Vaniah's MBA Diaries

What happened next

2006-12-06T20:24:00.000Z

The journey continues and I'm on to the next destination... Sweden!

As promised, here's the link to my musings on my adventure:

Sweden

It's been a pleasure

2006-09-18T22:41:00.000+01:00

How can I adequately write this post? Last Friday we had our final dinner together as a class. This was the last time that we would all get together and eat a meal, drink some wine and enjoy one another's company before we scatter to the ends of the world. A joyous occasion - we have come through much together and succeeded where others have failed, and a sad occasion - from this point onward, nothing will ever be the same again.

I looked around at my table, populated mostly by classmates from my college and smiled as I remembered meeting some of them during week 0 of Michaelmas. They have become true friends and I hope that we manage to stay in touch through the busy times ahead.

I look around the room, there were some people who surprised me, others who changed before our eyes. Some with whom we had our moments, good and bad and others who, I'm sad to say, I never got to know.

It reminds me of a song by LeAnn Rimes which goes like this:

Sometimes the time comes along
When it's time
Time to move on
You'll still be there
In everything that I do
And wherever I go I'll remember you

Goodbyes
I'm not one for long goodbyes, so I'll make it quick. I hope you've enjoyed my blog, that it has informed and inspired you and if some day you'd like to look back and remember, it will be right here waiting.

As for me, it's been the most memorable year of my life, and one that I will remember forever. But for now, all that remains to be said is... Goodbye.

So you think it's all over...?

2006-09-14T08:58:00.000+01:00

Having completed our final exam last Thursday and had my sigh of relief that the MBA was all over, it was a bit of a shock to get a call on Friday afternoon with the news that we had received a viva for our final summer project. Now a viva normally means one of two things: 1) you are boarderline fail and they would like to give you a chance to defend yourself or 2) you are boarderline distinction and they'd like to make sure.

We were actually neither of these, they give out a prize for the best SCP and we were one of the teams shortlisted! Wow! Yikes! So it was back to the drawing board again pulling together a deck for our presentation and preparing for the many possible questions that they could ask.

We find out tonight who won the prize and even if we don't, it's a great experience that we can all put on our CV :)

On another note
It's nice to be able to surf the internet again. Here is a random article that I found that is almost worth a read :)

Update: We were robbed! No, not really, the Russians won the best SCP prize, and from the sound it it, they deserved it.

McFaddenplace Productions

2006-09-10T17:02:00.000+01:00

Unmissable. Check out a short video put together by Kelly, wife of one of my classmates, which beautifully commemorates our End of Course ceremony.

The Big day...

2006-09-10T09:18:00.000+01:00

...came and went in a bit of a blur. I guess that's what happens with things like this, everything builds up to a single day, and then before you know it, it's all over.

The morning dawned bright and sunny and beautiful. After brunch at the cafe in St. Margarets, we headed along to the Sheldonian for the ceremony. It was very nice to see everyone there with their parents, walking past the men with bowler hats guarding the gates and into the Universities ceremonial hall.

It was a lovely ceremony, the Chancellor of the University Lord Patten was in attendance and gave a lovely speach. He was outshone however by both of the MBA speakers - Rachel Wagner and Graeme Glover who between them managed to sing and mention Hugh Grant!

Then we were each called to the front and shook the hand of the Dean Prof Anthony Hopwood.

Beautiful. It would not have been a proper celebration without the odd bottle of champagne or four which were dutifully shaken up and opened. The ceremony was followed by a reception at the business school and then dinner and drinks afterward.

It's funny, it's (almost) all over and yet it hasn't sunk in yet... maybe over the next week or two it will become more real and then I'll know that it's time to move on, to move back to real life. *sigh*

Parents everywhere!

2006-09-09T08:19:00.000+01:00

We all love them. And appreciate them, and cringe inwardly at the 4th time they tell that embarrassing story from our childhood, but deep down, we are dead chuffed that they made the effort to come all the way here to witness our final, defining, SBS/Oxford moment. Of course, it is a wonderful opportunity to attend a real Oxford ceremony held in the Sheldonian with all the pomp and ceremony that few institutions can do better than Oxford.

So what do you do with 200 sets of parents who descend on Oxford the day before the End of Course ceremony? You take them to a beautiful old pub called the Trout Inn, in Godstow, near to the spot which was the inspiration for Lewis Carol's 'Alice in Wonderland', let them meet each other then sit back and enjoy the day.

Tim's parents, Marty's parents, my Dad

The weather has been beautiful and it gave us the perfect opportunity to show of the beautiful English countryside at it's best. The two mile walk from the Trout took us along the Isis which is the name for the Thames as it runs through Oxford and provided us with some superb shots.

Then up to my college to show my father my college home. The St. Hugh's gardens were in full bloom which made for a truely memorable time. I only wish that my mother could be here to see it as well...

Dinner was again with more parents and this time at the Head of the River, location of the famous Head of the River boat races and destination of the students after the Torpids and Summer 8's races.

We all had a lovely time.

The Blog
Who would have thought that these musings of mine would have generated so much talk! It's been wonderful to get such positive feedback about a project that was intended to record my MBA adventure to ensure that the experience was not lost in the mists of time. I can't tell you how much it means to me to know that it was widely read and enjoyed and even passed on to other friends and collegues.

The question I keep getting asked is "Will you continue?" and the answer is, I don't know. I have certainly enjoyed keeping the blog this past year and the MBA has provided me with a huge source for material. I can't imagine that the rest of my life will continue at this pace but you never know... I have tended to take life as it comes and try to make the most of every situation so we'll see. I won't sign off just yet though, there's still a bit more left, the ceremony today, the many dinners and celebrations, a viva on Wednesday...

The Final Countdown

2006-09-09T07:24:00.000+01:00

With red carnations abounding signifying the Final exam of our MBA, and a beautiful clear day to welcome us, we sat in a nearby coffee shop or stood outside the Examinations School waiting to cross our final hurdle.

Once seated in Sub Fusc in our rows, there was an anouncement of the three golden rules from Tomo, our Accounts professor in Michaelmas. These rules shall remain a secret for all MBA classes alone to hear.

Ironically, the Examiners are not without a human face. At the end of the exam, they anounced to us that despite the reputation of MBA classes in the past, we have been the most well behavied group ever, and then let us out of the school into the beautiful (and normally closed) side entrance to the Schools.

It is difficult to describe the feeling walking out of those doors. A mixture of relief that it was all over, sadness that it was all over and apprehension that it was all over. A rollercoaster of emotions that left you feeling just... well... in need for one more tradition. The Turf.

Our adventure is well and truely coming to an end. Next stop, the parents, the ceremony and the dinner(s).

Tomorrow...

2006-09-06T13:20:00.000+01:00

is our last exam and the final requirement of the MBA. Wow! I can't believe that it's almost over. I'm about to head to the Examinations School to collet the case that the exam will be based on and pick up my red carnation to wear for the end. That's it.

Wow.

Do Not Disturb

2006-08-30T12:19:00.000+01:00

Ok, so I'm now back in Oxford and back to the grind - for the last time on this course I hope. We're doing our writeup of our Summer Consulting Project which is due on Friday so it's heads down and hands chained to the keyboard. :(

I'll come up for air on Friday then it's party time!!

A week in pictures

2006-08-28T22:52:00.000+01:00

plus some others that I didn't get a chance to upload before...

Mall, California style...

You never know what you will find around the corner

Salsa fiesta

Look who we met!

Groovy baby

Take three MBA's...

Watch out!!

Serious Business

King of the Barrel

Relaxing after a hard day...

The way home

Playing with the band

2006-08-19T21:07:00.000+01:00

No I haven't decided to abandon the world of business and start a new life as a rocker! Though it would be fun :) No, last night I went to hear a gig by Great Teacher, some friends of my flatmate who have a band. It was in a laundromat slash cafe slash bar called Brainwash. A bit random, but pretty cool. The band was awesome, and the number that I sang with them caused quite a ruckus in the cafe! (only kidding). Here's me and the band...

A week too early

2006-08-17T07:30:00.000+01:00

It appears that I was a week too early in my complaint about the lack of promised free wireless internet at the Mountain View Caltrain station. Google has today launched its free service to the public.

Guess what I'll be checking out tomorrow...

The halfway point...

2006-08-15T07:43:00.000+01:00

... of my SCP came and went without any fanfare, or even a whimper. I can't believe that we've got less than two weeks to finish our research, make our recommendations, do lots of presentations then fly back to Oxford to do our writeup and hand it in. Phew! The time has flown by!

Celebrations
I have had news that I've passed all my Trinity exams, yeah! I only have my SCP to hand in and a final exam to pass and it will be all over, I will have completed my Oxford MBA. Living proof that there is a God :)

I shall miss it all!

Picture Search?

2006-08-09T07:04:00.000+01:00

I found an interesting little company which allows you to search the web for pictures. I put my name in the search box and guess what? It returned pictures of me! Go on, see if you're on the internet...

Perhaps pictures are the way forward? or is it specialised search?

Free wireless?

2006-08-08T18:40:00.000+01:00

So, after all the hype from Google about the free wireless internet access that they are going to provide to the citizens of Mountain View, I'm here, sitting in the Mountain View Caltrain station and... nothing. My Yahoo! laptop is equiped with state-of-the-art wireless network communication devices and although it picks up a number of wireless networks in the area, they are all secured, i.e. ordinary plebs cannot use them without an access key.

So much for the first step towards the world of ubiquitous computing! Or is it? How many of you have a laptop that connects to the internet? - all I imagine. How about a phone that can access the web? - quite a few. Next, what about surfing the net through your TV? - maybe not all but I bet everyone could imagine it. Now wouldn't it be nice if your laptop spoke to your TV and your phone and PDA were automatically kept in sync with each other? What if you had one address book that you kept regardless of device that was always in sync? Bliss! Welcome to the world of persistent or ubiquitous computing where all your devices are connected to each other in a seemless way in a giant, global network that isn't controlled by anyone.

Interesting? It could be the future...

Week two

2006-08-05T19:46:00.000+01:00

Well, my second week in sunny California started with a trip to the annual Yahoo! summer picnic held this year at Blackberry Farm. It was fun, the food was good, the weather was fantastic, however the abundance of kids did make you feel that the focus was on them and not you.

Home sweet home
My next adventure was to move to my new home in Menlo Park where I'll be spending the rest of my time here. It's a lovely 3 bedroom house shared with two fabulous girls, one of whom immediately invited me out for dinner with some of her friends.

We are planning a house meal next wednesday, they both love to cook - I'm so lucky! I've offered to contribute a nice bottle of wine and my prowess at packing the dishwasher :)

Giants
So, in appreciation of the hard work that the interns in the group I'm working with have done (all of one week for me), we were invited to be entertained in the "Diamond Suite" at the home stadium of the San Francisco Giants. Not having any prior knowledge of baseball apart from playing it a few times in high school, I said sure.

We were fortunate to have the best seats in the house, well according to Dan, the guy in the picture who was kindly explaining the game to me. Yahoo! must like us :)

Work, work and more work
There was plenty of that going on, mostly in meeting rooms named after Vegas nightclubs and some of it was in our cubes, where we're identified by our Yahoo! star.

Swag
The week ended with an Intern product fair where representatives from all the different 'properties' within Yahoo! came to demo their stuff, give the interns freebies and try to nab them for jobs. I've now got a Yahoo! baseball cap, laptop light, deck of cards, swiss army knife, keyrings, sports bottle plus numerous t-shirts, pens and stickers and a copy of "Bridget Jones' Diary" (why?). It will be hard to forget my time here.

Week one

2006-07-31T07:27:00.000+01:00

Where has the time gone?

I guess that part of my reluctance to blog over the last week has been a niggling doubt about what I can and cannot write about my time at the large internet company with two O's in it's name. There are official blogging guidelines here which I have yet to read so I won't say more than I'm having a great time there (which I am).

