Prof. Cadman-He Makes Accounting Fun! No, that's Impossible

Easily the most impressive thing about the DESB MBA program so far for me has been the quality of the professors. They may be quirky. They may be a pain. But they’re all really bright. And I’ve learned a ton from them. So I think I’ll tell you a little about them as I go along.

We’re going to start with Brian Cadman, my Managerial Accounting professor, for four reasons. One, I spent all day yesterday studying for his final, two, I’m planning to spend most of today studying for his final, three, I missed an MC Hammer/Vanilla Ice show to study for his final and, four, after Tuesday I probably won’t ever have another class with him.

Cadman is a hoot. That picture is him. He's a young guy and totally excited about costing. I can tell he really likes his research. It is surprising because I always kind of thought accountants were just robots made to look like people. Truth is, the stuff is actually really interesting. I just hope none of my accounting friends read this. I would hate to lend any validity to their career choices. Apparently, too, Prof. Cadman is hot in a “dorky sort of way.” At least, that’s what the girls in class tell me. If he were going to be hot, I would think it would be because he does psychocross. Goes to show what I know.

He divulged in class that he made an attempt at entrepreneurialism, but it didn’t go so well. So, as he put it, “Those who can’t do, teach.” He’s funny. Like ha ha funny. And smart. I looked at his bio and he got his ungrad from Harvard (la dee da) and was faculty at Kellogg, Northwestern, and Wharton. So I listen to what he says. Too bad most of what he says involves accounting.

BTW…it’s ok to rip on accountants. They are the untouchables of the business school caste system. As a marketeer, I’m no Brahmin, but at least I’m no accountant.

Anyway, if you are a student or potential student and you get to take a class from Dr. Cadman, be excited. He genuinely wants you to learn and is totally accessible. My advice, too…keep up on your cases.

You read that right. MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice. If you think you’re too cool to go that, you’re not cool at all.

Dedication and Emasculation

Here’s a picture of our class. I’m the guy in the bottom right corner flexing. Those are guns. Fun story about this picture. It was taken during the first week when we’re all still meeting each other. We’re told to go stand on the steps and as we’re all standing there the photographer says, “Let’s get the shorter people to the front and the taller people in the back.” Really, we were already all assembled and we were on steps so we could all be seen...so no one moved. “Tony,” the photographer pipes up, “Why don’t you come down to the front here?” All right. No worries. I’m short. I’m game. But then……that was it. I was the move. Everyone else was apparently fine. But me. So as I’m wading through people to go stand with the ladies I couldn’t help but think, “My, this is slightly emasculating.” I got to go stand to next to Jessie, though, who’s way cute, so that was good. Sorry boys, she’s already taken. By the nicest guy ever. And apparently quite a bowler.
Unlike me. I’m a crappy bowler. But I want it known that my team (Yes I’m on a league, shut up) is playing for the championship next week and I won’t be there. I’m missing the last few weeks of the season for a night class. That is dedication. To education. I really would rather say “sacrifice” but dedication rhymes with emasculation and I think I’ll use that as this entry’s title.
So MBA stuff. There is a program called Board Fellows where you can sign up to sit as a non-voting member on the board of local non-profit. Great way to get insights into the whole dynamic of a board room and great way to meet people. I’m on a board and tonight I was at my non-profit's 20th anniversary gala sitting next to one of the owners of Gastronomy. Gastronomy runs a number of local restaurants and employs about 1,000 people. Good guy to get to sit next to and chat up for an evening. One of my buddies on the board also took me around and introduced me to a grundle of people. I suppose this is networking. I wasn’t giving out my card or anything, but it’s nice to meet people. Too bad I never remember names.
The entrée tonight was chicken. That was breaded. I was cautious.
Wish my luck on my Cases in Financial Strategy mid-term tomorrow. Won’t sugar coat it, it’s going to be a beast.

For Posterity...Cuz No one is Reading This

...well, except maybe my Mom. She might read this. Hi Mom! And apparently the undergraduate equivalent of me is also following along. Hi undergraduate equivalent! And some other person. Hi Mystery Person!

So I better finish the rubber band story, even though it was not much of a story. The luncheon itself was pretty useful. I was able to speak to a couple of local professionals that I had met at prior networking functions who, perhaps, are starting to remember me. I got some cards so I might give them a call when my internship hunt flips into high gear.......which it totally will.....any day now......really. Anyway, one of these professionals, Meghann, was speaking directly to me when I began chewing into something that rebounded and, like I said in my last post, tasted like burning. At some point a chunk of big, flat, blue rubber band must have fallen into the chicken breading. I just remember praying to God that whatever she was saying to me didn't end in a question. I needed to spit. Luckily some undergrad bullied their way into the conversation giving me a chance to spit into my napkin. Thank God it was just a rubber band. For I second I thought I was biting into hot death. But the chicken was quite good outside of the inorganic parts. And I stole, "Tastes like burning," from Ralph Wiggum.

