MBA students get technical

Earlier this month, Dan Weis had coffee and pastries with the CEOs of Intel and Disney. He took a tour of the Toyota/GM joint venture plant, and he met Howard Schultz, co-founder of Starbucks. He also walked in with a group of CEOs to hear Steve Jobs talk during the launching of Apple's new iPhone and sat in the third row from the front.

All this, and Weis doesn't even have his MBA yet. In fact, at 22 years old, he's too young to rent a car from most rental car companies.

Yet through a unique Carroll Graduate School of Management (CGSOM) program called TechTrek, he and 23 other BC MBA candidates got to meet, greet, and learn from some of today's most influential business leaders in the world.

This year's TechTrek, a four-credit course taught by professor John Gallaugher, consisted of 25 meetings with over 60 managers and executives during the course of two weeks. Traveling to the west coast and visiting San Francisco, Seattle, and Silicon Valley, students met eight CEOs, two chairmen who were formerly CEOs, and 11 presidents and vice presidents, in addition to many others. Company offices like those of Google, Tallwood Venture Capital, and eBay opened their doors to give students an inside look into the world of business.

"TechTrek is designed to provide the kind of learning we can't offer in the classroom alone," Gallaugher said in an e-mail.

Many of the conferences and panels are set up via BC alumni, connections that Gallaugher has found invaluable. The participation of these alumni afforded Gallaugher's students incredible opportunities that not many other MBA students will ever get. "Alumni have really stepped up," he said. "I've always realized the alumni base was eager and capable of being engaged to offer unique learning experiences, and TechTrek is one way we're able to leverage their involvement."

"What I got out of it most was seeing different cultures between the different companies that we visited," said Thianh Lu, CGSOM '10. "Google is so young and contemporary in its attitude - and so is Starbucks - and the company leaders are so passionate. It's nice to see a contrast to an environment where people work in cubicles."

"The insight and momentum we felt [from the business executives] was contagious," said Kristin Krupka, CGSOM '07. "The energy from their perspectives was unparalleled. They told us to keep pushing, to keep thinking innovatively and never be satisfied with the status quo. These are people who are helping their employees push the envelope every day."

The highlight of the trip for many was the VIP treatment they received at MacWorld, including an exclusive "Behind the Scenes" meeting with Phil Schiller, BC '82 and senior vice president of Apple's worldwide product marketing. Schiller was the only Apple employee besides CEO Steve Jobs to speak at the event, said Weis, and it was through his connection with BC that TechTrek students were allowed highest-level VIP access.

"MacWorld was unbelievable," said Ashkon Hedvat, CGSOM '08. "Rubbing elbows and drinking coffee with such high-power executives, being able to ask them about how to run a business, how to face challenges - you can't get that in the classroom."

"Seeing Steve Jobs' enthusiasm in person makes Apple seem so much more innovative," said Krupka.

"Apple has revolutionized so many fields - they're on top of the world," said Weis.

But despite the celebrity status of so many of these executives in the business world, students looked to gain wisdom through their learning experiences. That these leaders could help their companies bounce back after the bursting of the tech bubble, said Hedvat, made their stories all the more inspiring.

"This isn't a 'celebrity meet-and-greet,'" said Gallaugher. "Executives field questions and almost always end up picking up a marker and running a white-board session just like a professor would do." Students echoed this sentiment, expressing gratitude that such high-powered businessmen would take time to openly discuss their companies with students.

While job placement is not a primary objective of the program, Gallaugher said students have often been offered jobs at companies they visited during TechTrek.

Gallaugher also leads undergraduate students, even those not in CSOM, on a TechTrek during Spring Break each year. Applications are due the September before.

"I'm addicted to the celebrity-business culture," said Weis. "[MacWorld] was easily one of the top 10 - no - the top five days of my life. I hope one day to be back in that show, maybe in MacWorld 2030, as an executive."