Joining the Club...

With the coming of the end of the academic year, I have been invited to join Beta Gamma Sigma, the business honors fraternity. Individuals in the top 7% of their class in their junior year and top 10% of their class in their senior year at AACSB-accredited institutions are invited to join. For graduate MBA students, the top 20% are invited to join. It is an internationally recognized organization and one I am proud to be a part of. At left is the golden key of Beta Gamma Sigma.

Also with the end of the year come award ceremonies. The Lowenthal Group had its end of year recognition ceremony recently, a wonderful reception with Peter Rosenthal, the faculty advisor to the program, and Interim Dean Wayne Morse. I was recognized as a service leader, officer of the group, and graduating senior. At right is a picture of myself and Peter.

Chicago

For this year's COB Honors Program trip, the group headed to Chicago. At left is a picture of yours truly with (from Left to right) Joel Azariah (my roommate), Layton, Inga, and Amy. The honors program provides many opportunities to interact with individuals in high places in industry (often in faraway places). For this trip, we visited the CBOT (Chicago Board of Trade), one of only two physical trading floors left in the US. Most are now virtual, like the NASDAQ. I have never seen such a tremendous hub of activity, with hundreds of people in colorful trading jackets shouting at each other to complete their trades before the closing bell.

But these trips are not only serious business. We had the opportunity to check out the Navy Pier and the top of the John Hancock Center, as well as stop at the original Uno Pizzaria. It's the funniest thing to see this little brick building surrounded by towering glass skyscrapers on all sides. Let's face it... for us small city residents, even riding the subway is fun...

City of Chicago:
http://www.ci.chi.il.us/city/webportal/home.do
Chicago Board of Trade:
http://www.cbot.com/

My work included on Neilhair.com!

Neilhair.com has decided to include a brief synopsis of my latest research project, my Honors senior thesis: "Marketing Professionals' Perceptions of Personal Branding and Personally Branded Websites." Check it out at the following address:

http://www.neilhair.com/?page_id=91

Rochester (had) debris too...

I owe Brian Patterson a thank-you for finding this pic. I recieved an email from him recently asking, "Hey, isn't that you and Joel (my roommate) there"? Indeed, that was us (fourth and fifth from the left) helping out during RIT ROCS, RIT's day of mass volunteerism in the Rochester community. It was quite a happy memory from fall of 2004. We were working with RochesterCares to clean up a recently demolished garage on the property of an elderly woman. Over the course of the morning, we turned the pile of rubble into a clean, tamed back yard. It was a great time and a good deed. RIT ROCS was and is an excellent event.

The following year, I was able to convince RIT President Al Simone to include the Alzheimer's Association's Memory Walk as one of the official events. The event has special significance to me, as early onset Alzheimer's killed my father. Leading a team from RIT's College of Business's Lowenthal Group, I was able to raise $1800 personally, a testament to my Father. Other team members made great contributions, bringing our team total to over $2600. Next year, my personal goal is $2200.

RochesterCares:

http://www.rochestercares.org/