Friday, November 28, 2008

Ninety One Percent

My MBA is now 91% complete.

This past week was the last week of this calendar year. I had only one major assignment due for my Intellectual Strategy and Business Strategy class. It was a group project and we had to do a 30 page paper and 20 minute presentation.

We were tasked with creating a firm that mismanaged their intellectual property and then suggest how they should address the issues we created in the context of being Business Development managers in front of the board. The class was really interesting and probably one of the top three classes I have taken in the program so far.

The reason is that intellectual property is everywhere. The products you interact with on a daily basis are loaded with IP. For example, if you wake up in the morning and brush your teeth, then your toothbrush will have a name, which is probably trademarked and part of a brand with some type of brand equity and using some technology that is patented or licensed out and has a design that is protected by a design patent.

Every year, billions of dollars are spent defending and prosecuting IP infringement cases. Plus there are probably billions more LOST on opportunities where IP was not maximized. I'm not going to get academic and quote this and that, but I think that you get the point.

Unfortunately I am also came to the realization that some people learn nothing in these programs. In the last week I have seen some pretty awful behavior by some of my classmates.

To be honest with you, I am quite upset about this because I think that these just don't get it.

And they never will.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Bring It On...

Two weeks or more since I have taken the time to update and I have to admit that it is my fault.

We have been down a Marketing Coordinator here since October so I have been doing two people's duties for the past while. Combined with the last assignments of this term and you have disaster pretty much.

The upcoming economic slowdown seems to be topic number one in most people's minds so let me share a few of my thoughts on the issue: stop crying and get to work.

That's it. That's all. Stop pointing fingers, stop making drastic calls for changes... and start getting to work fixing the problem. Get to work producing and purchasing goods.

The reality is that until they pay those who monitor the system more than those who abuse it - they will never really root out the greed on Wall Street. Money goes to scarcity and when there are a few people in the world who can game the system - they will draw HUGE bonuses.

I have been in the job market since 1999 when I graduated university. In that time I have seen two major financial downturns. The first was the dot com bubble of the early part of this centry and the second one is what we are currently living through. For those of you with great minds and innovative thoughts, the future is and alwasy will be bright. Same goes for those people who can get stuff done. There will always be a place at the table for you.

Now if you're one of those people who is refered to as "fluff", then you need to be worried that the house you bought and couldn't afford will be vacant in a short while. Go back and get training, get skills that are in demand and rare and your career will thank yo for it.

I will be finished my MBA early 2009 and lucky for me I have a job so I don't need to worry abou that but I am actually looking forward to what is going to happen in the next year. The downturn will push the fluff out of the market and leave the solid people/companies. As a marketer, I will learn to be way more savvy about how I do things. The days of having unmet demand are over and now is the time to see what you are really made of. You can run or you can stay and fight. I choose to stay and fit so bring it on.

U.S. Thanksgiving is coming up. My favorite Canadian holiday. I know.... you're probably wondering why I say it is a Canadian holiday and the reason is that we are so tied to the U.S. economy that when they shut down, we slow to a crawl. We're going to use this time to finish the office spruce up project and I am going to get everything around my desk organized and cleaned for the holiday rush. My last class for this year is next Thursday so I am looking forward to finishing for a month.

Yes, I live in such a twisted world that only having a full time job is considered a vacation. Evenings and weekends free.... what am I going to do with all this free time? Sleep.

I am also going to use the time to get this blog back into shape. I will put some pictures up and tell you all about my new Phone. The HTC touch diamond. I am loving it so far and will be bloggin with it soon enough.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

barack to the future

So, I'm sitting in class right now but most people are watching the election on their laptops and it looks like we have a Democrat victory. Right now, McCain is giving up.

I have to admit that I am somewhat surprised that they didn't close the gap a bit more in the final days... I find the Republicans are pretty good at scaring people into thinking the country would fall apart under Democratic rule... what with the same sex marriage and abortions and all... however if McCain won, rest assured that California would have burned in riot.

With the return of a Democrate president, I figured I would return to my blog. It's been a while hasn't it.

The truth is that I haven't really been up to much lately. Work has been really busy based on the fact that it's our busy time of year... not to mention the whole crush of projects we have going on with channel partners. The good news is that we are still bullish and the future looks bright.

School has been slightly quiet since starting up... I have classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights again so the combination of that and lots of work has been rough.

Outside of school, I dj'd a great house party for Halloween. My organic food delivery is coming today and I'm looking forward to that. Saturday is going to be fun. I have a whole spa morning booked with a massage, followed by a haircut. Then it's back to the grind.

Anyways, talk to you later...