Fall 2008 Media Electives

One of the club officers in the Media Management Association just sent out an informal list of the Fall 2008 Media-related electives at CBS as well as within the broader university. I hope you find it useful!


Mediaphiles --

Something that seems potentially helpful is a list of the media courses that the B-School is offering, so that you don’t have to search everywhere for them.

Please note – this isn’t an “official” list – just something I threw together based on various resources in hopes of helping other people navigate the bidding process; it’s possible I missed classes or inadvertently left one out that could be deemed media-related; no slight intended. I’ve also added courses from other grad schools that might be helpful. Please see this guide for information on cross-registration.

Please let me know if you have any questions … and I’m willing to bet that professors would also probably welcome questions about the courses.


Media Metrics, Analytics and Economics
Tuesdays (A term)
5:45-9 p.m.
Professors Scott McDonald, David Poltrack, and Horst Stripp

This is a half term course taught by the research heads of CBS, NBC Universal and Conde Nast. This is an updated version of a popular class taught for the last 10 years called “Measuring Media Audiences” and is taught by senior media execs who are on the cutting edge of these issues.

This course analyzes how media companies use audience research both to establish the economic value of media for advertising and to select and develop products. Subjects include methods to collect audience data for the various media (primarily TV, print, Internet, radio); how they are analyzed; the use of data for media planning; program testing and strategic planning; and the impact of digital technologies on audience measurement systems and on the economics of the media marketplace.

Strategic Management of Media
Wednesdays (Full term)
5:45-9 p.m.
Professor Jonathan Knee

The course will be concerned with the economics of strategic behavior as applied to the Media Industry. This course is designed to reinforce and develop student abilities to apply the concepts of industry analysis and game theory to that were introduced in the core course in Business Economics (B6005). The important distinction will be between the nature of content provision on the one hand and distribution on the other. The course will cover telecommunications, digital networks, local theaters, and varieties of retail on the distribution side; and film, program production, books, magazines, newspapers, and databases on the content side. Coursework will be evenly distributed between lectures, cases, and guest speakers.

Communications, Internet and Media (Master Class)
Wednesdays (Full term)
2:15-5:30 p.m.
Professors Robert Atkinson and Eli Noam
Limited to 36 second-year students

The course consists of supervised team projects of students with companies. It begins with weekly lectures on the business dynamics, drivers, technologies, and policy framework of the telecom/internet/media industries. There will be analyses of notable success and failure stories, with the participation of industry insiders, in order to provide teams with a sufficient basis for their consulting assignments. Teams interested in entrepreneurialism will focus on the internet, new media, and content projects. Teams oriented to finance and strategy will work with established telecom and media companies that are trying to adapt to new challenges. In the aggregate, the projects will provide understanding and skills for dealing with management challenges in a sector characterized by rapid change and boom-bust cycles, and to integrate the MBA curriculum with management practice in a feedback loop. Teams will be asked to account for the MBA tools they have utilized in the process. Each consulting team will deliver a report and presentation to senior management at the company, and to their fellow students.

Integrated Communication and New Media (Master Class)
Mondays (Full term)
5:45-9 p.m.
Professor Jeremy Kagan
Limited to 36 second-year students

The Integrated Communication and New Media Master Class will allow students to work with senior executive teams from client companies and their advertising agencies to develop strategic marketing recommendations for integrating new media marketing channels into their advertising, sales, and customer communications channels. The course will be offered in the fall to mesh with the strategic planning cycle of client and agency teams for 2009 brand and company marketing strategies. Students will develop a strategic marketing plan for presentation to client decision-makers integrating new media into corporate and brand strategic marketing plans, including advertising campaigns, customer communications, and brand communities and customer service. The student teams will review the competitive landscape and devise operational recommendations using a variety of interactive channels and new media strategies to reach overall strategic goals and support traditional media buys, “brick and mortar” retail efforts, and customer relationship management (CRM) plans.
Plans will include:
· Interactive advertising plans including search, OLA, social media, branded entertainment, and microsites, etc;
· Customer communications strategies encompassing email, blogs, branded communities, and life cycle management, where appropriate;
· Research and metrics for success recommendations including both primary and secondary research, to ensure success guidelines and a focus on measurable return on investment;
· Thorough reviews of the competitive environment and best-in-class marketing as it applies to the client.

