Day 25: June 22, 2009

We started our day at 7:00 AM with breakfast. Following breakfast, our first studio of the day was at 8 am with Professor Brian Griffith. Professor Griffith wrapped up his last session with the students focusing on the experience and growth he has witness in our students and recapped some of his previous studios. He drew our attention to the 5 elements of leadership and active listening. Following Brian’s session, Professor Cherrie Clark provided some brief insight into investment with a number of examples from Warren Buffett.

Following a short break, we broke out into team sessions and started to work on Coca-Cola. We will present Coca-Cola on Thursday and the team’s presentations are really starting to take shape. We have 6 executives coming from Coca-Cola to do the judging who will remain for our farewell dinner on Thursday night.

As many of our students majoring or minoring in finance or accounting, we invited representatives and current students from the Masters of Accounting to host an information session about Vanderbilt’s program. The MAcc representatives joined our students for lunch after the info session and networked with our students in a more relaxed atmosphere. We also had representatives from the “Big Four” firms: Jessica Hagler, KPMG; Elliott Benator, KPMG; Bob Guido, PwC; Kevin Walker, Ernst & Young; Jena Riggs, Ernst & Young; Michelle Adams, Deloitte; Mary Hus, PwC; Chichi Onuzu, Deloitte. Joining them was David Mayer, a current MAcc student at Owen that will be finishing next year.

At 1 pm, our teams started their final team session for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee (BCBST) / Gordian Health Solutions with their deliverables due at 4:30 pm.

After their final BCBST team session, Professor Bart Victor met with our students on Business Ethics.

Following Victor’s studio, our teams finalized their presentations during dinner as BCBST dress rehearsals started at 6:30 pm. Our teams spent the rest of the evening working on BCBST and we closed up the building quite late. The last team left about 2:30 AM. The projects are looking great and we can’t wait to see BCBST’s response tomorrow!

If you want to see our photo library, you may do so at http://picasaweb.google.com/VanderbiltAccelerator

Michael Burcham
Faculty Director, Accelerator 2009

Day 24: June 21, 2009

We started the day at noon with a traditional southern meal: fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, yeast rolls, green beans, and peach cobbler. Following lunch, we broke the group up into two sections – Vanderbilt and Non-Vanderbilt students to assess how we can improve in marketing our program around the nation. As we ask our students to constantly be open to feedback and improve, we are looking to improve the program as well.

Our teams next broke into their Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee (BCBST) teams and continued to work on that project; they will present BCBST and Gordian on Tuesday and today will be one of the last times that our teams have to finish crafting their idea.

Around 3:00 pm we broke up into two groups again. Teams 5 – 8 met with Paul Frankenberg while teams 1 – 4 Professor John English. Teams that meet with John English learned about commonly asked interview questions and interview etiquette, as well as how to affectively express their strengths and weaknesses. Teams with worked with Paul Frankenberg reviewed previous interview situations that our students had experienced and how interviews would interpret their answers.

The rest of the evening was dedicated to working on our Coca-Cola sustainability project. We ended the day around 9:00 pm. Only four more days until the program ends and we are all making the final push.

If you want to see our photo library, you may do so at http://picasaweb.google.com/VanderbiltAccelerator

Michael Burcham
Faculty Director, Accelerator 2009

Day 23: June 20, 2009

Our day started with our standard 7:00 AM breakfast followed with a studio lead by Cap Gemini’s Matt White. Matt was an Accelerator coach in 2007 and continues to help us organize during the program and teach sessions on consulting. Today, his studio focused on Perceptual Maps, a strategic tool to map the transformation of a company or business unit over a period of time.

Following the studio, our teams spent the next 3 hours working on our Coca-Cola project surrounding corporate responsibility and sustainability. Teams were busy completing surveys of other college students and tabulating the results. As of this AM, we have completed over 1,500 surveys.

After lunch we worked on the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee (BCBST) / Gordian project. For BCBST / Gordian we are creating a business model that will help the insurance heavy weight use a social media strategy to engage consumers in conversations about health, wellness, and managing diseases.

We finished out the afternoon with a session led by Paul Frankenberg, CEO of Kraft Search Associates. Drawing on his experience as an Executive Recruiter and placement professional, Paul led a discussion on creating effective resumes. He suggested ways our Accelerator participants could improve their resumes as well as the types of profiles and candidates that human resources departments are looking for.

Dinner was ultra casual: hamburgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken and pasta salad by Charlie Bob’s. Good outdoor cooking on a hot June evening.

After dinner, we returned to the work on the BCBST / Gordian project. We ended the day around 8:30 pm and will take the morning off tomorrow before we start our last week of the program.

