Joseph Fahrendorf Fisher Grad Life Blog:
Last Thursday I was a TA for a public speaking course at Ohio State and was responsible for grading student oral presentations. Overall I was very impressed with the talent of the class, even if topics included “Why Jim Varney is the best actor ever” and “Everyone should buy a Hangover Helmet.” Despite a clear disinterest in the class, most students were way more comfortable at speaking in front of a classroom than I was seven years ago… (Yes, I realize that my public speaking skills in 2003 should not be a benchmark to grade a class – but I used it anyways).
Although most speeches were interesting, one topic really stuck out from the rest. This student decided to talk for seven minutes as to why Mark Titus (OSU Men’s Basketball Player) has the best blog in the country. As you can expect, I was skeptical at first. Who is this Mark Titus and what does he have on Joseph Fahrendorf’s Fisher Grad Life Blog? After all, the Google analytics are reporting that my blog actually receives a few unique hits per month (although this is steadily fading – c’mon Mom & Dad, start reading my blog again). Well, as it turned out, this guy was right. Mark Titus’ blog “Club Trillion” is one of the best blogs in the country.
Mark “The Shark” Titus (#34)… aka Mr. Rainmaker is a staple of The Ohio State Men’s Basketball bench. Mark’s blog provides a perspective on college basketball that is impossible to gain from ESPN or other news sources. The name Club Trillion was developed from the stat line Mark usually earns: 1 minute played and nothing else. When this happens, the scorecard reads 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – hence 1 Trillion. Although Mark is a highly talented basketball player (or so he claims), he is unable to be an everyday player on a program that is consistently ranked in the top 10.
Club Trillion has received nearly 2.5 million hits, slightly higher than my blog attendance. The blog has become such a hit that the website even sells Club Tril t-shirts, which have become very popular on The Ohio State campus. All the proceeds from the shirts go to support the charitable group A Kid Again.
As you can tell, I highly recommend you check out Club Trillion – in addition to the other authors on My Fisher Grad Life Blog. However, I will give you this warning: if you are like me and have no time for the next couple weeks, postpone exploring his blog until you have time to spare. I could not have been introduced to this website at a worse time. Next week I have a large marketing paper due and a negotiations exam. The following week I have 4 finals (so this will probably be the last post you see from me for two weeks… sorry).
-Joseph Fahrendorf
Reposted from Joseph Fahrendorf's Fisher Grad Life Blog
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Joseph Fahrendorf - The Fisher 5K
Joseph Fahrendorf ==
My activity with the Fisher 5K Association has really increased the past two weeks. The Fisher 5K Association is a student organization that is responsible for organizing the annual Fisher 5K charity race. The Fisher 5K is an annual Run/Walk (5 kilometers or 3.1 miles) which began in 2004 and is held on The Ohio State University campus. It is the largest service event hosted by the Fisher graduate programs. All the proceeds of the race go to support the Boys and Girls Club of Columbus. In 2009, we had 608 race registrants and raised $21,000 for the Boys and Girls Club of Columbus. We are already close to 300 registrations and are looking to get another 500 more.
This year the race will be held on April 25, 2010. The official start time for the Fisher 5K is 9:00 AM. If you haven’t signed up, I encourage you to do so. If you have signed up, convince friends and family to sign-up and run/walk with you.
To register: https://www.premierraces.com/smartReg/newRegister.asp?ID=328
Joseph Fahrendorf
This blog was reposted from https://fisher.osu.edu/blogs/gradlife/author/fahrendorf_3/
My activity with the Fisher 5K Association has really increased the past two weeks. The Fisher 5K Association is a student organization that is responsible for organizing the annual Fisher 5K charity race. The Fisher 5K is an annual Run/Walk (5 kilometers or 3.1 miles) which began in 2004 and is held on The Ohio State University campus. It is the largest service event hosted by the Fisher graduate programs. All the proceeds of the race go to support the Boys and Girls Club of Columbus. In 2009, we had 608 race registrants and raised $21,000 for the Boys and Girls Club of Columbus. We are already close to 300 registrations and are looking to get another 500 more.
This year the race will be held on April 25, 2010. The official start time for the Fisher 5K is 9:00 AM. If you haven’t signed up, I encourage you to do so. If you have signed up, convince friends and family to sign-up and run/walk with you.
To register: https://www.premierraces.com/smartReg/newRegister.asp?ID=328
Joseph Fahrendorf
This blog was reposted from https://fisher.osu.edu/blogs/gradlife/author/fahrendorf_3/
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Joseph Fahrendorf - Winter 2010
There is no doubt about it: the Columbus winter is harsh. For the past seven years I have taken great pride in my ability to survive the winters of New Haven, CT and New York City. When I decided to move back to Ohio, I never thought twice about the Ohio winter. I clearly underestimated its potential.
