The MBA Student Voice

First Club Trip: A Visit to Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES)

 About two weeks ago I went on my first Anderson-related trip. The Hight Tech Business Association (HTBA) organized a group to visit the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. It was an opportunity for HTBA'ers to see first hand many of the exciting new products that will either be available in the market within the near future or prototypes of products that are still years away from being commercially produced. 

(The group consisted of mostly 1st and 2nd year full-time MBA students, but a few FEMBA's were along for the fun as well.)

As students, we had free access to CES, but were only able to enter on the last day of the expo. This prevented us from attending any speaker sessions, but granted us free reign to visit as many exhibits as possible without distraction. 

(One of the major benefits of being a student - free access to tons of events.)

The main convention hall featured mostly TV's, audio, computers, cell phones, and similar types of products; the north hall was primarily automotive technology and accessories; and the south hall had a variety of items, including fitness technology. 

Here's a series of photos of products that impressed me or I thought were interesting to see: 

OLED TV - graphics were incredible! Easily the best image colors I saw. 

Dual layer screen TV - two screens are laid on top of each other, and by wearing glasses, you can see one image or another on the screen. Much better than split screens or Picture in Picture!

Here's another shot of a dual layer screen - you can see the two different programs mixed together, as it appears to someone without glasses on. 

Fitbit's product environment was impressive - having a scale and fitness device linked to each other provides a wealth of data that can be analyzed for trends.  

A lot of people might not purchase a Hapifork (vibrates if you have less than 10 seconds between bites), but it's fascinating to see the areas that fitness technology is expanding into. 

Audi has easily the coolest looking car at the expo. 

According to Behringer, the world's biggest boombox! I heard them put it on level 40 (out of 100), and it was a very impressive amount of sound produced. Too bad I can't carry it on my shoulder like a true boombox. 

One of the few booths with give aways was Wicked Audio. You could either play Rock, Paper, Scissors or High Card, and if you won best two out of three, you got a free set of head phones. Out of the five of us who went through the line together, three won and two lost. Not bad!

(Group shot of room 30-725 getting ready for a night out.)

Last but not least - the weekend wasn't only about technology. The HTBA organized two outings to clubs (Tao and Tryst) and a group brunch at the Wicked Spoon. It was a fantastic weekend that allowed us to indulge our interests in technology and get to know each other better while having fun in Vegas. 

Next up for trips - heading to Boston at the end of February for the Sloan Sports Conference!

Until next time, 

~Kyle Forrest, follow on Twitter and follow UCLAMBA 

Real case. Real client. Real impact. The Eighth Annual Net Impact Consulting Challenge!

Last Wednesday, the UCLA Anderson chapter of Net Impact held the kickoff for its Eighth Annual Net Impact Consulting Challenge (NICC). NICC offers students the opportunity to assist local nonprofits and for-profit social ventures with current strategic challenges across various areas, such as marketing, finance, operations, and leadership. The students work with their assigned organizations for a period of two and a half weeks, and the competition culminates in a presentation on Sunday, January 27th, when all teams will present their strategic recommendations and compete for a cash prize. 

In an effort to bring together students of various disciplines and levels of expertise, NICC is open to FEMBA and EMBA students, as well as graduate students outside the business school. Students compete in teams of four to six, and this year there are a total of 17 teams and 86 students. The participating organizations were selected through a competitive application process, and are dedicated to causes that include education, poverty, domestic violence, healthcare, and environmental issues. In past years, NICC had been restricted to nonprofit organizations, but the application process this year opened up to for-profit organizations with a social mission, reflective of a growing interest in this business model. 

Over the past eight years, NICC has brought together 190 students and impacted over 60 local organizations.  During the kickoff event, guest speaker and Anderson alumna Gayle Northrop noted that across the years, interest in the nonprofit world has grown at Anderson from just a few students to a sizeable group of individuals with varying interests and aspirations.  

