How to Plan a Booth Career Trek in Five Easy Steps: West Coast Marketing Edition

My name is YaoYao Wang and I’m a first-year MBA at Booth.  This past quarter I helped organize a West Coast Marketing Trek for my classmates over Winter Break.  The trip provided great opportunities for Booth students to get a leg up in internship recruiting, get to know the great companies which hire Booth talent, and spend some quality time with classmates.  As I found out, organizing a trek is hard work, but a rewarding way to engage with the broader Booth community and give back to your classmates.  Here are my five easy steps for organizing a trek:

1.       Decide where you want to go and why

In the weeks leading up to Winter Break, first-years are faced with many difficult decisions: go home for break, relax in Chicago, go on the Ski Trip, or go on one of the many career treks for future bankers, venture capitalists, marketers, retailers, techies, and entrepreneurs. As part of the Chicago Booth Marketing Group, my classmate Joanna Wung and I were excited to lead the West Coast Marketing Trek.   While the Marketing Group had traditionally offered an annual Brand Week on the East Coast, and the annual Tech Trek visited large tech companies on the West Coast, we felt that we could offer something to first-years that was a combination of the two. Since Joanna and I are both originally from California, we knew that we could show our classmates around while also pursuing our professional interests in marketing.

2.       Learn Trek best practices from the experts!

Joanna and I met with Anna Sukenik, one of the Marketing Group Co-Chairs who had led the previous year’s Brand Week, to learn how to organize a trek. This was just the beginning of many helpful interactions we would have with the second years. We also met with various members of the Career Services team to learn about their experiences with Career Treks, their resources and where they could help us. We learned that the alumni network is a great place to start reaching out to people. It was great to get support from so many Booth resources who could give us the benefit of their expert experience.

Trek participants at a SF alumni
networking event

      3.       Get companies signed up!

Our goal was to get companies to set aside some time for us to tour their offices, speak with alumni and current employees, and listen to a company presentation. We created a target list of CPG, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, tech, and retail companies with marketing roles to visit and split up the research to contact alumni. On our radars were some of the largest and most well-known tech companies and mega-retailers, but also some smaller, niche consumer companies. We were amazed by the willingness of Chicago Booth alumni to help out with our trek, even though we had never met any of them before. Some even referred us to their friends at other companies so we could visit them as well! Such a strong showing was a testament to the power of the Booth network.

      4.       Get classmates signed up!

With a list of companies we were working with in hand, we set out to get trek attendees. Joanna and I publicized the trek to our classmates via email blasts and word-of-mouth, thinking that a week in California wouldn’t be too hard to sell to anyone. We got a great group of first-years interested in careers in marketing at California-based companies who were excited to pound the pavement during their Winter Break.

5.       Go on the trek!

Ok, so maybe I skipped a couple of steps (and massive amounts of emails) here but I learned that you can plan out every single minute and still forget some detail. For example, one company had an enormous campus and we ran around trying to find our way out of the maze.  As a result we had to rush to our next meeting. The best you can do in a situation like that is use your best judgment and roll with the punches.

The Trek group outside Google, one of the companies on the Trek

While there are hundreds of companies that give us the convenience of recruiting on-campus with job postings and interviews on-site, there are hundreds more that want to hire Booth MBAs. The trek taught me the importance of reaching out to companies for off-campus opportunities. With so many great resources at our disposal – including second years, student groups, Career Services, and of course the Booth alumni network – the sky’s the limit for our professional goals.

Accelerating Your Emerging Markets Career at the Booth Emerging Markets Summit

The Emerging Markets Summit (EMS) at Chicago Booth is a unique Booth-run conference that gathers professionals and MBA students from and with interests in Latin America, Africa, South Asia, China, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe under one roof.  The event showcases the amazing reach that Booth MBAs have into emerging markets-related careers. The Summit will be held on Saturday April 14, 2014 at the J.W. Marriot in downtown Chicago, and is open to the public.

