Another Driveway Moment Brought to You by NPR

The bright, happy faces to the left are those of my dMBA cohort (it was early in the program - we all look a lot more tired now). Quick - do you notice anything unexpected about this picture? Your hint is a reminder of what the program is: an MBA program with an emphasis in Digital Media Management.

If you caught NPR's, Addressing the Shortage of Women in Silicon Valley last week you might be surprised to learn that 46% of the students in our cohort are women! Not only are we beating the odds in technology, however, it turns out our cohort beats out the national average in U.S. business schools where a whopping 70% of the student body are men!

Now, I've worked for tech companies for the last few years and as a former volunteer with the non-profit, Girlstart*, I wasn't surprised to hear about the shortage of women in technology. So perhaps its precisely because of that background that upon hearing NPR's report I felt so appreciative to be a part of a program that is opening doors for women in these areas**.

With the focus in digital media, we are not only learning the language of business (accounting, finance, marketing, etc.), we are also learning the language of technology so that we can be the bridge between the various functions and stakeholders of an organization. And, according to NPR's report, it is precisely women who are needed to help propel such organizations towards success:

One of the things that's a barrier to our ability to grow is our ability to hire the best talent. If we could get more women to go into computer science, we would have more talent to hire from.

Mark Bregman, senior exec at Neustar
& former chief technology officer @ Symantec

To be clear, this is an MBA program, so we're not being trained to be the much needed engineers as discussed in NPR's story. Because of the digital media focus, however, we are improving our fluency in information technology; many of us can write code and we've all taken classes in AdobeCS5 - and then of course, there was the assignment where we built a computer from scratch!

These skills set us up to be that organizational bridge... now, if I could just cross that bridge between me and the end of the 50+ pages I gotta read for Digital Law tonight... (sigh)



*An award-winning, Austin based non-profit whose mission is to empower girls in science, technology, engineering and math... check 'em out!

**Yikes! For full disclosure, I have to say that the newest cohort has only 2 women! I'm not sure how that happened... but based on the previous years this is quite the anomaly. Let's just hope so!

Creativity... MBA... Ice Hockey... What???

With the start of this new term, I've been feeling like something of a Renaissance Woman lately. After all, this "Digital Media" MBA is no regular MBA.

Perhaps two of the strongest examples of what makes this degree "digital" comes from our latest round of classes:

1st, in my Finance class we've been studying all the traditional financial ratios and formulas, then applying financial analysis to current companies and market trends. For example, for one of our projects, my teammate Crystal and I are analyzing Disney. Specifically, we are conducting a financial analysis of Disney's 2006 acquisition of Pixar as well as their risky decision to produce Wall-E (after all, it starred a robot and a cockroach for heaven's sakes!). The objective of the project is to examine how to effectively balance creative and financial risks and rewards.

The 2nd example of what makes this MBA "digital" comes from my Interactive Technology and E-Commerce class. This class picks up where Information Systems left off last term. The 1st few weeks are devoted to understanding the framework and organization of technology, with the remaining weeks dedicated to hands on experience with Adobe's Creative Suite 5 and other creative digital tools. What I love about this class is that, while we're being trained in the business of digital media and not to be the "experts" in the actual creative software (otherwise I'd go get an MFA or an art degree instead of a business degree), this program expects us to be well versed enough in the standard digital tools that my peers and I will be effective collaborators in creative teams.

So its this intersection of business, technology and creativity that leaves me feeling like a Renaissance Woman lately - but better yet, as discussed in Daniel Pink's, A Whole New Mind, that I find myself being trained to understand traditional business principles as needed for our digital media world.

With that, I leave you with yet another sports metaphor (thanks to my friend Mary who reminded me of this awesome quote!):

I skate to where the puck is going to be,

not where it has been.

- Wayne Gretzky

Teamwork

As we approach the end of the first quarter, work on final projects is in full swing. For both Information Systems (IS) and Managing the Organization this means collaborating with a team of 3 others to conduct research, write and give a presentation.

For the IS project I volunteered to put together the Power Point presentation. As our team continues to collaborate to fine tune it I am reminded of how critical effective communication is - particularly late at night when we aren't face to face. That can be tricky, but because we've built a solid team foundation its actually going quite smoothly.

As the one putting together the presentation, I find I'm utilizing skills associated with media production. Specifically, like video editing, I'm taking the various pieces from my colleagues and synthesizing them into one coherent and compelling whole. I'm having fun now - but I'm really looking forward to putting these enhanced skills to use on a production!

Building a Computer From the Ground Up

Look Ma'! That's ME building a computer!

Actually, it was a team effort so we all get credit for it coming together. There were a few misses, but we were finally successful! (Note-to-self: if its hard to screw in the screws, then maybe the screws don't really go there in the first place!)

I have to confess, I've never considered myself much of a techie. I know! I'm in an MBA program with a focus on digital technology! So this is one of those classes that is really challenging my beliefs on what I think I can do. But I guess that's why I'm here after all - to stretch and push out those boundaries of my current abilities.

For more pics from "Build a Computer Day" see the sidebar for a slideshow of all the mayhem, er, I mean, fun!

A Case Study in Leveraging Social Media

We don't have a choice in whether we do social media,

the question is, how well we do it.

(Eric Qualman)

2 entries in 2 days! Yes, it has been quite a week! But this one is ALL good! The day after mother nature threw a monkey wrench in our otherwise predictable schedule, we came back for more.

