ASB Students Visit San Francisco through the National Millennial Community
Henry Bolanos is a senior graduating in December, 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a minor in accounting. After working for a year as a student assistant in the front office of the School of Management, he just began a new student position in the UA Statewide Human Resources department in the fall of 2016. He plans on taking a break after graduating and then returning to pursue his master’s degree in a few years. Henry shared this story in September 2016.
In the summer of 2016, three Associated Students of Business (ASB) students had the opportunity to travel to San Francisco to tour a number of organizations. Huckleberry Hopper, Claressa Ullmayer, and I spent three days on this trip, which was sponsored by ASB and the National Millennial Community. We joined about 20 other students from eight other schools for the trip of a lifetime.
Our first stop on this whirlwind tour was the Verizon Innovation Center. Only two of these centers exist, with the other located in Boston, and access to the centers is very limited. We received a tour of the facility and learned about the extensive research and development activities that go on there – far beyond just cell phone technologies. For example, one project involves an advertising tool that can detect multiple faces simultaneously and identify their age, gender, facial expression, how long the person focused on the ad; this system is intended for use as a rapid advertisement feedback tool.
After Verizon, we visited SHIFT Communications, an analytical public relations firm. The open floor plan office looked like a movie set for a hip startup business, with young millennials at every computer, and the sound of footsteps as workers moved from one desk to another to discuss their projects. We were fortunate to meet with Leah Ciappenelli, the company’s HR Director, who was visiting from Boston. She gave an overview of what the firm does, answered questions, and shared some career and life advice.
The next stop on our busy day was a meeting with the millennial team at Wells Fargo, which includes representatives from their Pacific Northwest marketing team and their community outreach department, and is led by Chris Galang, Diverse Segment Manager. We students and the millennial team engaged in a long and illuminating conversation about different aspects of banking, branding, community outreach, and nonprofit management.
Finally, the day ended at the communications firm, Spitfire Strategies. We split into smaller groups to discuss a few different topics. In one discussion group, the staff members shared advice on the job seeking process – how to find the right job fit for your career, how to prepare for interviews, how to give informative interviews, and what their firm looks for when they interview people. Another discussion topic covered an in-depth look at what the firm does on a day-to-day basis. Essentially, they work with organizations, mostly nonprofit organizations, to help promote social issues and increase public awareness. They also handle campaign work, digital strategies, communication planning, and crisis communication.
Day two was especially exciting for us, as it began at the Oracle Arena, home of the Golden State Warriors basketball team. We were treated to a tour of the facility, including the newly refinished basketball courts. Unfortunately, there were no sightings of Steph Curry working on his magical 3-pointer. After that excitement, we met with Jennifer Cabalquinto, the organization’s CFO. Cabalquinto talked about how she ended up in her role, stating that the industry attracted her because it was something she had never been involved with previously. She also shared how important it is to her to always keep learning. I was surprised by this statement, since she has had an extensive career at a number of high profile organizations. To hear her say that she is still learning really showed me how important it is to not get complacent in my career down the road.
After the morning at the arena, it was on to the mythical land of Google. There, we met with a panel of six “googlers” who also happen to be millennials. Most of the panel members confessed to not knowing what a millennial was until they were asked to be on this panel – which I found funny, since I had the same experience when I was invited to go on this trip! But despite this, we found it extremely valuable to hear from people who look like us and are a part of such a strong organization, and we gained great insights from the panel members about entering the work force out of college.
The final stop on our itinerary was the home of one of the original e-commerce companies, eBay. After a quick tour of the new eBay facility that is under construction following the company’s split from PayPal, we met with Claire Dixon, eBay’s Vice President of Global Communication. Dixon immediately stated that they wanted to pick our brains as millennial consumers, and gathered our feedback about various preferences, such as social media, celebrities, news sources, and more. The discussion then moved on to the topic of eBay, and Dixon explored our preconceived notions about the site, squashing many of our misconceptions along the way. She then showed us a few brand new commercials that haven’t yet been aired and asked us to share our opinions on them. This was another interesting and engaging experience for us, as we were able to share our input and ask (and answer) many questions.
Overall, the trip was an amazing experience for the me and the other ASB students, as we were able to meet fellow business students from across the country and learn about their stories, including their experiences pursuing business degrees in disciplines that UAF does not currently offer. Meeting with leaders in various roles from many different organizations really helped me understand more about the qualities that are desired by all firms. This was truly an experience of a life time and I am grateful to SOM, ASB, and the National Millennial Community for the opportunity.