Since the beginning of the month it has snowed pretty much every day. Although the accumulation has not been too heavy, it has been an obnoxious amount capable of covering my car, which inevitably delays my departure for class by 15 minutes every morning. Not only is it constantly snowing, it is absolutely freezing outside. It is so cold, that I succumbed to driving to the gym a few days ago. Although this might not sound bad, you should know that the gym is about 300 meters from my place and is clearly visible from my apartment. Where is global warming when I need it?
Joseph Fahrendorf
This was reposted from Joseph Fahrendorf's Fisher Grad Life Blog.
Since the beginning of the month it has snowed pretty much every day. Although the accumulation has not been too heavy, it has been an obnoxious amount capable of covering my car, which inevitably delays my departure for class by 15 minutes every morning. Not only is it constantly snowing, it is absolutely freezing outside. It is so cold, that I succumbed to driving to the gym a few days ago. Although this might not sound bad, you should know that the gym is about 300 meters from my place and is clearly visible from my apartment. Where is global warming when I need it?
Joseph Fahrendorf
This was reposted from Joseph Fahrendorf's Fisher Grad Life Blog.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
FGSA Winter Town Hall Meeting - Joseph Fahrendorf
Joseph Fahrendorf Blog entry:
At the winter town hall meeting, there were several ideas that were brought to the attention of FGSA. Some we were aware of and others we were hearing for the first time. This is a summary of the ideas that were brought up at the meeting and our plan of action.
Course Evaluations – There is overwhelming support for a system in which students can rate the elective courses offered at FCOB and the professors who teach them. We were aware of this desire and have been working with our faculty advisor, Dr. Inks, to understand the challenges in putting a student accessible course evaluation system in place. One of the more significant challenges is gaining faculty support. Additionally, we have spoken with Molly Hood about her previous work regarding this issue. In order to make this proposal more compelling, we have benchmarked some of FCOB’s peer institutions and a majority of these institutions already have an evaluation system in place. We are currently devoting a significant amount of time and effort to this project, but we currently do not expect the system to be in place in the near term (6-9 months).
Action steps: We are going to meet with Dean Wruck ASAP to discuss this issue and hopefully find a compromise that is agreeable to all parties involved. In the meantime, we are beginning work on a weeklong series of lunch sessions during the middle of Spring quarter that will allow faculty an opportunity to sell their fall elective courses to the students. We understand that this is not the ideal solution, but feel that for the short run, it’s the best way to get information about elective courses out to the student body.
Break-Out Room Reservation – There are several concerns that the current system for reserving rooms is not practical or efficient. There are many complaints regarding the three day advance notice and the inability to reserve a room after FCOB hours of operation.
Action Steps: We have already spoken with Alisa McMahon in the GPO about this concern. One of the issues that led to the current system was abuse of the privilege to reserve rooms, and for this reason the GPO currently “filters” the requests. We are going to work with Fisher ITS to determine if there is a system that could be created which would prevent room reservation abuse while making it easier to schedule a room on short notice. We have also inquired about opening up the Fisher Ambassador Interview rooms during exam week, but this cannot happen since they either contain a computer or a phone line.
Course Planning – Several students are concerned about the inability to forecast when upcoming electives will be offered. The feedback that we have received from the administration is that they are aware of this concern, but they are unable to publish available courses for the next couple quarters because of unforeseen changes that may occur.
Action Steps: We will work with Jen Mercer to find a way to improve the system. In the meantime, we recommend that you use prior years’ schedules as a baseline for future schedules. Although they are not always the same, it should provide a good idea of when classes will be offered.
Alumni Relations – Some individuals feel that the current alumni affairs group at FCOB could do a better job of finding alumni willing to talk with students regarding employment and FCOB classes.
Action Steps: We will speak with the Fisher Office of External Relations regarding ways to improve interaction between students and alumni. We have also requested the social chairs host quarterly events that include alumni in the Columbus area.
Access to course rosters – Some individuals would like to have access to lists of individuals who have taken classes so they can talk to them about the course or so that they can buy books and course packets from them.
Action Steps: We will speak to Jen Mercer about this request but are concerned that there may be FERPA obstacles. If nothing else, we believe it is possible to create some sort of system that will allow individuals to opt-in to a program that will share this information with others.
In addition to these ideas, we have several of our own such as getting a copy machine placed in Gerlach for student use. We also plan to coordinate a FCOB March Madness Bracket Challenge. We encourage people to follow what we are doing and to send us any suggestions. Our email is fgsasuggestions@gmail.com. Please don’t wait for the next town hall meeting to tell us what is on your mind today.
Joseph Fahrendorf
Reposted from Joseph Fahrendorf Fisher Grad Life Blog
At the winter town hall meeting, there were several ideas that were brought to the attention of FGSA. Some we were aware of and others we were hearing for the first time. This is a summary of the ideas that were brought up at the meeting and our plan of action.
