The Executive Mentor Panel

Sixth Week of Class
(February 13-19)

Monday I'm back at the library early working on miscellaneous homework assignments before meeting my Global Management team to practice our presentation. As you might recall, my team has been tasked with analyzing the business opportunities/risks of a U.S.-based members-only retailer entering one of three countries (France, Spain or Hong Kong). Since we are going first and presenting in front of a panel of judges, we definitely want to make this good!

Overall, I think the presentation went well. We seemed to cover all of the critical aspects of our decision while staying within the strict 10-slide maximum. We even managed to find a broadcast news story that supported our decision to enter Hong Kong.

In between that class and my Brand & Advertising Management course I grab some dinner at Au Bon Pain with my team and then take over a study room in Snell Library to work on my elevator speech for Entrepreneurial Finance.

In Brand & Advertising Management we go over the Mountain Dew case, watch some fun commercials and review upcoming make-up classes. Unfortunately, due to the plethora of Monday holidays this semester we have to make up all of our missed Brand & Advertising classes at other times.

When I get home it's back to homework before hitting the hay at midnight

My lovely orchid

Tuesday is Valentine's Day! And how does an MBA student celebrate this most mushy of holidays? Why in the library, work and class of course! I get in some solid reading of my Finance textbook and Innovation book (I admit, I'm a bit behind...) before heading to work. Luckily, I have a nice little surprise to cheer me up: a gorgeous Phalaenopsis orchid from my boyfriend!

After work I have a few hours to kill before Finance so I further refine my elevator speech and begin work on my New Product Development assignment which is due Thursday. The assignment requires me to interview a wine drinker about a revolutionary new wine bottle closure called the MetaCork (I can think of more than a few people who fit this bill).

These didn't last long...

I get home late, but fortunately, there's a fun little surprise from my family waiting for me: Sour Hearts from See's Candies. Thank goodness for Valentine's Day to make an otherwise long day a little more cheerful.

Wednesday I have an early morning doctor's appointment followed by the first class of the Career Center's series focusing on our impending job search. At 12:00 pm I head to Ell Hall for some free pizza and an overview of 'Launching My Job Search Strategy'.  It's quite informative and I enjoy the more casual, discussion-based feel. The class also really sets a fire under me to to start properly mapping out my job search plan.

We finish with just enough time for me to hop over to Dodge Hall for Innovation & Enterprise Growth at 1:45 pm.

After class lets out I have some time to finish up my MetaCork case write-up and contribute some innovation ideas to my Six Flags Amusement Park Google document.

Thursday at work I get to be part of a webinar on the Full-Time MBA program! I'm so excited! I spend an hour helping explain to participants what Northeastern University has done for me and how awesome the program structure and offerings are.

After work I have New Product Development where we discuss the MetaCork case which outlines a revolutionary new way to seal and open wine bottles. Our assignment for the day involved interviewing a wine drinker on how they perceive the MetaCork. It was interesting to hear how a seemingly 'great' product was so ill-received by the people we interviewed and the market in general. The class provided proof of how important focus groups and research with prototypes is. Gardner Technologies, the maker of the MetaCork, could have saved millions of dollars by doing the proper market research before launch.

Friday morning is off to a hectic start as I finish packing, head to Budget car rental by the airport and rush back to campus in time for the Executive Mentor Panel at 10:30 am. I was so happy to be invited to participate in the panel and am glad to share the amazing mentor/mentee relationship I have. It was also great to see the large turnout of second year students, alumni and their respective mentors. How cool that some of the Northeastern MBA alums are still in contact with their executive mentors several years after graduation!

After the Mentor Panel gets out at 11:30 am I hop in my rental car and make the six-hour drive to Montreal to visit Nick. I've been so lucky that he was designated the contact for his company's Montreal project. I get to see him twice as much as I did during my first year of the program.

I make it to Montreal in record time (less than six hours!) and am able to give Nick some belated Valentine's Day chocolate that I purchased during my Taza Chocolate Factory tour a few weeks back. After we devour the vanilla and rose flavored chocolate disk and dark chocolate cherry bar we head to the hotel bar for some drinks and then an early bedtime.

Breakfast poutine at Faberge. It was even better than it looks!

Saturday is Nick and I's make-up Valentine's Day. We start out with an amazing brunch at Faberge where we both agree they make the best hollandaise sauce ever.

Habitat 67. I die!

We follow our meal up with a visit to Habitat 67, a famous apartment building built for the Expo of 1967 by architect Moshe Safdie. After learning about it in a modern art history class several years ago I've always wanted to see it in person.

Next, Nick and I head to the Montreal Science Centre and have fun tinkering with all of the exhibits amidst swarms of young children. We also take in an IMAX movie on tornadoes. Nick has endless amounts of fun teasing me about how 'into it' I was. I'm terrified of twisters so the movie was just fascinating to me.

Moody lighting at Stash Cafe

After the movie we have a Valentine's Day dinner at Stash Cafe, a Polish restaurant in Old Montreal. There we gorged ourselves on a ton of amazing food including placki, peirogis and more.

Sunday is our 'relaxing day'. We watch movies, get dinner at a nice Italian restaurant called Portovino and relax. I also make sure to call my Dad on Skype for his birthday! I love Skype for making international calls free.

Monday is President's Day and I have the day off from school so after breakfast at the hotel I see Nick off to work and make the drive home.  I make such good time that I even manage to meet my Six Flags Amusement Park group at 5:00 pm that night to work on our Innovation & Enterprise Growth project.

Now, I shall end this post with an interesting turn of events. Monday afternoon I get a call from the company I have been interviewing with. My stomach turns as I imagine it must be some big news (whether good or bad news, I can't tell). Instead, it was the company asking if I would mind interviewing with the Director Marketing tomorrow! Of course I said 'yes' but now I had to make sure to go home and prep like crazy. What could this mean? I'll keep you posted.

*The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Northeastern University, its staff or affiliates.