Marketing Arts, Culture and Entertainment
Mondays and Wednesdays (Full term)
9-10:30 a.m.
Professor Joseph Plummer
The course applies the marketing discipline to the Arts, Culture and Entertainment environment. Key areas of focus are

· Similarities/differences between other businesses and the ACE arena

· The discipline of marketing planning in an ACE environment

· Marketing tactical implementation — how to apply marketing in ACE



Other classes of interest:

Developing Strategies for High Tech Firms
Mondays (Full term)
2:15-5:30 p.m.
Professor Raul Katz
The purpose of this seminar is to explore strategy development and implementation, with a specific focus on international high technology industries (e.g., telecommunications, content distribution, software, electronics and semiconductors). Strategy formulation in global high technology industries requires in-depth exploration of sector-specific dynamics with a tailored set of tools to ensure successful implementation. Issues driving complexity range from national/regional markets segmented by different stages of technological development to national regulatory frameworks constraining industry evolution, amplified by the management imperative to achieve competitive advantage in a global world. In other words, the frameworks for industry analysis, the assessment of competitive advantage and the formulation of strategy warrant specific analysis and focus.


Film School:

The Business of Film
Schedule unknown
Professor Unknown
Film R6004 section 001

The Role of the Producer
Professor Ira Deutchman
Schedule unknown
Film R6027 section 001

Journalism School:
No relevant/open courses posted thus far; typically, related fall courses include Media and Contemporary Society and Social Impact of Mass Media

Law School:

Comparative Mass Media Law
Professor Richard Winfield
Wednesdays, 4:10-6 p.m.

Law, Media and Public Policy
Professor Patricia Williams
Tuesdays, 2:10-4 p.m.

Law and Internet Society
Professor Eben Moglen
Thursdays, 4:10-6 p.m.

Law and the Music Industry
Professor Fred Koenigsberg
Mondays, 4:10-6 p.m.

Law and Sports
Professor Robert Kheel
Wednesdays, 4:10-6 p.m.

School of Arts and Sciences:
Mass Media In American Government and Politics
Unknown

Master Class video

This is a video that the CBS administration recently produced regarding master classes. Master classes are something I've been asked about at least a few times by prospective applicants, so I figured I'd repost it here.

added social enterprise, dropped entrepreneurial selling

Decided to drop my Entrepreneurial Selling course and signed up for a Social Enterprise class instead. It was a tough call because I think selling is an invaluable part of any business career, but in the end the chance to dive into a less familiar area has won me over. Also, I think we'll be getting some good guest speakers as well - just looked at the syllabus and it looks like Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America will be visiting during one of the classes.

Done with finals

Just emailed in my advanced corporate finance final. Now I'm done with my finals. Just two more items on my plate (a couple of papers) and I can start enjoying my vacation. Very nice.

Breakfast w/my old company

I can't believe it has been a week since my last post. Time is flying. My "senior" year is almost over...

This morning I had breakfast w/the gentleman who runs corpdev at my old company. Really nice guy, same age as me, and seemed excited to chat. At the end of breakfast he asked me to come out to meet the rest of the team in California, which is obviously a good sign.

The group does M&A as well as business development deals, so they are looking for flexible folks with multiple skill sets. And I wouldn't be surprised if they get into some early stage investing at some point in the next few years, which is obviously another area of interest. I like the diverse job responsibilities as well - I tend to fancy myself as a jack-of-all-trades, more than a specialist in one area.