The Churchill Club
So, on Tuesday, David and I went along to a panel discussion put on by the Churchill Club at the Palo Alto Hills golf club where we heard top Hollywood execs speak on "The Future of Movies". I was particularly impressed with Bob Lambert from Disney of all places - it sounds as if Disney was the only company represented that had their act together and has been thinking about the future direction of content providers. In all, an interesting evening, David definately enjoyed the ambiance of the club :)

Team LIC WTOIIN
To prove that we are actually doing some work, here is a picture of the team with our sponser, Joshua.

And to prove that it isn't really that bad, here's a photo taken later on that day!

There is a prize for the first person to decipher this subtitle of this section...

Other Interns
There are several other students from various Universities and stages in their education but that doesn't prevent us from hanging out. Here's a shot of us at The Cheescake Factory for dinner last night.

A real live sighting

2006-07-24T03:20:00.000+01:00

Things to do in the City of Angels

go start spotting... check

Ok, so I wasn't exactly in LA when I saw Anthony Stewart Head otherwise known as the librarian, Giles, in the cult hit Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was actually in the queue to get on to an airplane bound for LA that I made the sighting. He was about half a dozen people in front of me until I lost sight of him when he was whisked off, presumably into the first class carriage.

California
I have made it here. And what is the first thing that I do upon arriving at my hotel at 03:00 in the morning (my time, it's actually 18:00 here)? Have a shower? Go to sleep? Get annoyed by the fact that I arrived in San Jose airport and my luggage didn't? No, check out the free internet access and update my blog. I am a sad bunny!

I've discovered what I've left behind though. It's the most useful gadget that I've ever owned. It's a USB memory stick with a slot for an SD card on the other. It makes loading pictures from my camera to my laptop a doddle. And pictures are what make this blog interesting so I'd better find a replacement pdq!

Musings
Have you ever noticed that the internet now knows where in the world you are when you connect? I just did a quick search on SD card readers and everything that came back was located in the US. If I'd done the same search 12 hours earlier, most of the hits would have been in the UK. Are the machines getting more clever?

I really should get some sleep...

T-2 and counting

2006-07-21T20:04:00.000+01:00

Today is Friday and I leave for California on Sunday so only two days to go. All of you who know me will be able to imagine how hard this last week has been for me, knowing that my entire team is in California getting to know the folk at Yahoo! and enjoying the California lifestyle and I've been stuck here in Oxford hanging out and trying to do what work I can in the meantime. It's been tough but the end is now in sight. Yippee!

I can't wait. The report back so far is that the guys are having a great time and they all say that I will *love* being at Yahoo! I've also sorted out a place to stay for the month on August in Menlo Park (thanks Jess) which is supposed to be lovely so everything is all set.

It hasn't been all bad though, I'm managed to catch up with some friends and enjoy a bit of the beautiful British summer. Oxford certainly does English summer in style!

Now all that is left is for me pack my stuff tomorrow and buying some knick-knacks to take with me to the US of A! Hurrah!

Hanging out

2006-07-12T10:04:00.000+01:00

It's so nice to have a little time. Last night I went to dinner with a friend and on the way home, bumped into some fellow classmates who are in Oxford for the summer. We went to the Worcester college bar and hung out and played scrabble. I came third :)

Summer is lovely!

Twiddling my thumbs

2006-07-11T00:01:00.000+01:00

So, three terms of my MBA are done, I've had a great break and now it's time to get stuck into my summer consulting project. Except that I can't. Really. Our visa's to the US came through a bit late so it will be another week before we can head to Califormia and get started properly.

I don't think that I really realised how much I've managed to get done until suddenly you have nothing to do. It's such a weird feeling, I mean, it's nice to have a whole weekend to do whatever I want to do but now it's Monday evening and I'm itching for work!

So. If you're an SBS admit or thinking about doing an MBA in the next year or so and have some questions, ask away, I'd love to help out!

My brother visits
My brother came to visit me this weekend and we had a great, relaxing time just sitting by the water and watching the boats go by. Oxford is lovely in the summer :)

Stockholm in Summer

2006-07-05T23:43:00.000+01:00

After a very hectic end of Trinity, I just needed to take a break Stockholm was just the place to go. The weather remained a gorgeous 23° with clear blue skies and a gentle breeze in the air. A city of several islands surrounded by sea and a midnight sun makes summer in Stockholm just awesome!

Sorry that I haven't posted for a few days, I've been having too much of a great time. Here's a taste of what Johan and I got up to...

The Vasa museum - sometimes you've just got to love the crazy Swedes! The Vasa was a warship built in the time of King Gustavus Adolphus and made her maiden voyage in August 1628 - she managed to sail for about 100m and then sank... here's a write-up in English on the raising of the Vasa. 333 years later, she was raised and restored to her place of pride in the museum of her name.

We spent a couple days in Nynäshamn, Johan's home town, which was a beautiful little fishing town. It reminded me of lazy summer days, going barefoot, shooting the breeze with friends...

barbeques, hammocks, daredevil pranks, boatrides, picnics in the park... Sweden is a beautiful country. I think I totally forgot all about Oxford, the MBA, Yahoo!, my next job, everything while I was there. I wish I didn't have to come home...

Summer's coming

2006-06-28T17:11:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow is my last exam for Trinity though sadly, not my last MBA exam. This means that I still need to be wearing my pink carnation and have to wait until our September Final before I can wear the red.

SCP Blog
Our class has started a blog to record our summer adventures. We are all doing a project with a company in teams of four during the summer and some of us will be going to exotic places like Slough, India and Paris. Others will be staying in Oxford, enjoying the British summer, punting, drinking Pimms, playing croquet...

Bookmark our SCP News 2006 site to keep up-to-date.

Yahoo! SCP
You will probably have noticed a marked lack of posts about our SCP, that's because I'm trying not to be negative about the whole thing which has turned out to be much more trouble than initially expected. From LOA to Visa issues and everything in between, if there could be a hitch, there was. As it stands, it is unlikely that I will be able to go to California before the beginning of August and I would almost prefer to do a 15 month MBA than continue down this track. Watch this space to find out what happens!

Stockholm
With SCP woes, exam pressures and more 5000 word assignments than you can shake a stick at, I desperately need a break. The plan, should it come off, is to leave my Strategy Implementation exam tomorrow, cross the road and catch the bus to the airport. From there I plan to fly out to Stockholm on the 19:05 plane and spend a week relaxing, playing tennis, watching England beat whoever they're playing in the football and catching up with my friend Johan. Can't wait!

Oriel Commemoration Ball

2006-06-24T15:06:00.000+01:00

Every year, four or five of the colleges traditionally put on a white tie ball in 9th week of Trinity. These are very big events and generally an elaborate night to remember. This year, the MBA en masse decided that the Oriel Ball was the one to go to. Oriel College is a beautiful old college which was officially founded in 1326 by King Edward II. Of note, Oriel College was home to scholars such as John Keble, Sir Walter Raleigh, Cecil Rhodes and Samuel Wilberforce.

But, last night, it became transformed into Rome, New York and Delhi. Here is an insight into the night...

We started with dinner at Malmaison.

which used to be an old prison...

Then on to the ball

which rocked

Grace and I got busted

A few of us made it to the survivor photo

which was around breakfast time

then walked home

It was a really good night :)

Update: Here is a link to the Official Survivors photo site

St. Hugh's BBQ

2006-06-21T14:26:00.000+01:00

I've been underground for the last week - I had one assignment worth 35% of my grade due on Friday, two worth 50% and 70% due on Monday and one worth 50% of my grade due on Tuesday. Phew. I am now proof that it is possible to only sleep a handful of hours each night for extended periods of time. And that you can get through more work than you thought possible! I think I'll wait a week before reading through what I submitted... or maybe I'll just wait for my grade - yikes!

BBQ
We've had some great experiences over the year visiting friends colleges and eating meals in their beautiful dining halls so a bunch of MBA's at St. Hugh's decided to return the favour. We rented the BBQ outside the MCR, got loads of food delivered and invited 100 or so of our closest friends.

It's funny how things change, yet some things remain the same. Here's a photo that I took at the BBQ yesterday...

Here's one that I took at the MCR BBQ in week 0 of Michaelmas...

I'd like to say that we look older and wiser, but nah, I don't think so. What it does say is that we've made some good friends over the year and I hope that we will manage to stay in touch once this madness is over.

It was a lovely evening...

Exam stress

2006-06-18T12:23:00.000+01:00

Here's a little insight into what exams will do to an MBA student...

Of course, Mike had to return the favour...

See Mike warming up followed by Mike leaping.

Filmed in the SBS library. Please do not try this in your own library.

Disclaimer: No library books or MBA students were harmed in the filming of this clip.

Last lecture

2006-06-17T11:12:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I had the last lecture of my MBA. It kinda snuck up on me and caught me by surprise. Trinity has gone by so quickly that it seems like it just started and now it's ending.

It's been a nice term, there's a bit of pressure on right now to get a stack of assignments done but by and large, it's been a blast.

The Drum Cafe
One of our classmates from South Africa, had an idea. He wanted us to finish the term on a high note and so, off his own back, arranged for the guys from the Drum Cafe to come in, set up in the amphitheatre, and lead us all through some good old, African style, drumming.

The best bit was right at the end when we drummed up to a crescendo and then everyone started to shout and then we all stopped and yelled "Yeah". What a great stress relief. We will be talking about it for years.

For a fuller experience, watch the video here.

Picture Day

2006-06-15T13:50:00.000+01:00

Today we were immortalised as a class in our official photographs. I've told my classmates who are standing around me that they have a responsibility to become great in life. And if not great, then infamous :)

Watch out for these guys!

Sylvester's, punting and more assignments than you can shake a stick at...

2006-06-13T19:26:00.000+01:00

Sylvester Awards
After six weeks of preparations and one day of intense practicing, the SBS Annual Sylvester Awards went off without a hitch. Well, with one or two small hitches but none to speak of...

It was a beautifully warm evening and everyone was in good spirits. To name a few, Bonnie won the "Sunshine" award, Marty won the "Girl you would most like to take home with you", Koen the "Catwalk" award and Nikesh won the "Helicopter" award.

As one of the main organisers of the event, I learnt a thing or two about leading. It's a simple thing but we divided the volunteers into groups and gave them broad guidelines of how we wanted the event to run, a task, autonomy to figure out how they were going to approach it and empowered them to make decisions and spend money. The result, great ideas, full participation and a painless, fun filled event.

Punting
My friend Johan came to stay for a couple of days so I decided to take Monday off and show him the sights of Oxford.

We did all the quintesential Oxford things, went cycling, toured Hogwarts, had a pint in the Turf, went punting, looked around my college... it was a beautiful day and loads of fun.

More assignments...
Well, it's the last week of classes on my MBA - for ever! And all of my lecturers have conspired to ensure that my last few weeks here are my busiest yet. I have an assignment due tomorrow (35%), two on Monday (70% & 50%) and one on Tuesday (50%). After that, I still have three more left to complete before the end of week 10.

And I still need to find a job.

Fun stuff!

One of those days

2006-06-09T00:15:00.000+01:00

This morning Kirstin, Matt and I boarded the train bound for London. We got there fairly early and frolicked around in Green Park for an hour before heading to our destination - The headquarters of The Economist.

There we were the guinea pigs in a facilited lunchtime discussion with the Board on the online habits of upcoming leaders of tomorrow (my words, not theirs). Interesting. A few key points came out:

Today's users of the internet are active not passive, this means that they want to be in control, not to sit back and let the news be served to them.
It became very clear that we were much more online than anyone else in the room
Ease of use is a very important feature
We are willing to pay to view, but it must be very easy to use and cheap!

What was it like? A bit surreal. I recognised many of the people there, but unfortunately we didn't get the chance to network with them. Still, it was an awesome experience.

Alan Rusbridger
In the evening, the Editor of the Guardian spoke at the Business School a bit tongue in cheek on the topic "Is it all over for bloggers?". A topic which is obviously on interest to me. I found him a very realistic, likeable man with a good sense of humour.

