Blonde MBADocumenting the life of a blonde MBA student in sunny California. Maybe some blondes DO have brains!

As many of us do, irregardless of our level of football interest, we tend to watch the Superbowl for not just the athleticism (and CRAZY rollercoaster plays - like a 100-yard interception run) but also the advertising. Superbowl ads generally garner top advertising dollars, but the ad offering this year seemed a bit  lackluster as the recession has hit advertising budgets in particular.

There were some heavy-hitter ads, such as Pepsi or Careerbuilder; some rerun ads that had previously aired; foreign automakers versus the U.S. Big 3 that pulled out; but the biggest successes seemed to be the simplest - viral marketing. Two in particular proved that viral marketing is not only recession-friendly in terms of advertising cost, but can be EXTREMELY effective in terms of capturing interest and encouraging follow-up!

The commercials are here…follow the instructions to ’see what happens’! What can be better than Superbowl commercials that keep on giving?

GoDaddy.com -

Jack-in-the-Box -

Welcome back….hope everyone is ready for 2009…and that it will be better than 2008!

In the spirit of things, Blonde MBA has undergone some upgrades (at least in MY opinion as we can all use a little change), so I want to point out a couple of things:

1.  Curious about a day in the life of an MBA student? Microblogging via the Twitter feed on the right now allows me to update you every second of the day! J/k as luckily for you, my life is not that interesting…but I can at least update a little more frequently & you can see what a typical MBA student is up to!

2. Soon to come upgrades…if I don’t write them down they won’t happen:
-  A resource page with some links/readings/recommendations that I happen to be interested in
- A link or page with my resume, as face it - most MBA students are job-seekers & like need to market themselves however possible…I’m sure you’ll understand!

3. As always, I welcome your comments/contributions/questions, even if it’s to tell me to write about something else…

Happy New Year! ~ Blonde MBA

Happy New Year...stranded in Minneapolis!

...at least it was semi-pretty!

Social networks really have become the “wave” (I don’t know if of the future or not) these last few years…and they have definitely influenced MBA life! When I was in undergrad, Friendster was vaguely around, Blackboard just started, and we communicated by cell phones only…crazy, I know!

Today’s college students, and now graduate students, do everything via Facebook…attend or RSVP for events, become fans or members of student groups, talk to our group members, compare articles, network with alumni, you name it! Who came up with this??

Jason Feffer, CEO of Sodahead.com

Answer: Jason Feffer, one of the co-founders of MySpace.com, has set up a new networking site called Sodahead.com, and came to talk to Argyros School of Business and Economics students last night for the first ever Global Entrepreneurship Week. Beyond the entrepreneurial feel of “thinking big,” he gave us insight into how the social networking industry came about and just BLEW UP in a very short time…

• Friendster evidently came about first, but as “My Facebook” was at the beginning, was a closed network with little to no customization by users. MySpace, Feffer’s company, was started in 2003 as an alternative to Friendster and open to pretty much anything - any user name, any “glitter,” and any background the user wanted to hack in. Ugly, yes, but from there, MySpace simply followed and built on what the users were doing most - checking out each other’s pictures, adding music, etc. - and what times/places of the world were doing what. This simple market research (and collaboration with advertisers) caused it be sold within three years for approximately $580 million. Nice cut…
• That said, now Facebook has become an alternative to MySpace, for those users who precisely do NOT want the glitter and glamour, and as us MBA students, allow us to connect to our schools and even now, business professionals and company pages.

Where will these sites go? It’s safe to say I think I’ve grown out of MySpace…those tweens can have it…but I don’t think I’m making a complete jump to the STRICTLY professional LinkedIn. Wherever you go, these sites have allowed many to connect to old classmates, friends, and even family in more ways than ever before…I (and Jason Feffer) thinks they’re here to stay (with ongoing adjustments in a never before established industry)!

For more on how start-up Sodahead got started, check out this interview with Jason Feffer…

Being in an MBA program what with all that is going on in the economy, some classmates and I are kind of wishing that our professors would give more insight into the economy and how it affects the realities of business.  We feel that, in the shelter of the program, the MBA professors can offer insights from the real-world or even academic explanations for some of the current events, so that we can better understand what is going on & effectively lead when we get out!

Of course while my management & statistics instructors may not have much to offer & it would take all of our courses off track, why does my accounting professor talk more about it the current state of things than my economics professor… hmm?? I do have one project of “Fed watching” but as the economy seems to be doing everything in reverse, things it has never done before, this hasn’t led to much explanation or insight into the economic events.

