When You're a BYU MBA, What Happens in Vegas...

... can be readily posted on the internet without anyone getting embarrassed. Recently a group of MBATS (MBA Tech Society) members took a trip down to Las Vegas for the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). In addition to enjoying a brief escape from pure cold into just a mild chill, the venture was a very memorable experience.

CES is hard to summarize. 140,000 participants walk around for 2-4 days to see as many as they can of the 2,700 technology exhibitors. It's really difficult to give a sense of the scope of the place if you haven't been there. Needless to say, by the end of our second day, my feet were sore and the exhibitors with massage chairs became very popular. You'll never see more large LCD displays in one place in your life. You'll likely never be able to practically afford most of the cars. You'll possibly even see a good number of products you couldn't imagine using. If it's shiny, gadgety, or over-the-top, you'll find it at CES.

My personal top picks during the trip were:

1 - Nvidia's tent which featured their Tegra chip used in the new Tesla Model S. The display that the Tegra drove was nice and all, but I was personally attracted more to the car itself. I'm a huge fan of the move to electric vehicles and Tesla just makes a pretty car. It's well worth checking out when you get a chance.

2 - Glasses-free 3D. I'm pretty opinionated on the 3D fad right now. I'm all for progress in entertainment technology, but I don't like having to wear uncomfortable glasses for the minor value-add of watching something in 3D. That said, LG, among other companies, was displaying some early prototypes of working glasses-free 3D TV. The viewing range is limited, but the effect was awesome. LG expects the technology to be consumer-ready in 3-5 years and I'll seriously consider upgrading at that point.

And, of course, the greatest takeaway of the whole experience was getting to know my fellow MBAs better. I learned about Barney's adventures as a pop star on his LDS mission in Thailand and Mike's experience as a walk-on for BYU's football team. We survived smoking heaters in a cheap motel and a less-than-exciting continental breakfast. We clinked glasses with the president of HTC in Caesar's Palace on HTC's dime (and were the only ones drinking seltzer water with lime). Most importantly, though, we formed memories that will last much longer than the gadgets we went down to Vegas to see.

-Lewis Gunter, Class 2012, Marketing

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My OB/HR Baptism

One moment I was sitting blissfully on my orange raft, and the next, I was submerged in shark-infested (probably) white water rapids. It is difficult to describe the experience of being dislodged while white water rafting. The effects are sudden, wet, shocking, and yet, somehow satisfying (at least in the retelling). The OB/HR raft trip represented a form of baptism for me, not just in the Payette River, but also into the world of OB/HR at BYU. In fact, I would like to rechristen this event: Scout Camp meets Gourmet Road Show meets OB/HR. Certainly there were moments of pressure, and perhaps shock (Re: portapotty? Anyone???). A first-year student summed up our first evening with the recruiters: “I feel like I’m on the Bachelorette, vying for face-time.” At first, meeting the recruiters encouraged a small frenzy, but after the first night, the pressure dissipated and we had FUN. We hung out. And, frankly, the most useful information was not facts about the companies, but rather the more subtle and personal details about the individuals.

My favorite conversations were the casual, inane, and downright ridiculous. I would like to record some of those here. (Names have been deleted to protect the innocent):

1. “Our group last year was all the jocks.” Ten minutes later. “I’m a dancer. And I love flower gardening.”
2. “I heart HR [insert 5 minutes of new and strange HR jargon] I heart HR”
3. “People always call me Ryan when they forget my name. Then I found out that my mother was planning to name me Ryan all along! But my aunt used it for her kid right before I was born and my mom couldn’t use it, so actually my name SHOULD be Ryan. Isn’t that weird?”
4. “I love my Harley. Maybe not the best investment...but my Harley makes me so happy.”
5. “Guys, we totally have to have a strategy for attacking that other raft.”
6. “In Russia you can’t throw the garbage away until your guest is safely home, or it’s bad luck.”
7. “My wife is such a good mom. I just got lucky” What a softy. Later: “I am going to attack you tomorrow.” (FYI: he is a man of his word.)
8. (upon viewing natural Idaho scenery): “You guys have really done a great job with the landscaping here. I mean, it must have taken forever to haul in all these trees.”
9. “I have never [fill in blank with whatever you want]”
10. (Singing Aboard Raft à la Titanic): “Sempre libera degg´io folleggiare di gioia in gioia!!!!!”
11. “I have never rooted for BYU...I have never rooted for BYU...define root”

Other significant moments: I showed up without proper gear, but was speedily provided with a sleeping bag, sleeping mat, and flashlight! I am now a firm supporter of Boy Scouts of America, even if they plan vacations without washrooms. Another was a classmate saving me a coveted seat by the fire, knowing how important it was to my survival. These conversation snippets and anecdotes may seem silly and meaningless. But, to me, these are the crucial conversations. There is everything to be learned from small talk. With each exchange, I form my perception of the other person, reflect it back on myself, and begin to shape my professional identity. Unarticulated questions are a running backdrop: Am I like you? Do I like being with you? Could I become like you? Do I want to? Every conversation was a window into OB/HR, and into my future.

