Millenium Marketer

{Image Credit: Eric Doner}

Last Friday, I attended participated in the Silicon Valley American Marketing Association‘s annual Board Retreat as a board member.

We are a group of committed marketing professionals now in planning phases to move forward with our mission: “Stay Connected, Stay Informed.” As the VP of Volunteers (fancy title for volunteer recruiting lead) I am responsible for replenishing the fuel to burn the midnight oil, or in other words, bring the team volunteers to help them drive their initiatives.

I left the day feeling really good about what we would accomplish within the next year and beyond.
***Update:Our team coach/retreat facilitator (who took the lovely picture) e-mailed me today to remind me that he didn’t just take a nice picture. Silly me–what was I thinking? So, to give credit to where credit is due, Eric did more than just take a picture. He facilitated us into the team exercises that got us to the point where we generated the ideas ourselves. That is the mark of a good facilitator, someone who gets other people thinking!” (Now back to my original musing…)***

Even though working virtually can give you great flexibility, I can’t stress enough the good feelings that come from actually meeting the people you work with. I doubt any of the jokes and discussions we shared in real time could be matched over phone conferences, e-mails and IMs.

Of course, the word “networking” is just as over-used as “social networking.” If it weren’t for SVAMA, I wouldn’t be able to refer to any real experiences…like when one board member good-naturedly confused two other members while introducing one of them during ice-breaker introductions.

We had a good laugh about it, and surely could not have had the same experience virtually.

Maybe this is also the reason for Lunch 2.0, Tweetups, Meetups and other non-virtual, non-owned and co-branded events rolling about vs. the traditional conferences and mindshare.

It’s a question I get often–should I go after an MBA? Like anything else in marketing and business, it’s important to stick to your objectives.

If you’re going after an MBA program, or are thinking about going after one, here are three little morsels of advice from a veteran a year out from the MBA program.

1) Think about what you love to do. I believe that passion comes from the inside and it is developed from youth. I’ve always liked creating something and it didn’t matter what form it would come in: origami, word crafting, drawings, and ideas that solve problems. I thought that the MBA program would make me more of a quantitative finance type, and yes I did learn a lot about this, but it didn’t change who I am.

2) Don’t let class formats, teachers or classmates constrain your thinking. Stay informed. Of course, you have to balance team projects with your ego, but sometimes class formats and course syllabi ask for a lot of time and responsibility. In between operations management, finance, statistics homework problems, I didn’t find a lot of time for anything else. But it’s important to take some time to read the news and step outside of the educational realm. Just to illustrate how important this is, social media was staring me in the face at the time, but I was not 100% aware of it, because teachers recommended reading Forbes and the Wall Street Journal. Both are good publications, but they are a far cry from social media to be sure.

This goes back to knowing what you love. If you have a passion, chase it down. On the other end of the spectrum, if you’re in the MBA program to explore, then definitely take the time to listen to your classmates and get thoughts on their past experiences. MBAs do not do this enough and can present themselves with too much bravado. It’s easy to forget that we are people and we are in school to learn from each other.

3) Temptations are fierce: Know when to listen and when to reject. Sometimes people will say things that you don’t like, but accept the feedback and consider it. Be prepared to think critically, go with the flow and know when your instincts are correct. When you have three months to complete a client-oriented project, people say a lot of things under fire and under stress that they would not say otherwise. Appreciate this because it will make for some bonding moments later!

Networking is often said to be the key elements of an MBA program, so to that end, learn to prioritize and have some discipline. Sometimes you have to know when is the right time to party/network with classmates and when is the right time to study!

One last word on entitlement. In the eyes of the employer, you are not entitled to that salary that you think you deserve after the MBA program. I have heard from MBA alumni that it is still a tough sell when your previous work experience pre-MBA program highlights you in a different way from the coursework that you have worked into your skills portfolio. Help others to help you.

Consider how much this investment is worth to you, and maybe you will need a few more years before reaching the point of having another life experience such as this. Just don’t put it off if you think it is time. You may not get another chance!