The TechTrek program provides Boston College undergraduate students with the opportunity to interact with top executives from Apple, Google, and eBay. During spring break, students interested in business will take part in a field study in Silicon Valley and San Francisco.
Founded and led by John Gallaugher, an associate professor in the Carroll School of Management, TechTrek was established four years ago for CSOM graduate students and has recently been expanded to allow undergraduate participation. TechTrek is a three-credit seminar class that meets for half a semester and is not restricted to CSOM students. The class focuses on how companies develop from start-up to blue chip, both from the perspective of the firm and from those organizations that provide access to capital.
A group of 24 students will meet with CEOs, partners, and senior executives from over 15 companies, many of whom are BC alumni. TechTrek is the only university group permitted to visit Apple World Headquarters, and students will attend lectures and a dinner with partners and executives-in-residence at Tallwood Venture Capital, and sessions and lunch at the Googleplex. The group's itinerary also provides for one day of non-business fun, which includes eating dim sum in San Francisco and a visit to Alcatraz island.
Athough the course encompasses an extensive field study portion, most of the class is used for research and preparation. Prior to the trip, the students are broken up into teams of two and assigned to research a company that the class will be visiting.
Coached by Gallaugher, student teams work together to fully understanding the company's history, recent activities, and current competitive challenges, then share this with their peers. Groups assign readings, give a presentation, and run a discussion session. Students read two books and roughly 100 articles, and complete a rigorous exam before heading west.
"The class is set up so that we teach each other," said participant Gretchen Andrus, CSOM '10. Andrus said that the class is centered on student research that extends beyond the classroom. "[To prepare for the field study portion of the class] I've started reading rigorously, my Google Alert is set on each company we are visiting, and I am always scanning for any information about them," Andrus said.
The rigors of the course help prepare students for their spring break trip to California. "They are confident in their knowledge and they will be able to maximize their time with executives," said Gallaugher. "One employer said that my students ask better questions than Harvard Business graduate students."
Elizabeth Dean, CSOM '09, agrees. "You have to be an expert on the companies because we are representing BC, and you should let companies know that you are really dedicated and not wasting their time," she said. Dean attended the TechTrek last year and is currently in the process of obtaining an internship at Apple.
Although TechTrek is not a recruiting program, Andrus, Dean, and Gallaugher recognize the tremendous opportunity for internships and potential job offers at these top-name firms.
"It is not supposed to be a recruiting trip, but a lot of internship opportunities come out of it," Andrus said. "Because of the connection between BC and the companies, I will be able to get an internship for this summer. It builds a stronger connection of BC to the Silicon Valley."
TechTrek is also the product of the efforts of BC alumni who support the program. "More firms now want to participate in the program than we can schedule," Gallaugher said.
Justin Tease, graduate teaching assistant for this year's undergraduate class and CGSOM '09, said their alumni contacts were enthusiastic supporters of the University. "There are alumni who wear BC shirts to the meetings," Tease said. In fact, Tease said, during several sessions students met with former TechTrek participants now working at firms they first visited as part of the program, Tease said.
Each of the 19 sessions with executives offer students a different insight into the business world. In the past, students have learned firsthand how the chief marketing officer at Cisco crafted her firm's branding campaign, how venture capitalists select which entrepreneurs to invest in, and how therapies are discovered and brought to market at biotech giant Genentech.
Tease said the opportunity of meeting with Sun Microsystems founder and chairman, Scott McNealy, was a truly memorable experience. "The overarching theme of McNealy's presentation was to pursue your passions. Mostly everyone we met was passionate about decisions that they made in their career," Tease said. "Executives can only succeed if they have passion for the end result."
"TechTrek came about so that students can gain a much deeper understanding and appreciation of classroom learning by seeing it applied in the field. In these sessions, students are gaining tools that they will leverage throughout their careers," Gallaugher said. "There is not a single course in any university that can give students a depth and breadth of business exposure that is comparable to TechTrek.
"Students have regularly said two things about this class," Gallaugher said. "One, that they have worked harder in TechTrek than any other class; and two, that it is also their most enjoyable course."
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