In yesterday's, Managing the Organization class, we enjoyed as our guest speaker, Jay Drayer, digital entrepreneur and CEO of CareFlash. With his background in finance and experiences as a CFO, Mr. Drayer entered the digital world with this question, "How can businesses successfully capitalize on social media?" You see, that's not the same thing as simply sending out a Tweet or having a FaceBook page. That's just keeping up... barely. What is necessary is a comprehensive overall digital strategy.

With Mr. Drayer as our guest, we encountered first hand, a real-life, working model for what we've been studying in the dMBA program. It was as if everything we've been learning, from Marketing to HR to Information Systems coalesced with this class.

It wasn't just about the Benjamins, however. Integral to Mr. Drayer's founding of CareFlash, was having his experience from business serve as the foundation for a venture consistent with his personal values. Learning this, I was hooked as that aligns with my goals as well.

Before inundating our guest with questions, he made one final point: How digital technology, specifically social media, is disrupting traditional media and marketing. "Is this disruption good?", he inquired of our cohort.

My answer? Heck yeah! That's why I'm in this program - to be on the right side of the disruption.

I'm something of a disruptor anyway.

Who Said, "Grad School Isn't The Real World"?

OK, so maybe the unexpected craziness of our recent mid-term exams doesn't have the consequences of the "real world". But with looming deadlines and demands to perform with grace in the face of ambiguity, yesterday certainly required the coping strategies and flexibility of many "real world" scenarios.

Scene: Austin Texas, a place known for its relatively mild winters making it rather unprepared for snow or ice.

On the morning of 2 mid-term exams, Austin was hit with freezing rain, leaving traffic snarled and many schools and organizations opening late. Our Accounting professor, bless her, sent us an early morning email warning us off the roads and instructions on taking the mid-term online. Now, if there's one thing I learned in the 2 years I worked in IT, its that technology is great only when it works. There were many false starts and issues in setting up the online test, keeping our poor professor on the phone most of the morning with tech support. By the time it was fixed, we had just over an hour to start the exam before running off to our Information Systems (IS) mid-term.

The IS test. How do I describe it? It was a KILLER. My brain was numb when it was over. Perfect state of mind to dash home and wrap up the Accounting test before the deadline. Except the online test was still having issues, including not saving the answers from completed problems! Seriously. The answers were G.O.N.E. So once again, our beleaguered Accounting professor was on the phone with tech support and all there was to do was sit and wait. Oh yeah, and pray the answers it took me an hour to come up with could be retrieved.

As I waited, I watched the clock as it ticked closer and closer into early evening (had I really been doing this all day ?) and towards the time for my regular Wednesday night Krav Maga class. After such a harried day, I knew an hour of punching the heavy bag was exactly what I needed. But with the clock counting down, I began to doubt that I would make it. So I waited. And waited. And then I did what any reasonable person would do. I CRANKED up my iTunes and started dancing. Why not? I was already fully prepared for the test, so I could have spent that time fretfully watching the clock, or dancing.

I chose dancing.

That's when I decided I was going to Krav no matter what. I took off to class and got in a great workout - thank you guys at Fit and Fearless, you've helped keep me grounded after more exasperating days than this!

By the time I got home from class, the test was up and ready to go. But me, I went to bed. A fresh start was what I needed to complete that albatross of a test!

That, dear friends, is a day in the life of a graduate student. And you know what? It wasn't so bad. I actually kind of thrive on pressure (why else would I sign up for a program that goes for 2 years at a summer-school-pace?). Plus, at some point it dawned on me, all this was really, was an inconvenience. Nobody wrecked their car on the ice and we're all here to slog it out another day.

Function in disaster, finish in style. (Jean Harris)

Right Brain, Meet Left Brain.

I got the giggles in my Managerial Accounting class yesterday. Since giving up Winter Break's relaxing pace for grad school's frenetic race, it can get too easy to lose sight of why I entered the dMBA program in the first place. Its like not seeing the forest for all the trees - the trees being the abundance of homework! But as I sat in Accounting yesterday, I remembered why I'm here and so, despite the crazy workload, I felt really happy!

Happiness induced by Accounting?!?! Yes! I'm sure many people will scratch their heads on that one! You see, this week we are studying the budgeting process. Now, I'm sure I will be mocked mercilessly when my friends hear me say this, but I LOVE making budgets! In fact, last week, I did a sales budget for fun (seriously!) for my friend, Robyn, who is updating the business model for her Spirit of Africa Adventure tours. Now, I've created and managed budgets in my corporate experience, but it was while writing a film budget for a grant proposal that I recognized how much I love each stage of the filmmaking process. I had initially gotten into filmmaking because of the creativity of the production phase; but while writing the proposal, I realized that I relish the business elements, from budgeting to distribution, just as much. From this discovery, I concluded that I didn't want to specialize in shooting or editing, but rather, I wanted to be the producer so I could have a hand in each step from start to finish!

Despite my nerdly enjoyment of working in Excel however, upon wrapping up my Accounting homework, I find my right brain jonesing for a creative fix! And that's why this dMBA program is such a perfect fit - it encourages our artistic pursuits as well. So when I need a break from our traditional business classes, I find time to edit Grandmother Storyteller and polish up a short script that I hope to have animated by MacBoy (production meeting this Thursday!).

But for now, I'm off to research my Information Systems project - building a video editing workstation from the ground up! Did I mention this dMBA program is eclectic?!