Taking the pie…

With honor and respect I accepted the “pie” from our students.  A special thanks to Abe Furth of Woodman’s for the extra dry Martini, shaken not stirred!

The 5th annual International Dance Festival was co-sponsored by the University’s Office of International Programs and the International Student Association.  I was honored to be selected as the Master of Ceremonies for this event.

We take pride in having a very international environment at UMaine with over 400 international students and scholars, from more than 75 different countries, studying and conducting research on our campus.  These numbers just account for those on student scholar visas and don’t include the many others who may be recent immigrants or trace their roots back to countries around the globe.

Over the years I have had the good fortune to live, work or spend extensive time in many different countries.  My passport sparks many memories.

The most vivid are those of the people I have met, the friendships I have made, and the hours I spent with them enjoying their diverse and unique cultures through the songs and dances they shared.  The emotions they stirred lingered long after the evenings ended.

Those who attended the two performances had a similar experience.  The international students of our university community proudly shared their extensive talents to help others understand and appreciate the cultures and customs of their homelands.

Enjoy the show!

Montreal Canada – January 6-13, 2008 and January 4-10, 2009

The Maine Business School has sponsored teams of MBA students participating in the John Molson International MBA Case Competition in Montreal, Canada. Held since 1981, the Molson competition is the largest, oldest and one of the most respected MBA case competitions in the world.

The competition format is a round-robin tournament involving 36 teams, each consisting of 4 MBA students, representing universities from around the world.  With three hours to prepare, the teams analyze and evaluate unpublished business cases using the skills, knowledge and experience they have acquired from their respective MBA curriculums. Students rely on their own abilities as they are without the aid of tools such as PowerPoint and the Internet. The final product is a hand written presentation that demonstrates student abilities to dig into the problem and develop a feasible solution. Once preparation is complete, they present their strategic solutions and a detailed plan of action to a panel of senior business executives.  Teams are judged on creativity, insight, substance and plausibility of implementation.

I was honored to be asked to serve as the “Assistant Coach”  for the Maine Business School’s team of MBA students competing in the 2008 Molson International Case Competition.  It was a great experience and I am grateful to “Coach” Dr. Harold Daniel and the students – Christine Clark, Cristen O’Brien, Tom Miller and Kevin Paul – for their friendship and support.

For the 2009 competition, I served as coach with the assistance of my colleague, Dr. Jason Harkins.  Due to my holiday trip to Japan, Jason went to Montreal with the team and I was scheduled to join them on my return.  A significant travel delay in Japan and a snow storm on returning to Maine led me to cancel the trip to Montreal.  A special thanks to Jason and the team – Rachel Ferrigan, Tomas Grucza, Gary Jordan, Nicholas Nadeau and Pam Patterson – for the many hours they spent preparing and capably representing UMaine in the competition.

At the end of a very intense week, everyone has an opportunity to relax.  In 2008, there was an “Arabian Nights” theme party.  Enjoy!

Welcome to “Harmony Cottage”

My Land Cruiser has gone through a series of upgrades over the year. We also got ourselves a Mini Cooper which we took on a winter trip to Quebec!