I'm also participating in NICC, and my team and I were fortunate enough to get placed with the Alexandria House, a non-profit organization that empowers women and children who are victims of domestic violence and human trafficking by providing them with access to transitional housing, a support network, and medical and career services, ultimately preparing them to lead happy, fulfilling lives. We met with our clients at the kickoff event to discuss the strategic challenge at hand and outline our plan of action for the  next few weeks. We feel honored to have the opportunity to work with such passionate, dedicated individuals, and are so very excited to compete in this challenge and help Alexandria House to reach its goals! I urge you to check out Alexandria House's website and learn more about how it helps to make L.A. a better place: http://www.alexandriahouse.org

Stay tuned for my next post later this month to find out who wins NICC!

Time flies? A recap of a quarter well spent

So I um… haven’t been the best blogger last quarter which is bad but at least demonstrates that I’m constantly busy with so many amazing activities within Anderson that it has slipped my mind at times. Keeping up with this will be a good New Year’s resolution.

Looking back on the fall quarter which flew by so fast there are so many standout moments that they all seem like a blur. Amongst the highlights were the Automobile Business Association trip to Vegas, the Breckenridge ski trip, and celebrating the end of exams in mid-December under the sun.

Breckenridge ski trip

As I have previously written, we all come in to business school with our own apprehensions and anticipations so allow me to share some of the insights from the first quarter that have surpassed my already high expectations.

The student body and culture of Anderson is constantly cited as one of the main draws to the school and so it was for me but I cannot emphasize enough how amazing this has turned out to be. I am constantly surrounded by friends and more importantly good people. This has been true at every turn and I’m constantly surprised by my classmates.

Weekend escape to Mexico with my amazing classmates

The opportunities – especially in entrepreneurship – have been unreal. The entrepreneurial career path I’m following is a daunting one where I’m supposed to kind of pave my own way, there’s no traditional recruiting and this can be very tough when everyone around is receiving job offers from top companies. The Entrepreneurship Association and the Price center have been incredible at easing me into the entrepreneurial mindset and process. From organized events to introductions and immersion within the LA startup scene it’s been brilliant and was a major factor in me currently interning at MuckerLab and helping one of their startups with business development.

Finally, I’ve been really impressed by the level of the professors. Not only do a lot of them have real industry experience but they are also excellent lecturers and seem to have a true vested interest in student success. They are constantly accessible, incredibly knowledgeable and genuinely very nice people.

As this winter quarter is kicking off in the sun (obviously) I can’t wait to see what the next few months hold for me.

-Chris Varin, 14'

Follow UCLA on Twitter @UCLAMBA

Glad to Be Back! Winter Quarter at Anderson Begins...

Whew, made it through the first quarter! After four straight finals that required me to know...

Assets = Liability + Equities (Accounting)

That the Firm is at the center of everything (Economics)

The First Day of Winter Quarter...what lies ahead?

Hi Dear Readers,

Now we Anderson students are heading back for our first day of classes today! Many of you potential applicants have reached out with questions about what life at Anderson life is like. The answer is generally... fantastic! But to go into more depth as the semester continues, we will keep you posted on

    -recruiting: applications, resume drops and interviews are in full swing in Winter Quarter now

    -classes: now we are through our first quarter (whew! we made it!) each of us is taking Operations and Communication in our sections, as well as either finance or marketing and electives

    -social events: Anderson will be attending the MBA Vegas Poker tournament in January on MLK weekend, Anderson Afternoons formerly known as Beer Bust will resume every Thursday afternoon, we have been planning paintballing, visiting theme parks, skiing, surfing and more!

    -charity work: Anderson is soon participating in Chalenge 4 Charity, and we are already making headway raising money and volunteering for Junior Acheivement and the speacial Olympics

    -And more! We wouldn't be MBA students if we didn't try to do it all... and a little more.

Stay tuned for more news from Winter Quarter.

xoxo from Anderson,

Ashley

@AshleyMal, Ashley Mallinson, UCLA Anderson MBA 2014 Candidate and cheese enthusiast