That's the second time I typed that story out. Lesson #1, Don't Eat Rubber Bands. Lesson #2, Don't Accidentally Hit the "Page Back" Button or You Lose Everything You Just Typed. Now I'm in Word. Stupid Keyboard. That button is a ticking time bomb. I hate it so badly. And it’s, like, 2 feet from my alarm clock as I type. Which I also hate so badly. Lots to hate on my desk. But I love how I’m calling a folding table “My desk”.

Back to MBA stuff. Since the last post I helped judge the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge. It was a whole bunch of classmates and I, along with some undergrads, reading through a bunch of business plans for a couple of hours. Very interesting stuff. Lots of ambitious people and lots of cool research being done at the school. Excellent business opportunities.

Anyway, I just finished my busiest non-finals week so far, so I got to get to bed. Night.

Career Fair...I GOT HIRED! That's a lie.

Went to the Career Fair yesterday. The theme was “Due to the current economic climate, we are not…”. Or at least I think that is what it was. I imagine that is the case with career fairs everywhere right now. My focus was on getting a summer internship and I’m not being picky, so it was good to get a feel for who was looking. I need to spend a few hours this weekend getting online and applying. I’ll start with the shotgun approach, as many as I can…then go from there.
But I have some advice about job fairs. Have a system. Lots of booths. Lots of people. You would hate to walk up to someone and 30 seconds into talking to them realize that you came by and asked them about their company a half an hour earlier. Which I totally did. Twice. The second time, the guy looked at me like I was out of my mind. I could tell at first that he was trying to decide whether I was a complete idiot or whether he was just having wicked déjà vu. He didn’t say anything but I think he figured it out. Crap.
So have a system. Go to all the booths you want to see first. Stand in line and feel awkward if you have to. If you keep trying to “stop by” and find an available recruiter, you rarely will. Don’t feel awkward standing and waiting. They know why you’re there. By waiting you indicate interest. Anyway, once you’ve seen the booths you want to see, start at one end and work to the other. I kept trying to “stop by” booths and went back and forth the fair about a dozen times, mixed where I had and had not been and well, ended up being the idiot.
Gotta get back to studying. Production operations management mid-term tomorrow. I’m leaving this sentence as a reminder to myself to talk about the networking lunch I went to today. I learned a valuable lesson, rubber bands taste like burning and the taste doesn’t go away. I’ll explain next time.

Let's see how this goes...

This is my first time blogging so we'll see if this works. Welcome to the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business MBA student blog. Does this have spell check? It does. Excellent.

Some background on me. I got my undergraduate in Marketing at the University of Utah in 1998. I worked for 10 years for a national food brokerage doing marketing data analysis. Decided to come back to get my MBA. The building I take all my classes in now was built years after I left and the building I took all my classes in then is being torn down now. I've been out a while.

We are providing this blog to help anyone interested get a sense for the DESB MBA experience. And we'll start with last night...Attitude Adjustment. Every few weeks, the Dean of the Business School, Dr. Brittain, opens a tab at Lamb's Grill for the students, faculty, and any prospective students for what's called Attitude Adjustment. It's basically is just a chance to get together, relax, and socialize. Lamb's Grill is this wonderful old restaurant where all the politicians eat. If Salt Lake had a mafia, this is where they'd hang out. I always secretly hope to spot Paulie Walnuts or Uncle Junior in a booth, but they're never there. Anyway, there's sushi, cheese, beer, wine...good stuff. I was designated driver so I was hitting the ice teas pretty hard.

I love Attitude Adjustments because I get to talk to 2nd years, professors, and the few people in my class that I don't know well because we're not in groups together. Who knew Pete the back row was so cool? Last night was great because I got to talk to Bob Allen, my Financial Accounting professor from first semester. One of my favorite people ever. Funny, funny guy. Total storyteller. Learned a lot in that class. Although I didn't do as well on the final as I would have liked. My debits and credits must have been in a fight that day because they were totally not getting along.

One of the most beneficial parts of the MBA is the access to professors. They have great career insights, know tons of people for networking, and are all just really bright. My professors have been particularly accessible. I bumped into one on campus last semester and asked him if he felt I should enroll in a particular elective for which I was not sure I would be totally prepared. Opened my email at the end of the day and had 4 emails. They were from him and the professor who would be teaching me. They discussed what would be covered and how my background would probably be sufficient. I'll tell you more about the profs later.

Ok, wow. I need to get faster at this.