2011 Reaching Out LGBT MBA Conference
Post By: 
Scott Kanach
MBA Candidate, 2012
This year, several members of Cohort Q, the Graduate School of Management’s LGBT student organization, were fortunate enough to travel down to Dallas for the Reaching Out MBA Conference. The conference, otherwise known as ROMBA, is an annual event for LGBT graduate business students and features guest speakers, workshops, panel discussion, and most importantly a career exposition.
My thoughts prior to registering were that there wouldn’t be many companies attending, it would be unorganized, and possibly a waste of time and money. With regards to the career fair, I assumed there would be maybe one or two recruiters per company being swarmed by hundreds of MBA students. I started talking to people who had attended in the past, and did a little digging on the ROMBA website, and I realized my assumptions were completely off. There were likely 1,000 – 1,500 students, over 100 companies, and over 500 recruiters. There was not a single recruiter who was not 100% approachable during the career fair or at any point in time over the weekend
The event was also extremely well organized, from meals to workshops to speakers. Some of the individuals we heard from were Fort Worth Councilman Joel Burns, from the YouTube viral video, Howard Bragman, the Founder of Fifteen Minutes, and Joe Solmonese, the President of the Human Rights Campaign. In addition to this, the recruiters and employees from some of the top companies were featured as panelists throughout the many workshops offered.
Next year, the conference is in Boston and we can’t stress enough what an opportunity this is for the LGBT GSM community. Not to mention, it is a complete blast of a weekend. If this blog post wasn’t enough to get you involved next year, below are some quotes right from some of the students who attended. Lastly, feel free to reach out to any of us with any questions!
“The Reaching Out MBA conference was fantastic. I am SO happy I went. The speakers were great and I was able to make some good connections with recruiters as well as other students. Next year the conference is in Boston and I would DEFINITELY encourage both first and second year students to go. The companies were top tier (Google, Amazon, Apple, eBay, etc) and I don't think I waited more than 5 minutes to talk to anyone. It was definitely a good experience.” -Cassie Kern, MS-MBA Candidate 2012
"The conference was an opportunity for me to talk with companies I wouldn't normally have the opportunity to speak with through BU. They simply do not recruit here. However, they attend the conferences specifically looking to hire and will often interview on the spot. I was fortunate enough to land several interviews with my top choice companies, an opportunity I wouldn't have had otherwise. The conference is also rather small in comparison to the other diversity events. I was able to walk up to any recruiter at any point in the conference and start up a conversation... let that be during meals, career development sessions, recruiting events, or even just at the hotel bar or in the elevator. This opportunity alone made the price of attendance worth it."
Advice for first years:
"There are a lot of internships at this event. Do not think this event is only for second years looking for fulltime, because it's not. I wish I had known about this during my first year." -Scott Kanach, MBA Candidate 2012
“This was my first time going and was very glad I did. Virtually every company was approachable. I walked away with a few interviews, great contacts, and hopefully a new friend or two. Besides line dancing (this was Dallas after all) the highlight of my trip was spending a few hours at the McKinsey office consulting for a local non-profit. As the President of Cohort Q (GSM's LGBT organization) I was definitely excited that such a large percentage of the "out" students chose to attend. I will make sure that next year's leadership knows how important this conference is.” -Jonathan Stone, MS-MBA Candidate 2012
From China to Boston-An International MBA Student Perspective
Post by:
Kira Sargatzke
International MBA 2012
Hello everyone! I am very excited, because this is my first blog. My name is Kira and I am part of the One-Year International MBA Program here at Boston University. Now autumn has finally arrived in Boston and with it, a lot of work (midterms, group projects, etc.). It’s almost like our summer semester in China. As you may know, the IMBA program starts with a three month summer term in China.
Beginning on May 1st, we spent our first month in Beijing before moving to Shanghai for June and July. Since I had never been in China before, both cities were fascinating in their own way. Beijing is so rich in culture, that it is definitely a must-see on every China trip. If it is the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, the Art District or the Chinese Wall, everything was worth seeing it.
Shanghai, on the other hand, is totally different. It is the commercial center of China, sort of like New York is the commercial center of the US, and very modern. If it’s the different cultural districts, the amazing restaurants, the nightlife or the shopping areas, Shanghai has a lot to offer to enjoy your stay there.
But besides all these nice leisure activities, the classes kept us very busy. All classes in China are core classes of the IMBA program which means they are required for graduation. While classes in Beijing already required a lot of work, the part in Shanghai was even more challenging. Classes are taught as intensives, which made it a little easier, because you just have to focus on one class at a time. However, at the same time, we worked on our integrated project concerning a business start-up in China which increased the workload a bit more.
Nevertheless, the three months in China just flew by and now we are all in Boston. Starting with the pre-term in mid-August, classes are now already half way done. However, after having studied and lived with all of my 26 IMBA classmates for three months in Beijing and Shanghai, Boston is very different. Now we have different classes, live in different areas of Boston and probably also have different worries than in China. But with all the activities offered by BU (student clubs, cohort cup, cheers with professors) I am really enjoying my time here in Boston. Since graduation is in May, time to explore BU and Boston is very limited. So, we better get started now!