I'm trying to get the interview to dovetail w/the Silicon Valley trek so I can minimize my travel. That would be nice if it worked out - and would also probably mean that they'd pay for my ticket! :)

Today I'm going to get going on my Entrepreneurial Finance take home final. It's a pretty meaty case with alot of moving parts. I have one other takehome final (Advanced Corporate Finance) and then I am basically done with finals (aside from a couple papers related to my independent study). I am looking forward to some R&R before my job hunt kicks into high gear.

Stay tuned for my next post where I plan on talking about Follies!

Bidding results, no word from Google

Round 1 results are in. I got the Venture Capital Seminar taught by two partners from RRE Ventures, Applied Regression Analysis (this is purely because the prof is one of the most (in)famous at the school), Greenwald's Economics of Strategic Behavior (which usually goes for a ton of bid points but by some fluke only went for 1 point this year), and a bunch of other random stuff I bid on. However, I didn't get Security Analysis with Michael Mauboussin, which is a bummer. Such is life when you've got to bid on electives! I still have 8800 points in the bank which means I should be able to pick up something decent next round, if I need to.

Still no firm word from Google. The recruiter has been responding to my emails but it appears they still are making decisions. She thinks they'll get back to me today. :)

Also planning on meeting with an entrepreneur tonight. It's a guy in the EMBA program who is starting a digital media company. Should be interesting.

Health Care Electives for 2008

This was emailed to CBS students recently.


Last year, the Health Care and Pharmaceutical Management Program was created to provide Columbia MBA students with a "real world" understanding of the health care industry through innovative course offerings and learning/networking opportunities with industry leaders. In 2007-08 five health care electives are being offered, comprising an integrated "matrix" of functional disciplines (strategy/management, economics, finance, marketing, and operations) within multiple health care sectors (pharmaceuticals/ biotechnology, medical devices, health care services), studied from the perspectives of industry executives and investors (PE/ VC firms). Each course uses seasoned industry practitioners as guest speakers (15-20 in the aggregate).

These complementary courses will be useful for students not only interested in careers in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, devices, and health services, but also management consulting, investment banking, equity research, venture capital, private equity, and investment management given the large and growing healthcare practices of such firms.

In spring 2008, there will be four half-term healthcare electives. As shown below, dates and times of these courses have been aligned to facilitate student scheduling:

A-Term (M-W 12:30-2pm):

Prof. Cramer, director of the Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Management Program, will teach Strategy and Competition in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology, which was first offered this past spring. It provides a critical and timely analysis of the key strategic, organizational, and competitive opportunities and challenges confronting the pharma/ biotech sector.

B-Term (M-W 12:30-2pm):

Prof. Wosinska (visiting from the Harvard Business School) will teach Health Care Marketing. This course (which is complementary to Prof. Cramer's pharma/ biotech strategy course) focuses on strategies pertaining to the marketing of pharmaceuticals, biologics and medical devices including such areas as new product introduction and adoption, branding, value pricing, customer segmentation strategies, market research, advertising and promotion, and sales force role and design.

A-Term (M-W 10:45am-12:15pm):

Prof. Lichtenberg will teach Economics of Health Care and Pharmaceuticals, which is a restructured course from prior years focused on pricing and reimbursement of drugs, vaccines, devices, and hospital services, economics of biomedical research, and cost-benefit analyses employed by health care payers and consumers.

B-Term (M-W 10:45am–12:15pm):

Prof. Cramer will teach Health Care Investment and Dealmaking which analyzes the health care industry from the perspectives of venture capital and private equity firms investing in life sciences, devices, and health services, and health care entrepreneurs, including strategies to grow business franchises through partnering, licensing and mergers & acquisitions.

Attached please find more detailed descriptions of the health care course electives for spring 2008. If you have any questions on the health care curriculum, please contact Prof. Cramer, Director of the Health Care and Pharmaceutical Management Program at cc2663@columbia.edu or 212.854.2327.

Blogging from Uris Hall

Sitting out here in Uris killing some time before I go meet one of my clustermates for lunch at a kosher joint!

Just met with Adam Dell and the rest of my project group for the Business, Technology, and Innovation class I'm taking. We're going to be creating a website to help entrepreneurs find and raise capital using an open source/community contribution model. Right now we're just in the planning stages but the goal is to have something out there by the end of the semester.

