The MBA West Coast Networking Club Presents: The West Coast Trek
*Hey readers, my name is Winston Jones. I’m a 2nd year MBA student and I will be starting a weekly blog series of cool events and happenings around the Questrom community. The first one up is a brief interview about the West Coast Trek – one of the cooler events in the MBA program. I interviewed fellow 2nd year MBA student and the President of the West Coast Networking Club, Jason Marmillion, about the event.*
1. Can you briefly describe this year’s West Coast Trek?
The West Coast Trek is a student-led trek to the San Francisco Bay Area. We visit companies to learn more about their unique cultures and to try to get a sense of what it’s like to live and work in the area. It’s also an opportunity for trek members to make connections with business people, BU alumni, and local MBA students, as well as build stronger relationships with the other BU students that attend.
2. What companies did the group visit during the trek?
Netflix, Amazon 126 Labs, Pandora, IDEO, DJI, Google, San Francisco 49ers, Founder’s Institute, Plug and Play, Autodesk, Zynga, CBS Interactive
3. What career opportunities were available for students?
By interacting with companies, students were able to explore internships and job opportunities more intimately and make direct connections with hiring managers at companies. On the other side, the expansive BU network in the Bay Area also provided helpful contacts for students pursuing employment.
4. What do future students have to do to get involved and/or go on next year’s trek?
We’re currently evaluating leadership candidates. As a student-led trip, this team will have complete control over all aspects of the trek. If you’re interested in attending the trek next year, I’d highly recommend getting involved in leadership. It’s an extremely rewarding experience and provides opportunities to develop strong connections with hosting companies and alumni.
5. Any additional thoughts or insights?
Club leadership has been an extremely rewarding experience for me. It’s been an opportunity to apply lessons from class to real-world problems, and also to grow as a project manager, negotiator, and motivator of people. Everyone going to business school should have some sort of extra-curricular activity that they’re deeply involved in, whether it’s a job, club, charity, start-up, etc. My advice to next year’s class would be to pick something that they’re passionate about, that they’ll go the extra mile for and deliver real impact.
If you are interested in the West Coast Networking Club, please visit the club’s website and join he group on Facebook