World Sojourner : 3760

Time moves fast.

Sometimes too fast to update ones blog – especially if they are in the woods of France for an entire weekend. A) I couldn’t find an Internet connection B) French keyboards are, well, a challenge to us English speakers

Thanks Angie for the kind words on my last post. I spoke with the professor and now understand what happened. All is well. I have a rematch with the class in about two weeks anyway.

Last weekend (2 days ago) was the MBAT tournament at HEC. Various schools from around Europe and the UK gather together to compete in sports and drinking games. This year’s additional challenge was the hunt for food competition.

More on MBAT over at European MBA Diary

The rest of the post should be read with the opening from AD/DC’s Thunderstruck:
(Rah-rah-rah-rah-rah!)
(Rah-rah-rah-rah-rah!)
(Rah-rah-rah-rah-rah!)
(Rah-rah-rah-rah-rah!)
(Rah-rah-rah-rah-rah!)
(Rah-rah-rah-rah-rah!)
(Rah-rah-rah-rah-rah, Lon-don!)
(Rah-rah-rah-rah-rah, Lon-don!)
(Rah-rah-rah-rah-rah, Lon-don!)
(Rah-rah-rah-rah-rah, Lon-don!)
(Rah-rah-rah-rah-rah, Lon-don!)
(Rah-rah-rah-rah-rah, Lon-don!)
(Rah-rah-rah-rah-rah!) Lon-don!
(Lon-don!)
Lon-don!
(Lon-don!)

I was caught,
In the middle of a railroad track! (Lon-don!)
I looked ’round,
And I knew there was no turnin’ back! (Lon-don!)
My mind raced,
And I thought, “What could I do?” (Lon-don!)
And I knew,
There was no help, no help from you! (Lon-don!)

Sound of the drums…
Beatin’ in my heart!
The thunder of guns, yeah…
Tore me apart!

You’ve been… thunderstruck!

(why the dash – in the song, we needed both syllables, Lon …. don …)

It was a great time. Our big rivals in the tournament is IESE. Hell, I’d never heard of this school until arriving at LBS but by the end of the weekend they were to the bad guys; we the good guys (but of course!). IESE brings about the same participants; has some good chants and are worthy opponents.

They held the cup until this year. We now have the MBAT cup; and Torro (they’re little stuffed Bull) who will be branded before being returned next year.

Our basketball team won the tournament. We never trailed. By the final, we were feared bringing a rugby-esk approach to man-defense not seen since the late 80s Detroit Pistons. Only one player thrown out; and I only got one technical for jawing about officiating.

The London Business School organisers did a great job – the Big Red Bus was there (Double Decker driven from London) and was filled with beer, booze and other trophies. A couple sundowners and victories later, we boarded the Eurostar and returned to campus. Most of us have lost our voice but did have a great weekend.

Bring on 2007 and defending the cup!

(Rah-rah-rah-rah-rah!)
(Rah-rah-rah-rah-rah!)
(Rah-rah-rah-rah-rah!)
(Rah-rah-rah-rah-rah!)
(Rah-rah-rah-rah-rah!)
(Rah-rah-rah-rah-rah!)
(Rah-rah-rah-rah-rah, Lon-don!)

One of the most important things I heard during induction last year is that business school is an emotional roller coaster. One day fantastic highs and the next the most severe lows.

Today, is one of those low days. After having studied for a test for quite a long time and having thought I did really well, turns out I did not. It wasn’t the low score but the complete shock of receiving it because I expected better.

Such is life I guess. One never knows the next steps or when a fantastic high will come or when something bad will happen. Newbies – be aware. The journey from the beginning to the end will most certainly never be in a straight line. Let’s just hope its more highs than lows.

Quite a weekend in the capital city for current and future London Business School students. The current student body are working on tests, papers and assignments. For instance, this blog post is an excellent way for me to procrastinate on a marketing research take home exam and economics paper both due on Tuesday. Well, it’s not due on Tuesday but for reasons I’ll outline it has to be done by then.

The campus is pretty frantic right now because around 275 people will be boarding the Eurostar this Thursday bound for Paris. The HEC MBAT tournament is being held next weekend. MBAT,this is all conjecturer since I’ve never attended, is a three day ‘Olympics’ style competition for MBA programmes in Europe (elsewhere?). Students and recruits, will compete in sports such as rugby, basketball, soccer, chess and, of course, drinking.

We 2007s have heard good things from the 2006s concerning MBAT. Since hearing ‘good things’ from that class is sometimes rare, it’s safe to assume MBAT rocks.

The challenge is getting all the farking assignments done prior to leaving. So that covers the past, but wait there’s more … the future arrived on campus on Friday as well. Yes, the 2008s have arrived for Open Weekend. Alissa and I are hosting a future student so I attended the welcome dinner on Friday.

The night was very good. I got to meet Angel Angie and Wheels (just in passing), as well as, numerous other 08s. To be honest, it was refreshing to hear their conversations, their questions and their eagerness for the programme. For me, the weeks go by so quickly with the various assignments and responsibilities that it’s hard to step back and really appreciate the entire experience.

And, the MBA to date has been a wonderful and overwhelming and extreme experience. Word on the street is that this class has a lot of the characteristics of our 2007 class. Energetic, eager and enthusiastic. Very good.

The process of passing the torch has begun. A graduating class handing over to the second years (that’s us), while a new group of students anxiously await their chance. Our responsibilities as students will once again change and we must be ready to address and conquer new challenges because progress requires it, even though, it may bring on a big of nostalgia once in a while.

The Anatomy of a Search Engine

I’m working on an Information Management presentation on new search engines and came across this paper. In deed, the start of a revolution.