your knowledge and – more importantly – your teamwork/leadership to the test.

I will end with a quick shout out to the T-birds who won the Supply-Chain and HR case competitions!

left to right: Ning Ge (UCSD), Jacqueline Xu (Thunderbird), Kelly Fuson (Thunderbird)

By, Kelly Fuson, Traditional MBA ‘11

Many students often debate about what their top priorities should be here at Business School and the top two that are often debated are: class work vs. career search. On top of that, many students are highly involved and have committed themselves to one, if not more, leadership positions. In addition, many students are employed part-time as Teacher’s Assistants, Research Assistants, or some other on-campus position such as in the Admissions Office, or like myself, an employee of the Career Management Center. I don’t think I need to continue much further to prove the point that there are many responsibilities and obligations competing for our time.

As someone who appreciates the value in crunching numbers, I went ahead and took the liberty to create what I will refer to as a “Time Budget” with the hopes of proving what we all already know: there simply isn’t enough time in the day. Furthermore, I hope to stir up the debate regarding the power struggle between class work and career search. Because after all, as you will see, there simply isn’t enough time to effectively do both (I urge someone to prove me wrong).

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By Kelly Fuson, MBA in Global Management ‘11

Last week twenty marketing students flew to New York City for three days of visits to top companies, including NBC Universal, Adidas, JetBlue, Macy’s, G2, Design Within Reach, MTV, DTCC, and Interbrand. In addition, students had the opportunity to network with professionals and alumni at The Hertz Corporation, L’Oreal, Mercury Communications Group, Sports Information Group, and more. This trip was sponsored by the Thunderbird Career Management Center (CMC) and the Thunderbird Marketing Association (TMA).

Thunderbird Trek’s are entirely student organized with the help of the Employer Relations team at the Thunderbird CMC. Alicia Sutton, Associate Director for Employer Relations, played a key role in the planning and execution of this year’s Marketing Trek, along with Audrey Dorfman, a third-trimester student who acted as the Trek Liaison and is also the President of the TMA. Students who were selected to go on the trip were selected out of a large pool of competitive applications, but unfortunately Treks can only accommodate around 16 students. This year, however, was the first year that 20 students were invited to participate on the Trek due to their excellent qualifications and experience.

This Trek provided students with the opportunity to learn about a variety of marketing functions in several different industries. Although all of the students who participated are in their second year and have a solid career search plan, it was valuable to be reminded of the options that are available in the field of marketing. The most commonly talked about topic during the company visits was digital and social media strategies, which continue to rapidly evolve.

I think that all of the students who participated would agree that the Trek was a success. Aside from a few people getting lost on the subway system, there were very few snags (thanks to the wonderful logistical skills of Nancy Lee and Henry Teichert) and we all enjoyed our time in the city. I encourage the first trimester students to start thinking about where they would like to go next year and hopefully a good team of motivated students will form a team to plan the next Marketing Trek.

By Kelly Fuson, MBA Global Management ‘11

With so many new students on campus, many of them have been asking for my advice about whether they should buy a Mac or a PC for their graduate school experience. Here’s my final vote: since returning to Glendale, I have been using my PC full-time and have not missed using the Macbook Pro that I used during my internship. Therefore, I’m still a PC’er at heart.

That’s not to say that a Mac doesn’t have good qualities, but unlike the saying, “distance makes the heart grow fonder,” my fondness for the Macbook Pro has not grown since leaving Colorado. There are so many adjustments that people must make when leaving the working world and adjusting to life as a full-time student that if you aren’t already familiar with how to use a Mac I don’t suggest making the transition now. It is a learning experience that takes time and commitment, qualities that new students simply can’t afford on top of the myriad of other priorities. On the other hand, perhaps a Mac would make a good graduation present…?

My fondness for my internship has grown, however, and has actually made my adjustment back to school life a very easy one. Working “8-5″ has prepared me for somehow cramming in all of the responsibilities that I have taken on this year, including my positions as a Peer Career Advisor, Career Development Chair for the Thunderbird Marketing Association, and Company Visits Team Leader for the Fall Marketing Trek to New York City.