A First Year MBA’s Reflection on Approaching the Midpoint of Fall 2011
Post By:
MBA Candidate, 2013
Summer in Chi-town
Shawn Hay
MBA Candidate, 2012
I have never written a blog before, so here goes nothing! It is great to be back in Boston, especially back at SMG. I am finally in student mode again, and in the zone for job searching and prepping for those dreaded cold calls from professors!
This summer was an eye opening experience, not only for my personal growth, but also for my business confidence. I spent the summer working my internship at AT&T in Chicago, Illinois. I was a part of their Leadership Development Program, and was specifically assigned to work in their Core Installation and Maintenance department (CIM). Going in to the program I expected to spend the summer learning about all the adjacent departments that CIM worked with, networking with executives, and generally learning the feel and structure of the company. Although all of these things happened, I also got a chance to really flex my newly acquired business skills in a real life scenario!
My project was a process flow/data analysis focused assignment where I examined the best way for managers to tackle performance metrics of technicians. Basically, I needed to find a quick and easy way for managers to see where areas of improvement were, and standardize it across the hundreds of garages throughout the Illinois area. I was so thankful I had taken stats, operations, and organizational behavior! Walking in to the project, I could see that the problem was so disorganized that the company did not really know where to start. My managers were pleasantly surprised by how quickly I could absorb the data and use it to tell the story of where the problem was. Little did they know that that was a standard problem we faced repeatedly in our stats class (Thanks Prof. Pekoz!). The rest of the project was using basic DMAIC problem solving practices to set up a solution to the problem, which was also easy after taking Operations, and applying concepts from OB to get the technicians and managers to understand how they could benefit from my proposed method. All of this was really great because this was my first stab at a consulting type of job, and I was really nervous about my ability to handle consulting type projects. But, I was beyond prepared for this project thanks to BU! My confidence in my analytic skills was soaring by the end of the summer, giving me just the extra I needed to proceed in finding myself a full-time job.
Although this is a business school blog, it is perfectly acceptable to have fun during your internship too so let’s talk about it! I loved being in Chicago (for the summer, I think the winters would kill me. I am a southern Californian!).
The leadership program held a few events, including a rooftop bleacher day for the Cubs game! Wrigley is an amazing stadium and the atmosphere is something everyone should experience!
Outside of that, I got to explore Chicago, the suburbs, and a little of Wisconsin for the 4th of July weekend! Another great perk of being in Chicago for the Summer is Lollapalooza (a huge 3 day music festival). This was right in the middle of downtown Chicago at Grant Park. I have never seen so many people in one place before!
Another first I got to check off my list was working in a high rise building. Our cafeteria was on the 30th floor! That was so fun for me!
The biggest things I am going to miss about being in Chicago are the beach scene (which is surprisingly awesome!) and Ian’s pizza! Go to Ian’s pizza…I am not going to tell you anything about it, just go!
Math Finance 10 Year Celebration!
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The leaves are beginning to change color - a subtle reminder that the semester is flying by. Not only has this semester gone by in a blink of an eye, but the MSMF program is quietly aging as well. This weekend the MSMF program celebrated its tenth anniversary in grand fashion. The celebration included three keynote speakers, Harry Markopolos of “Chasing Bernie Madoff,” David Ye, Chief Risk Officer for State Street Global Markets, and Mark Kritzman, President and Chief Investment Officer of Windham Capital Management. The celebration also included an alumni career panel featuring graduates from the program. The celebration was open to all current students in the School of Management as well as all BU alumni. The day was a great opportunity for me and my classmates to speak with previous graduates of the program; learn from their varied experiences; and hear inspiring advice regarding the program and their career paths.
The first speaker was Harry Markopolos, an Independent Financial Fraud Investigator and Bernie Madoff whistleblower. Harry worked in industry for some time before being victimized by financial fraud. After witnessing many instances of financial fraud, he decided to take action and put a stop to as much fraud as he could. Harry is now a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and handles many large scale fraud cases. The biggest case, the Bernie Madoff case, took 8 ½ years. The details of the case can be read in No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller by Harry Markopolos.
The second speaker was David Ye, the Chief Risk Officer for State Street Global Markets. He started his career in mathematics. He received his PhD from Duke University in 1991 and he began teaching. One day he received a call from a local bank requesting his assistance. After they described the problem, he realized the intricacy of finance and that he was very interested in applying his knowledge in mathematics to finance. David has worked primarily as a Risk Officer throughout his career and lectured about the importance of risk management and the utility of understanding the market.
The final speaker was Mark Kritzman, President and Chief Investment Officer of Windham Capital Management. Mark’s lecture was on measuring systemic risk, a topic which has grown more and more important since the financial crisis of 2008. In short, Mark would use the results of his analysis to determine an optimized ratio of stocks to bonds in a portfolio.
The 10 year anniversary celebration was an important milestone for the MSMF program and we had a great time celebrating with alumni and our wonderful presenters! Here’s to the next ten years.