This June, 10 OSU Management Club members crammed into a van and took off for San Francisco, touring five companies in two days, getting face time with managers from diverse industries and seeing classroom concepts in the wild.
“This trip was a great way to build stronger connections with our alumni and get a greater understanding of how organizations are run,” senior Lyndsay Toll said. “Each was such a contrast to one another — a start-up, a Fortune 500, family business, not for profit, and array of industries.”
Planning for the trip started four months ago. The club was interested in putting together another roadtrip after a succesful tour of the Boeing Co. in Seattle last summer.
Club President Nathan Bauer said the club was interested in California but wasn’t sure who to start with. Working with College of Business Executive Director for Industry Relations Pam Knowles, the group targeted a number of OSU alumni in the Bay Area.
At each stop, the students toured the operation and sat with company managers for question and answer sessions, gaining valuable career tips and networking opportunities.
The tour started with San Francisco Travel, the main promoter of tourism in San Francisco, one of the city’s biggest industries.
“It’s mind boggling the scale on which they operate,” Bauer said. “It was kind of a cool way to kick off the trip.”
From there it was a trio of technology companies, Salesforce, Zimride and Oracle. Salesforce is a cloud computing company specializing in customer relations management tools, while Zimride helps commuters find rideshares in their area. Oracle, No. 82 on the Fortune 500 (as of July 11, 2012), was one of early database providers and still a leader in business hardware and software.
The trip capped off with a tour of E & J Gallo Winery, including a panel discussion with five Oregon State College of Business alumni.
“Visiting such a variety of businesses provides a kind of education that you cannot get in the classroom,” junior Tiga Evans said. “It is a great experience that you’ll always be glad you had.”
Management Club is hoping to do a similar trip again next year and help establish a tradition of the summer road trip, possibly to Seattle.
For students interested in going Management Club, the group will meet Thursday nights at 6 p.m. in Bexell 207, starting the second week of classes.