My internship was also a good reminder that the reason I am here at Thunderbird is to accelerate my career and be thrown back into the working world. I am now savoring every moment that I have with my amazing classmates and insightful professors, knowing that this experience is only temporary. Just like I said to my classmates on the train in Prague, this experience is going to be over before we know it. We may have nine months to go, but don’t close your eyes or else you’ll miss it.

By Kelly Fuson ’11, full-time MBA Global Management student

I have so much to blog about, including my final say on the Mac vs. the PC, and my finals days at my summer internship. But first, today was a milestone in my Thunderbird career because I finally took the OPI (oral proficiency interview) to satisfy the language requirement or to pass into French 2.

I have to wait three to five days to receive the results, but I definitely surprised myself. I thought for sure that I was going to freak out and forget everything that I knew but somehow I managed to stay calm and think through what I wanted to say. Don’t get me wrong, I’m certain that I butchered many of my conjugations and some of my grammar was out of order. I’m just glad I survived and made it through without speaking any english.

The experience reminded me, perhaps too vividly, of my GMAT experience. The questions that the proctor asks you start off at the novice level and continue to advance based on your responses. So as they say with the GMAT, the harder it gets the better you are doing. I don’t want to give away any of the questions that I was asked, but I definitely felt challenged!

Look for my next post in three to five days and I’ll share my results!

By Kelly Fuson, MBA Global Management ‘11

A Frientor is someone who is both a friend and a mentor. It was a term that originated from a brainstorming session between myself and a couple of my coworkers during my time as an intern this summer. Obviously, since it’s not a real word we did not end up using it for one of our clients. But it continues to be an inside joke in our office as we now refer to ourselves as “team Frientor.”

But in all seriousness, frientor is the perfect word to describe the supervisor that I have for my internship. While many of us are happy to have internships for the summer, not everyone is having an equally pleasant experience. I can’t help but feel very lucky to have a mentor that I also consider a friend. He has invited me to spend time with his amazing family, who fed me an incredible dinner and put up with my rambunctious dog. He has included me in countless meetings when it wasn’t necessary. He has given me meaningful assignments that I know are having a positive impact on the organization. And he has been giving me honest and helpful feedback that has contributed to my professional growth.

In a way I feel almost spoiled, as if I should be having an experience like something out of The Devil Wears Prada. But you know what? I’m sure there will be plenty of other times in my career more like that. So for the time being, I’m going to relish in the positive environment that I have right now and remember this moment when the day comes that I need to be a frientor to someone else.

By Kelly Fuson, MBA in Global Management ‘11

As a woman in a new city I’ve done what I usually do to get to know my surroundings. I’ve grabbed all of the tourist brochures that I find. I’ve made my list of things I want to see and I’ve been steadily checking them off as I go along. I’ve been invited out by my coworkers and also done things by myself. But it wasn’t until tonight that I finally found my home away from home – or home away from Thunderbird that is.

Tonight was the night that I met up with my third Meet-Up group, the French Language Meet-Up. For those of you who aren’t familiar, MeetUp.com is a great website that allows you to meet other people who share your interests – and also a great way to get to know a new city. I was first introduced to MeetUp.com when I moved to Los Angeles. A friend recommended it to me and I quickly found a Chihuahua-lovers meet-up group. So when I moved to Colorado for my summer internship I thought, why not find some meet-up groups here?

I had already met up with the Daschund meet-up group and the Country Line Dance meet-up group, both of which were great. But the French Language meet-up group was where I finally felt the Thunderbird spirit again. About thirty of us met at La Creperie in downtown Colorado Springs to speak french and discuss our love of the french culture.

I sat next to some great people. First, there was Liz and Jean-Marc, both college students. Liz was majoring in French and had studied abroad in Paris. Jean-Marc was from Louisiana, and while he wasn’t as good at french (he knew Spanish), he made a good effort. Both had done extensive travel in Europe and shared some great stories that many people twice their age would be jealous of. Next, there was Lucy and Rick, an adorable couple in their sixties or so. Rick had spent several years as a teenager in Germany while his family was stationed there in the military. Lucy is from Chicago and went to college in Colorado and surprisingly had never been to France, but you wouldn’t know it based on the quality of her speaking abilities. She will get her first opportunity this December when her and Rick spend a few weeks traveling from Paris to the south of France.