He started by looking at the question, is it all over for newspapers? and in answering it, had two points.
1. There are commercial issues that face traditional newspapers

citing the example of Craigslist, he pointed out that much of the small advertising revenue that used to go to newspaper has now been eroded
in real monetary terms, paid for subscriptions are declining
internet ads have now overtaken print ads

2. There are editorial implications

Younger readers don't want to be passive receivers of news - what we were saying in the morning session
trust is given to people that users know and like

He drew a parallel between the traditional news media and the new media in three areas, expert vs experiential reporting; occasions where the public know more than the journalist e.g. travel guides; and commentary.

This led to his reservations about blogging such as:

Quality of the comments
problems of being anonymous - people are more aggressive, sources cannot be reliably checked/trusted
time issues for readers

He ended by saying that he thought that there was a future for newspapers but it will probably be in a different form from the existing one. I hope that a newspaper like the Guardian makes the cut.

It's (not) the End of the World as we know it...

2006-06-06T09:33:00.000+01:00

Or so the makers of the movie "The Omen" would have us believe. Today's date is one of those unique occurrences when the number of the day, month and year are all the same - whether you are in Europe or America, the date is 060606. And if you take out the 0's, you get the number of man three times - 666. Oooh, spooky.

But why? The Bible associates the number 666 with only three men:

Adonikam: who was a noble sent from Babylon to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple - not very scary at all
Solomon: the wisest man in the world. He brought peace and prosperity to the kingdom of Israel during his reign
The beast: Rev 13:18 reads "This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast (also called the Antichrist), for it is man's number. His number is 666". If you read the rest of the chapter then you get very confused.

Nostradamus also made predictions about three antichrist's:

Napoleon
Hitler
and another to be revealed, supposedly from the middle East (not America) who should be making his appearance... oops! in 1999!

You know what? My philosophies about all this is that when your time is up, your time is up. I am not going to die one minute before or after my time. No sense worrying about it.

So, what do I say? In the immortal words of REM: ♪ ...I feel fine ♫

Go Fug Yourself

2006-06-05T13:16:00.000+01:00

I really, really, really had to pass on the link to these hit the nail on the head commentators of modern fashion. Go on, click!

Want a room?

2006-06-02T12:18:00.000+01:00

I'm in the unique position where, come July, I will be responsible for not one but two residencies - One in London and one in Oxford! The real problem is that I plan to be in California for the summer so I don't need either room. Hmmm...

So, if you know of someone who is looking for a place to stay from next month, let me know.

London

Male/female wanted to occupy a double bedroom in a modern, fully furnished, fabulous, two bedroom flat • Flat is located in Zone 1, on Kennington road, near to Lambeth North and Kennington tube stations and a short walk from the South Bank • There is a bus that takes you directly to the City and the tube that will take you to the West End • The Imperial War Museum and Kennington Park are very close by and there is a pub called the “Doghouse” that is a great place to hang out at anytime • Flatmate is lovely guy whom I have shared with for many years and about whom I will give a glowing recommendation • Rent is £600 pcm excl and the room will be available mid-July (possibly negotiable) • Happy to consider if you would like the room for longer.

Oxford

Male/female wanted to occupy a single bedroom in a modern, fully furnished, fabulous, four bedroom house • House is located within spitting distance from the Business School and just by some of Oxford’s beautiful canals • There is a pub nearby called the “Honeypot” that is a great place to hang out at anytime • Housemates are all fabulous MBA’s (Johannah, Tim and Scott) who I have shared with for the last year and about whom I will give a glowing recommendation • Rent is £350 pcm excl and the room will be available from the beginning of July for 8 weeks

The Games in pictures

2006-05-28T15:19:00.000+01:00

Follow me on a trip through the MBA Olympics at HEC, just outside of Paris.

Click on the photo to see more pictures

Now, bed.

Go Team

2006-05-27T13:43:00.000+01:00

A plug for the MBA classes to come. Go to the MBA Tournament (MBAT)! It's a great opportunity to take a few days out of our busy schedule and play sport with other MBA students from top Universities throughout Europe.

Forget what they say about MBAT being an opportunity to meet and network with other MBA students - primitive, tribal feelings surface very quickly and it becomes an opportunity to really bond with your classmates and do battle with LBS!

Here are a few tips for any of next year's class:

Foosball is what they call babyfootat HEC
Eat a big lunch, dinner is very late and sometime a little complicated
We are closer in culture to Cambridge than any other team
Many of the other teams take the games very seriously and turn up fully decked out in sponsered outfits for each sport
LBS in particular takes it very very seriously!
Make a real effort for the salsa competition, Oxford now has a rep to protect.
Even if don't do well, if we beat Cambridge then we're happy
HEC has free wireless internet access on their campus
Invite HEC to the Media Summit and treat them very well, they determine which hotel we stay in...
Do all your assignments before you get here, it's a killer if you are trying to work while here.

Many, many pictures to come, watch this space.

Off to MBAT...

2006-05-24T21:17:00.000+01:00

... see you at the games in Paris!

53,651...

2006-05-23T23:25:00.000+01:00

...is the number of geeks who subscribe to Techcrunch, a Silicon Valley techie site. According to a non-Valley VC, too many startups are targeting the same 53,651 people rather than looking at the mainstream users around the world.

I ♥ BBC

2006-05-23T21:11:00.000+01:00

What a great company!

I think that my love affair with the BBC began when I first moved to the UK and discovered that there were not one, but two television channels with no ads on them. And the programming was pretty good, if sometimes inexplicable to a non-British person too.

It continued when earlier this year Richard Sambrook gave an inspiring talk on the future of media at the Oxford Media Conference January of this year.

Today in my Media class, we had a visitor from the BBC who spoke with us about the current debate going on about the future of the BBC. Every 10 years they have to go through a public consulting period in order to get their Charter renewed. The charter allows them to collect licence fees from the public which is then used to develop programming as a public service. Their plans are laid out in “Building Public Value” (warning it's 136 pages long).

A quote:

“The BBC, however, believes that the potential – and the need – for public value in broadcasting has never been greater. Creating a fully digital Britain is a public challenge which the BBC must help to lead.”

What I find interesting about this particular public broadcasting service is that it is funded by the people through but not by the government. It exists to serve the public, yet in order to do so, it must remain independent and impartial in order to critique whatever political party is in power. It must be representative of the population, whatever it currently is and in so doing gives visibility and voice to minorities which would not normally have been heard. It is the ultimate social organisation however it exists in an increasingly market led environment.

Nice.

Exeter College

2006-05-22T09:41:00.000+01:00

So, yesterday I took some time off from my Business in China report to visit Exeter Chapel for Evensong with some friends from the course. It was a beautiful chapel and the choir sang like angels. I can't belive that I've only got a few more weeks to enjoy the benefits of coming of Oxford. You can't go back in time, and I certainly have had a great time here, but it does feel like there is still loads to be done.

Afterwards, we went for a walk in the Exeter grounds which is ajacent to the Bodleian library and overlooks the Radcliffe Camera and reminisced about the last year. Exeter also has one of the most beautiful dining rooms and they are very generous with their meals as we discovered at dinner a little later.

A lovely evening. And we still managed to get the assignment in on time :-)

Mela

2006-05-20T13:26:00.000+01:00

Last night we celebrated a night of Indian culture and experiences at the business school. This has become an annual event and is one of the big student led events along with the Chinese New Year and the upcoming Sylvester Awards.

It is an opportunity to demystify the Indian culture, learn a bit about modern India as well as allows us all to dress up in beautiful outfits and eat yummy food. Some have more fun than others...

Afterwards, sitting in the common room with some friends and looking out on the sea of faces all chatting and swigging on the free Cobra beer, it struck me again how fortunate I was right now to be surrounded by the world. My class is a live demonstration of how people from all over the world can live and work together and achieve great things.

I was chatting a guy I met the other day at one of the recent media events who has come along to a few more events since and he said that he can literally feel the energy in the air at the business school. We've created an atmosphere where people value the diversity around us and have found ways to work with each other and produce superior results. It sounds a little happy-clappy but it does mean that when we leave this place, we have the confidence that regardless of race and culture, we can find a way to work together. A valuable insight.

Sit beside me
I'm at N18 R26 C44

India Night Preparations

2006-05-18T00:19:00.000+01:00

Despite not having a drop of Indian blood in me (that I know of), I have somehow found myself as one of the models in the India night celebrations taking place at the Business School on Friday night.

I shall be wearing a brilliant blue shalwar with gold trim and a lot of jewelery (not shown in the picture). I have to walk on stage, do a twirl, smile and walk off, all to some modern Indian music. Should be a fun evening :)

2nd Media Summit

2006-05-16T11:56:00.000+01:00

Yesderday, Saïd hosted it's second annual International Media & Communications Summit and MBA students from all around the world congregated to watch a film, hear speakers and participate in master classes.

The keynote speaker in the morning was George Osborne, Conservative MP and Shadow Chancellor. Among other things, he spoke about the conflicts involved in the protection of IP on the internet and the need to have a light touch with respect to regulation.

The day continued and we broke up into with Masterclasses. I went to two:

Buddy Ye, founder of WangYou media which is a Chinese media and entertainment company.
Junghoon Kim, Professor at Keio University, Japan

Both were facinating, and brought sharply into focus the fact that so much in the internet and new media space is happening in East Asia that we in the West don't have any idea about. In particular, it was interesting to learn that in Japan, the entire city has access to fiber optic broadband internet with speads of up to 100mbps. This infrastructure provides the foundation for new media innovation in that country.

It was also sobering to discover that the same problem of finding the Business Model which allows money to be made from the internet has also been eluding our Eastern compatriots.

MBA Students
The best bit however, was meeting students from other top European business schools and just hanging out.

After a dinner in the beautiful Exeter dining hall we all retired to The Turf where we enjoyed a pint and a chat. Many of them will be along to the MBA Olympics (MBAT) at HEC next week so it was good to meet up and get to know them beforehand.

More later.

Watch out California!

2006-05-13T11:03:00.000+01:00

Yahoo! SCP
As the penultimate segment of our course, we all get into groups of four for our summer consulting project (SCP) at a company. It's a fairly competitive process however yesterday we (Vencat, Debanjan, David and I) discovered that of the three teams who submitted a brief, we were selected for the Yahoo! SCP. I'm so excited! I look at my last post and then this opportunity materialises which is exactly what I wanted to do, going to California is just an added bonus.

As well as doing a fabulous job at Yahoo! David and I plan to hit the bar-b-que circuit in the Bay area. So if you're having a party in July and August, drop us a line, we'd love to meet up.

So psyched!

Results
To top it all off, we got our results from last term and I'm happy to report good news on all fronts again. Phew! Now to concentrate on my Trinity subjects.

My path

2006-05-09T23:28:00.000+01:00

I've been doing some thinking over the last couple of days about the future and what I'd like to do. On Wednesday, Alan Giles, CEO of HMV spoke to us in our "Media Strategy, Management and Regulations" class - a very good lecture I thought. Then on Thursday, Thomas Hesse, head of Sony BMG spoke with us. Yesterday we had the Oxford & Cambridge recruitment fair and this weekend is the Media Conference at the Business School.

You know what I really want to do?

The internet is a fascinating evolution of technology and communication which has exploded in front of our eyes. Ok, so I may have been one of the first people in Jamaica on the internet 14 years ago but for many people, and particularly companies it's still a fairly new, scary thing.

I want to help a company or companies to embrace and gain a competitive advantage through incorporating insights gained from the internet. The rise of blogs, the shift of the habits of many people to search for information online, the convergence of communications technology and the imminent (and painful and soon to be more so) realignment of the role of content providers is creating tremendous opportunities for companies which many are not seeing.

I want to help. And catapult the firms into the new stratosphere while doing so. Now to find the right company or consultancy, and convince them that this is a valuable thing to do and that I'm the right person to do it with them. Hmmm... easier said than done!