That being said, regardless of course content, an MBA program is supposed to be about reality-based education…what better reality is there than an unstable economic system (wait, did that come out wrong?)

I hope that in the course of our time in the program (& with the dollars we are spending), we can get a little more insight as our economy (hopefully) progresses!

The waiting (& year-&-a-half campaigning) is finally over…Senator Barack Obama has been elected the next President for the United States! No matter who you voted for, this was a historical election for our country, with the first African American U.S. president ever!

As a historical election with record turnout, this election said a lot about a new, younger generation of voters who are generally not afraid to question the status quo, make an effort to vote, and are generally not afraid of change.

Explanations that once were set in stone changed today, and no matter what party you voted with, hopefully this shows the progress that Americans can make given the freedom & rights that we have. Hopefully this will not simply be a change of party, but a change towards nonpartisanship and cooperation.

Oh, & hopefully this change in leadership will effect a positive change in our economy!

So I haven’t really talked about the current Wall Street mortgage crisis for a few reasons: 1) I unfortunately (or maybe fortunately right now) I don’t own a house (hello, I live in CALIFORNIA where they cost 5x more than they should); 2) I’ve been studying for a few tests this week so haven’t really kept up; and 3) simply, although I’m an MBA, I don’t really understand financial markets and don’t usually like to talk about things I don’t know much about because, let’s face it…I’m blonde!

That said though, as this is so far the biggest financial crisis of the century, it is going to affect all of us if it hasn’t already. We don’t know what the short-term or long-term effects of this or any number of financial crises will be for any of us.

What I’m concerned about as an MBA student? My federal school loans; an ongoing unemployment crisis that could affect the job market when I graduate; my taxes now or when I again contribute towards a dual-income household. Beyond that, every American is struggling with debt in this recession. I mean, I do my best to control my debt, but I’m a young urban professional student who has to take on debt to get through school. I got used to living on a disposable income right out of college, bought a new car, moved cross-country to a more expensive state, spent money on a wedding, started thinking about owning vs. renting, then quit my job to go back to school, so I’m not really in a position where I can grow my savings right now.

I hope that our leaders, now and in the future, make the right decisions to guide our country out of this mess. As for me, the investment I’m banking on is my education and the belief that my fellow MBA students and I can learn the skills needed to become succesful leaders in these crucial times…

As with any election season (and Bush’s entire time in the White House), the satire of this year’s Presidential and Vice Presidential races is well underway, and most recently, has added VP candidate Sarah Palin from Alaska to the mix. Everyone said she was looks just like Tina Fey, and finally…Tina Fey as Palin has aired (and is sure to continue throughout the election!!)

This satire of Sarah Palin vs. Hilary Clinton makes fun of, but also brings to light, the concept of change in the White House, no matter what party comes into power…either the first black president with Obama, or the first female in the White House, period! As a fellow female professional, in the instances of both Hillary Clinton or Sarah Palin, I’m curious…does this (or even should this) influence the female vote at all?

I’m all for women uniting, but personally feel that credentials and your stance on issues is more important than this such affiliation! Either way, enjoy!

Today’s economics class: “What are the microeconomic causes of the sub-prime crisis?” This is probably the first of many questions are going to go over my head as I’m going through my MBA program, but I’m alright with that! Today was the first day of class, and I can always attribute these to being a Blonde MBA…

Just kidding, but I do not pretend to have a clue about things that I really, actually have no clue about. One of the key parts about going through the MBA program is being prepared, staying on top of the times and current events, and being able to defend all sides of a case study (which I think I am better at, given a little information)…

Of course, in staying on top of the current events and pursuing the studies that interest me for a career, it’s much easier for me to pay attention to topics that interest me in the fields of my choice…finance and banking are obviously NOT my field of choice!

Anyway, meet one of my new best friends…

Staying on top of the times...

While the term ‘dumb blonde’ is, in most cases, a misnomer (except that my actual initials growing up were DMB), as my blog does have part of the term in its title, I figured I could address the concept of dumb blonde jokes.

Simply…I can’t get enough of them. I don’t care if the term ‘dumb blonde’ is not PC, or at least hopefully not, seeing as I’m getting my MBA and all, but I love dumb blonde jokes.

As a non-dumb blonde, I only wear my helmet when biking.

So if you’re reading, feel free to comment with with a dumb blonde joke…maybe it will provide fodder for one of my posts!

~Blonde-but not dumb-MBA
(P.S. When I got married, my initials went from DMB to DMA)

8/8/08, today’s lucky numbers…
See you next year for 9/9/09!

~Blonde MBA