One of the 2014 conference organizers is Ying Liu, a second-year MBA student at Booth.  Prior to Booth, she worked in management consulting, focusing on the Life Sciences industry.  In addition to helping to organize the EMS, she is a Co-Chair of the Public Speaking and Communications Group, and involved with the Emerging Markets Group.

In this interview, Ying shares why she got involved in planning the EMS, and why Booth is an amazing place to get an MBA for anyone interested in emerging markets business.

--Matt Richman

How did you get involved with the EMS?

I became involved with EMS last year when I received an email soliciting volunteers to help organize the Summit. The Summit is the only MBA conference of its kind uniting four regional conferences and one pan-regional conference under one roof.  The summit facilitates greater cross-cultural knowledge sharing between emerging market business leaders and has been a great way for Booth to differentiate itself as an MBA program focused on developing leaders for firms and institutions operating in any emerging market.  The EMS has significant support from the Chicago Booth administration which allowed us to fully leverage our reach to professors and alumni to make the experience as productive as possible for all attendees. I wanted to be involved in conference planning from the time I heard about the EMS, and took on marketing efforts to help promote the event. Due to my close involvement with EMS last year, I was tapped to lead the organization of this year’s event.

What was your experience at last year’s event?

Last year’s event was a great way to learn about the latest trends and issues in various regions of the world. Among a number of other outstanding topics, I attended a talk from a Managing Director at Nielsen on selling to consumers in Africa and heard the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Chile speak about foreign policy in business development. Over 450 students and professionals attended from around the world – it was such an exciting day! As a member of the planning committee, I also had the opportunity to attend dinner with several of the speakers the evening before and spoke with them in a much more intimate environment about doing business in emerging markets. As someone involved in planning the event, it was personally fulfilling to see all of our efforts come to fruition and receive so much positive feedback from attendees.

What can attendees expect from this year’s conference?

The conference this year will build on last year’s success by bringing in a number internationally-renowned speakers. We have confirmed several speakers, including the CEO of Condé Nast in Mexico and Latin America, a former first lady of Mexico, and the President of an energy firm in Africa. We are planning a CEO-panel which includes current and past CEOs of important firms. This year’s tracks focus on critical issues that matter to business leaders in each region, ranging from Investing to Sales & Marketing to Government-Business relations. In addition to building your knowledge and network in emerging markets business, the conference will give you a sense of how you might use a Booth MBA to launch your own career in this field.

How does the conference show some of the unique features about the Booth academic/networking experience?

The conference provides a unique opportunity for students to network among current students at other MBA programs, with top professors at Booth involved in emerging markets research, and professionals working in or with emerging markets. The Summit showcases Booth’s entrepreneurial drive as it is completely run by students and powered by the vast reach of Booth’s alumni network. In planning the EMS this year, Booth’s alumni network has been an incredible resource to help us to tap into executives working in emerging markets. For incoming students, I have heard from current first year students that the EMS was one of the key factors which led them to choose Booth, as the EMS really differentiates and confirms Booth’s foresight in frontier markets.

Any advice for applicants looking for careers in Emerging Markets?

Attend the 2014 Emerging Markets Summit to learn about hot topics in emerging markets and network with professionals from start-ups to large multi-nationals!  Also, definitely come visit campus and talk to any of the students involved with the EMS or any of the emerging markets-oriented student groups to hear about how their Booth MBAs have positioned them for great careers in their areas of focus.  We have a great community here that is eager to give back in the form of knowledge and advice, so ask away!  Visit the EMS webpage for more information, and I hope to see you there on April 14!

My First Booth Case Challenge – Kilts Quantitative Marketing Case Competition

First-year MBA YaoYao Wang recently competed in a quantitative marketing case challenge sponsored by Booth’s Kilts Center for Marketing and Kraft Foods.  It was a unique opportunity for YaoYao and her team to test out the marketing skills developed during their first quarter at Booth, and to engage with Booth alums at Kraft, who were very involved in making the competition a great experience for the participants. The case competition shows a number of Booth’s strengths – our analytical and data-driven approach to business problems, the deep and active alumni network represented in a variety of industries and functions, and the Kilts Center – which make Booth an incredible choice for anyone looking get into a career in marketing.