Next Thursday, the Science and Technology OBN has arranged a "Geeks and Grapes" evening where Oxford internet techies mix with business school entrepreneurs and we'll see what happens.

A wee goal

2006-05-09T10:44:00.000+01:00

** WARNING: This post may gross you out a bit **

Now that football season has started again (I know this because my male friends have told me, not because I have any interest in football), it's also the time for the entrepreneural juices to start flowing.

A friend of mine from the business school has started a company which is selling, wait for it, a urinal entertainment system called Wee Goal. I think you can imagine the purpose of the game, if not, then have a look at the website and maybe buy one or two.

Happy Birthday Saïd

2006-05-07T10:08:00.000+01:00

This year, the Saïd Business School celebrates its 10th anniversary. Yep, that's right, the school is only 10 years old but how it has grown. Here are some intersting facts that you probably didn't know.

Students in the first year had classes in the Radcliffe Infirmary, students passed patients in the hallway on their way to learn about business.
The site on which the current business school was built used to be the home of the Oxford Rewley Road railway station. This station was taken down gently and transported to the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre where model railway enthuasts can enjoy the architecture of this old building
The mound in the garden of the business school is the visible part of an archieogical of the ancient abbey, Rewley Abbey where Cistercian monks once studied back in the 13th century. The business school is not allowed to build there so instead we have a beautifully landscaped garden where we can play croquet in the summer. Lovely.

Last night, I attended the reunion dinner as a representative of the current class. It was a little weird to be dressed in a posh frock and have a three course dinner at tables in the Common Room which had been the location of the roudy South America night at Happy Hour the night before. But it was great to meet some of the students from the class of 1996 and hear their stories and to speculate with some of the others from my class, what we will be like when we come back for our 10 year anniversary.

Well done SBS, I hope that your next 10 years are a successful as your last ones.

The Oxford Moment

2006-05-04T23:56:00.000+01:00

On a completely different train of thought, I have been published! Early on in Hilary, I recieved a mass e-mail inviting any Oxford student to submit photos which represent their Oxford experience to be made into a book and the proceeds given to a number of Charities. So I did. And it got selected to go into the book!

No, it's not this photo, this is just a teaser. The book, Our Oxford, may be pre-ordered on the site and will contain a photo of my friend Kate at our St. Hugh's matriculation. The photo is imaginately titled "Matriculation photo", hmmm...

Capture the Oxford Moment is a book of photographs of Oxford University life and Oxford University traditions - photographs taken exclusively by students. No other book featuring Oxford has ever been composed solely of photographs taken by students.

All profits from sales of the book will go directly to five Oxford charities with a small portion sent back into a printing fund for further copies:

Exeter College Vacation Project - taking underprivileged kids on country holiday
The Gatehouse - a drop-in shelter
Jacari - English tutoring for immigrant children
Oxford Adaptive Rowing Club - rowing for people with disabilities
Emilie's Charities - support for children's programmes in developing countries

All good causes in my opinion, so a good reason to get it, otherwise, at least one of the photos in the book is fantastic and worth the expense!

Skype me

2006-05-04T23:21:00.000+01:00

Ok, so I know that this isn't particularly recent news but after listening to Saul Klein, the Marketing Directory at Skype speak tonight, I went home and thought about how this technology has really changed my life.

Coming from Jamaica, and having parents who still live there, I used to speak with them on the phone once a month, and my phone bill for that call alone used to be around £30. Jamaica isn't exactly the centre of the world so the per minute cost is quite high. But you have to stay in touch with family, so I paid up.

Now, my parents have installed Skype on their computer and I have gone from speaking with them once a month to two or three times a week. It really means a lot to me to be able to talk with them whenever I want without worrying about the price.

From his talk today, Skype have come a long way and they have some very interesting plans for the future. It is a company which is operating in exactly the space that I'm interested in. I think I'll apply.

Entrepreneurs everywhere

2006-05-03T20:03:00.000+01:00

Every once in a while at this business school, you really get a feel for what they mean when they say that the MBA program has an entrepreneural focus. Take today for example:

Hiring and being hired in a startup
This lunchtime, I went to a talk by Rod Cook, a local HR consultant who works for a number of small startup companies as their HR department. He spoke with us about the importance of getting a good team together when you start a new company. He also reinforced what we have been hearing which is, the most frequent way that one gets hired by a startup is through networking.

So you're a startup, what now?
In my Entrepreneurship and Technology Ventures class this afternoon, we had a guest speaker in, Hakker Overli (right) of Active Health Partners, came in to give us a view into starting up and growing a successful business in the UK.

What happens when you make it big?
As if that wasn't enough, in the evening I attended a lecture by Thor Bjorgolfsson, the Icelandic billionare who is not yet 40. What an amazing man. The key to his success is to "spot the trends", "take a risk" and "surround yourself with hard headed people, like yourself".

I asked him "what was your biggest failure and what did you learn from it" and he was stumped. I'm not sure that failure is even in his dictonary :) He said that he has little failures every day but he tries to learn from everything that happens and take it to the next endeavour. You know what, I believed him. I think that when something goes wrong, like the Summer of 98 in Russia and the Equity that he had sorted from the bank fell through when the Russian Government had their crisis, he didn't see a failure, just a small setback and an opportunity.

I'd like to work for him.

It could be you next
I look around at my classmates, some of whom have already started companies, others who will go on to do so, and still others who will join those companies and make them big. This year out is a break, a reprise from the work which distracts and an opportunity to focus and think about the rest of our life. Who will be the next Thor Bjorngolfsson? It could be any one of us.

Carbon footprint

2006-05-02T21:30:00.000+01:00

With Oil and Energy being *hot topics* in business and at the Business School, it is interesting to get a view of what your personal "carbon footprint" looks like.

BP have got a nifty little tool which gives you a quick snapshot of where you are. Check yourself using their "Carbon footprint calculator".

My Avatar

2006-05-02T00:57:00.000+01:00

See what I look like in Cyperspace...

Get your own here from Yahoo!

The cycle of life

2006-05-01T23:48:00.000+01:00

So, I've taken a little break from writing my blog. Not for any particular reason, I'm not too busy, interesting stuff has been happening and I have a few half written pieces, I just haven't posted any of them. Perhaps it is because I think that I finally realise that I have an audience in my blog. You are reading this. Why?

I've been very honest in my posts in the past and it occurs to me that perhaps it is wise to be careful about what I post. So I started to think about it, maybe a little too much, and my writing began to turn from the spontaneous outpouring of my thoughts and feelings, to this structured piece of literature which lost some of its essence.

Sack it.

C. A. R.
It all started last Tuesday when I went to hear the former prime minister of the Central African Republic speak at the Oxford University Strategic Studies Society meeting. I have made the concious decision to go along to more non-business school events happening at the University this term and I hope that this was the first of many. HE Martin Ziguele was a well spoken, well educated African man who spoke about the percieved injusticies which have taken place around the democratic process in his country and the lack of media attention that the country has had from the rest of the world.

"No one even knows who we are"

he says, as he calls for greater international involvement and help for a country which is slipping further and further into chaos and ruin.

Chatham House Rule
We then had a lively discussion about the country and the international response under the Chatham House Rule. I wasn't quite sure exactly what it meant however when I looked it up, it really made me think... it states:

"When a meeting, or part thereof, is held under the Chatham House Rule, participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed"

Interesting, you could look at the pros and cons of such a rule - it provides information for the "haves" and enables them to succeed in ways that is not accessible to others or it is a useful tool which encourages the free debate of an idea without the fear of it coming back to bite you at a later date.

Week 1
is over, and I still cannot believe that I am in my final term of classes here. We keep speaking about it, commenting that we've only just started, how can it be that it will soon be over? I won't be the only person who will be sad to part ways with such a great bunch of incredible people. One thing is sure, when we leave this place, everyone on the course will go on to great things.

May Day
I completely missed this great Oxford tradition. I heard it was pretty cool though. Hey ho.

Spring

2006-04-25T14:37:00.000+01:00

It's that time of year again when I start to hate the weather in this country. Don't get me wrong, I like Autumn, Winter and Summer, it's just Spring that doesn't take my fancy.

The reason is simple. How do you dress in the Spring? You wake up to beautiful sunshine so decide to wear a skirt and take a light jacket with you. At midday, it's snowing and when it's time to go home, you have to swim through the pouring rain. Grr...

There are good things about Spring though. Well, when I say things I mean thing. I love daffodils! They're the most improbable flower ever and I won't forget the first time that I saw one poking out of the ground of my high school. I'd seen the pictures, but couldn't quite believe they were true until I saw them in real life. Nice.

And daylight. After growing up in a country where the sun sets at the same time all year around (ok, there is about a half hour deviation) it's nice to have the sun set later and later during the spring. Gives you more time in the day and a spring (sic) in your step.

OxPEN 2006

2006-04-21T00:17:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I attended the 2nd Annual Oxford Private Equity Network Conference held at SBS. As I've missed out on the Private Equity course this term, I thought it would be a shame to get an MBA without having formed an opinion about Private Equity. I'm very glad I went, it was a very interesting conference with an entertaining keynote speaker, Guy Hands, founder of Terra Firma and superb panelists.

The thing that did interest me was the thought that once a PE firm buys a company, one of the things that they do is look closely at the existing management and sometimes replace them. This means that there is a need for good managers who will go into a distressed firm, turn it around, establish new managers to take over from them and move on to the next firm.

A very appealing career prospect... hmmm...

Trinity

2006-04-18T18:03:00.000+01:00

Well, back to the books. I had my first Negotiations class this morning.

Feels like I never left.

Guided tour

2006-04-11T23:53:00.000+01:00

My friend Paul (who is also doing an MBA at Oxford) very kindly gave me a guided tour around San Francisco. I've always said that the best way to see a place is with someone who is local to the area. Paul has lived in SF since he was 16 so is pretty much as local as you can get!

The city of San Francisco is very local in nature. Like London, it consists of a number of different and distinct areas which have grown and become one city. Unlike London, San Francisco has managed to keep that very local, community feel in each area. Large franchises are barely tolerated and small shops are encouraged. Overt advertising is non-existent and everywhere you go is clean and well maintained. Have I mentioned that I love this place?

We did do a few touristy things as well. This is a picture of me with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. After touring the city, we crossed the bridge and drove around for a bit. It was amazing how close beautiful countryside was to the city and we even spotted some wild deer roaming around (you can just about see the deer on the picture so I didn't post it - but it was there, honest!).

Then around one corner, we happened across this...

I don't know about you but I'm going to be super careful the next time I say anything against the large, well known, athletic shoe manufacturer...

The day ended with a scrummy tuna steak and a trip up to the top of the tallest building in the city for a cocktail while we admired San Francisco at night. From the 52nd floor you couldn't tell the height of the hills of the city and you could see from Oakland to Alcatraz. Beautiful.

San Jose
Today I've taken four different forms of public transportation, a taxi, streetcar, underground metro and train (see picture below) as I headed to San Jose.

Tomorrow I fly out of San Jose to LA and then on to London and away from this great place. I can honestly say that I have surprised myself at how much I have liked it here. Hmmm....

The city that knows how

2006-04-10T18:03:00.000+01:00

This week in San Francisco, they have been remembering the great earthquake of 1906 which totally leveled the city... not really something you want to think of when you're staying on the 17th floor of your hotel.

Being a tourist
I've had an interesting time so far in this city. Yesterday, after meeting up with a friend of a friend at a lovely cafe on Union St, I decided to take the cable car back into the centre of the city. It's a totally tourist experience but lovely none the less. The streets in San Francisco are just like in the movies and the cable cars go up and down these super-steep hills! The views were really incredible and beautiful - it was lovely to be in a city by the sea again.

It really does exist
This is a special photo for all those on the MBA course with me - and the store is pretty good too!

San Francisco

2006-04-08T09:58:00.000+01:00

I really like San Francisco.

After a stopoff in Santa Clara in the middle of Silicon Valley (I saw where eBay and Yahoo make their home), I continued down Highway 101 to have my first sight of the city of San Francisco!

