tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60042062012-01-09T15:07:09.452-05:00Once upon a time, I was living in London, had a fun job in the city, loads of wonderful friends and a hectic and crazy lifestyle. One day, I decided to drop all that and come to HEC in Montreal (Canada) to spend a year to study a MBA. What happened next? Read on....whatevernoreply@blogger.comBlogger441100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1097194396280685542004-10-07T20:13:00.000-04:002004-10-07T20:13:16.280-04:00

I'm so proud! The prestigious and untouchable MBA ranking of the Businessweeek magazine released its 2004 edition BW Online | B-Schools | Full-Time Profiles 2004-2005. For the first time, HEC Montreal (my Business School) enter the very exclusive International Top Ten for Non-US MBAs. This is amazing! Here is the ranking: 1 Queens 2 IMD 3 INSEAD 4 ESADE 5 London Business School 6 Western

whatevernoreply@blogger.com71tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1095451375011227232004-09-17T16:02:00.000-04:002004-09-17T16:02:55.010-04:00

Want to see HEC naked? Click here: Pommerleau construction. Just before they built the walls or it could be after a nuclear explosion. That could be a nice April joke! I wanted to make a bad joke sending that to a friend and pretend there was an explosion at HEC, but there is no snow yet in Montreal as there is on te pic... I'll have to wait.

whatevernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1094202998116782142004-09-03T05:16:00.000-04:002004-09-03T05:16:38.116-04:00

Wow! I'm stunned by this news: News: "Saudi bargain-hunters killed in Ikea stampede". The 50 first shoppers at Ikea were meant to receive a $150 gift voucher and... 20 000 people showed up! It's the first I hear that people get killed due to the efficiency of a marketing campaign. That's awful.

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1091787336484506482004-08-06T06:15:00.000-04:002004-08-06T06:18:44.456-04:00

Some people like to make money with Google Adwords advertising system, others like to male art out of it. Have a look at net art : adwords happening, this artist has a great idea to misuse the Google system while having fun. On a more serious side, reading this article allowed me to understand how Google adwords really works and the words pricing is very interesting. 'Free' is the most expensive

whatevernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1091756968528973002004-08-05T21:49:00.000-04:002004-08-05T22:14:32.840-04:00

Yeah, I can finally publish picture on this blog. So there it goes, first pic is your best friend you will have as a mba student.It's sad to say but you can break your leg, can lose your dog, your house can be on fire...these things are unimportant but if your laptop get broken and like me you've never done any backup because you believe in your good faith or you're too lazy to archives stuff

whatevernoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1090524529127524422004-07-22T15:18:00.000-04:002004-08-05T22:19:15.616-04:00

I found out this week that as a HEC Montreal MBA graduated, we can easily and quickly obtain a work permit right after graduation. The steps are as follow. You finish all your MBA duties, exams and all. You find a job. Bring the job offer to the International Students Office at HEC Montreal. By some magic and privilegiated contacts, they can manage to get your work permit sorted within 2 weeks

whatevernoreply@blogger.com37tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1090528259242818932004-07-21T16:20:00.000-04:002004-08-05T22:20:05.206-04:00

Rabeh Hawi was a MBA graduate from last year promotion. 'was' because he died a couple of weeks ago from a heart attack. This news shacked a lot of us. Not just because we had the chance to know him and that he was a fantastic person but also because we all know how hard it is to get the mba and how tough is one year of mba. Dying less than one year later is not something we have in mind in our

whatevernoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1090523868130536842004-07-20T15:16:00.000-04:002004-08-05T22:21:28.716-04:00

It is now time to look for a job and beside browsing the job websites, I'm also trying to make my outermost beautiful resume to seduce the employers, companies and jobs of my dream. I love Montreal and my lazy student life but I can't wait to start working again and go back to Europe and to the Corporate superficial and useless life making money and trying to find ways to spend it.

whatevernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1090523750882498692004-07-15T15:03:00.000-04:002004-08-05T22:22:13.803-04:00

Shame on me! i haven't updated this blog since May eventhough the statistics show that this blog is read everyday a bunch of vistors from all around the world. I guess I should be delighted and start writing something interesting...Hmm... let me think. First of all, let's summarize what I have done since my last update. Loads of classes, very intense. So much that I haven't had time to update

whatevernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1084587218169537092004-05-14T22:13:00.000-04:002004-05-14T22:40:37.063-04:00

Boycott Esso (Bush's best friend) The increase of oil' prices everywhere are leading people to take action towards oil companies. An interesting website ask us to boycott 'Esso': StopEsso Why Esso/ExxonMobil? While the rest of the world is trying to stop global warming and protect the planet for future generations, Esso/ExxonMobil is busy drilling for more oil and polluting the atmosphere.

whatevernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1083967069887229472004-05-07T17:57:00.000-04:002004-05-07T18:03:29.250-04:00

Gay Marketing 'Decades after reaching critical mass, a breakthrough July 1991 article in the conservative Wall Street Journal called the lesbian and gay community "a dream market.":Commercial Closet Various studies have estimated that between 4% and 10% of populations are homosexual, meaning between 12 million and 28 million in the United States alone. The incidence of gay women may be slightly

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1083966053241516482004-05-07T17:40:00.000-04:002004-05-07T18:08:57.106-04:00

Green MBA An excellent resource for anyone interested in MBA progammes with a social or environmental impact slant: Beyond Grey Pinstripes- Preparing MBAs for social and environmental stewardship

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1083964047152594012004-05-07T17:07:00.000-04:002004-05-07T18:04:39.170-04:00

HEC MBA ranked 17th in Forbes Forbes magazine has produced a ranking of the world’s best business schools, and added a further eight institutions to its Top 10 non-U.S. schools. HEC Montréal ranked 17th. Forbes.com: Forbes Best Business Schools The Forbes ranking was based only on the return on investment in a business school education.

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1083212871070627122004-04-29T00:27:00.000-04:002004-04-29T00:32:07.373-04:00

Hell Period Period 5 finished 'officially' this weekend and this week is period 6 kicking off. Well, period 5 is not completely finished as we've been some individual assignments and take home's exam which deadline expires this week. I've finished 2 on Monday before starting my 9 hours day of classes for which I had also to prepare readings and case but for which obviously I didn't prepare as

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1083074345404705352004-04-27T09:59:00.000-04:002004-04-27T10:03:19.903-04:00

Question from new MBA: Can I work beside the MBA? As I start receiving a few questions from prospective MBA students by email, I will answer them online so it can benefit everyone. Question: 'I have recently been admitted to the MBA program at HEC Montreal for the Fall of 2004. I came across your blog through a Google search. I am trying to gather information about the program, in particular

whatevernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1082347092739467692004-04-18T23:58:00.000-04:002004-04-19T00:02:15.686-04:00

Montreal Mirror: "Freebies for overcharged customers Attention all Quebec shoppers! Freebies await if you keep an eagle eye on cashiers ringing up your bill. That's because retailers in la belle province - unlike those elsewhere in Canada - are forced to hand over a product gratis to any customer who notices that he's been charged higher than the posted price on an item costing $10 or less. Any

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1081950193148661652004-04-14T09:43:00.000-04:002004-04-14T09:47:09.140-04:00

Interesting... I run a Googlism for HEC Montreal and the result is quite accurate. I thought I'd share this here. Googlism: "Googlism for: hec montreal hec montreal is french hec montreal is affiliated with the university of montreal and is recognized as a world leader in business education hec montreal is recognized in canada and abroad as a dynamic crossroads of teaching and research in every

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1080928506652086912004-04-02T12:55:00.000-05:002004-04-02T12:58:46.250-05:00

Golf made easy by Nike Nike plans to sell non-conforming clubs: "Nike plans to sell non-conforming clubs" Why not? me think. I don't plan to play the LPGA but I would love any kind of enhancements that would help me to get the ball in the hole in a more efficient and fun way and look like I can actually play. At the other hand, it's true that it would affect the authenticity of the Golf but hey

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1080243434172537632004-03-25T14:37:00.000-05:002004-03-29T14:42:17.716-05:00

Did God decided to punish Coca Cola for selling tap water? Coke recalls controversial water: "Coca-Cola is to recall all bottles of its Dasani water in the UK, after levels of bromate were found to exceed legal levels. The recall is an embarrassment for the drinks giant, which has faced criticism for selling what is treated and purified tap water." Ironical, isn't it? I knew there was something

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-108010003246209542004-03-23T22:47:00.000-05:002004-03-23T22:50:39.186-05:00

Period 5: When time and team management matters We're in 3rd week of Period 5. Time flies. Not many exams at the end of this term but tons of assignments in each class. Individual, Group assignments, presentations, papers, research, etc. and some take home or vanilla exams at the end of the period. The worse is that since it is the first time we were able to choose our courses, each class is

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1080098816207526842004-03-22T22:26:00.000-05:002004-03-23T22:51:08.606-05:00

Spring but still Winter in cold Montreal Just when we though the Spring was back during the weeks preceding the 1st day of the Spring. We had soft temperatures which we can qualified of warm spring feelings and mood here in Montreal. You could see girls starting wearing mini-skirts again, eventhough it still felt too cold to be honest but hey, that's Montreal. Guess what, winter kicked back

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1079453890454498842004-03-16T11:18:00.001-05:002004-03-23T22:31:28.436-05:00

Does the tap water taste better in bottle? Coca Cola admitted recently that Dasani was tap water.BBC NEWS | UK | Soft drink is purified tap water So the second most popular bottled water in the US is in fact expensive tap water.