I felt right at home with these people, like I was back at Thunderbird. I was able to teach them some words in Czech that I had learned while studying in Prague, and they helped me brush up on my french skills. We ended the evening with a group rendition of the Song of Marseille in honor of Bastille Day. Not many people remembered all of the lyrics, but with the help of my HTC smartphone we had them in front of us in no time.

It was a fantastic evening exchanging stories amongst strangers who felt like lifelong friends. So if you’re in a new and unfamiliar city and are looking for some familiar company, I encourage you to jump on to meetup.com and find your local language meet-up group!

By Kelly Fuson, MBA in Global Management ‘11

I’m almost half-way through my summer internship so I thought it was a good time to write an update about my experience transitioning to a Mac. Here are a few learnings that I’ve gathered during the last four weeks using my MacBook Pro:

Learning #1: Using a Mac has taught me more about how to use my PC.

Macs are designed for simplicity and I found myself using the Command function for almost everything. I was using it a lot partly because it was simply how I learned how to use my Mac. When I would go home at night I thought, why can’t I use the Command (or in this case “CTRL” – control) function on my PC? Prior to using a Mac I would only use CTRL to copy and paste, now I’m using it for everything on my PC just like I do with my Mac. When it comes down to it, I would rather control my computer than command it.

Learning #2: The Magic Mouse is both a curse and a blessing

I’ve never loved and hated a mouse as much as the Magic Mouse. The last mouse that I used and felt the same way was the orbital mouse. The Magic Mouse is great for scrolling, unless your working in PowerPoint, then I suddenly find myself on slide 20 instead of slide 4. Sensitivity can be a good thing and a bad thing.

Learning #3: It’s not over until you hit Command Q

It’s great that I can quickly toggle from program to program, but quit already! It gets kind of annoying when I only need to use a program for a quick second and then it wants to stay open until I go back and kill it. I like that when I close a program on my PC it knows that I’m done with it. I guess the Mac is just persistent and insists that I keep working.

So I guess I’m still on the fence when it comes to which one I like better. They both have their advantages and disadvantages. But I still have six more weeks to go, plenty of time to pick a side…

(Photo: A useful book that my Mom sent me.)

By Kelly Fuson, MBA in Global Management 2011

An interesting debate arose during a meeting today at the office about the appropriate use of customer as compared to consumer. I hadn’t really thought about it before. I suppose it’s one of those things you choose based on what sounds right, like most things in the english language. So I’m opening this up for a public debate to set the record straight.

To provide some context to the situation, I’ll add that the discussion was in reference to a client whose business is both B2B and B2C. Does that even make a difference?

When I took a second to think about it, I decided that I tend to use consumer when referring to the end-user — the one who will be “consuming” the product/service. So when I use customer I am referring to someone who is purchasing the product/service but not necessarily “consuming” it (for example, a manufacturer purchases raw materials to make a finished product and then sells that to retailers who then sell it to me — who in that scenario would be a consumer and who would be a customer?).

Are they interchangeable? You tell me. I’d like to know.

A view of the Helen Hunt Falls just outside Colorado Springs

By Kelly Fuson, MBA in Global Management 2011

I’m writing to you from Colorado, where I am happy to report that I will be spending the summer as a Brand Strategist Intern for CSK Strategic Marketing Group. Today is only my second day (although it feels like the second week) but I discovered an unanticipated learning opportunity that I thought I would share with you:

While I have been a happy PC owner my whole life (a product of being raised by an IT manager) I have been given a MacBook Pro to use during my internship. I always thought that the computer I use would be the result of my own choice and it never occurred to me that there might be a situation where I would be forced to become a Mac user. Not that Mac’s aren’t great, but I’ll be honest, I was comfortable with my PC.

So what did I do? I called up a good classmate of mine who switched from a PC to a Mac at the start of the school year for a quick tutorial. I thought, who better to teach me to use a Mac than a previous PC owner?

To be honest, my bigger fear is that I will start to hate using my Toshiba after spending a whole summer using a Mac. How will I go back after being assimilated into the simplicity offered by the MacBook Pro? And then there’s my netbook, with its lightweight and travel convenience, which I was given as a present to take with me while studying in the Czech Republic.

Let’s face it, they all have their own advantages. Check back with me at the end of the summer and I’ll give you my opinion then.