Just up from the Giants baseball stadium is my lovely hotel, complements of Marriott points earned in my previous job (I knew there were some benefits to being a Consultant).

As I was trying to find some parking for my car - impossible, I ended up driving around SF in the pouring rain. Those of you who know me well will be aware of my slight phobia of bridges, which is why I had a tiny moment of panic when I took this picture.

The San Francisco Bay bridge is not as famous as its counterpart, the Golden Gate bridge which I will attempt to see (though not drive over) today.

I had dinner with some friends of a friend from my course who is also in SF at the moment. It was so nice to meet some real people who live and work here and pretty cool to chat techie stuff with people who work in the Silicon Valley. Really great people.

I really like San Francisco.

Highway 1

2006-04-08T09:33:00.000+01:00

So the plan for (what day was yesterday?) was to explore SLO for a bit then head up Highway 1 to Santa Cruz by nightfall.

San Luis Obispo was picture perfect. The sun was shining, birds were chirping and there was spring in the air. So, California's thing is the prolifiration of Mission buildings - built by Father Junipero Serra, there are found everywhere along the Californian coast. The mission at SLO is still in use (there was a funeral that was just finishing when I went) and the museum attached gives you an idea of what life would have been like for the monks and others who lived there.

For the rest of the day, I'm going to let the pictures tell the tale (i.e. I am tired and I need to go to bed)
California has so many beaches!
Hearst Castle - not a real castle in the classical sense, but a castle none the less.
Bet you've seen this scene in at least one movie!
The wildlife are friendly.
Oops!

I did spend the next 5 hours going all the way back, almost to SLO before getting on another highway bound for SF. I don't regret taking the Highway 1 route though, it was a beautiful, memorable experience. One day I will see the Big Sur.

San Luis Obispo

2006-04-06T17:42:00.000+01:00

Hi from Central California! I'm currently in the city of San Luis Obispo which is known affectionately by the residents as SLO (pronounced slow). I got here last night and booked myself into the Peach Tree Inn. A sweet little place which is clean and not too expensive and offers the all important free wireless internet access!

SLO is a beautiful little town which I can't wait to explore this morning once I've finished posting this so I'm going to be brief.

Driving up the coast
California gets more and more beautiful as I drive up the coast towards my destination, San Francisco. Here's a picture of the beach at Santa Monica.

Maps
I don't know why they bother to print maps in this country when they are so far removed from reality. I got completely lost yesterday in Los Angeles which is great when you're on holiday! I happened across the Warner Brothers and Sony Studios totally by chance - how often in your life can you say you did that? I also glimpsed the Hollywood sign through the pouring rain.

Other views from Los Angeles (aka Hollywood)

Marriott hotels
Having amassed an extraordinary number of Marriott points from my previous life, I am staying at one Marriott or another for most of my trip. I have now decided that Mariott hotels the world over are exactly the same. I don't know if it is to provide a sense of constancy for a business traveller or to freak them out when they wake up in the same room but different city.

California, here I come!

2006-04-04T09:02:00.000+01:00

There are 7 hours and 13 minutes to go until I get on the plane to California and I can't wait! After 3 solid months of working 14 hours a day, 7 days a week, it's time for a break.

The plan
This plan is subject to a total rehall at a moments notice :)

Fly into Los Angeles, meet up with my friend Cat and stay the night.
Pick up car in the morning and drive up the coast following Highway 1 (I have the Lonely Planet Highway 1 guide)
Arrive in San Francisco on Friday afternoon
Go to a party of a friend of a friend on Friday night
explore San Francisco over the weekend
Head to San Jose on Tuesday
Stay night in San Jose
Fly to LA then back to London on Wednesday

Next blog update?
My hotel in SF kindly offers free high-speed internet access in all its rooms so I'm hoping to get the chance to next update then. Look out for my Californian adventures.

6 hours 59 minutes to go...

THE boat race

2006-04-03T08:53:00.000+01:00

Tens of thousands of people line the banks of the river Thames every year to watch the famous boat race between Oxford and Cambridge. I normally (sometimes) watch it on the telly however this year we headed into the Big Smoke to cheer our team on.

We were treated to a typical British spring day, and by that of course, I mean that warm bright sunshine followed chilling torrential downpours and the Thames seemed more swollen than usual.

All that seemed to work for rather than against the Oxford dark blues as they crossed the finish line in 18 minutes 26 seconds, 5 lengths ahead of the Cambridge light blues.

We are doing so well this year, go Oxford!

Catchup with friends
The race was a good laugh but the best part of yesterday was catching up with some friends in London who I haven't seen for some time. Seeing Kate who is almost 8 months pregnant for the first time... the next time I see her she will be a mother! Richard, Charlotte and Petra, thanks for coming out to meet me.

My brother visits
So, I was working in the library on Saturday afternoon and I got a call from my brother who said "hey, we're in Oxford, where are you?". Jean-Marc (my little brother) and a friend of his were in town so I met up with them and took them around some of the colleges then on to the Turf for some food where this picture was taken.

It's really nice to have close family in the same country with you, I haven't had that in a while.

Off on holiday
Tomorrow I fly to California for a much needed break from the bubble that is Oxford. I am really looking forward to spending some time in the Bay area. If you're there and would like to meet up then drop me an e-mail, I'd love to see you there.

Jamaica's First Woman

2006-04-02T09:42:00.000+01:00

The swearing in ceremony of Jamaica's first female prime minister, Portia Simpson Miller took place on Friday, 30th March. She is Jamaica's 7th prime minister, 60 years old and a Harvard graduate.

I found a webcast of the ceremony on the Jamaica Information Service site - proof that Jamaica is moving into the 21st Century. It's quite a momentous occasion for Jamaica and the Caribbean. As a matriarchical society, women in Jamaica have always played a large part in the life and growth of the country. 70% of university students in Jamaica are women, and close to 50% of the workforce is female.

Have a read through some of the articles written on the event:

Portia even has a Wikki entry!

Well done.

It has been Hilarious

2006-03-27T10:23:00.000+01:00

So we're all very glad that its finally over. Hilary has been something else. I was sitting in the Common Room today and chatting with one of the MBAers from a few years ago and he was saying that when we look back on Hilary we are going to be amazed at the amount of stuff that we managed to learn in such a short period of time. Maybe, in time I will look back over Hilary and say that it was one of the most intense periods of my life. But then, who knows what life has in store for me...

An Oxford moment
Exams just kind of happened this term. It seemed that they were a minor inconvenience amongst the many assignments that were due in the last few weeks. We were having a coffee one morning in a little café near to the Examinations School when this man who was standing outside took out his camera and started taking pictures of us! I guess we were quite a sight weren’t we?

Lunch afterwards
We found a lovely café/restaurant called Cibo while studying between two exams where the waiters were lovely and let us sit there and drink coffee and study with no fuss. It was such a good experience that after our last exam, we convinced a whole group of people to go there for lunch. There is a good Marketing strategy for you :)

Yummy!

Much relief
The smiles, the sighs of relief, the rekindling of friendships ignored for the last few weeks.

I don't know about you but bring on Trinity!!

Studying shots

2006-03-21T00:10:00.000Z

	Drats! Someone could have told me about this BEFORE I spent all that money on an MBA.
	My college, St. Hugh's library. There are books there on every obscure German poet that you can think of. Very distracting.
	The Radcliffe Camera - as far as I can tell, has nothing to do with taking pictures.
	In fact, the inside of the Radcliffe is rather like... a library. Still, fun to study where many greats have studied before...
	Effects of an MBA. No fellow study group members were harmed in the taking of this picture.

Right. Back to the books now.

Ode to the old

2006-03-20T23:19:00.000Z

There was a young girl from Jamaica
Who thought life would go on forever
She checked the mirror one day
And to her dismay
Found the gray hair that started her decay

Not happy!

Studying... again...

2006-03-15T14:58:00.000Z

The library
is my home. I eat, sleep and socialise here. Oh, and sometimes in between updating my profile on facebook, and updating my blog, I get some studying done. Today is Financial Management. What joy to revise the intricacies of variance analysis and activity based costing.

Spring day
Of course, it would have to be the first real day of spring outside with clear skies and the first hint of buds on the surrounding trees. I can't wait for Trinity - punting on the Isis, Pimms and lemonade, playing croquet on the college lawns... courses that I'm genuinely interested in...

The break
I'm thinking of hopping over to San Francisco over the break to have a wander around the city and form my opinion of the city. Maybe make a few contacts, send out a few feelers... Meet up? Come with? Who knows, SF may be the next place I hang my hat.

So, anyway, back to the grindstone...

End of Hilary

2006-03-11T13:14:00.000Z

It's hard to believe that another term is officially over. Well, classes at least are over, we've just got the small matter of exams to deal with before we can breathe a little. Like good MBA students, we celebrated a little with a little bit of a theme...

I've been wasting alot of time (which I don't have) recently on Facebook and I have to say that it is addictive! My whole class has caught the craze and we're uploading pictures of each other and tagging one another like crazy. It's great fun. A word of warning though, don't sign up two weeks before your exams. Not good.

This has been a hard term. They warned us in the beginning and I don't think any of us really believed it. Now you understand what they were going on about. Classes are over but the fun hasn't stopped yet. This is the time that you realise the value of friends and relax, knowing that they understand and that they will be there for you when you are finally able to resurface.

To all those out there who are struggling with the last Finance II assignment or IBGG or OM or FM or NBD presentations, I'm right there with you. I'll be there to hold you, just keep swimming.

Gratuitous holiday snap of me holding a shark on a dive in Singapore.

Cobwebs

2006-03-08T01:47:00.000Z

Would you set up a factory and employ children to work in it?

I imagine that most of you would answer this question with a resounding no, but consider this:

Would you set up a factory and employ children if the factory was located in a poor developing nation with very few schools and the children would be starving or turning to crime if they didn't work in your factory?

What if the government of that country passed a law stating that 20% of the workforce of all new factories must be children? What would you do?

Now, suppose that your parent company had a Corporate Social Policy that stated that the company aimed to promote the "education, happiness and well being of children". Would that change your answer?

Let say that the business that you are in is producing educational toys for children and that is the main product of your new factory.

How do you think that a mother who has just bought one of your toys for her child feels when she discovers that the very people who are making those same toys are children, just like her son? What will she think about your company?

Google is in a precarious space at the moment with their decision to go into China. In an industry with incredibly low switching costs, a psychological contract based on trust is the only thing that binds their customers to the brand. It is all Google has. Eroding that trust for the sake of market share could be the thing that looses them the entire market.

It reminds me of a fable that I heard when I was younger about a guy who used to be called the "Human Fly" because he would climb up the outside of buildings with no support. One day he climbed up to the nineth floor of a very tall building... then fell. Urban legend has it that when they found his body, he was clutching a cobweb in his hand - what he had thought had been a solid support, turned out to be his downfall.

I hope that this latest move doesn't have Google clutching at cobwebs.

Torpids

2006-03-03T21:58:00.000Z

"Torpids is latin for big arguement" said Matt Urhammer of Exeter College and a fellow MBA student, just after the St. Hugh's mens boat was caught in a pileup of half a dozen boats. The bigger the arguement, the more the fun of the event.

Torpids are an Oxford tradition that goes back more years than anyone can remember and in true Oxford style, the rules are nothing short of ridiculous. As far as I can tell, the point of torpids is to "bump" the boat in front of you in the race before they bump the boat in front of them. And by bump, we literally mean touch the other boat with your boat. How crazy is that?

Of course, everyone goes out to watch the fun.

The girls boat did much better, naturally, as they had our very own Kate on the boat. They bumped after the first corner and are on to the next stage. Go St. Hugh's!

News just in: Using photographic evidence taken by Jason (on the MBA program) the St. Hugh's mens team managed to appeal and win the decision that they had bumped Exeter before the pileup occured.

This means that both the men and womens boats will be rowing for blades today - both being chased or chasing Exeter. A fantastic achievement, and one which almost never happens. Well done team!