While I would like to say that I came out of the OB/HR Rafting Trip with a clear sense of direction (track, company, position, salary, location) - I didn’t. I emerged drenched in questions. What I did come out with was a tangible knowledge that I really like these people. In fact, I like them a lot. And since a church can be judged by its members, I must say that my recent baptism into OB/HR may shortly become a conversion.

Elizabeth Keeler, OB/HR, Class of 2012

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Trip to the Big Apple

One piece of advice: Join MBA clubs and take advantage of club activities. I am a declared Finance major so I will focus on the Graduate Finance Association (GFA); however, other track majors have great clubs as well. During this past year, one of the most valuable aspects of being involved in the GFA was the relationships that I formed with my classmates. These relationships were strengthened on the GFA New York trip that takes place each fall. The trip took place October 21^st, 22^nd, & 23^rd with approximately 70 BYU students (both MBA and undergraduates) having the opportunity to meet with 40+ financial services firms that are located in New York. Our fearless mentors on the trip were Jim Engebretsen and Kim Smith and they provided a first-class experience for all of us.

Students paid their own way on the trip and were richly rewarded with unbelievable exposure to finance professionals that were happy to meet with us and talk about their respective firm. We divided up research on the firms beforehand so that we could create research material that was distributed to all students in attendance. The purpose of the organized research was to ensure that quality questions were asked after each presentation and all those in attendance represented BYU extremely well. Each day of the trip was spent at one firm’s headquarters and then all of the presenting professionals made the trip to visit us. This eliminated the logistical nightmare and lost time of 70+ students trying to make their way to and from different locations in New York. Below is a brief summary of each day of the trip and names of firms that presented:

October 21^st – Stamford, CT – We started off the first day of the trip in Connecticut at the offices of US Trust and heard from professionals in Private Wealth Management, Private Equity, Investment Management, and Hedge Funds. (Starwood Hotels, Merrill Lynch Private Wealth, Portfolio Advisors, Millenium, Columbia Management, US Trust, RSB Greenwich Capital, & FE Clean Energy.)

October 22^nd & 23^rd – Manhattan, NY – These days were spent at the headquarters of Cerberus Capital Management on Park Avenue. We were hosted extremely well in two large boardrooms throughout both days. Again, Private Wealth, Hedge Fund, Private Equity, Investment Banking, Investment Management, and Corporate Finance professionals presented to us. (Cerberus, Citigroup, Lazard, Lightyear Capital, Clearlake Capital, Oppenheimer, DE Shaw, Bernstein Global, Morgan Joseph, NYSE, Prudential Capital, Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, GE Commercial Finance, Houlihan Lokey, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Credit Suisse, Deloitte, American Express, Wells Fargo, Moelis & Co., Bank of Montreal, Partners Group, Barclays, JPMorgan, SAC Capital, Corinthian Capital, HSBC, Nomura, and Morgan Stanley.)

Summary: The key takeaways are exposure to many different types of financial services firms and the opportunity to build relationships with professionals and your classmates. (A number of internships were a direct result of this trip, but those internships came from relationships.)

Jeremy Burgon, Finance, Class of 2011

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European Business Excursion

Early in the fall, a couple of internationally minded second year MBA students decided to take a trip to Europe in late January in order to seek out any available internship or full time opportunities. They invited along as many first year students as wanted to come. A consensus was taken and we decided to go to London, Geneva, and Zurich to meet with several alumni and European based companies. We even got the trip approved by the Global Management Center to count towards our Business Excursion that must be done in order to get the Global Management Certificate. Our great mentor Jim Engebretsen decided to go with us on the trip and set us up with all of his contacts overseas. I wish that I had more time to write more about the trip and the contacts that we made and what we learned, but I guess that you can ask us all about it when you arrive next year for your first year in the MBA program. Below is just a summary to get you excited for your MBA international excursion if you so choose to take one.

Our Agenda:

Day One – We relaxed in London, recovered from jet lag, and went to see Wicked on London's West Side.

Day Two – We went to Hyde Park ward and had lunch with COO of Citigroup in EMEA. Later that day, we went to dinner at the home of the new Diplomat to Russia for the United Kingdom.

