The Vernacularist

I need Spring Break advice

I have the option of traveling to 1 of 4 cities, through Stern, during Spring Break (10 days).  I've put my considerations next to each city and they are in order of preference, given my current considerations.  All the trips are basically tourist trips with very little time seeing any businesses.  I included the website for the itineraries when I could. (These may be password protected, so sorry if you can't see them)  However, I would really like to hear your thoughts about traveling to these countries, since you all know so much:

1. India - would really like to go, this is the first time NYU students have planned a trip there.  35 people will attend.
http://www.stern.nyu.edu/~sabas/trek2007

2. Morocco - up to 80 might go, 25 are listed right now.  Is it safe?  I assume so or Stern students wouldn't plan a trip, but your thoughts? 
http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~ahbbs/members/spring_break_2007.php

3. Japan - I might get to go for work at some point in the future, big plus is that they planned this same trip last year and everyone liked it

4. China - already went there in 1994 for 6 weeks so I think I can pass

I know...what terrible choices to have.  Hey, at least I'm working my ass off for it.

BuzzFeed

I give a thumbs up to BuzzFeed.  It's a part man, part machine tracker of word-of-mouth buzz through blogs.  It's a interesting hybrid because it's not just tracking searches, like Yahoo!, Google and Technorati.  And it uses editors to sift through the garbage.  The simplicity of the design and lack of superfluous nonesense is a real plus too.  Total dedication to the cause. 

Nice touch on the interior pages with the "drop us a line if you've written about this topic"  Encourages people to sound off on buzzing topics, which adds to the sample size.  I'll be RSSing this and see how much I care for their version of buzziness.   

Some improvements to think about once the site gets going:

1. Geo-targeted displays.  I want to know the national buzz, but also the buzz in New York.
2. More visual tools to see how the memes compare to each other in real time.  I could see getting addicted to refreshing a graph that pits the memes tracked on the home page against each other

If this intends to be a profitable business, which I don't know is the case, they must want to either sell ads or sell the data to businesses.  There are a number of specialized blog buzz tracking services, but this might have a leg up because of the management.  The founders of BuzzFeed know blogs.  Notice that the illustrious Jason Kottke and Jonah Peretti are part of the crew. (They list they online buzzworthiness projects on the right column of BuzzFeed homepage.) 

I'm going to add the BuzzFeed badge to my blog page.  This will hopefully make up for all the things I can't read online anymore because business school gets in the way.

I'll be watching. (Thanks, Andrea)

Raphael Lemkin

I recently went to a lecture at the New York Public Library.  It was actually more like a conversation between Samatha Power and Kati Marton, two authors of books about genocide. Samantha is the author of A Problem from Hell:  American in the Age of Genocide, which I have been meaning to read since it came out but people keep giving me books to read.  I just haven't had the discipline to read it yet.  I think it's partly because the Darfur crisis weighs on my mind in a very present way.  Reading that book will make the Darfur genocide that much more preventable and tragic. Kati, a former journalist covering the UN, recently published a book  called The Great Escape: Nine Jews Who Fled Hitler and Changed the World.   I don't think I'll get to that, but it certainly sounds passionate.

The authors wandered between stories within their books and contemplations about the current state of international diplomacy, the UN and America's diminshed reputation in diplomatic circles.  Samantha argued that America has lost two fundamental characteristics under Pres. Bush: competence and legitimacy. Regardless of what you think about Pres. Clinton's lack of action about Rwanda, Samantha thought we still had a moral authority within international diplomatic circles. I think it's clear that returning to our post-Clinton standing would be a gift.

I never heard of Raphael Lemkin before the event, but we have him to thank for coining the term "genocide." He tried to persuade his family to flee Poland, however he lost 49 relatives in Holocaust.  During the Holocaust, he called this crime "barbarity" and "vandalism." Unfortunately, he found the most eloquent and exacting word in 1943, too late to turn up the spotlight any brighter. Years after WWII, he wondered whether having a better name for the crimes described by the Holocaust would have amplified his families' fears and encouraged them to flee like he did.

I am struck by the power of a single, well constructed, proportionately evocative word. It's a reminder of the complexity and nuance we give to a single word. This blog is inspired by the word "vernacular," my favorite word, for just this reason. Samantha and Kati provided me a reminder on the power of persuation. After all the number crunching I've done the last couple months, I needed some etymological inspiration.

and the winner is?

not my team.  We didn't make it into the final round.  One of the judges said they thought we presented our ideas very well but we didn't show any examples of our recommended strategy working for another company.  They actually liked our idea the best, but it's all about the numbers, baby. 

Went home at 6pm, which means I was awake for 34 hours straight.  I slept for 12 HOURS, which matches my record from college.  Gonna go see Borat this weekend as a gift to myself.  Maybe even find time to exercise.

no sleep

Forgot how messed up you can get without sleeping for 26 hours.  Along with 4 other classmates, I entered the Deloitte Case Challenge, which is a 24 hour competition to solve a business problem and present it to senior partners at Deloitte Consulting. 

A normal, not jacked on coffee and business school person might ask why would anyone put themselves through this kinda torture? Interestingly, all consulting firms have a unique method of recruting employees.  During an interview, you have to solve 1-2 business problems -- called "cases" -- to show that you have the brain power and quick thinking to make it on the inside. This Challenge is another, more elongated, version of a case you might see in an interview. 

At 5:30 last night, 12 teams of 5 were each given a cd-rom of data and articles as well as summary of the situation and problem. At 8am, we had to hand in our final powerpoint presentation.  9am was our 30 minute presentation in front of 3 Deloitte senior executives.  And now I am sitting on my couch, taking a moment to write on my blog so that I don't fall asleep before the 1st round results are announced at noon.  Only 3 teams move on to the 2nd round and then those teams have to present again.  Except this time the Deloitte team can interrupt you as you go, rather than saving their questions for the end.

I won't be surprised if my team moves on.  I think we presented very well and had a sound strategy.  (I actually not allowed to talk about the details of the case at all) Crazy thing about business school is that 60 people wanted to pull their hair out, roll their eyes at each other, and compete on an intellectual level. Oh yeah, winning team get $5000.  But no one is really playing for that prize.

This place rocks...I'm tired.

Can you say Speaker Pelosi?

It's so freakin satisfying to see the Democratic party showing their strength across the country.  I was trying to study all night, but couldn't tear myself away from CNN site and ABC News site.  I was kinda worried that turnout wouldn't be high enough. Or polling was skewed.  Or someone was going to plug in one of these election machines and an entire state would blackout. Basically, if it could happen, it would.

Funny enough, I've been content watching from the sidelines at business school.  Overall, I've gotten tired of the he said, she said. The ads. The long hours with no money and little recognition.   And then after all of that, on election night, my heart is still beating hard.  I'm still jumping from website to television to blog for the latest information. I have friends on races across the country and they have all been sending imcredibly positive emails about the thousands of phone calls they have made or all the doors they have knocked on by 11am.  Really inspiring stuff to a guy who has become a little jaded and little tired of the reliable ups and downs of an election cycle

Thank you America for taking this election seriously.  Thank you to all the people who volunteer on campaigns.  Thank you to donors who might not have all the time, but sacrifice all the same.

I'm gonna go to sleep and dream of some Democrat in the House doing accounting and financial planning with a pencil in his/her ear and an abaccus.

I know, that's kinda weird.  But with business school and politics on the brain, you get weird combinations.