Students in the MBA Marketing Association organized a networking trip to Portland, Oregon, and Seattle last January. They met with companies in the area and with the Puget Sound chapter of the Management Society.
The group included twenty-nine first- and second-year MBA students who compiled personal contacts they had in the Pacific Northwest and set the schedule for the trip. “The BYU alumni were key to the success of this trip,” said MBA student Geoff Howard. “Alumni are always asking to help out—this gave them the opportunity.”
The students met with Intel, Nike Golf, Hollywood Entertainment, Microsoft, AT&T Wireless, Amazon.com, Alaska Airlines, SAFECO, Eddie Bauer, and the Seattle Thunderbirds. “It’s low pressure for the people we visit; we meet with them, and it’s up to us to follow up for a potential job or internship opportunity,” says Scott Porter, an MBA student and president-elect of the campus graduate chapter of the Management Society.
The trip not only gave them a firsthand perspective on business marketing but also a good networking experience. “This trip might lead to opportunities that may not have happened otherwise. Our goal is to plan more trips during the upcoming semesters,” says Whitney Seamons, an MBA student. “We’d like to think we’ve started a tradition.”
The students are hoping their meeting with the Puget Sound Management Society will encourage other student-alumni connections. “This was a groundbreaking idea to build direct relationships between students and the individual chapters of the Management Societies,” Porter said.
In the upcoming year Porter would like to work with local chapters to see more trips like this one come to fruition. Any chapters interested in contacting Porter about having students visit their area can email him at scottporter@byu.edu.