I have one more phone interview with the VC firm that I've been talking to, so I think that assuming that goes well, I should have the part-time gig.

Last night I hit a networking event downtown - the Web 2.0 Meetup. Sun Microsystems hosted the event at a nice pool hall in the city called Slate. And they also provided the food :)

Launching New Ventures

We had our first Launching New Ventures class today. It is taught by a serial entrepreneur named Cliff Schorer and another entrepreneur named Brendan Burns. Cliff is the entrepreneur-in-residence at the school and Brendan was CBS '93 (I think) and now working on turning around a startup that was on the verge of failing. Both of them seem very accomplished and I can already tell they are going to be a tremendous resource to anyone who is starting a business while they are at Columbia (and after).

The class was a mix of introductions ("Hello my name is X and my business idea is Y"), lecture (business plan overview, course format, etc), videos (we saw interviews with the founders of Apple, Microsoft, and Fedex), and presentation of business ideas. The course TA is already operating an apparel company and ran us through part of his investor presentation, and another one of my classmates shared the pitch for his computer data backup service.

There were a bunch of interesting ideas, and many people in the room who were in various stages of the venturing process. There were also some students who were running multiple businesses, or who had started other businesses in the past. I'm looking forward to helping everyone in the class develop their ideas. I'll keep you all posted on this course as I am pretty confident it will be one of my faves this year.

Relief

It was a weird day. Our dog went to the vet for his yearly exam and vaccinations. Vet said he was fine, but when he got home, he started throwing up and whatnot. My wife rushed him back to the vet -- he's OK, but it turned out he had a VERY bad reaction to one (or the other) vaccine. Fortunately we live one block away so we were able to get him right back in there, but it was very scary. Now he is on meds and is his usual peppy self (although he's itchy with hives) so I think we're out of the woods. Phew.

Next week class really kicks off in earnest. Monday I'll have the same classes I had this past Wednesday, but will also have Launching New Ventures. I am going to use the class to complete the business plan for a software company that I am advising.

In other news, the PE/VC club list received an email from one of our alums who has just started a venture capital firm. He is looking for current students to help him source deals and I threw my name into the ring. Wish me luck on that.

Next Friday we are having a big cluster outing, organized by our 2nd year cluster chairs. We're starting at a classmate's co-op (which he was so kindly to volunteer) for cocktails, then hitting an all-you-can-eat sushi place in Koreatown, followed by Karaoke. I missed the first Karaoke outing, which I heard was pretty awesome -- I'm expecting the same out of this one!

Got most of my classes

Round 1 results are in, and I got most of my classes. 5 out of 6 bids, actually. Security Analysis was the one that I didn't get, and we were just notified that they may open up another small section of the course with a different prof. In the mean time, I have put in a bid for Advanced Corp Finance just in case the additional section doesn't come through.

Here are the classes I got:

Entrepreneurial Finance (taught by the Dean and another prof)

Pricing Strategies (w/Prof Wadhwa, known as one of the best profs at CBS)

Launching New Ventures (in this course you develop a biz plan)

Business, Innovation, and Technology (Michael Dell's brother teaches this one, but I am probably going to drop it for the finance courses I mentioned above)

Retailing: Financial, Marketing, and Strategic Integration (lots of great guest speakers)

So, I'm fairly happy with how things have turned out.

In other news, I managed to finish in the top 50% of the poker tourney, but that was where my luck ended. We had two tables going and I made it out of the first table into the final table, but I got a bad hand where I went all-in and that took me out. The guy whose pic I showed in one of my recent posts won the whole thing. Go figure :)

Master Classes

This post is in response to a blog comment I received from 'Tommy'. He asked me to explain the master classes that are offered at Columbia. Here is the description from the website:

Master Classes are hands-on, project-based electives designed to challenge students to creatively integrate concepts learned across the core curriculum and apply them to contemporary business problems. More than a passive study or report, Master Class projects require students to make managerial decisions or recommendations. Master Classes are integrally tied to external organizations that evaluate and consider students’ recommendations.