If you want to see our photo library, you may do so at http://picasaweb.google.com/VanderbiltAccelerator

Michael Burcham
Faculty Director, Accelerator 2009

Day 22: June 19, 2009

We began our day with a 7:00 AM continental breakfast – teams rehearsed their Sony presentations while we set up the building for the Sony Music project judging. Following breakfast, our teams cued up to present to Sony. Each of the 8 teams presented their recommendations for building a 360 degree contract process for the music / entertainment industry and suggested ways to promote this type of contracting for the industry.

The judging panel from Sony Music included: Joe Galante, Chairman; Tom Baldrica, VP Marketing; Paul Barnabee, Sr. VP Sales & Operations; Heather McBee, VP Digital Marketing; Tom Banks, VP Finance; and Butch Waugh, Executive VP.

Even though we were up very late the evening before, the team presentations were just amazing! First place was a virtual 4-way tie after the initial judging input was received. Ultimately, there can only be one winner, so once the judging was complete, the winning teams were:

Presentation: Team 8 took 1st Place (Riley Strong, Cat Wearn, Chris Cooper, Nicole Quinn, Olivia Cotton, Tommy Crespo, Rick Hayer and Charles Welch). Team 5 took 2nd Place and Team 3 took 3rd Place.

Storyboard: Team 1 took 1st Place (Stephanos Stroop, David Jogwe, Erin Steigerwald, Ryan Stutler, John Zic, Mallory Mahan, Ali Thompson and Anna Laptook). Team 8 took 2nd Place and Team 4 took 3rd Place.

Research: Team 1 took 1st Place (Stephanos Stroop, David Jogwe, Erin Steigerwald, Ryan Stutler, John Zic, Mallory Mahan, Ali Thompson and Anna Laptook). Team 7 took 2nd Place and Team 5 took 3rd Place.

In Ranking the Presentations as the Client Ranked Them: Team 8 took 1st Place (Riley Strong, Cat Wearn, Chris Cooper, Nicole Quinn, Olivia Cotton, Tommy Crespo, Rick Hayer and Charles Welch). Team 1 took 2nd Place and Team 5 took 3rd Place.

Teams also voted on their Most Valuable Player: Erin Steigerwald, Alex Dowd, Melinda Moyo, Mark Shesser, Abi Stavrand, Steph Milne, Hewsan Pang, Adrian Rossi-Mastrassi, Olivia Cotton and Charles Welch.

Following lunch, our Accelerator teams had the opportunity to hear from a team from Capgemini on the consulting business and how they might get engaged in consulting as a career. Representing Capgemini were: Susan Wood, Principal; Deepak Jahagirdar, Senior Consultant; Paul Egan, Senior Consultant; and Matthew White, Senior Consultant. Our students had many questions for this team and were able to spend about 20 minutes after the session networking with the Capgemini team. It was a fantastic event.

At 4:00 PM, our teams worked on the Coca-Cola project – a strategy to evaluate how college students perceive the firm’s Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability initiatives. We worked on surveys of college students and benchmarks of CRS initiatives.

After dinner, our teams turned their attention to our Gordian Health Solutions – BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee project. We are working on developing a Social Media strategy that will help move the business toward a Business-to-Consumer.

Given the late hour of close last evening, we closed the building at 9:00 PM so that everyone could get some rest. Tomorrow we will dive into the Coca-Cola and Gordian Health Solutions projects.

If you want to see our photo library, you may do so at http://picasaweb.google.com/VanderbiltAccelerator

Michael Burcham
Faculty Director, Accelerator 2009

Day 21: June 18, 2009

We began our day with a working breakfast at 7:00 AM to provide an overview of Career Day. Following breakfast, our teams cued up to present to Cisco & Presidio. Each of the 8 teams presented their recommendations for building a marketing plan for TelePresence. Once the judging was complete, the winning teams were:

Presentation: Team 2 took 1st Place (Patrick Widen, Alex Dowd, Melinda Moyo, Fred Tang, Tyler Hagen, Adair Meaden, Grayson Sharpe and Vince Nord). Team 3 took 2nd Place and Team 6 took 3rd Place.

Storyboard: Team 2 took 1st Place (Patrick Widen, Alex Dowd, Melinda Moyo, Fred Tang, Tyler Hagen, Adair Meaden, Grayson Sharpe and Vince Nord). Team 7 took 2nd Place and Team 8 took 3rd Place.

Research: Team 4 took 1st Place (Will Parker Roe, Stacie Pawlicki, Jamie Kaplan, Nick Cromydas, Rachel Sullivan, Scott Greer, George Boghos and Abi Stavrand). Team 1 took 2nd Place and Team 3 took 3rd Place.

In Ranking the Presentations as the Client Ranked Them: Team 8 took 1st Place (Riley Strong, Cat Wearn, Chris Cooper, Nicole Quinn, Olivia Cotton, Tommy Crespo, Rick Hayer and Charles Welch). Team 6 took 2nd Place and Team 1 took 3rd Place.

