Awesome Toys

Ilsa went with Daisy the anatomically correct (in most areas) doll, and Marty the Zebra. Juliette, despite having the option to pick two toys went with just the one. Blue.

It's Looking Good For November

Rats. Sinking. Ship.

T.O.Y.S

Juliette stuck with Melman and Blue. Ilsa went with the 29-year-old (seriously) Pink Pup and the imaginatively named Big Bear who is big and a bear.

A Huntin' We Will Go

To be honest I'm a little more on the anti-hunting side of the fence than the pro-hunting side. But I do understand the pro arguments, particularly amongst those who eat what they kill.

"Sport" hunters piss me off though. I really think it's only a sport if both sides are given the same chance. So if you stand a chance of being killed while sport hunting, that's OK.

This however, is most definitely not OK. The bear had a name and everything. It was called "Cubby"

More Toys

Ilsa's back to the very feline Catherine and Periwinkle. Melman is back for Juliette, but Adora has been replaced by Blue, as in the puppy, with the clues.

Core And Non-Core

In response to part of a post by Flatpoint MBA

In UW-Madison, you have core courses, courses required by your specialization (which are effectively the electives you chose when you decided to apply to say Marketing Research or Corporate Finance), then there is actual electives (of which there are very few)

In my first semester the core courses were Marketing, Finance, Data Analysis, and Accounting. Then I had Marketing Research as required course. In the semester coming the only core course I have is Business Strategy. Consumer Behavior and Experimental Design are required by the Nielsen center. Brand Strategy is a "recommended" elective, and Negotiations is a true elective.

It's very rigid, but you know that going in. It's why they're really looking for people who know EXACTLY what they want to do before they come into the program.

Tonight's Toys

Ilsa has Reilly the Racoon and Gwen the Rabbit. Juliette is on a sheep kick with Louly and Bingo who are both sheep. Only one of which though wears an outfit.

Are Children a Good Idea?

I was reading some posts, here, here, here, and... erm... here. Concerning the economic and social pros and cons for society of people having children versus other options. Not having children I guess. Also about whether or not children are annoying (they are but only if they are someone elses)

Now I've talked to some friends of mine about this and they don't feel that having children is for them. I entirely understand this from their point of view and in the context of their lives. But. And this is a big but. If EVERYBODY decided not to have children then the human race would die out by 2080. So really, any discussion into the pros and cons of raising children has to start there.

First In A New Series

The kids have a million and one soft toys. So to stop their bed becoming host to each and every one of them my wife set a rule that they had to choose two they could sleep with each night. It was not as disasterous as you'd think and it's created an interesting darwinian dynamic where toys move up and down the totem pole from bottom of the toy box to top of the toy box to bed according to the whims of their three foot tall gods.

So for my own curiosity I'm going to keep track of who they gets a place at the top table each night. Pictures will probably come later though for obvious reasons I can't get them tonight.

So for the first in the series Ilsa chose Catherine the cat who flies and Periwinkle, who is also a cat and doesn't fly, but does appear on TV. Juliette chose Melman, a giraffe from NYC, and Adora, a Panda from Washington DC.

How the World Cup Should Have Been Played

Poweryogi, like an evil God of timesinks, has sent me via blog links to the Cannes Lions award winning ads page. Lots of excellent stuff here.

My favourite though is a set of ads aired by Adidas in the Netherlands where international footballers are given a set amount of time to recruit a side to represent their country from the streets.

England v France
Holland v Germany
Italy v Japan
Argentina v Brazil

Tolerance

There's an article here in Business Week about gay MBAs. Apparently 86% of leading business schools have gay student groups and I'm pleased to say that Wisconsin isn't one of the 14%. I was looking at the student organization newsletter which has all the organization officers in it and I thought it was interesting that while none of the members of Out for Business (or the Graduate Business Christian Fellowship, or Joint Ventures, or Net Impact for that matter) felt the need to hide who they were nobody is defined by their affiliation, beliefs, or lifestyle.

Back

So I'm back in Madison, which means I can now start blogging again. To be honest I felt a little uncomfortable blogging while interning. Particularly at the company I was at. So I didn't. I won't be going back there next summer, I didn't really 100% fit in there too many restrictions on what you could and couldn't say, could or couldn't do. Having said that I feel it was a good choice for an internship, I learned a huge amount both in terms of techniques and skills, and about myself and the industry.

What I learned about myself is that I love researching how brands play in the minds of consumers and everything that goes into a product or service beyond the actual product or service itself. My job search this semester will involve searching for companies that do this particularly well. Preferably in London or Chicago.

I also learned that I don't do well away from my family for 3 months. So while I am considering consultancies I'd prefer one where the travel is not too extensive.

Classes start the second week of September and I've already started on the reading because I know that it will all build up when recruiting time begins. Fortunately the majority of the classes look fun, particularly considering what I mentioned above about brand performance and consumer psychology.

• Brand Strategy
• Bargaining, Negotiations, and Dispute Settlement
• Experimental Design
• Consumer Behavior
• Business Strategy

The only one that looks particularly worrying is the Experimental Design. Business Strategy is like a capstone course of all the core courses from last year involving finance, marketing, operations, etc, etc, etc.

In case anyone was wondering by the way, I finished last semester with 3 A's (Economics, Operations, Managing Behavior) and 2 AB's (Quantitative Models, Statistical Methods). A definite improvement on the first semester so I was happy. Hopefully I can keep that up into this semester and get some kind of "most improved student" award or something.