Each Master Class focuses on a specific industry context (e.g. media, real-estate, consulting) and draws significant input from the professional community via group projects, guest speakers, adjunct faculty and alumni participation. With substantial projects and practitioner involvement, Master Classes provide students with a unique exposure to the current realities of the business world.

One of the more popular master classes is the Strategy Consulting Skills class taught by Professor Wadhwa. The students are broken up into groups and each does real a strategy consulting project for a client, with the professor acting as a mentor and teaching them frameworks (Prof. Wadhwa used to be a consultant w/McKinsey). I have a clustermate who took the course and said it was quite good.

This coming semester there are some other master classes happening, including Entrepreneurship in Africa, which culminates with a trip to Africa over the winter break. Here's another one that sounded interesting related to macro investing.

Hope this helps!

Crank it to '11'

This is the second time one of my teachers has shown this clip from Spinal Tap in class (first time was in Corp Fin, second was today in Macro), so I figured I would share. We were discussing inflation in this case. Anyways, here goes...

Class schedule dilemna

I'm struggling with my class schedule/bidding for next semester.

If I really want to, I can arrange a schedule that will mean I only have class Monday, Tuesday, and maybe Wednesday morning. This would give me alot of time to work or study contiguously. On the other hand, it means that while I'm at school, I will be in class, and won't really have time to hit any of the events that happen during the week in the evenings (I'd have class on Monday and Tuesday night until about 9pm).

I need to figure this out soon since the first round of bidding ends tommorrow afternoon. I guess I'll sleep on it.

Changes to Health Care program

If you are interested in the Health Care program at CBS, here is some information that was just sent out to us:

Last year, the Health Care and Pharmaceutical Management Program was created to provide Columbia MBA students with a “real world” understanding of the health care industry through innovative course offerings and learning/networking opportunities with industry leaders. In 2007-08, five health care electives will be offered, comprising an integrated “matrix” of functional disciplines (finance, marketing, strategy/management, operations) within multiple health care sectors (pharmaceuticals/ biotechnology, medical devices, providers and health care services), studied from the perspectives of industry executives and investors in this large and complex sector. Each course is geared toward providing students with a practical understanding of the key drivers and players in the health care sector, using industry practitioners as guest speakers to provide useful insight and perspective.

In the fall, Prof. Green will teach a full-term course on The Health Care Industry in the 21^st Century which will provide an overview of the health care delivery system from the perspectives of payers/ insurers, providers/ hospitals, and producers/ suppliers. This course should be of interest to students planning a career in health care, as well as other students who can benefit from understanding the structure and unique features of this sector given its enormous impact on the global economy.

In the spring, there will be four half-term courses. In the A-Term, Prof. Cramer will teach Strategy and Competition in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology, which was first offered this past spring. It provides a critical analysis of the key strategic, organizational, and competitive opportunities and challenges confronting the pharma/biotech sector. Also, in the A-Term, Prof. Lichtenberg will teach Economics of Health Care and Pharmaceuticals, which is a restructured course from prior years focused on pricing of drugs and hospital services, economics of biomedical research, and cost-benefit analyses employed by health care payers and consumers.

In the Spring B-Term, Prof. Cramer will teach Health Care Investment and Dealmaking. This course analyzes the health care industry from the perspectives of venture capital and private equity firms investing in life sciences, devices, and health services, and health care entrepreneurs, including strategies to grow businesses through partnering, licensing and acquisitions. Also in the B-Term, Prof. Wosinska will teach Health Care Marketing. This course focuses on the marketing, branding, pricing, and customer segmentation issues unique to the industry, with an emphasis on the marketing of pharmaceuticals and biologics.

Please see the attachment above for more detailed descriptions of the health care course electives for 2007-08. If you have any questions on the health care curriculum, please contact Prof. Cramer, Director of the Health Care and Pharmaceutical Management Program at cc2663@columbia.edu or 212.854.2327.