Teams also voted on their Most Valuable Player: Ana Laptook, Patrick Widen, Yens von der Linden, George Boghos, Fark Tari, Lyle Holmes, Eppa Rixey, Westley Taylor, Alexandra Brown, Riley Strong and Chris Cooper.

At noon, we began Career Day. Companies participating that are looking to offer internships or full-time jobs were: ALOC Group, Beecher Carlson, Bernard Health, Clayton Associates, Council Ventures, Credence Health, Gordian Health Solutions, HealthLeaders InterStudy, HealthStream, Morgan Keegan, Now Playing Nashville, Paradigm Group, Posta Shoppe, Technology Council, Vanderbilt and Zumi Sushi.

We began our Sony Music dress rehearsals at 6:30 PM – it turned out to be a very long night. All our teams are so driven to win the Sony Music competition – at midnight, there were still 3 teams working through final rehearsals. The last team cleared the building at 3:15 AM. I went back to the dorm, showered (a long hot shower), donned my suit for Friday AM, and returned to open the Owen Graduate School for those coming in at 5:30 AM to do their final preparation for the Sony Music presentations. I know I’ll sleep well Friday night.

If you want to see our photo library, you may do so at http://picasaweb.google.com/VanderbiltAccelerator

Michael Burcham
Faculty Director, Accelerator 2009

Day 20: June 17, 2009

We began our day with our usual 7:00 AM breakfast. Our first Studio of the day was run by Prof. Cherrie Clark – she wrapped up the Project Management series of Studios, helping our teams think about the packaging of their solutions for our clients.

At 9:30, our Accelerator participants moved to their team rooms to wrap up their work on the Presidio – Cisco project and get all their deliverables ready to turn in. By noon, we were getting a bit stressed, only 4 of the 8 teams had completed all their deliverables. They continued to work through lunch – we’ll get these finished up this afternoon so that we can begin our dress rehearsals for the client this evening at 6:30 PM.

Following lunch, Prof. Neta Moye conducted a Studio on “your first 100 days on the job” – it was just awesome. She shared insights of how our participants can hit the ground running in their first jobs and secure a strong beginning to their careers.

Following a short break, Prof David Furse conducted a Studio called “Connecting the Dots” – our final strategy session of how to meet and exceed client expectations using strategy tools.

At 3:30, teams who had completed their Cisco – Presidio work turned their attention to our Sony Music client. The remaining 4 teams worked to finish the Presidio deliverables.

We began dress rehearsals for Cisco – Presidio at 6:30 PM – these ran till just after 10:00 PM. Teams continued working into the night to polish their recommendations and to prepare for the arrival of Cisco and Presidio tomorrow morning. I turned out the lights at 1:00 AM in the business school. When I arrived at the dorm (a bit bleary eyed), there were still about 10-12 of our participants practicing their presentations.

What a transformation in just a few short weeks – these young men and women are driven to success and expect to delight their customer. I’m impressed. While I know it’s a grueling schedule – our goal is to show them what’s possible – and to stretch them to do more than they ever imagined they were capable of doing. They’re also learning how much fun meaningful work can be!

If you want to see our photo library, you may do so at http://picasaweb.google.com/VanderbiltAccelerator

Michael Burcham
Faculty Director, Accelerator 2009

Day 19: June 16, 2009

Tuesday is here!

We are out of bed by 5:45 AM, dressed and loading the buses with our luggage by 7:15 AM. We had breakfast at the Marriott Hotel and then moved into the meeting room to launch the Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) project. We worked with Kristina Guillen and Dave DeCoster of CCE to put this project together.

Our teams were given a great overview of the Coca-Cola Brand, CCE, and CCE’s Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability program. We heard from Lori Lambert, Jim Gulley, Melanie White, Kristina Guillen, Jessilyn Horne, Carmen Roberts, Alex Clark and several others with the CCE organization.

Our challenge will be to survey college students regarding their level of awareness of Coca-Cola Enterprise’s Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability and suggest opportunities to further engage this group. This will be a FUN project. We’ll present to Coca-Cola in about one week.

Following the project launch, our Accelerator teams broke into their groups to work on the details of the project and organize their work. Members of the CCE team circulated throughout the teams to answer questions.

After lunch, we were given the opportunity to tour 2 of the Coca-Cola Plants – we toured the College Park Plant (near the Atlanta airport) and the Marietta Plant (in North Atlanta). It was simply amazing to see these incredible facilities. The College Park facility produces over 40 million cases of product each year – the assembly lines are processing over 2000 cans of Coke product per minute. The Marietta facility produces bottled beverages – this was an equally awesome tour.

About 3:00 PM the buses were rolling again and we were on our way back to Nashville. We arrived in Nashville about 6:00 PM. After unloading, our teams went to work on the Cisco / Presidio projects. We present to this client in 36 hours.

If you want to see our photo library, you may do so at http://picasaweb.google.com/VanderbiltAccelerator

Michael Burcham
Faculty Director, Accelerator 2009