Course Evaluations – There is overwhelming support for a system in which students can rate the elective courses offered at FCOB and the professors who teach them. We were aware of this desire and have been working with our faculty advisor, Dr. Inks, to understand the challenges in putting a student accessible course evaluation system in place. One of the more significant challenges is gaining faculty support. Additionally, we have spoken with Molly Hood about her previous work regarding this issue. In order to make this proposal more compelling, we have benchmarked some of FCOB’s peer institutions and a majority of these institutions already have an evaluation system in place. We are currently devoting a significant amount of time and effort to this project, but we currently do not expect the system to be in place in the near term (6-9 months).
Action steps: We are going to meet with Dean Wruck ASAP to discuss this issue and hopefully find a compromise that is agreeable to all parties involved. In the meantime, we are beginning work on a weeklong series of lunch sessions during the middle of Spring quarter that will allow faculty an opportunity to sell their fall elective courses to the students. We understand that this is not the ideal solution, but feel that for the short run, it’s the best way to get information about elective courses out to the student body.
Break-Out Room Reservation – There are several concerns that the current system for reserving rooms is not practical or efficient. There are many complaints regarding the three day advance notice and the inability to reserve a room after FCOB hours of operation.
Action Steps: We have already spoken with Alisa McMahon in the GPO about this concern. One of the issues that led to the current system was abuse of the privilege to reserve rooms, and for this reason the GPO currently “filters” the requests. We are going to work with Fisher ITS to determine if there is a system that could be created which would prevent room reservation abuse while making it easier to schedule a room on short notice. We have also inquired about opening up the Fisher Ambassador Interview rooms during exam week, but this cannot happen since they either contain a computer or a phone line.
Course Planning – Several students are concerned about the inability to forecast when upcoming electives will be offered. The feedback that we have received from the administration is that they are aware of this concern, but they are unable to publish available courses for the next couple quarters because of unforeseen changes that may occur.
Action Steps: We will work with Jen Mercer to find a way to improve the system. In the meantime, we recommend that you use prior years’ schedules as a baseline for future schedules. Although they are not always the same, it should provide a good idea of when classes will be offered.
Alumni Relations – Some individuals feel that the current alumni affairs group at FCOB could do a better job of finding alumni willing to talk with students regarding employment and FCOB classes.
Action Steps: We will speak with the Fisher Office of External Relations regarding ways to improve interaction between students and alumni. We have also requested the social chairs host quarterly events that include alumni in the Columbus area.
Access to course rosters – Some individuals would like to have access to lists of individuals who have taken classes so they can talk to them about the course or so that they can buy books and course packets from them.
Action Steps: We will speak to Jen Mercer about this request but are concerned that there may be FERPA obstacles. If nothing else, we believe it is possible to create some sort of system that will allow individuals to opt-in to a program that will share this information with others.
In addition to these ideas, we have several of our own such as getting a copy machine placed in Gerlach for student use. We also plan to coordinate a FCOB March Madness Bracket Challenge. We encourage people to follow what we are doing and to send us any suggestions. Our email is fgsasuggestions@gmail.com. Please don’t wait for the next town hall meeting to tell us what is on your mind today.
Joseph Fahrendorf
Reposted from Joseph Fahrendorf Fisher Grad Life Blog
Joseph Fahrendorf - Revelation
Since Day 1, the Fisher faculty and Career Services department have reminded us that our school work is not our only priority. They have tried to instill in us this notion that internship/job searching is equally important, if not crucial to the overall success of our MBA. I mean, they have a point: if we graduate from Fisher with leadership, business and teamwork skills, but we are unemployed, how can we be the next generation of leaders in corporate America?
Despite this rational logic, their advice has fallen on deaf ears. Grades are measurable; progress in the internship search is not. Although my main objective at Fisher is to graduate with a rewarding job, I have succumbed to the day-to-day attrition of the core curriculum. (This is a major obstacle to finding an internship.) However, I have good news. Today I had a revelation – this is my first ever revelation and will quite possibly be my last – especially if this one burns me in the end.
The Fahrendorf Revelation simply states that life will never slow down or become any easier. Professors will never slow down or give me “time off” to focus on the outside world. If I need to spend more time internship searching, I will need to prioritize my school work and focus only on the important material. I simply don’t have time to do everything. This revelation is analogous to the law of conservation of energy. For example, I can change the form of my energy to focus on school or on the internship search, but I cannot double my energy to do equal work in both categories. Energy is finite; I have to learn to make do with what I have been given. The key is to prioritize, prioritize, and prioritize.
This watershed moment in my MBA career couldn’t have come at a better time. Next Friday I am traveling up to Solon, OH to take a tour of Nestle and speak with individuals at the company about their experience in brand development. I will make sure to get the most out of this opportunity and hopefully my changed philosophy will reward me down the road.
