Innovation and Ideation

Today was the kickoff of our second Academy Week. Our speaker was Ralph Blessing, Managing Director of Chicago Office and Senior Partner at GfK Strategic Innovation. He talked about his career and some of the amazing products he had a chance to work on: Coppertone Sport Continuous Spray, Degree Antiperspirant, and Axe to just name a few. He explained the needs approach that GfK uses to help develop products to fill in shelf "white space." It was a really great presentation and it got even more interesting when we went through the process to create a new product. We picked Quick Service Restaurants as our category and then just brainstormed ideas, concepts and positioning. Look for our Mediterranean/Tapas QSR soon with our own branded olive oil and hummus (which we will expand into grocery) soon!

After we finished our scheduled activities we were able to work on our team projects...my team split up and worked on our own, we should come back together tomorrow ready to knock this out of the park.

Can't wait!

for the Bloomington P-Fresh! It can't get here soon enough, now I will no longer have to leave my beloved Target, hooray!

Holding on for Dear Life

The last two weeks have been intense. I don't even know where to start, last week seems like a year ago and the week before (gala, etc. even longer!) Finals have been killer with the wrap up of my Tiffany & Co. brand valuation and recommendation, my market research analysis report, KIP presentation, Diesel brand valuation, CMA project work and an accounting final. Phew! Makes me tired to even write it out!

And it hasn't just been schoolwork tying me up; there has been volunteering, Kelley Women Speaker Series, Pilates, Yoga, Dinner with Friends, researching Japanese cooking at the Asian Cultural Center, Carnival, Kelley Women farewell dinner, blogging for school, and trying to have some semblance of a life (watching the Olympics with Charlton and the pets)

Both of us are really burnt out, was it possible to be more exhausted than when we were in Core?! Any 2nd year that said this would be easier was definitely lying.

So to try to make up for the torture of the last few weeks...I slept in (after having fallen asleep on the couch until 6 am), then I did a little research for CMA, made lunch, gave Addie a bath, did a little laundry, took Addie to the dog park and watched Public Enemies after picking up some Mexican food from La Torre.

I wish I could sit around all day tomorrow, but still have some laundry left to do and some reading for Academy Week 2 (ugh!) Can't wait for spring break in Israel.

Gala!

No matter how old you are, when you are in school there will always be school dances. Gala, the MBA equivalent of prom was last night in the IMU's Alumni Hall. There was an open bar, gambling and a nice seated dinner and HOURS and HOURS of dancing. It was a lot of fun, but having just got back from Minneapolis, I felt like I wasn't able to get much done this weekend. Oh well, sometimes you just got to cut loose.

I'm going to make it after all...

Mary did it, and hopefully I will be able to make it in Minneapolis myself.

Summer Preview Day at Target was an amazing experience! It reminded me of Kelley's Experience weekend, a lot of excitement, and a lot of people still on the fence. We met some great potential intern classmates from Kellogg, Ross and Minnesota.

We had breakfast all together and then a director came and spoke to us about his experiences and his internship project. Then there was an internship panel and breakout sessions so we can learn more about the internship projects. Next up was lunch with senior leadership; me, I sat next to a Vice President...pinch me! After I finished up my bullseye cupcake, we loaded up on a bus to get a tour of the Minneapolis area. It was a lot of fun and I am really excited to explore the city more when I get there this summer, there is so much to do and see! Last stop...our corporate housing! The apartment was nice and spacious, with lots of closet space. What more does a girl need?!

A great visit, that definitely pumped me up for the summer. Is it June 14th yet? MSP, I will be back!

MSP

I am sitting in my own hotel room downtown Minneapolis. Somebody pinch me! Me and 4 of my classmates are here to visit Target for our Summer Preview Day and to learn more about what we will be doing over the summer.

We left Bloomington after going to Market Research and then got here right before dinner. We used the opportunity to get something tasty that we wouldn't be able to get back in Bloomington. Seared Organic Salmon at Zelo, yum!

It has been great so far and we haven't even been to Target yet. Cannot wait!

Monday Flashback

I was up bright and early to take my first midterm/quiz for this semester. 15 multiple choice questions of cost accounting goodness. I think I did okay, finally was able to get answers that were choices (which I am hoping is a good thing!)

Next up, Brand Management. We talked about Azko Nobel, a case on brand portfolios and finding the right size and number of brands. It was interesting and had more information than I have ever seen in a case.

I headed to Kroger after I got out of class and stocked up on the necessities. I quickly unloaded all of the food stuffs and took care of Addie before heading back to school. Our KIP had another Hebrew lesson and a humanities professor speak.

Then home again, where I got almost nothing done before turning in for the night at midnight.