Booth is off for Winter Break for now.  Enjoy the holidays, and stay tuned to The Booth Experience to learn more about what students do during break, including Ski Trip, career treks, and planning for Round 1 Admit Weekend!

--Matt

As a first-year taking Marketing Strategy and recruiting for marketing internship roles, I was naturally drawn to Booth’s inaugural Kilts Quantitative Case Competition, sponsored by Kraft Foods. Since the Kilts Center for Marketing focuses on advancing marketing at Chicago Booth, this was a perfect fit. I appreciated how involved Kraft Foods got with the case competition; not only did they send three executives, including Deanie Elsner ('92), Chief Marketing Officer; Greg Guidotti, Senior Director of Marketing, Ready-to-Drink Beverages; and Triona Schmelter, Vice President of Marketing for Meals, to be judges, they also developed the case from a recent and very real business issue the company was facing with one of its major brands, Planters. Two Booth alumni and Kraft Senior Associate Brand Managers, Johnni Rodgers (’12) and Ketan Vaghani (’09), developed the case over the course of eight months using Nielsen data.

Moneyball at Booth: Sports, Analytics, and Business

Jeffrey Chao is a first year student at Chicago Booth. Prior to Booth, Jeffrey worked as a financial analyst on an energy trading floor and as a consultant focused on financial transformation and procurement analytics. Jeffrey has always had a passion for sports, and, once upon a time, he interned for Major League Baseball and the National Football League. At Booth, Jeffrey is a member of the Corporate Management & Strategy Group, Dean Student’s Admissions Committee, and Wine Club.

Jeffrey is also active in the Media, Entertainment, and Sports Group (MESG) and attended its annual conference. He recaps some of the highlights and talks about how some unique features of Chicago Booth academics and the alumni network are helping him position himself for his dream job at the nexus of business and sports.

--Matt Richman

For students like me interested in the business of sports, MESG’s 4^th Annual Sports Symposium felt like Christmas Day. The Symposium featured industry panelists discussing a range of topics, including front office management, sports analytics, digital marketing, and litigation in sports. Panel discussions gave attendees unique insight into the rigorous analytics and business methodologies now performed in many facets of sports business, as well as personal anecdotes about how to land that dream job in the industry. My experience at the conference showed me the breadth and strength of Booth’s varied alumni network, and how I might combine the analytical skills I’m developing in my Booth classes with my passion for sports.

Michael Girsch, a 2003 Booth alum and currently the assistant general manager for the St. Louis Cardinals, set the tone for the day by stating, “there is no equivalent in the corporate world to winning games.” That statement highlighted the motivation behind why people work in sports, and certainly got me pumped to hear more about how sports and business intersect. Throughout the day, many panelists offered sound words of advice to attendees looking to break into the industry. Enthusiasm, passion, and tenacity are key traits, while the ability to communicate and sell an idea is paramount.

Jon Hay and Michael Gries share their
experiences in sports business

I felt encouraged to learn that Booth provides ample opportunities and connections to break into sports business. Two recent Class of 2013 Booth graduates, Jon Hay and Michael Gries, gave back to current Booth students by participating in a panel discussion on the increasingly prominent role of analytics in sports. Gries, who works in baseball operations with the Baltimore Orioles, said his current position is “like a fantasy job.” Both Gries and Hay, a member of the Boston Red Sox’s baseball analytics staff, stuck around long after their panel finished in order to chat with Booth students and symposium attendees about their recruiting strategies and job experiences.

Second year Booth MBAs present
their research

During the lunch hour, second-year Booth MBA students Ryan Jones, Mauricio Zachrisson, and Matt Frankenfeld delivered academic presentations on various sports analytics topics. They developed their papers in a class called Sports Analytics, which I am personally excited to take. This class, taught by renowned professors (and fellow sports lovers) John Huizinga, Tobias Moskowitz, and Kevin Murphy, was one of the reasons that I was so excited about the academics at Booth when I was researching business schools. It turns out that business school professors tend to be sports fanatics as well.