On a different subject, I would like to recognize all the military veterans at Fisher and across the country. Yesterday was Veteran’s Day and the University was closed in their honor. Thank you to all the men and women that have served this country.
Joseph Fahrendorf
Joseph Fahrendorf blog https://fisher.osu.edu/blogs/gradlife/author/fahrendorf_3/page/2/
www.bing.com, www.google.com
Despite this rational logic, their advice has fallen on deaf ears. Grades are measurable; progress in the internship search is not. Although my main objective at Fisher is to graduate with a rewarding job, I have succumbed to the day-to-day attrition of the core curriculum. (This is a major obstacle to finding an internship.) However, I have good news. Today I had a revelation – this is my first ever revelation and will quite possibly be my last – especially if this one burns me in the end.
The Fahrendorf Revelation simply states that life will never slow down or become any easier. Professors will never slow down or give me “time off” to focus on the outside world. If I need to spend more time internship searching, I will need to prioritize my school work and focus only on the important material. I simply don’t have time to do everything. This revelation is analogous to the law of conservation of energy. For example, I can change the form of my energy to focus on school or on the internship search, but I cannot double my energy to do equal work in both categories. Energy is finite; I have to learn to make do with what I have been given. The key is to prioritize, prioritize, and prioritize.
This watershed moment in my MBA career couldn’t have come at a better time. Next Friday I am traveling up to Solon, OH to take a tour of Nestle and speak with individuals at the company about their experience in brand development. I will make sure to get the most out of this opportunity and hopefully my changed philosophy will reward me down the road.
On a different subject, I would like to recognize all the military veterans at Fisher and across the country. Yesterday was Veteran’s Day and the University was closed in their honor. Thank you to all the men and women that have served this country.
Joseph Fahrendorf
Joseph Fahrendorf blog https://fisher.osu.edu/blogs/gradlife/author/fahrendorf_3/page/2/
www.bing.com, www.google.com
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Joseph Fahrendorf - Purdue Boilermaker basketball
Tonight I went to my first Ohio State basketball game. The game pitted the #4 ranked Purdue Boilermakers vs. the #9 OSU Buckeyes. As you can imagine, the Shottenstein Center was rocking! Although the Buckeyes were down for most of the game, the fans never quit. After rallying from 16 points down, the noise was so loud that I couldn’t even hear the guy next to me. Despite the Buckeyes valiant effort, the halftime deficit was too much to overcome and they failed to convert a last second 3-pointer to tie the game. Watching the game in person was so much better than I expected and I am now an Evan Turner super fan. Overall I was really impressed with the team and am looking forward to an exciting March Madness!
In other news, I am finally finished with midterms. It was a rough two weeks, but I think I did well so I’m excited to see my results.
Joseph Fahrendorf
Joseph Fahrendorf's Blog - https://fisher.osu.edu/blogs/gradlife/author/fahrendorf_3/
www.bing.com
www.google.com
www.yahoo.com
In other news, I am finally finished with midterms. It was a rough two weeks, but I think I did well so I’m excited to see my results.
Joseph Fahrendorf
Joseph Fahrendorf's Blog - https://fisher.osu.edu/blogs/gradlife/author/fahrendorf_3/
www.bing.com
www.google.com
www.yahoo.com
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Joseph Fahrendorf - Midterm week... Again
It’s that time of year again… midterm season. Although I had a rough midterm week last quarter, I am handling the pressure and the work-load in a much healthier fashion this time around. I guess I can attribute this to finally getting into the swing of school.
I have already taken my Operations midterm and did really well on it. Tonight I’m studying for my Marketing midterm. It is pretty straight forward so I’m not too worried about it… hence I am able to write a blog entry. After tomorrow I will only have my Finance midterm left and who knows how that’ll go. I’m just looking forward to having these midterms behind me so that I can refocus on my internship search. I have two second round interviews coming up, so hopefully I can close on one of the opportunities.
Joseph Fahrendorf
This blog was reposted from Joseph Fahrendorf's Fisher Grad Life Blog.
www.google.com
www.bing.com
www.yahoo.com
www.msn.com
I have already taken my Operations midterm and did really well on it. Tonight I’m studying for my Marketing midterm. It is pretty straight forward so I’m not too worried about it… hence I am able to write a blog entry. After tomorrow I will only have my Finance midterm left and who knows how that’ll go. I’m just looking forward to having these midterms behind me so that I can refocus on my internship search. I have two second round interviews coming up, so hopefully I can close on one of the opportunities.
Joseph Fahrendorf
This blog was reposted from Joseph Fahrendorf's Fisher Grad Life Blog.
www.google.com
www.bing.com
www.yahoo.com
www.msn.com
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