Changes to the Real Estate program

This just in from the Real Estate Program at CBS:

Subject: Real Estate Courses for the 2007/8 Academic Year

To: Real Estate Concentrators and MBA students interested in real estate

From: Professor Chris Mayer, director of the MBA Real Estate Program


Next year will be an exciting year for the MBA Real Estate Program, but also a year of changes. While the course offerings will remain unchanged, we will change the timing of Real Estate Transactions, welcome two new faculty members, and also make some changes to the requirements for the Master Class in Real Estate Investment. In addition, I will be taking a sabbatical leave next academic year. These changes are detailed below:

1) The course schedule for real estate classes in 2007-2008 will be as follows:


Class Professor(s) Credits Time Co-requisites

FALL
B8314 Real Estate Finance Neng Wang 3 TBA B6302
B8314 Real Estate Finance Neng Wang 3 TBA B6302
B8399 Real Estate Capital Markets Dan Adkinson / 3 W 9-12:15 B8314, B6302
Michael Giliberto

SPRING
B8314 Real Estate Finance Tomasz Piskorski 3 TBA B6302
B8314 Real Estate Finance Tomasz Piskorski 3 TBA B6302
B8158 Real Estate Transactions Lynne Sagalyn 3 Tu 2:15-5:30 B8314
B9317 Master Class in RE Invstmt Jeff Barclay / 6 M,W 4-7:15 B8314, B8399
Camille Douglas

2) We will be joined by two new full-time faculty members, plus a new adjunct faculty member.

Assistant Professor Tomasz Piskorski joins us from NYU where he recently earned his PhD. Professor Piskorski specializes in Real Estate Finance and has written on Optimal Mortgage Design and the link between lending and housing markets.

Visiting Professor Lynne Sagalyn will be at Columbia Business School for the entire academic year, while she is on leave from the University of Pennsylvania. Professor Sagalyn was previously the Director of the MBA Real Estate Program at Columbia Business School and has authored two books on real estate and numerous real estate cases. She will be writing cases and teaching Real Estate Transactions during her visit at Columbia.

Adjunct Professor Michael Giliberto will be co-teaching Real Estate Capital Markets. Dr. Giliberto is Managing Director and Director of Real Estate Strategy at JPMorgan Asset Management, where he has worked since 1996. Previously he worked at Lehman Brothers, Solomon Brothers, and was a Professor at Southern Methodist University.

3) The Master Class in Real Estate Investment debuted in Spring ’07 to rave reviews and has quickly become the signature course for the MBA Real Estate Program. The Master Class is a mix of cases, guest speakers, and a semester-long group business project. Last year's projects included such diverse business plans as student housing in Manhattanville, a Latin American Land Fund, a development plan for a new casino hotel in Reno, NV, and a draft privatization of Boston Properties, a large REIT.

In order to facilitate the full development of the projects, the Master Class in Real Estate Investment will require students to apply in writing and receive advanced approval in order to register for the class. Prior to registering, students must form a group of 2-4 members (no more than 4 members will be allowed under any circumstances) and develop a preliminary version of their project. Projects must also have an industry sponsor. The Milstein Center will help provide support in creating a project and finding an industry sponsor if a group needs the help. The project summary with a list of group members must be submitted and approved by faculty prior to registration. Under no circumstances will students be allowed to register after the class has started.

4) Finally, I will be taking a sabbatical leave for the 2007-2008 academic year to pursue independent research, which means I will not be teaching or holding regular office hours. After more than a decade of teaching and serving in numerous academic roles, this will be my first sabbatical. The MBA Real Estate Program will be well-served with a very distinguished line-up of teaching faculty. In addition, Executive-in-Residence Leanne Lachman will be available to provide career advice and Visiting Professor Sagalyn, my predecessor, will be on campus and holding regular office hours during the entire academic year. I will maintain my position as Director of the Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate to ensure continuity with our outside constituencies and that there is no break in programs. We have a very strong staff in the Milstein Center who will continue to work closely with the Real Estate Association on programming throughout the year.