Booth alum David Sally's keynote

It was also exciting to hear from a Booth alum who could soon be known as the “Michael Lewis of soccer/football.” A recipient of a PhD in economics from Chicago Booth, David Sally delivered the symposium’s keynote speech. He discussed findings from his new book, The Numbers Game: Why Everything You Know About Soccer Is Wrong, which has drawn comparisons to Lewis’ Moneyball. In one example, Sally described soccer as a “weakest link sport,” correlating the likelihood of wins to the quality of a team’s worst player rather than its best.

During breaks and at a reception following the Symposium, I had a chance to network and make personal connections with panelists such as John Ball, the founder of a sports consulting firm called Beyond Box Scores. In chatting with another panelist about his career trajectory, I discovered that not only did we have the Booth connection in common, but we went to the same high school.

While the sports business can be a difficult industry to break into, the combination of events like the MESG Symposium, Booth’s rigorous analytical curriculum, the connections with companies and sports organizations facilitated by Career Services, and the incredibly varied and supportive Booth alumni network give me the confidence to pursue my passion. I am personally excited to take all these tools and put them to good use as I pursue a summer internship.

Booth Networking in Unexpected Places

Hongtae Kim worked in investment banking in Hong Kong prior to coming to Booth. He was an undergraduate at the University of Chicago and decided to return mainly because he loved the academic atmosphere of the University of Chicago and Booth, and enjoyed the city and the Chicago Bulls. He is concentrating in Marketing, Strategy, and Entrepreneurship at Booth, and will be working at AccuRadio, an internet-radio startup based in Chicago, over the summer.

His story shows that in order to land your ideal internship, it sometimes requires patience, motivation, and a little luck—coupled with leveraging the huge, diverse, and generous Booth alumni network.  While Booth alumni are well-represented in finance, consulting, and corporate fields, the independent and entrepreneurial nature of our students and alumni means that you can find us in unexpected places.

--Matt Richman

Coming to Booth, one of the most common pieces of advice I got was to fully utilize the Booth alumni network. As an international student, I was a bit skeptical of how much I would be able to leverage the alumni network and didn’t know how I was supposed to do it. On top of that, I was looking into a music-related career path which isn’t a “traditional” post-MBA field.

While it sounds like a cliché, the Booth alumni network is everywhere and willing to help you out, and you could encounter alums in some random places.  For instance, I met Kurt Hanson, Class of 1980, in San Francisco at the SF Music Tech Summit  which is a conference for music tech startups. I had decided to fly to SF to make connections and learn about what’s going on in the industry, but I wasn’t expecting to meet any MBAs, let alone Booth alums.  Naturally, when I bumped into Kurt (by accident) at the cocktail networking session, we were both pleasantly surprised to meet someone from Booth at the event. Kurt was invited as a panelist as a veteran in the radio industry and the Founder / CEO of AccuRadio, an internet-radio start-up based in Chicago. We casually talked about Booth, our backgrounds and the conference, and the following week, Kurt invited me to visit his office in Chicago. We continued our discussion on the music tech industry over dinner.

After a couple of meetings, I asked if I could work for his company over the summer as an intern, and he was excited to have me on board. Like most start-up recruiting, there was no formal vetting or interview process. He talked about his company and his views of the industry and I expressed my strong interest in the business. I also identified a couple of areas in which I could help the company as an MBA intern. I will be working in a broad range of projects including revamping the company’s search engine marketing efforts, supporting fund raising efforts, and identifying international business opportunities. While the projects are varied, I am certain that the range of my summer experience will help my transition from banking into technology. I am very excited about the opportunity, as the company sits in the exact field I was pursuing, and I will have the autonomy to define my own projects and apply my classroom studies to my summer internship.

