First and Last Midterm

Yesterday I took my first and last midterm of the semester.  I suppose that's one of the benefits of taking a couple extra classes over the past year.  The test was in Strategic Management.  Overall it wasn't too bad.  There were a few tricky questions, but nothing unexpected.  The semester is moving along pretty quickly.  Spring break is just around the corner.  Our entrepreneurship team is headed to San Diego Thursday for our next competition.  We have a week off for Spring break then we are off to Manitoba.

Graduation is only a couple months away.  I can't believe it's almost over.  We just had our Spring social last night.  The turnout was good so there should be a reserve of great Walton MBA graduates coming in the future.  To all those currently in the program I say, enjoy your time here it'll be over before you know it.  That first semester was very busy to say the least, but we all learned a lot about business and about each other.  I've got some big decisions to make here in the next couple months.  I'll keep you all posted as I try to figure out my next move.

cycleWood Solutions Wins Again

This past weekend we were in Houston competing in the regional round of the Walmart Sustainability Business Plan competition.  We were competing against a couple other Arkansas schools, Langston, and Rice.  We won the regional competition and will be heading to the finals in Bentonville.  The competition was held at Rice so they had home field advantage.  The campus there is super nice and really big as are all things in Texas.  

These competitions are turning out to be more exhausting than I had planned.  Initially we were trying to go to as many as possible.  Thank goodness we decided to tone it down a bit.  We still have plenty of competitions but at least we have a few breaks before the home stretch.  Our next competition isn't for a couple a weeks and it's in San Diego.  I know, it sounds terrible right?  Then we have a week off before we have a stretch of four weeks straight of competitions starting with Manitoba.  Besides competitions, we have midterms coming up soon too.  It's just a busy time of the semester.

Competition Season Open

We had our first business case competition this past weekend at the University of Louisville.  We are anxious and nervous at the same time.  Overall it was a fun experience.  We didn't win the big prize but we didn't walk away empty handed.  Thanks to our energetic chief business development officer, Jack Avery, we won the elevator pitch portion of the competition.  We received a check for $1,500 and an autographed baseball of all the elevator pitch presenters.

Everyone involved in the competition also received a personalized Louisville Slugger bat.  The team that won the competition got funded, $300,000, by a couple of judges.  They showcased their business and got real investors. 

Next weekend we are headed down to Rice University in Houston for the regional Walmart Sustainability Business Plan Competition.  We got lots of good feedback in Louisville, so we'll being making some adjustments as we move forward.  I'll keep you posted on how we are doing. 

Snow, Snow, and More Snow

So this week has been interesting.  There's been lots of snow...  lots and lots of snow.  While I must admit I enjoy an occasional snow day, but this is ridiculous.  It's been a long time since the University has been closed for the better part of a week.  I feel like I'm living in Minnesota with all this snow, and the temperatures are quite frigid to say the least.

Aside from the weather, other items of interest are our upcoming travels.  cycleWood Solutions, LLC has been accepted to several competitions.  We'll be headed to Louisville in a couple weeks, followed by Houston, San Diego, and Manitoba.  These are exciting times for us.  We want to represent the University well.

Today was the annual business forecast luncheon.  It was very optimistic.  The economy is expected to grow more than last year, unemployment should decrease, and manufacturing is making a comeback (in Arkansas).  As a state, Arkansas is well below the national unemployment rate at just over 7%.  Arkansas is also one of only three states with a balanced budget, which means that we are poised to make greater economic gains during these difficult times.

I've also started my job search.  I guess I actually started last Fall some time, but I've put in a few applications the past couple weeks.  I've got some tough decisions to make in the coming months.  Everything will turn out just fine, I'll fill you in on the details later.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Last night our entrepreneurship team, cycleWood Solutions, won again.  We are 2-0 in competitions so far.  They are internal competitions, but we still won.  Last night we had the University Walmart Net Impact competition.  This competition is for teams that have a business plan around social responsibility or sustainability initiatives.  The winner gets to go to move on to the regional competition which is at Rice this year.  There was an unannounced prize last night as well.  The winner received $2500 to cover travel expenses.  This is very nice since cost is one of the factors that limits the number of competitions we can attend.  So we are headed down to Houston for the Walmart regional competition.  We've also been accepted to the Venture Challenge at San Diego State and the Cardinal Challenge at the University of Louisville.  Hopefully we can keep our winning streak going and provide positive exposure for the Walton College.  I'll keep you posted.

First Snow Day

Today was the first snow day of the year at the University of Arkansas.  They did wait til 9:30 to formally cancel classes.  The roads aren't too bad now, but this morning it looked a little dangerous.  We have another snow system coming early next week, so perhaps another snow day may be coming.

This was the first week of classes, so it's a good time to have a snow day since most professors are just going over syllabuses and course structures.  This semester we have a couple new professors for the incoming MBA class.  Molly Jensen is teaching the Business Analytics class and Steven Kopp is teaching Retail Marketing this semester.  This is their first semester teaching these courses, so take it easy on them.  Although I did hear that Steven Kopp is already assigning presentations.  We didn't have any presentations until three or four weeks into the semester.  It is good practice though.  These skills are required by many employers so practice. 

Get Ready

Orientation has come to a close. The incoming MBA class has an advantage over my class, they didn't have any full days canceled. This class is very energetic and fun for sure. Last night we had the MBA alumni panel last night at Hog Haus on Dickson. It was a good time. Afterward, we went over to Grubs for more food and fun. Below are a few pics from the evening.

The Spring semester is the most crowded semester.  We'll have two full-time MBA classes, MAcc students, and MMBA students all over the building.  It can be difficult to get a study room around midterms and finals.  From everything I've seen so far, we should all get along pretty well.  It should be a fun semester.