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1080099352371044162004-03-13T22:28:00.000-05:002004-03-23T22:39:52.856-05:00

Mid term break One week. That's all you get for working 6 months days and night on the tight intensive MBA schedule. I had a long thought about what could be fun to do in 7 days. Well, the choice wasn't that hard. I found a 'relatively' cheap ticket to London (UK) and head back there to see all my friends and loved city. I won't say here how I filled these very intense and highly enjoyable days

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1075772929425553722004-02-02T20:48:00.000-05:002004-03-29T14:42:51.780-05:00

Quebec, like in a dream I found this really cool video presenting Quebec. It's absolutely beautiful eventhough after spending 5 months in Quebec, I've barely see 10% of what is shown in the video. But again, I'm here to do a MBA not as a tourist. I hope I'll have the opportunity most of these stuff before I leave the country though.

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1074472126524097262004-01-18T19:28:00.000-05:002004-01-18T19:30:54.356-05:00

4 Finals down! The Finals exams weekend came to an end. Started Friday, we went through 4 exams in 3 days. I should say 3 nights and 3 days where I haven't much sleep. Marketing, Operation Management, Strategy and Finance are now part of the past. Well, not for long because we're going to have more flavors of these in the next courses. I think that most of my exams went well, beside the last one

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1074317967939204392004-01-17T00:39:00.000-05:002004-01-18T19:33:13.780-05:00

I'm just being lazy. I found something useful while I'm studying for this weekend finals. I can't be bothered to open my books so when I need to review or document a particular concept, I just google it. And look at what I found: QuickMBA: Accounting, Business Law, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Management, Marketing, Operations, Statistics, Strategy All the stuff we need to know are

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1073667838848814512004-01-09T12:03:00.000-05:002004-01-17T00:46:05.686-05:00

Want to see my school? I just found out that HEC Montreal made a Video of the school. It looks like a commercial 'Wall Steet' like rythm. The music is a bit 'too much' to my taste but a good overview with nice shots of the building and the setup of the school.

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1074472976263607102004-01-06T19:42:00.000-05:002004-01-18T19:45:30.403-05:00

Holliday Break Ok, so let's me summarize the holliday break in one post because I was too busy to update this blog during the hollidays. So, 2 weeks off for Christmas and New Year. loads of students went back home. Others, like myself, stayed in Montreal and took the opportunity to discover better this city and what's around. I'm very happy I did because in two weeks, they're loads to be done

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1071647773668588112003-12-16T14:56:00.000-05:002003-12-17T02:58:15.180-05:00

Snowboarding or studying...? Tough choice! Studying in Canada has the disadvantage that it is freezing cold but at the other hand you can enjoy wintersports easily. Where else can you be on the ski slopes in less than an hour driving? Montreal is surrounded by small and larger ski resorts. The closest is Bromont. I spent last night there learning how to snowboard and enjoying the fresh snow that

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1071342340306823932003-12-12T13:49:00.000-05:002003-12-17T01:58:43.540-05:00

MBA Christmas party We had our MBA Christmas party last night. It was setup as a Wine and Cheese slightly formal party where the teachers, academics and partners were invited too. I haven't see many teachers nor partners. Only the friendly ones were there. Quite frankly, i didn't feel like talking to teachers during the party anyway. I'm quite fed up with them and the workload they give us. Wine

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1071032026092650202003-12-09T23:53:00.000-05:002003-12-17T02:01:06.240-05:00

MBA in a nutshell NetMBA Business Knowledge Center Another great knowledge database where the main theories and notions key to the MBA are summarized and clearly explained with a few examples. Ideal if you need to work on something and that you don't have your books around to remind you the theories (OR if you haven't had time to do the readings...;-)). I find the marketing and strategy parts

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1071007671016448812003-12-08T17:07:00.000-05:002004-04-29T00:07:03.326-04:00

Girlie afternoon gossip & dinner Yesterday, me and Little Tree went to S.’s flat to get some training on how to make sushi and chinese dumplings. We arrived late there because we couldn’t stop making pictures on our way there posing with random snowmen and making naulghty HEC building shots (that I’m afraid we’re not allowed to show to public audience…) then we had a few snowfights too. In

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1070664695858558712003-12-05T17:51:00.000-05:002004-04-29T00:09:22.496-04:00

My yearbook text As it is customary for HEC MBA graduates to select someone in their graduating class to write a brief note about them for the yearbook, we were asked to find classmates to write a notes for them. R. & S. wrote some lines for me, they are both so sweet and nicely written. It is so interesting and sometimes surprising to see how other people see you and for them to summarise