PPS. Both our mens and womens teams won their blades on Saturday. Very well done.

it's snowing

2006-03-02T14:08:00.000Z

After a beautiful morning of brilliant sunshine, it started snowing around lunchtime.

Here's the view of the courtyard at SBS from my NBD group meeting window. Nice.

So you want to do an MBA...?

2006-03-01T14:00:00.000Z

A friend of a friend who is thinking of doing an MBA e-mailed me some questions he had. Here they are and my answers.

Why did you decide to do an MBA?
An MBA has always been on the agenda for me. Being a Business Analyst in an IT firm, I was always being asked to solve business issues and the more I picked up from the companies I worked in, the more I realized that there was so much that I didn’t know, and was interested to know. Additionally, I had been increasingly pidgen holed into a particular sector and I wanted to get wider business experience.

Which did you choose, and why?
I applied, and got offered a place at both Saïd (Oxford) and HEC in France. I choose Oxford because when Oxford offer you a place, you don’t say no. Why else? It was a one year course, not far from London (though in hindsight that doesn’t make a difference because you don’t have time to visit), and because I attended an Open Day here and chatted to the students felt they were the kind of people that I would have a beer with.

Is Saïd suitable or geared towards technology people?
It is a business degree however, and there will be lots of non-technical courses that you will be expected to master. There are a good number of ex-tech’s here though.

What are the pre-requisites for most of the courses?
There are no pre-requisites. If you get in, then they expect that you will be able to do all the courses.

How does the application work? Tests? Interview?
Check out the website. You apply on-line but you need to send some stuff though the post so start as early as you can. You must take your GMAT but that’s the only test. If they like the look of you then there will be an interview which is more like a 20 minute chat than a full blown scary interview.

My advice in this area would be to focus on your essays. Really think about them and produce a well thought out, coherent, consistent work. This is where you differentiate yourself from the many, many others applying so don’t be afraid to let the real you come through. Of course you want an MBA, of course you want to come to Oxford, but what will you bring to the class of 2007? What makes you stand out from the crowd?

Do get a good GMAT score, do come for an Open Day and do chat to others like me.

Who do you think is suitable for an MBA?
Someone who does their homework before they apply :)

What outcomes did you expect when you started the MBA?
A better understanding of the business world, good social networks and some time out to think about what I want to do in the future.

Is it fun, or really hard?!
It’s really fun and really hard. Look through this blog, I think it gives you a pretty good idea of some of the things that you can get up to while here.

Is the networking coming in handy?
Oh yes. And will be *very* handy in the future.

What kind of people go to Saïd?
There are all types here, from ex-techies like you and me, to lawyers, doctors, people from media companies, marketing companies, retail companies… it’s a very diverse bunch. There is also an incredible international mix, 1/3 of the students come from the Americas, 1/3 from Europe and Africa and 1/3 from Australasia. I don’t think you can get this at any other business school. The world is suddenly very small.

If say, I think the whole thing through, am suitable, have found the right course, etc. how much might the whole thing cost at Saïd?
If you want to make the most of your time here, take whatever they suggest you need and add another £5k to it.

Don’t let the cost put you off. Beg, borrow, mortgage your house, get sponsorship, go to your parents, apply for scholarships and grants, go busking, whatever it takes. Money is only that, money. At the end of the day, you’ll be operating in a different ball game when you leave and you will more than make up for the sum you borrow now.

What you mustn’t do is try to work while you’re here. It may seem like a good idea now but it’s virtually impossible when you get here. An MBA is an 8am to 1am, 7days a week job. But worth it.

Is Said one of the best in the country?
Absolutely. According to the FT, Saïd is currently at #20 in the world and #2 in the UK after LBS and way ahead of Judge (Cambridge).

Best of luck in your application, and drop me a line if you find this helpful or if you have any other questions.

Stockholm

2006-02-27T16:01:00.000Z

It's been a long term, full of excitement, stresses and we've still got weeks to go before we can truely relax for a bit. A group of us, about 17 in total, decided to take a trip to Sweden for the weekend before the real studying starts.

Stockholm is a beautiful city, full of interesting little lanes and buildings and at this time of year, snow. The weather was crisp, the food healthy and the break, exactly what we all needed.

Things worth mentioning (some of you will know what they mean):

the Opera bar
the hallway party
the ugly children
the chief drummer who slipped
tornado steak
the runaway
and many more...

Good times.

Election Politics

2006-02-23T17:12:00.000Z

The Background
The Said Business School Sports and Social Reps (of which I am one) was asked to provide two names of people to each give a short speach at our farewell dinner. We sent out an e-mail about a month ago calling for nominations, then a reminder one last week.

Needless to say, there were only 6 nominations so we put the names forward to the class and I offered to coordiante the voting.

The Crisis
Pandemonium ensued! Now everyone wants to have their say. Why weren't there any women on the list? Why no Asians? Why only North American males (with one exception)? Why not this person? or that one?

What we did
In light of the fact that we had not set a closing date for nominations, we decided to reopen the nominations for one day only. Today I recieved 16 additional nominations. We only need two people. A vote with 22 nominees is unweildy and inneffective. What should we do now?

The Commentary
We were looking at internal (office) politics in our Developing Effective Organisations class this week so it is ironic that this should happen now. People have use several strategies to get what they want...

some tried to negotiate with me via e-mail
others came and spoke with me
others spoke with other Sports & Social reps
or formed a coalition and approached us en masse

I've certainly learnt a lesson, especially since I am now lumbered with far more work than anticipated since I have to coordinate a revote. It's just reinforced that I made the correct decision to take the "Theory & Practice of Negotiations" course in Trinity.

PS. We ran an election using Ballot Bin, a free on-line election tool. It wasn't very obvious how to setup the election at first but the voting process was very simple and the results screen was very well presented.

The class was appeased, and everyone is happy with the results.

If I don't post for a few days

2006-02-21T16:16:00.000Z

It's because my motherboard is fried.

Grr...

WingInIt in style

2006-02-18T13:45:00.000Z

Last night was a star moment for my flatmate, Tim as they had the debut performance of the MBA band, WingInIt at Happy Hour at the business school.

This undercover reporter went out on the street to find out what the public thought of them:

"It was Tim-tastic"

Dave Evans

“I was impressed with Tim’s range and stamina.”

Joe Rice

"Rockin’ with Timmy “T. D.” Denison and gang was awesome"

The McFaddens

Market Perceptions

2006-02-17T18:21:00.000Z

Raymond Nasr, an Associate Fellow of the business school and an expert storyteller gave a fantastic masterclass at the business school this evening on market perceptions. Here's what he said...

First of all, market perception of your company is very real; there is a link between perceptions and profitability and it is very powerful, but super fragile.

The Perception Meter
Companies go through cycles with the press that can correspond with quadrants on a clock. These are:

12-3: top of the hill
3-6: perched for a fall
6-9: in the dumpster
and 9-12: turnaround story

The key messages to take away here are that (1) the press forgets, a company can move through each of the quadrants and (2) it is important to know where you are and take steps to move to a better quadrant.

Perception and your Business Plan

a great pitch begins with a great idea
a pitch must have shape
a pitch is designed to be heard, not read
remember, this is business
land the pitch exactly once

Rules for Radicals
Some hints and tips for budding entrepreneurs.

great facts build great stories
play for the varsity (be a sport)
cultivate a network and be loyal to it

MBA word bingo

2006-02-17T17:33:00.000Z

So, I got passed a note in Marketing class yesterday which simply had the words "balsamic vinegar" written on it. That was it, the challenge had been set, I was now playing MBA word bingo.

The rules are simple...

you have to incorporate your word(s) into a comment in class
the comment has to be in the context of the subject being discussed
the lecturer mustn't catch on
you get bonus points if you get the lecturer to repeat your word back to you

Brownie points go to Jon Aikman for getting his word, "pineapple" in there first and getting our lecturer, Doug Holt to say it back to him many times, and even to refer back to "pineapple" later on in the lecture.

of blogs

2006-02-16T14:21:00.000Z

Just read a good article from the New York magazine called Blogs to Riches. It looks at the phenomenon of the A-list, B-list and C-list blogs and the difficulty of moving between them.

I reckon that this blog isn't even on the blogging scale as it's my hobby and a way of keeping my family, friends and friends/family of friends up to date with whats been going on while I'm here. But should I change that? Currently this blog (purposely) isn't accessible from Google or other search engines. In fact, the only reason you're reading this is because either I or someone in my class has passed the link on to you.

Do I want to open up my blog to the world? I've been looking at a Journey to my MBA page and one of the things that it does is to allow people who are thinking of doing an MBA to have an insight into what it realy is about. There are blogs from students at LBS, INSEAD but none from Saïd.

Hmmm...

PS. Ok, I've allowed one tiny link to this site from Dave's Journey to my MBA which is a site dedicated to giving some perspective/help on doing an MBA. We'll see how this works out.

On techie stuff

2006-02-14T00:25:00.000Z

Nerd test
So a friend of mine goaded me to take this on-line nerd detector test, then got annoyed when I scored higher than him. Now it seems the test isn't a great indicator of nerd-ality, especially since I'm just a girl. Go figure. Men!

Ruby on the Rails
So, we're doing a project for our Technology and Innovation Strategy class on AJAX technology. Mike (right)has somehow managed to form a group consisting of four girls and him exploring a technology and trying to figure out its strategy for the future. The thing is, we're all ex-techies and we're all girls (except Mike). Just goes to show that gender isn't always an indicator of technical ability.

Our first step is to become aquainted with

It's pretty cool stuff, Mike built a simple database web application in 15 minutes right in front of me. Why am I only now just discovering this?

RSS Readers
Right now I'm usine Newsgator. I tried Google Reader but it was a little too clumsy for me, newsgator is just right.

LinkedIn
My complementary Personal Plus account on LinkedIn expires in 5 days time. I'm not quite sure what the inpact will be but as I can't remember asking for a Personal Plus account, then I can't be too disappointed in it's demise. LinkedIn is a great social networking tool though, highly recommend joining.

Google Talk
I am (yet) another convert to the growing empire that is Google and my latest drift away from M'soft is from MSN to Google Talk. I got tired of having to shut down MSN whenever Outlook started to run really really slowely. You'd think that two products by the same company would *both* work when loaded on to the same laptop. The advantage of Google talk is that it is very simple to use, doesn't take up much processor space and just works really, really well.

An architecture for the future
I would urge you to take an hour out of your life to listen to a great lecture by Paul Strassmann which outlines what he thinks will be the architecture for technologies in the future. His arguement is that Google is changing the playing field and paving the way to the network architectures of the future. Whatever your views, it's worth a listen.

What do I think?
The future is changing so rapidly that it's increasingly (sic) hard to keep up. Personally, my money is on the communities that we can form using the internet as the way forward. So far many have tried, but I have yet to discover one that is really easy for the regular Joe to participate in. We need a company that is to communities what blogging is to publishing. Easy, accessible, visual, obvious.

PS. It seems I'm not the only one to back communities, see Guy Kawasaki's blog post on The Art of Creating a Community

Venice Carnival

2006-02-12T14:45:00.000Z

Crazy days

2006-02-09T20:31:00.000Z

So I'm reading this article from the Winter copy of the MIT Sloan Management Review about Weird ideas that spark innovation*. This recommendation really caught my eye.

"Think of something ridiculous and plan to do it"

Oh the possibilities... here are some that I've thought up while I should be writing this assignment...

stage a photograph
index my shoe collection
enter the MBAT
visit the other place
take myself seriously
stop procrastinating

* as you do when you're at business school

Rant about Dell

2006-02-08T14:35:00.000Z

Grr...

Last Sunday morning when I woke up and switched on my laptop to check my mail, I was puzzled that I could only see the screen of my laptop very dimly. After having some coffee, I became convinced that it wasn't my eyes, but something was very definately wrong with my screen.

I call Dell and discover that they only operate 8 to 8, Mon to Sat. Fair enough. I call again on Monday morning and here is a running commentary of the progress.