When it comes to networking, especially if you have a narrow target list, I think the most important thing is to be aggressive and seek out different venues, rather than relying solely on the on-campus recruiting process. My decision to fly out to San Francisco to attend a conference that fit my interest was what made the difference for me. I ended up meeting a potential mentor in the music tech industry and a Booth alum who was happy to help me out. Especially as a career switcher, having first-hand interaction with an insider helps you express your interest and make a case for yourself.

I am looking forward to my summer in Chicago, especially after going through four winters in Chicago! More importantly, I am excited to get great experiences and networking during my summer that will help me achieve my career goal of carving a niche position in the evolving music tech industry. 

“Sleep”? What’s That?? Two Days in My Life. Uncut.

Life at Booth can be busy, exciting, and inspiring all at once. This week on The Booth Experience, first-year student Matt Tracey does an excellent job of providing a glimpse into two of his action-packed days.

Dana
***

I’m often asked what business school is like. As a prospective student and applicant, I routinely asked this question... I wanted details! This post is my attempt to provide details. All of them. I give you an unfiltered look at two highly representative days I’ve enjoyed here as a first-year at Booth: one during Orientation in September and one during regular classes in November.

First, some very quick background about me. Born/raised in Colorado. College at Vassar in New York. Worked in public infrastructure finance in California for about 4 years prior to Booth. Love macroeconomics...and Booth is the epicenter of all things macro. Post-MBA career interest: macro investing.

Let’s begin with Friday, September 7, the third day of first-year-student Orientation (a day that would prove quite characteristic of the Orientation experience!).
6:45am: Alarm sounds. About time to go work out. Sit up in bed. Nope, on second thought, no way I’m going anywhere. Last night with Booth friends was...umm...late.
7:30am: Wake up for real. Shower, throw down some eggs, and pack into the Millennium Park Plaza elevator along with a host of other eager first-years en route to the 8:20am Metra train down to Hyde Park.
8:50am: Walk into Harper Center in awe of the building’s energy; as I move about the bustling mass of students in the Winter Garden I hear echoes of conversations ranging from how awesome the dining hall’s chicken sandwiches are to how stimulating Erik Hurst’s Macroeconomics class is. (Do I really go here? Do I deserve to be here? Unreal.)
9:00am: Become reacquainted with just how much business school costs (yikes!) during a helpful presentation on financial aid. (Don’t worry, by this point I’m already convinced that Booth is worth every last penny...and then some.)
10:00am: Faculty panel. Booth professors present on courses and concentrations. At this point, I’ve never been so pumped to be here. Can’t wait for classes to start. Booth rocks. Best faculty on earth. (And they’re more than researchers—they’re unbelievable teachers too. I was pleasantly stunned by Alan Bester’s introductory statistics course. My friends think my newfound love of regression is a bit creepy.)
12 Noon: Grab food at Harper Center...informal lunch with faculty in the Winter Garden. Between professors and classmates, I’ve never been in a room with so much brain power…ever. I’m realizing that there is a lot more here than mere brains, however. People are surprisingly open…they really “let you in”. I like.
1:45pm-4:00pm: Miscellaneous orientation activities (academic advising, Chicago public transit primer, down time for socializing). Reconnect with an Admit Weekend friend who was a fighter pilot prior to Booth (...the amazing range of backgrounds at Booth is both humbling and mesmerizing, all at once).
4:00pm: Walk to the train (Metra). Scramble home. Throw on swimsuit. Hop on bus. Head to North Avenue Beach for football and beach volleyball with classmates. Glorious day! Who knew Chicago has beaches like this?! Where am I...Miami??
6:15pm: Bus back to apartment. Shower, slam down a PB&J and a protein shake, and head out to pregame at a friend’s apartment...ultimately en route to one of the most memorable social events during Orientation...neon party! That’s me in the skinny pink tie (...no, I didn’t own the tie before the event...but on the contrary I must confess that the sailboat shorts were not an ad hoc purchase).