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1070659668365870472003-12-04T16:27:00.000-05:002003-12-17T02:05:18.783-05:00

Case studies The Times 100 UK: Marketing Theory, Business case studies: Wow! I found this FREE educational resource for students, teachers and lecturers of business studies. 'The Times 100 brings business studies theory to life with case studies on real companies, written by leading business studies textbook authors and linked to all exam specifications. " It's excellent and there's a lot of

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1070468920599886442003-12-03T11:28:00.000-05:002003-12-17T02:06:10.736-05:00

Freak Man hid in wardrobe to avoid work: "A German man who did not turn up to work because he fancied a day off was found hiding in his wardrobe." Poor man! Amazing how going to work can become scary for some. Never thought of hiding in the wardrobe though...lol!

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1070663646027409632003-12-02T17:19:00.000-05:002003-12-17T02:04:49.720-05:00

Graduation Picture Today, we had our individual graduation pictures taken to appear in the MBA class of 2003-2004 mosaic and yearbook. It was so funny, we had to pose with the graduation cap and gown, as well as the diploma just like if we were already in September 2004 graduated and done with the MBA. Well, I was quite difficult after a course and with all the workload we're going through right

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1069701791871261542003-11-24T14:23:00.000-05:002003-12-17T02:06:52.376-05:00

First Class in english MBA I had my first class in the English MBA today and I really liked it. Our Operation Management teacher "Joseph N. Kelada ", is like a master in his field. he developped and applied his own concepts which are really fascinating. I also met my new teammates. There are one Canadian, 2 Chineses and one Pakistanese students. I only met them briefly but they all look very

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1069616403932728612003-11-23T14:40:00.000-05:002003-12-17T02:07:35.986-05:00

End of Period 2 Exams Yeah! The last exam of the three days exams weekend is now finished. I'm so happy and reliefed but very disappointed that the weekend is almost gone (Sunday afternoon) and that the new term is starting tomorrow morning already. The Operation Management's teacher already sent us a case to be prepared for tomorrow. 'Great!'... :-( Tomorrow will be also my first class in the

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1068928655345759022003-11-15T15:37:00.000-05:002003-12-17T02:08:17.580-05:00

Fly to shop... Tickets to fly to Ikea sell out in three minutes Tickets for a plane charted by Ikea to take customers in remote northern Norway to its store in the south of the country has sold out in three minutes. Ikea took the step after 6,000 residents of the northern towns signed a petition asking Ikea to build a store in northern Norway.' What a brilliant idea but I can't believe how

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1068767235442069422003-11-13T18:47:00.000-05:002003-12-17T02:08:58.670-05:00

Transfer into English MBA...Yeah! I'M HAPPY! I had initially applied to be in the English MBA program at HEC Montreal but since I applied at her later stage and that the English program was full, I had been offered a place on the French program, which I accepted. When I joined the program in August, I noticed that a lot of people didn't show up the first week to start their MBA and therefore

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1067924176272228692003-11-04T00:36:00.000-05:002003-12-17T02:09:36.953-05:00

First snow in Montreal We're going to have some snow tomorrow!!! The first time since I'm in Montreal. It means that the winter is officially there. I can't wait to see the first snow falling on Montreal and take some pics!

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1067922474228575832003-11-03T18:07:00.000-05:002003-12-17T02:10:48.106-05:00

Macro-economics teacher doesn't know about 'Europe'... We had our mid- term test in Macro-Economics today. Grr... Then we had our usual lesson. I thought the teacher knew his stuff but it sounds like he knows only Canada and the rest of the world which is FOR HIM...USA. All the examples in the course are given regarding Canada's situation and THE foreign country: US! At one point, my French

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1067921425230202282003-11-01T23:43:00.000-05:002004-01-18T19:50:58.890-05:00

Halloween party The MBA Halloween party last Thursday night was ace. Almost everyone was dressed up in some very original and unexpected outfits. I was a witch which is not very original but quite good regarding the time I invested in looking for an outfit and end up with a one dollar hat and nails at Dollarama. Cheap but efficient as I was in the halloween mood to the full!

whatevernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004206.post-1067381918044827572003-10-28T17:58:00.000-05:002003-12-17T02:15:38.230-05:00

Welcome to my blog! I always wanted to start a blog but I didn't know about what I should write. Me, my life, my thoughts, others, my hobbys...No,! All this is quite boring. To make it useful to some, I decided to write about my current MBA experience at HEC Montreal. Since English isn't my mother language, this won't be written in the most poetic nor stylistic splendor so I'll 'try' to make it

whatevernoreply@blogger.com1