It has been a bit of a trying day and 1/2 for our team - despite a great showing and a lot of blood (blisters from new pumps) sweat and tears, (ok maybe not the tears), Team UMaine was not awarded the victories that they would've liked to have seen.
We didn't end up going ice skating, as it was snowing, and the wind here is brutally unforgiving. We lost both cases yesterday, which was a huge disappointment - you truly are at the mercy of the judges here. Not unlike the "real world," where the workplace isn't always necessarily fair, it was a bit of a demoralizing day. Our team bounced back of course, like the resilient "Mainers" that we are. Their team chemistry is spot on, they work very well together, and despite our lack of "W's", our coaches think they are doing a great job.
The latest results are in - we are 0-4 as of tonight, having lost today to a very talented and polished team of Ryerson. Our good luck charms (the imported Dr. Mahon and Dr. Daniels) arrived this afternoon just in time to catch the presentation. Today was the live case, in which the CMO of . . . wait for it. . . .the Montreal Canadiens, posed a "Where do we go from here?" challenge to our talented MBA group. The phrase "Hockey is Religion, eh?" was uttered more often then you would believe! The cases have been challenging, but again, we are putting in a strong showing despite the scorecard.
Two quick observations, as I allow my NY Sirloin to digest. . . during the day, when the competitive spirit is fierce, there are some teams that nearly bowl you over by their air of superiority. I would say that is not entirely the case with most of the teams here, which I am happy to report - especially as the Molson-Coors sponsored "hospitality suite" opens in the evening. . .need I say more to that point?
The other thing I noticed is that coming in to the competition, it is easy to feel intimidated - we are in great company after all. But when you start talking to different people from literally around the world, and in your own country, you realize you're not so different after all. (Bad cliche, I get it). I'm off for now - I will try to use my technology prowess to upload some pictures (the edited versions of course!) Just kidding, Nory . . . we're behaving as any good business students would, eh? - N
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Sometimes the best learning experiences result from setbacks. E.g. you assess your weak areas, develop an improvement strategy and emerge stronger and better! Again, we are all routing for Team UMaine here and know you will do a terrific job in the competitions today!! NJ
ReplyDelete