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KPMG Crack the Case Competition

One of my goals this year was to step out of my comfort zone and participate in things people wait a few years in university before doing. Last weekend, KPMG and the Case Competition Club hosted a competition for first year’s and second year’s. My team (three first-year’s) got to KPMG’s downtown office tower bright and early on Saturday morning. We had some breakfast and got a tour of their humongous multi-floored office.  After we were given a conference room with an awesomely huge whiteboard that covered an entire wall, we started on the “cracking” the case.

Basically we had three hours to plow through, in this case, a 15-page long case on a company, identify the major problems it faces (such as corporate culture, organizational structure, global expansion, demographic shifts etc. etc.), come up with solutions/implementations/risks, and create a powerpoint presentation. Then we had to do a 15 minute presentation to KPMG judges as well as endure an intense Q&A period.

You’re probably thinking at this point, what the heck, people do this for FUN?! Shush, we’re commerce-majors, we powerpoint and party like there’s no tomorrow.

Before I even get to the presentation, I have to say that the prep part was absolutely NERVESWRECKING. Three hours may seem like a lot of time, but 1/3 of that was just reading the case. It didn’t help that the case was about an international wine distributor, which was a completely foreign topic to us underage kids XD. Don’t get me started on oddity that is wine names (Banrock Station and Kelly’s Revenge anyone? Yep they’re wine brands)! However, it is rather amazing how efficient we were working under stress. We soon had filled up the entire 2m x 4m white board with diagrams, flowcharts, maps, and mock ppt slides. It then occured to us in our self-congratulatory euphoria that we had about 30 minutes to synthesize everything that was on the board into a professional-looking presentation and come up with intelligent-sounding things to say. Somewhere along the way we lost track of time and was reminded that there was OMG 5 MINUTES LEFT when we thought we had at least fifteen.

I was responsible for the powerpoint. Wow, I have never finished one so fast in our life.

The presentation room is set up like a classroom – a projector screen at the front with a table, some walking room, and a few rows of tables facing forward. We walked in in our business suits, shook hands with the four judges, and cued up the powerpoint.

The good

  • The group member in charge of the introduction wrote it out and memorized it, making us seem very relaxed and confident at the beginning =D
  • No PPT crashes, font was legible, template was a nice blue
  • Everyone generally knew what they were talking about
  • Perfect for the time limit

The bad

  • I said a lot of “um….”s which I wasn’t even aware of; now I am haha
  • The PPT seemed really bare
  • Our solutions may have been too drastic for the company’s liking
  • Didn’t have a chance to answer one of the judge’s questions – time was up, maybe this should go under Good?

The ugly (hey Im honest!)

  • Total dead air at one point because of the extensive amount of abbreviations/short hands on the PPT resulted in lack of comprehensibility

Congratulations to Uvini and al. who won, and two year 1s who got honourable mention! We had lunch after the presentation (gotta love competition food!) and mingled a little with the judges. Was the almost-reaching-stress-breaking-point worth it? Only time will tell =D In the mean time, Crack the Case was just a little taste of the business world to come.

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Campus Events Forecast #2

First things first dear readers. I have a favour to ask that will take exactly one minute of your time. I’ve joined the UBC Votermedia Blog Awards with this blog under a new name – UBC Years (a continuation of IB Years I guess haha). You can show your love for this blog (you know it =P) by voting for me. The instructions are explained on the site, here’s a simplified version.

  1. Any UBC student can vote, sign in to CWL and enroll for the VoterMedia “course” on Vista 
  2. Click Begin Assessment, then pick how $200 should be distributed among the participants (if you really looooove UBC Years, then put 200/0/0/0/0 etc. or 150/10/10/10 etc. It doesn’t have to total $200)
  3. Click submit! Repeat in a week =D

Thank you!

Thank-a-thon [Facebook link]

Description in ten words or less: call sponsors/donors, thank them, make a difference!

My two cents: for one reason or another, volunteer often gets pushed to second (or third) place after high school. After all, why bothere when there are no more graduation requirements and no university supplemental essays to fill?! I think the whole deal with volunteer hours in HS defeats the whole purpose of “volunteering”! Why is it called volunteer if you’re forced to do it? Thank-a-thon is just one of several volunteer outings that CCP is organizing this year. Show that you really care by coming out =D

Food: light refreshment

Other info: November 13th and November 24th, 5:15-8:30 PM, Covenant House at 575 Drake Street, email volunteer.ccp@gmail.com to get on the list

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10 Things to Do for a Networking Event

The title should actually be “10 Things to Do Before, At, and After a Networking Event” but that’s way too many prepositions for today.

Last week I attended International Business Club’s World Cities Night (WCN) event. It’s essentially a networking dinner with a focus on business professionals who have had experience working abroad.  The dinner ran from 6 – 9 PM but due to my somewhat insane schedule, I showed up at 7:30, regrettably missing the three keynote speakers and much of dinner.

BEFORE THE EVENT

1. Find out the dress code. Confirm the dress code. Link Google pictures in regards to the dress code to make up for the low channel richness in email communication (start counting how many OB terms I throw out there today haha). There’s nothing worse than showing up in jeans and a tee-shirt when everyone else is in evening gowns (not the case at WCN but you get my point). Of course, you’ll always have a handful of people in suits when the dress code clearly calls for “business casual” *cough JohnnyandJason *cough*, though overdressing is better than the alternative I suppose. I wore a short-sleeve black striped blazer over a cami, black suit skirt w/ subtle florals, and black pumps.