/begin rant

Customer service rep	Date/Time	What happened
N/A	All day 5-Feb	Checked the DELL website and followed all their self-diagnosing advice. There is definitely a technical problem with my screen.
Didn’t get name	11:30/6-Feb	Rep answered the phone and told me that all the technicians are busy.So he took my name and number and promised to call me back.
Chris	14:30/ 6-Feb	Spoke with a technician who agreed that the screen needed to be repaired.Told me that he would schedule an engineer to come the next day between 9am and 5pm.
Engineer	09:00/7-Feb	Engineer called and said that he would be along between 14:30 and 15:30.Fine.
Rhoda	17:37/ 7-Feb	Engineer didn’t turn up. Called Dell to find out what happened. Rhoda promises to escalate and get back to me.
Suresh	08:52/ 8-Feb	Rhoda doesn’t call. I speak with Suresh who promises to escalate the issue and get back to me.
Carol	10:30/ 8-Feb	No word from Suresh. I ask Carol for to speak with a supervisor so that I can raise a formal complaint. Supervisor is busy. Carol tells me that the engineer is scheduled to come today and that she will follow up and call me within an hour.
Engineer	10:31/ 8-Feb	Engineer company calls me while I’m on the phone with Carol and leaves a message saying they will be by before 13:00 today. Great.
Carol	11:50/ 8-Feb	Carol keeps her word and calls me back. I tell her that engineer will come by at 13:00.
Arsan	12:11/ 8-Feb	Engineer company calls to say that the engineer will now be along between 14:30 and 15:30 (again). Not so happy.
Carol	13:30/ 8-Feb	Carol calls me to ensure that things are going well. I tell her that engineer is now coming later.Promises to call back later.

It's now 15:16 and the engineer still hasn't turned up. If he's not here by 15:30 then I think I shall take this complaints as far as it will go. I'll let you know the outcome.

/end rant

Another note
I found out on Monday that I have passed all my exams from Michaelmas. Thank God.

PS. The engineer finally turned up at 17:30 and fixed my computer in less than 1/2 hour. I still think that I will complain formally to Dell, if only to see what happens.

Oxford Business Alumni dinner

2006-02-04T11:06:00.000Z

There was an Oxford Business Alumni dinner last night at the Oxford and Cambridge Club in London. It was so nice to be back in the Big Smoke, even though it was for one night only. I think I must have a love-hate relationship with London, when I'm away I'm happy and when I go I realise how much I've missed it.

What an interesting night though. It's the world where social networking and membership to certain clubs is of paramount importance. What I'm beginning to realise is that there are now opportunities out there made available through social networking that are mine to make if I choose to do so. I was standing in one of the (very grand) reception halls at the club last night with Serge and he looked around, nodded, smiled and said,

"We are now a part of this, we belong here."

I shall have to think about what I think of these things. But in one sense, it doesn't matter what I think. Serge is right. We are a part of this now, and we were from the minute we decided to accept the offer of a place at Oxford.

A word or two on the speaker. Mary Jo Jacobi is one of those incredible women who has had an incredibly varied career. She currently serves on the board of a number of organisations including Shell and previously worked for Lehman Brothers and HSBC in senior positions. She was also a spokesperson for two Republican US presidents (not current).

Last night, she had seven things that she wanted to say to us.
1) Luck counts, but you make your own luck
2) You can recover from financial disasters
3) It's not what you have done, its how you value (repackage) it for your next employers
4) Mentors matter - Be careful who you know
5) Sometimes to move ahead it is necessary to take a side step
6) Consider public service
7) Give something back

I did like this quote:

"If you can't be a good example, be a good warning"

Six degrees of Vaniah

2006-02-03T14:37:00.000Z

How many people do you know? Ever stopped to think about it? Is your circle of friends a group of 5 or 50? Then add in your family and work colleagues, what does that come up to?

We've had a very interesting lecture today in Technology and Innovation Strategy. The lecture was on social and business networks and how we create and use them in our everyday and business life, often without even thinking about it. Some people, like Lois Weisberg (do read the article, it's very good) seem to know everybody and others, like the man in the Simon and Garfunkel song, don't seem to know anyone at all.

Companies like LinkedIn have tried (and succeeded) in making money from moving the act of tracking our social networks online and people even blog about it, see Guy Kawasaki's recent blog post.

So even though I've never met either of them, I wonder if I am somehow connected to either Guy Kawasaki or Lois Weisberg? And by how many degrees...?

Should I stay or should I go?

2006-02-02T23:51:00.000Z

After spending nearly 8 years in the UK, I have been thinking alot recently about where in the world I'd like to spend the next 8 years of my life. There is nothing wrong with the UK, I've had some very good times here, the job opportunities are good, I'm familiar with the country and culture and they have Jaffa Cakes. All good things. But is it's time up? Am I ready to move on and explore some other part of the globe?

Tonight I went to listen to Anastasia Tonello of Laura Devine speak on UK/US immigration options for Oxford students. She was a very good presenter and although most of the talk was on how to get into the UK, I did get a chance to speak with her afterwards about the possibility of getting into the US.

Basically, it's very hard to get a Work Permit for the US. Really hard. I haven't decided yet if that information has made me want to work there more or not. My best chance appears to be to recieve a job offer from a firm and have them apply for an H1B visa for me.

So, a poll. Should I stay or should I go?

Answers in the comment field please.

The funny thing about Rankings...

2006-01-30T09:34:00.000Z

...is that when you're not doing well, then you claim that they are meaningless, but the minute you're doing well, they are fantastic.

We are doing well.

So well in fact that it was anounced today that we have moved up 5 places to 20th in the world. Quite an achievement for a school that is barely 9 years old. Check out the FT 2005 Rankings that came out today (if you can - it's proving to be a very busy site at the moment).

The rankings are testament to the high quality of our MBA programme in terms of recruitment,content and teaching, course administration and the successful career outcomes for our students. As a School which was formed in 1996, it is a major achievement.

Anthony Hopwood, Dean of the Saïd Business School

What do I think? Well, naturally I am very happy as it increases my chances of getting a very interesting job with a wopping big salary which will help me to pay off my student debt when I leave here.

At the same time, it's necessary to keep remembering that it is only a ranking, only a business school, only an MBA. In and of itself, none of that makes me a great person. My reactions when something happens, the choices I make, the friendships I keep - those are the things that decide whether or not someone is great. The sermon at church last night was on pride and I confess that I am as guilty of thinking myself greater than I am as the next person. Especially when the FT provides "proof" of it.

So, I think that rankings are good, they have encourage schools to strive towards higher standards and give potential students a framework to decide where to apply. But they should not be used to decide whether or not a person from that school is or will become great. Let every person speak for themself.

Everyone Say Hi!

2006-01-29T00:32:00.000Z

So after months of pretending not to care, I am now coming clean. I am very curious about who is currently reading my blog. After installing Google Analytics a few days ago, I now know that people from the following places have accessed my blog.

* Portland
* Mountain View
* Dayton
* New Brunswick
* Kinred
* Devils lake (is there really a place with this name?)
* Fargo

* Singapore

* Belfast
* Oxford
* London

Wow. I'm thrilled! I didn't know that I had such a wide readership. And since I don't actually know anyone in most of those places (I can figure out Oxford, London and Singapore), then chances are you are somehow attached to the someone at the business school.

So please. Drop me a line to let me know how you heard about my blog and what you think of it, send me a picture or just say hi. I'd love to hear from you.

Chinese New Year, SBS style

2006-01-28T14:14:00.000Z

Last night, the ethnic Chinese students at SBS (and Mac) put on an incredible Chinese New Year event at the business school. I was in Singapore last year for Chinese New Year and had a great time so I was looking forward to seeing what would be in store for us this year.

We were in for a treat.

The evening started out with a fantastic lion dance put on by a local Kung Fu school. Things just kept getting better, I had no idea that there were so many talented students at the business school! There were several performances on Eastern musical instruments, a Kung Fu demonstration, a mock (?) Chinese wedding and a toe tapping, lighter waving rendition of a Chinese pop song by one of the MFE guys. Fantastic!

But in a way, totally expected.

Conversations
Recently my conversations with friends at the b-school have been centered around the diversity of the students here. With 1/3 of us from the Americas, 1/3 from Europe and Africa and 1/3 from Australiasia the experience you get here must be truely unique.

This term we've been doing a course called International Business and Global Governance (IBGG) and as you can guess, the opportunity to listen to someone who is Chinese speak about what it is like to do business in China is priceless. It's an eye opener for everyone involved, when you're talking about what you are familiar with, it's hard to imagine that the way that you are accustomed to doing things is quite alien to someone else. Especially when it's someone who you respect for their intelligence and ability to do a good job. Makes you think about interactions and frustrations that you've had with others in a past life in a new light.

"One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions"

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Burns night

2006-01-25T14:31:00.000Z

"Ye Pow'rs, wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o' fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer
Gie her a haggis!"

Robert Burns, Address to a Haggis

So, last night my college, the wonderful St. Hugh's hosted a Burns night formal hall which was attended by many of the MBA's.

For those who don't have a clue let me explain. January 25th is the birthday of the Scottish poet, Robert Burns. There is a fine tradition of a Burns night supper which follows certain pattern, and this meal was no different.

For the first time since I've been there, grace was not said in Latin but instead by one of the guys in the JCR in a Scottish accent. It went like this:

"Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit."

Robert Burns

The first course was scotch broth which was followed by the sound of bagpipes. We all stood as the haggis was brought into the room and sat while the "Address to a Haggis" poem by Burns was read to us by a Scottish lass. Didn't understand a word she said but laughed when everyone laughed and joined in the toast to the haggis.

The meal was, of course, haggis, neeps and tatties which translates to haggis, mashed potato and mashed squash. Yummy.

A good night.

The future of media?

2006-01-19T23:36:00.000Z

Yesterday, Said Business School hosted the 2006 Oxford Media Convention so, being interested in all things media, I signed up and went along. (See webcast at the Oxford Internet Institute)

I can't say that I was entirely impressed with the pannels and speakers though, due to a TIS (Technology & Innovation Strategy) assignment due later that day, I can't confess to having heard them all.

What I did see and hear has made me sit and think about what I think is the future of the media. The internet is certainly a very disruptive technology and many lessons were learnt from the changes in the music industry which the media would be well advised to remember.

As I formulate my ideas, let me share with you the predictions of Richard Sambrook of the BBC:

* News is moving online: teens in this country tend get their news online. TV audiences have fallen and now people have unlimited information available their fingertips.

* Public wants authenticity: more and more news items are becoming a stylised creation in a virtual studio somewhere. People are not being fooled. They know a act when they see it and they want the raw gritty truth to be told.

* Transparancy: is being demanded. It is very easy to send an e-mail with your views on an issue that has been reported and more and more people are doing just that. Interviewees are publishing their version of an interview on their blogs for comparision with the finished version. It would be foolish for media firms to put up a wall and ignore their customers, the challenge now is to embrace these new terms of engagement and find a way to listen to their customers.

* Responsibility is shifting: gone are the days when people sat before their TV sets at 6pm every day and accepted as correct the news presented to them. Today the news media no longer owns the news. There is still a need for mediation but this role is a different one than in the past.

* The Digital Divide problem between those people who have access to/and consistently use the internet will continue to widen. The challenge is to identify the two audiences and make provisions for both marketplaces.

I've been doing a quick look around the internet to see what others think about the future of the industry. I don't necessarily agree with everything found on them but here are a few worth having a look at:

* Hypergene Media Blog - this group is looking into the topic of participatory journalism and citizen media.

* Slashdot - news for geeks

* An interesting article just published by McKinsey Quartely on the Dwindling readership faced by newspapers.

PS. See article by Richard Sambrook on How the net is transforming news

live every last minute

2006-01-19T00:22:00.000Z

Have you ever been stuck in the office on a weekend and think to yourself, next weekend will be different.

