I spent Friday at the MBA Media and Entertainment Conference which was held on Columbia's campus and sponsored by CBS, Stern, Sloan, Wharton, and Duke. Although I had to miss my Friday Statistics class (my LAST Statistics class to be held on a Friday - woohoo!) it was definitely worth it. There were multiple speeches as well as three different panel times in which you could select from a variety of panels.

I really enjoyed Peter Cuneo's keynote to lead off the day. He is a turnaround artist who brought Marvel Comics back from the verge of extinction and has now reestablished them as the preeminent player in the space. He gave some great advice and excellent perspectives on where he sees Marvel going in the future, as well as challenges that he sees going forward.

The other speech I really enjoyed was from Kevin Ryan. He founded Doubleclick and is now involved in numerous startup companies. He is probably the best example of a New York City tech entrepreneur which was pretty exciting for me as I am looking to start my own business after school.

Also sat in on the panels for 'Net Neutrality', VC/PE in M&E, and Web 2.0. The first two panels were quite good, especially the VC/PE panel. It gave an inside look at what these firms look for when they invest in media/technology plays.

Overall, a really strong conference and one that I will be attending again next year!