2. Print those business cards! When a few second and third year Sauder students asked me whether I wanted to order business cards, I responded “Why?!” in bewilderment. I had no one to give them to. And frankly as much as my parents love me, they’re more appreciative of the colour of autumn leaves than the fact that I’m a marketing coordinator or a first year rep. However, when a lawyer with whom I struck up a lovely conversation gave me his business card, I REALLY wished there was a better way of validating myself than saying “I’m Phoebe, first year commerce student” repeatedly.

3. Make sure your blazer/top/pants/skirt has a pocket for business cards. So after getting the card, I realized I had no where to put it at the dinner table! Leaving it by my plate would be rather disrespectful, and holding it in my hand would prevent me from using hand gestures! Ah woe is me.  Lesson learned.

DURING THE EVENT

4. Pay attention to the keynote speakers (duh?). There’s a reason they’re invited. Hold on to their words. Formulate questions. Note down interesting points to bring up later at dinner. Not only will you avoid the awkward silence when seated to someone who has obvious superior intellect and greater range of life experiences, it will also make you seem more knowledgeable and passionate about the field.

5. If you see a business professional standing by him/herself, seize the opportunity to go over and introduce yourself! Yes, this is terrifying and intimidating, but seriously, what’s the worst that can happen? They come to events like WCN because they care about students and want to share some life experiences. Give them the chance to do that.  There’s a bit of a thrill in getting to know new people =D

6. Strategize, strategize, strategize. WCN was set up so that there was one or two business person and 5 – 10 students at each table. Having been severely disadvantaged by missing the keynote presentations, I decided that I would seem like a clueless kid (and I was) if I sat down at any table with speakers.In the end I sat down at a table of five, opposite of the business professional who was having an one-on-on conversation with the girl next to him. However, his career choice and experiences really perked my interest and I had a whole bunch of questions for him. So as people left the table, I just kept moving one seat over until I got the chance to ask my questions. Time flew by really fast and by the time we finished our dinner, we were the only two people at the table! Since this was my first networking event, I was amazed by how easily conversation flowed and how helpful the professionals were.

7. Show interest by talking about yourself, but LISTEN for at least 60% of the time. Dinner time conversation is neither like listening to a professor’s lecture nor presenting yourself as if you’re being interviewed. It’s an interactive process!

8. Avoid certain topics. Old rules that governed women’s dinner conversation state that one should never talk about four things: money, sex, religion, and politics. Of course, now time has changed. Based on personal preference, I don’t like talking to people I just met about the above four things. I mean, if you’re at a politics convention, then by all means rave about Obama or rant against Prop 8!  Another way to approach the topic at WCN would have been, “Do regional politics and different cultural values influence how you approach your career in other parts of the world?” Thoughts regarding this point are much appreciated =D

9. Skip the messy desert!!! Because dripping ice cream on yourself or sending pieces of a tart fly in all directions is oh-so-embarrassing (this hasn’t happened to me… yet).

AFTER THE EVENT

10. Send an acknowledgment note/email. Now most websites on networking tell you to do this. I still have my hesitations. I procrastinated on composing the email to the people who gave me business cards and now I’m past the week-long time frame. Maybe next time then =|

Any more tips? Post below! Feedback appreciated =D

(Image source)

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Campus Events Forecast #1

If you walk around Henry Angus or any building on campus for that matter, you’ll most likely be bombarded with a huge load of promotional materials. Something’s always happening. Someone’s always talking. Something’s always selling. The way I see it, most students only really want three things: a picture, a short blurb, and whether not not there will be food. So that’s what I’ll give ya! Here are two events taking place in the next little while that are especially worth mentioning.

World Cities Night [Facebook link]

Description in ten words or less: networking dinner with professionals who work internationally / with global clients

Food: Dinner provided, will be sitting with business people and other students in small group settings

My two cents: “Disappointment” is a NOT a word that’s in the vocabulary of International Business Club, the organization that’s putting on this event. By [blog] press deadline, there have been already 70 registered attendees, not even including the corporate people! I for one have always wondered what “international business” was exactly (all I knew was that the acronym IB used to stand for International Baccalaureate *shudder*), so this is the perfect opportunity to find out. It’s not an intense recruitment session, yet it’s a good eye-opener for first year Sauderites and students in other faculty interested in working/travelling to other parts of the world.

Other info: Oct 29 6-9pm, Koerner Ballroom, $10, dress code is business casual

International Business Conference [Facebook link]

Description in ten words or less: full day conference about global resources, includes speakers & networking session

Food: Breakfast included, three course lunch included, wine and cheese reception for the first 150 ticket buyers

My two cents: In the business world, we usually judge a book by its cover because more often than not, the packaging is a direct reflection of the quality underneath. Not only did IBC do an amazing job with promotional work (psst, fantastic video this way), it also has a well-organized and fully-packed conference day as well as several post/pre-events for the delegates. What better time to get a fresh perspective on resources in our integrated economy?

Other info: Nov 14 8:30am – 5pm (or later for reception), Sheraton Vancouver, $35+, dress code is business casual

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You can find me dashing halfway into both events!! If I’m ushering at either of them, do show up because this is probably the only time you’ll find ME serving food to YOU.

In other news, did anyone notice HALLOWEEN SLOWLY CREEPING UP ON US?! Photos coming soon =D

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