Last night at the business school, we were treated to a talk from a man who is probably one of Britain's most successful modern entrepreneurs. Breat Hoberman, who co-founded the travel and retail website lastminute.com spoke briefly on the journey of the company from it's inception to where it is today.

As an entrepreneur, he spoke of the need to have "smart luck", "good timing" and a focus on "consumer need" in order to make a success in todays environment. "Investors are like sheep" he says as he recounts his discussions with VC's at the early stage of the life of the company.

Today he is still the CEO of his baby, and excited about the future of his company.
* he has even made it to Wikipedia
* he has done very well for himself through selling the company to Sabre Holdings

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the dinner afterwards which was hosted by the beautiful Exeter college. There I had the pleasure of speaking with Ian McCaig who is a lovely Scottish man and Managing Director of the lastminute.com group. He told me the other side of the tale of working with an entrepreneur, the thrills of being surrounded by innovation, the challenges of integrating so many acquired companies in such a short time and the fun of working for such a dynamic company.

The overall sentiment from this presentation is the same message that I've been hearing time and time again. It's know your customer, make an effort to understand your customers needs, then go meet them.

Techno-babble

2006-01-12T22:10:00.000Z

(gratuitous picture of friends on my latest holiday in Scotland)

Can you imagine? Week 0 has just ended and already I have more things to do than is possible for any person. Fun stuff!

I could talk about the NBD project that I'm doing and the progress that we've been making (first team meeting, first meeting with sponser, first meeting with our supervisor), or the endless beauty parade of presentations from the lecturers trying to convince us that we want to take their courses in Trinity. Blah, blah, blah...

Of course I won't, instead I thought I'd devote a little time to some stuff that has been distracting me and which has been the subject of a number of conversations I've had recently. The subject is of course, Technology and the Web in particular. Here are some questions that I've been asked lately.

What is a Blog?
There is nothing particularly special about a blog. This is a blog. For me, it's a way of recording my experiences as I go about getting an MBA. It's for my parents, my friends and their parents to get a feel of what is going on.

How can I get one?
I use Blogger. Have a look, sign up (it's free) and have a play around. It's very easy to use.

How do I know when you post a new message?
Well the easy answer is to check every few days or so to see if I've been at it again or if you follow a number of blogs then then there is something called an RSS feed which will help you. Just sign up with a reader service like Google Reader or Newsgator (both free) and subscribe to my website by searching for a feed on my Blog. Of course then you'll have to log on to the reader every now and again...

Are you going to run a technology company when you finish?
Who knows? Maybe not right away, but I think it's highly likely that thats where I'll end up.

Holidays!

2005-12-17T15:26:00.000Z

Have a great Christmas and I'll catch up with you again in January!

Lost

2005-12-16T19:01:00.000Z

It was a beautiful day today, the sun was shining, the sky was cloudless, the street musicians were playing Christmassy music and everyone was humming a little tune. I was wandering around Oxford this afternoon and every few minutes I would bump into someone else from the course. It was so nice, like living in a small town, but a fantastic, historic, interesting place where you know everyone but without all the baggage of having known everyone all your life.

It's a weird feeling at the same time though, and speaking with others, I think we all felt the same way. After 10 weeks of unrelenting work, all of a sudden we don't have anything to do. We were all walking around with a slightly lost feeling, like there is something that we should be doing, somewhere we should be at but we didn't quite know what it was.

Examinations
What an intense last few days though. Phew! There is so much that I would like to write about but I suspect that much of it will disappear into the mists of time. Shame. The examinations were an experience. Morning and afternoon for three days - intense doesn't begin to describe what we went through. Dressing up in sub fusc, sitting in rows in an ancient building, being overseen by the Proctors, studying through lunch, oh, and somewhere in there we had to write some exams. I'm glad it's over - results don't come out until the New Year so I'll worry about them later.

Here is a sneek look at our group in the Examinations School just before an exam. We're not allowed to take pictures in there so please don't tell or the Proctors with be out to get me!

Mustache Sub Fusc
They're over now. And the celebration party rocked!

And yes, there is an inordinate amount of facial hair on display. The guys decided to have a little moustache competition. Here are some of the finer examples.

As a representative of the female population, I do feel the need to attempt to disuade this kind of behaviour so boys: *big frown*.

Tim's parents
Have been visiting for a few days. It's been really nice to get to know them a bit. They had kindly brought some pictures of baby Timmy which may appear on this blog at some point - watch this space!

They all headed off for Ireland this morning. 10 minutes later the door opened and Tim came rushing back inside the house. He had forgotten his passport. Exams do that to you!

Three weeks
I now have three whole weeks off. The last couple of days have been nice. I've been hanging around Oxford and just chilling out with some of my new friends. It's been good. I'm heading to London for the second time since I've been here to catch up with old friends. Weird. My life in London seems a million years ago and it's only been a few months.

I have lived a lifetime these last 10 weeks. I wonder how it has changed me...?

Carnations

2005-12-13T08:37:00.000Z

White Carnation
I wore my first carnation yesterday, pinned to the lapel of my black jacket. One of the Things I love about Oxford is the fact that you can walk around at 9 o'clock in the morning, wearing a tuxedo with a carnation pinned to your lapel and no one bats an eyelid! Of course, I wasn't wearing a tuxedo, Tim and Scott, my flatmates were, but Johannah and I had on our black trousers, white shirt and black ribbon. We all were carrying our morter boards in our hands as we walked together to our first exam.

Pink carnationAfter being bloodied by your first exam, the tradition is that you were pink carnations for the rest. We went to the covered market in search of the pink and had a great conversation with the nice lady in the flower shop. Normally there aren't any exams around this time but she heard that there were some so she ordered pink carnations especially for us! Nice.

Note that the pictures show the actual carnations used by me for my first two exams!

So, I'm sitting at my desk in my room typing this and I'm (again) wearing this Oxford uniform. After matriculation, my "white" shirt had been washed with some coloureds (I know) and now it has a slight tinge of pink. I hope the Proctors don't notice...

On Hilary

2005-12-10T01:25:00.000Z

You've probably heard me mention Hilary throughout my blog and thought, what is she on about? Well, here at Oxford, we aren't satisfied with the normal names for the terms, we've got to go and give them funny names. Hilary is the name for the second term of the year which is traditionally called the Easter term.

I thought I'd do a search on the origins of the names of the terms so I went to the general Oxford University website and checked out the frequently asked questions. I can't believe that people are more interested in the coat of arms than the funny names of the terms.

Next stop was my college, St. Hugh's website, still no joy, but I did learn that the library there is open 24 hours to St. Hugh's students. Hmmm...

So, Oxford University is keeping mum about this matter, is it that they don't know so if nobody says anything then perhaps no one will notice? Well, I'm not put off that easily so I tried AskJeeves which is a site where you can ask any question and it searches the web to give you an answer. Finally! As well as an answer, I also found a great website on Oxford speak that you should check out.

If you're now sitting on the edge of your seat then here is why: The Oxford terms follow the ecclesiastical calendar of the Anglican Christian year and the three terms are named Michaelmas, Hilary and Trinity. I shall attempt to further explain why...

Michaelmas is named after the feast of Michael which takes place on the 29th September. The archangel is one of the angels in God's presence, traditionally the one with a sword. The date, 29th Sept is the anniversary of the dedication of the Roman basilica to him.

Hilary is named after Saint Hilary of Poitiers (c315-367) was a bishop in the church from 350. As a result of his zeal, he was exiled and on his return wrote the historically invaluable De synodis (hasn't everyone read it?). Actually, I found a pretty decent translation - here is a chapter addressed "To the bishops of Africa" written about 369 a.d. - who said Christianity is a western religion? Anyway, St. Hilary's feast takes place on the 14th January which is about the time that Hilary term starts.

Finaly, Trinity (I really must be going to bed). This one is easy, Trinity Sunday is celebrated as the first Sunday after the feast of Pentecost which is important in the Christian calendar because it signifies when the Holy Spirit first came and the Christian church was "born". Ironically, Pentecost takes place on the 6th June next year which is in Week 7 on Trinity. Puzzling? Go figure.

PS. I've found more information on Michaelmas, Hilary and Trinity
on Wikipedia

PS cont'd. I also discovered that the terms at Oxford are the shortest of any British University. Now they tell us!

T minus 2

2005-12-10T00:24:00.000Z

NBD News
I was half way through my last post which was all about the New Business Development project that we are going to be doing in Hilary when I thought, hang on, as a team we've just signed a "Letter of Agreement" which has all sorts of confidentiality clauses, I'm not sure yet what I can and can not publish about my project. So, you're just going to have to endure a few snippets of information while I check it out.

The reason that I'm excited is because we've managed to get the project that I was really hoping for. IMHO it is the most interesting of the projects on offer and the company that we will be working with has a lot of potential. So much so that they (the company) was featured on the ITV local news tonight and the product that we will be working with was highlighted (clue 1).

I'm really looking forward to doing this project. If you have a look at the (new) MBA website then they have a section for the New Business Development (NBD) project. The general idea is that you learn better through putting into practice what you learn in lectures and the NBD helps you to go through some of the pain of launching a new business or product to the market. The experience culminates with a presentation to a panel of real venture capitalists where there is a chance that they will make you an offer to take the idea forward to start up your own business. Wow!

I have also got the greatest team ever! There are five of us, Tim, Martin, Whitney, Kostas and myself. The more I speak with them, the more I think that we have got all the skills needed to do a truely great project. I found out, just this evening, that Tim's undergraduate thesis was in the subject that we're doing our project in (clue 2) and that Whitney has had experience both in marketing and in launching new products (clue 3).

Two days to go
I think that everyone has reached the point where they are exausted from studying for exams and just want them to be over. I've always thought that I was a plodder - that like the Energizer(R) bunny, that I could just go and go, but right now, I'd really like it to all be over. Except for Finance. Still, there are only two days to go.

Varsity Blues

2005-12-05T23:32:00.000Z

It's the week before finals and I've been convinced that I couldn't be and Oxonian without going to the annual Varsity match between Oxford and Cambridge which has been taking place for over a hundred years.

Played at the home of the England rugby team, a visit to Twickenham is every little boys desire (and there where lots there) and being on the pitch is beyond their wildest dreams.

So, I found myself at the match, wearing my college (St. Hugh's) scarf and cheering for Oxford.

We were all delighted when our very own Sean Fauth (#21) ran on the to pitch in the last minute. Well done Sean for earning your blue! Now you can go buy one of those cool, cream, v-neck vests worn by all the blue holders.

It was quite a day, and most of us had been up studying the night before, on the bus on the way down, so it was no surprise when there was a subdued atmosphere on the way back, and some of us even nodded off.

Whitney is definately going to win my "Sleeping Beauty" Silvester vote of the year, though from this shot, Paul may come a close second!

The shakeup

2005-11-30T14:13:00.000Z

Last CE
Last night was our last Christianity Explored class. It's weird to think that it's been seven weeks already. In some ways it feels like longer, in other ways, it's just sped by. My co-leader, James (see picture) was great and together I think we made a great team.

Ok, so the funny hat and balloon were from the crackers we had over dinner at our last meeting. It does make sense - honest.

Setting up the tree
Tim's family are coming to spend Christmas in Oxford this year so the house wouldn't be the same without a Christmas tree. Last Sunday, we put up the tree and all the decorations.

I haven't had a tree in England since I've been here so it's really nice to have one. It will be nice to have a full house at Christmas too, so Tim's family, if you're reading this, come prepared to spill all the dirt on Tim (bring props/pictures if possible)!

The NBD saga continues
I completely gave up on trying to join a group and decided to set one up myself. A much better idea.. I think we've got a pretty good team together and I'm looking forward to working wiht each of them. Today is NBD bid day, when we put in our first, second and third choice projects and hopefully we will get the project we want. It's too soon to tell, I'll let you know the status as soon as I know.

Fingers crossed.

Back to the grindstone
I've just recieved my projects Financial Reporting Analysis to review for 1600 today so it's back to work for me.