Day Three – We visited the CEO of Credit Suisse EMEA Investment Banking at his executive office conference room in London. Later, we had lunch with a few alumni in a fancy hotel and visited Europe Disney/ESPN.

Day Four – We visit Raymond James, Head of HR at Barclays, and flew out to Geneva.

Day Five – We Visit the Global Fund, an oil and gas company in Geneva, and ate at a nice Fondue restaurant.

Day Six – We took a train to Vevey to meet with Nestle, ate and bought lots of chocolate and then took a train to Zurich.

Day Seven – We took a train to Zug to meet with Credit Suisse Private Wealth Management. Afterwards, we met and had lunch with Partners Group (private equity). Then, we met with Johnson & Johnson. We finished with a relaxing train ride back to Zurich.

Day Eight – We had a free day in Zurich. Some people went to Lucern, while some toured Zurich, and two of us got to hear the traditional ringing of the bells on the square - me and Christian I think.

Day Nine – Flew back to SLC.

Summary: Lots of fun and lots of opportunity. Learned tons or tonnes depending on where you live.

-Britt Chapman, Finance, Class of 2011

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Meeting Warren Buffett

For the last four out of five years, BYU has been invited to send a small group of students to attend a Q&A session and lunch with Warren Buffett. A good friend of mine encouraged me to apply for the trip, and I was selected to attend. Prior to leaving, the group met with Bill Child, a businessman who owned RC Willey prior to its acquisition by Berkshire Hathaway. He shared with us his experience with selling his business to Warren Buffett and explained to us how our visit would go.

The next evening, we flew to Omaha, Nebraska for our visit. Omaha just happened to be in the middle of a snowstorm, so after circling the airport, we finally landed and made our way to our hotel.

I have to interject a quick thought here - while the primary reason for this trip was to meet with Mr. Buffett, I have to emphasize the value of trips such as this in terms of getting to know fellow classmates. While this was a quick trip, it was a great opportunity to build stronger relationships with those who I see on a regular basis, but haven't had a chance to really get to know.

Friday morning we arose early and our entire group met to review again the format for the meeting (six total universities in attendance, Mr. Buffett rotates through the schools and they each ask a question in turn) and to prepare our questions. We left early so that we could get a good seat up close, which was totally worth it. I was sitting one row away from Mr. Buffett. When he arrived, he let us know that we could ask him questions about anything except which investments he was considering. Questions ranged from how he judges character to ethics to concerns about the economy to his heroes. I was impressed by Warren Buffett's wit and humor, along with his sincere passion for what he does. Several times he mentioned that he wakes up every morning and is excited to jump out of bed to go to work. It was also apparent that Mr. Buffett values integrity. One quote that I particularly liked was "Lose money for the firm and I will be understanding. Lose reputation and I will be ruthless."

Following the two hour question and answer session, we all drove to Piccolo Pete's, a local restaurant and were treated to lunch and root beer floats. After we ate, Mr. Buffett took the time to take pictures with everyone individually (about 200 people). These aren't just ordinary pictures either - Mr. Buffett likes to make it fun by getting down on his knee and "proposing" to the women, letting you hold his wallet, or pretty much any other fun pose you can think of.

Once we wrapped up the photo shoot, we headed back to the airport to head back to Provo. While it was a quick trip, it was a unique opportunity to meet with and learn from a legendary businessman.

—Malorie Lewis, OB/HR, Class of 2011

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BYU Tech Trek

On January 21-26, 2010, about 45 first-year MBA students got their nerd on during the annual BYU Tech Trek and visited some of the biggest technology companies located in the heart of Silicon Valley including Google, Apple, Adobe, Cisco, Symantec and HP.

Companies gave the students a tour of their facilities, presentations about the company as a whole and a chance to network with recruiters and BYU alumni who were current employees. Additionally, students had the chance to network exclusively with BYU alumni at a casual dinner held by local church members.

But it wasn’t strictly business for the entire trip - many students said it was great to get a first-hand experience of what it’s like to live, work and play in the Bay Area. Some went to downtown San Francisco to experience the “bushman” at Fisherman’s Wharf while others ventured to China Town for authentic Chinese cuisine. Students also said the Tech Trek was a good opportunity to really see the face and culture of each company and decide if they would be a good fit.

To date, more than 10 students have secured interviews with some of the companies they visited and others have made strong contacts with recruiters and alumni that could potentially pay off in getting internships or full-time offers in the near future. In a nutshell, it was just a great time to form a bond with classmates and represent the program to well-respected technology companies.

—Brandon Wells, Marketing, Class of 2011

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