8:00pm: What happens at neon party stays at neon party. Come here and you’ll find out.
2:45am: Ibuprofen and then sleep...at last.

Once classes started in late September, the fun only intensified—but changed form a bit. Perhaps my day on Wednesday, November 28 will paint a picture for you.
6:30am: Wake up, turn on CNBC, make/eat breakfast (green smoothie, eggs, quinoa with chipotle salsa).
7:30am: Make final revisions to “macro investing” pitch to be presented to my peers in the Investment Management Group later in the morning. Spend 15 minutes updating myself on the EU’s latest efforts to resolve the ongoing Greek debt crisis.
8:30am: Shower. Suit up. Do some last-minute online prep for my 10am informational interview with an investment-management professional. (Thrilled that I’ve found so many alums to speak with about my niche interest, “macro investing”.)
9:50am: Leave apartment—running behind. Jog-walk down Michigan Ave and over to La Salle St. to meet a corporate contact for an informal talk about my career goals.
10:00am: Informational interview. Love how generous Booth alums are with their time and insights.
10:50am: Scramble to Millennium Station for the 11:15am train to Hyde Park. Read The Economist on train. (Here’s to hoping that the French relax their labor-market rigidities...).
11:40am: Arrive at Harper Center. Run quick errand to mail folder, then bolt to the Investment Management Group meeting. Deliver macro presentation and listen to peers’ “stock pitches” for an hour and a half or so. My peers’ sharpness challenges me routinely...in a very motivating and non-threatening way. They’re awesome.
1:30pm: Grab lunch. Salad bar today: Asian chicken, green peas, artichoke hearts, beets, mushrooms, lentil salad, a pineapple slice and two strawberries (...no, that doesn’t all come in one premade dish; I’m weird).
1:50pm: Read my case assignment for Competitive Strategy (Nintendo). Interesting read. I have a ton of thoughts, but—if history is any guide—I know my thinking will be revolutionized come Friday’s class discussion...amazing things happen when you put about 60 tremendously insightful people in a room together and say “Go”.
4:30pm: Meet with Microeconomics study group (4 others) in Harper Center to work on our final paper; topic: U.S. labor-market dynamics.
5:30pm: Walk down the hall to listen to a Booth-sponsored talk on the current state of the economy, given by Raghuram Rajan (a Booth economics legend). Seems like every other day there’s a free talk featuring a prominent Booth thought-leader. We are so, so spoiled.
6:30pm: Work for another hour or so on group Microeconomics paper; group then parts ways. I’m actually momentarily caught up on schoolwork (keyword = momentarily), so I head off to Booth Wine Club tasting event.
7:30pm: Attend wine-tasting event in the downtown area. Awesome wines and cheeses, but sure to kill my productivity for the night.
9:30pm: Head home. Call my sisters for a quick hello on the way. Upon arrival at my apartment building, stop by a friend’s place for a 15-minute chat.
10:15pm: Catch up on emails (there are many, per the usual deluge). Read The Wall Street Journal until my brain no longer functions, then turn on Sportscenter for a few minutes before I become too useless even to follow the TV. Sleep.
2:15am: Pop out of bed, startled, as somehow I’ve miraculously remembered that I’d forgotten to respond to a time-sensitive, job-related email. (If it’s not one thing, it’s surely another!)

There you have it. The average day is about this packed with stuff. I’m always flying around doing something—but life is a very, very, very good, interesting, enlightening, and energizing type of “busy”. In fact, I’ve never been happier to be so busy. With three months in the books, I’ve realized not only how right I was about all the great things I came to believe about Booth during the application phase but also just how much richness exists here that cannot be conveyed and must, instead, be experienced firsthand. I realize, in writing this post, that there really isn’t anything about my life here that I don’t like. Occasionally I have trouble sleeping at night because I am so excited to get up and get going the next morning; other times, I’m so exhausted that I fall asleep in seconds.

Wishing you all happy holidays,
Matt Tracey