I hope that everyone is enjoying a very nice and relaxing summer.

Sincerely,
Professor Chris Mayer

course bidding, Google

The time is upon us CBS'ers to bid for next semester's courses. Since it is Fall term, there is an enormous selection of course (good), but much more competition to get into the popular ones (bad). As you may know, CBS has a system by which you bid on courses against your fellow classmates. Some of the more popular ones like Entrepreneurial Finance (taught by Dean Hubbard) or Top Management Process (taught by Professor Biggadike) tend to go for a large number of points. In fact, I've heard from the 2nd years who just left that it is quite possible that you will end up spending all of your bid points on maybe 2-3 courses that you really want to take. Of course, if you're not shooting for any of the 'popular' courses, you won't have this problem. But who doesn't want to take a course with the Dean, you know? :)

On an unrelated note, I saw that Google today announced they were going to acquire a company called Postini. Postini offers an email spam filtering service. This fits into Google's whole application strategy pretty nicely, so it will be interesting to see how and where the technology gets integrated. Speaking of Google, I would love to speak to someone in their corporate development group. They are doing a large number of transactions and it would be cool to hear about their methodology, how they staff their corpdev organization, etc. Unfortunately I have had trouble tracking down anyone in my network who knows folks in that group. If any of you have any thoughts (or contacts), please let me know!

Beer Game

Tonight we played the 'Beer Game' for our Operations Management class.

The Beer Game is a supply chain simulation where you split 4-8 students into 4 groups, each group representing a part of the beer distribution and retailing supply chain. The goal is to have the least inventory across your supply chain at the end of the game, while at the same time minimizing unfulfilled demand. Our team got creamed (it's never a good sign when the professor cackles wildly when he looks at your screen) but it was fun and we certainly learned what not to do.

The other reason it is called the Beer Game is because they bring us beer which we drink during the game. Not a bad deal!

Afterwards a bunch of folks in my cluster went to play poker, but I have a case to read for tomorrow so I decided to come home and work on that (and blog, apparently :)

This weekend should be fun. There are 5 J-termers who are having birthdays this weekend so they rented out a loft downtown and are throwing a big bash. And I was asked to DJ, which should be great. I haven't spun records in a while, so I might need to practice up before I get up there.

Finals are done!

Just finished my marketing final. 3/8's of my b-school career complete! The exam was a bit tougher than I expected but I'm sure it went fine.

Sent out another flurry of LinkedIn requests for contact to VC and corporate VC folks and already got a favorable response from someone at Comcast Interactive Capital. Should be speaking with him this week.

Thursday night I'm planning to head down to Atlantic City with a classmate or two and celebrate the end of finals. I haven't been to a casino in a while (we're going to the Borgata) so it should be fun. Blackjack tables, here I come...

Not much to report right now other than being in the midst of finals. Our Operations exam was corrected and returned in record time and thankfully I did very well. Actually, the whole class did well, which means it will be fairly easy to get an HP but very hard to get an H :) I am enjoying the class quite a bit and I think the concepts we're learning will be directly applicable to various problems we'll face in our collective careers.

Also took my macroeconomics exam, which was a different story. I don't think I bombed it but it was a fairly challenging exam which unfortunately I didn't have enough time to prep for as solidly as I would have liked. I really enjoy that course, though, and I think I'll end up doing just fine.

In career news, the banks and the consulting firms have started their summer reception schedules, and everyone is talking about the different firms and when they're visiting. Part of me feels left out of the process since I'm targeting industries and job functions that are outside of that. However, as easy as it would be to follow the crowd, I know that it's not what will make me happy in the long term.

Finally, we just had our mid-semester party. It was done really well, at a great little lounge with an awesome outdoor deck. There were great appetizers and an open bar-and of course plenty of J-termers. I had to turn in early due to my internship but I know a bunch of my classmates continued the party until the wee hours of the morning. Just another Thursday night at b-school, I guess!