Great Participation at Corporate Vision Conference
Joe Merrill
Issue date: 11/25/02 Section: GSB News
- Page 1 of 1
On November 8, the Marketing Group and the Corporate Management and Strategy Group hosted one of the GSB's largest annual conferences, Corporate Vision. Hundreds of students, alumni, and corporate participants gathered at the Gleacher Center that morning for the keynote address from Richard F. Teerlink, retired CEO of Harley-Davidson.
Teerlink spoke passionately about his tenure at Harley-Davidson and the leadership journey the company underwent in the last few decades. He shared his ideas about reinventing the organization, vision, leadership, strategy, and good brand management. Teerlink also continued to participate in activities thoughout the day.
The conference featured panel discussions on a variety of topics: strategy, mergers and acquisitions, industry transformation, ethnic marketing, managing channel relationships and more. Present at each event was a wide variety of corporate representatives, including Motorola, Quaker, UHC, Granger, Ford, Brunswick, and Kraft.
One panel discussion, on managing channel relationships, was particularly well received with a large number of students attending. Derek Lundberg, a member of the Marketing Group who volunteered at the event and listened to the panel, said, "What made this session captivating was that all three panelists had a deep understanding of the intricacies of their business... (they) were able to discuss the key players, trends, and history of their industry with confidence and persuasion." Lundberg added, "What I originally thought would be a going-through-the-motions panel, turned out to be the highlight of the conference."
Corporate Vision also encouraged students to mix and mingle with the corporate representatives present and gave the opportunity for students to eat lunch with the company of their choice. Despite the long lunch line, most people had ample time to enjoy some pasta and find out more about the firms they are seeking jobs from. Many of the participants were interviewers who intend to return to Chicago's campus seeking fresh MBAs in the upcoming months.
One GSBer who did not attend the event said, "If there was ever a conference to miss, this wasn't it."
Teerlink spoke passionately about his tenure at Harley-Davidson and the leadership journey the company underwent in the last few decades. He shared his ideas about reinventing the organization, vision, leadership, strategy, and good brand management. Teerlink also continued to participate in activities thoughout the day.
The conference featured panel discussions on a variety of topics: strategy, mergers and acquisitions, industry transformation, ethnic marketing, managing channel relationships and more. Present at each event was a wide variety of corporate representatives, including Motorola, Quaker, UHC, Granger, Ford, Brunswick, and Kraft.
One panel discussion, on managing channel relationships, was particularly well received with a large number of students attending. Derek Lundberg, a member of the Marketing Group who volunteered at the event and listened to the panel, said, "What made this session captivating was that all three panelists had a deep understanding of the intricacies of their business... (they) were able to discuss the key players, trends, and history of their industry with confidence and persuasion." Lundberg added, "What I originally thought would be a going-through-the-motions panel, turned out to be the highlight of the conference."
Corporate Vision also encouraged students to mix and mingle with the corporate representatives present and gave the opportunity for students to eat lunch with the company of their choice. Despite the long lunch line, most people had ample time to enjoy some pasta and find out more about the firms they are seeking jobs from. Many of the participants were interviewers who intend to return to Chicago's campus seeking fresh MBAs in the upcoming months.
One GSBer who did not attend the event said, "If there was ever a conference to miss, this wasn't it."