TEDxUChicago - The Student Contest

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The TEDxUChicago conference is looking to showcase one student speaker from the Greater Chicago area! This is your opportunity to nominate yourself as a speaker and be chosen to showcase your work, ideas, inspirations and viewpoints on this year’s theme “Reinventing the Life of the Mind”.

Whether you are an undergraduate or graduate student, a researcher or a philosopher, a leader or a follower, you have something interesting to say—an idea worth spreading. This is your chance to enter and give an 18-minute (maximum TED talk time) speech to the world!

Timeline

• Competition Kickoff

  On November 22nd any student will be able to submit their proposal on our website: tedxuchicago.com/contest

• Proposal Submission Deadline

  Register your proposal by January 5, 2011 at 11:59pm Submit proposal here.

• Q&A As questions come in, we will post them here for other participants to read. In the meantime if you have any questions please submit them toakinin@tedxuchicago.com.

• Proposal Feedback Delivered and Finalists AnnouncedAll speakers will receive comprehensive feedback on their proposal. Five finalists will be announced to present in the final round on March 15th 2011.

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  Final Round Each person will present to a panel of industry experts from business, technology and public and social service sectors / professors, entrepreneurs. Finalists will be given more in-depth information as they’re chosen.

Questions?

Contact: David Akinin, akinin@tedxuchicago.com

My Own Earth Clock!

The World Statistics Clock

We always hear: "every second there's another abortion around the world", or "every 10 seconds a car is manufactured."

Stop! Stop reading statistics, or trying to put it all in one frame and check this World Statistics Clock out! http://www.peterrussell.com/Odds/WorldClock.php

Recently I came upon the World Statistics Clock by Peter Russell, and I must admit that I sat there, staring at the screen for 10 minutes trying to grasp everything that the click conveyed. Check it out, and let me know what you think...! I was blown away.

Simplypostcards.net - Sending Custom Physical Postcards from your Phone!

A team I'm working with created an app that allows one to take a picture, flip it, write a message, input my address, the recipient's address, press send, and sit back to wait for a "thank you for the beautiful postcard" message!

How many times do we find ourselves "too lazy" to go to the closest pharmacy to purchase a postcard? Then when we actually have it, getting a stamp and dropping it in the mail is another hassle. Time is of essence, and for one of the most important things in our interpersonal relations- thanking people, showing them our appreciation or reminding them how much we care, we seldom seem to find time.

www.simplypostcards.net took care of it for us. The app is now available for download with apple products (iPhones, iPad, iTouch, etc). If you own one of these devices and don't have the app, you're missing out!

As a courtesy, Simply Postcards provided me with a code for my friends to get a total of 6 free trial postcards.... that's how much they trust you'll love the product. Once you download the app, go to Account or Settings, and redeem code: "david5". If you're having trouble making it work shoot me an email at david@akinin.com! No worries, there is no purchase necessary or credit card!

TOUR THE APP:

Understanding Synergies and Efficiencies in Mergers through MLT

About 6 months ago I submitted my final application to what I thought would be a leadership development program that would equip me with the skills to address professionally my next career steps. Little did I know that Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) would give me a new network of peers and professionals, an inspiring coach (Bridget McCurtis) that’s on my tail about my professional development, dreams and career steps, and most importantly the tools to grow professionally. You get out of a program what you put into it, and MLT is the quintessence of that idea.

For the past couple of weeks I have been working with Francisco Guzman, Stanford University, and Sebastian Sinisterra, Emory University, two peers from the MLT Program on an investment banking case study competition for Credit Suisse. The idea is to propose a plausible merger for a top industry pharmaceutical, Merck & Co. How you do envision it, what you pitch and in what respects, are all great measures of how effective your proposal turns out.

One very rewarding graph we’ve included in our presentation derives from the ideas of valuation, cost-cutting and synergic efficiencies. See below.

More to come on our progress through this competition in November!

Shoes4Africa still making front pages

The online and print magazine, TennInk, is still recognizing our Shoes4Africa work, after 4 years of its inception, and two years since the final shipment.

I wrote an article over a year ago to share the story behind Shoes4Africa DBA Help4Africa's inception, the burdens we overcame and the accomplishments we achieved. The article, featured on their website, teenink.com can be found at
http://www.teenink.com/hot_topics/community_service/article/27859/Shoes-for-Africa/

Some months back I was awarded for the "Best Article", and my writing contribution was published in their print version as well, which is distributed to thousands of students across the United States. Today, after so long, I am happy to see that the impact went beyond the direct community we dealt with; the article is featured thanks to the readership that rates the pieces in the front page of Hottest Topics:
http://www.teenink.com/hot_topics/

I propose a cyber-toast to projects, to starting things, to being a change-maker, entrepreneurially and intrapreneurially spirited, to life!

Leadership at Google and Beyond

Leadership is about finding a new direction, not simply putting oneself at the front of the herd that’s heading toward the cliff. In the past two years, through its hosts, mentors, speakers and participants, the BOLD Program has taught me how to live by the preceding definition of leadership. I am the product of a mélange of experiences, learnings and serendipitous events at Google.

My return to the BOLD program this summer gave me considerable advantage over my previous summer, as I walked in knowing the company, the culture, and was ready to work, filled with energies that had been inspired by a year of the Ambassador program. The inspiration from individuals at every level- Rosenberg to Roe to Dinsmore, product to sales to hr, gave me the thirst to seek ownership of my projects, and represent Google’s core values as the face of all my exertion by going far and beyond.

Working with the dynamic DSO Consumer Packaged Goods vertical, under Catherine Roe gave me the ability to pitch to clients and be creative in the work I do. I have had the opportunity to do amazing work, be creative, pitch ideas and work hand in hand with the team. For example, an opportunity surged to help the Kraft management team design a full day of learnings and activities for their newly established innovation team, and I raised my hand, spoke-out my interest and jumped straight to the task. This was my opportunity to pitch Google products to Kraft management, while helping them fulfill their adventurous request. This was something that was out of the marketing scope of my internship, but it was new and exciting.

I helped put together a full day event, whereby the participants would visit different small to medium size companies and learn from their case studies to inspire ideas internally. I designed and created an interactive, digital Google map to provide guidance for the Kraft Pub Crawl organized by Google. The map is an interactive interface. The user is able to rate the locales, take notes on the icon's description box about his/her experience, draw lines connecting places and even set routes and directions. I went even farther. I held a tutorial for a VP at Kraft about Cloud Computing, and how we could implement Google Docs, Forms and even Sites for the Crawl, to not only inspire collaboration and communication, but also augment tech-savyness amongst what they hoped to be an innovative team. The list is long- I created iGoogle Marketing Dashboards to help them understand search and prepared a Walmart / Kraft strategy report.

The results were incredible. “Cloud Computing” was the new buzz-word inside of Kraft, they felt at the top of the tech-world knowing that they were implementing this new fashion. Collaboration and communication were unique, and idea sharing was exponential. The Senior VP of Marketing at Kraft emailed Dennis Woodside to thank him for my leadership in the project, and my team applauded my accomplishment as I ameliorated their relationship with Kraft and opened doors that had been locked for some time. Just this past week, I was approached by Hunter PR and Kraft to organize a similar event in New York.

Taking complete ownership of this project showed my ability as a leader and a doer. I was able to help an external team grow stronger, while simultaneously having them adopt Google products and act Googley, by collaborating, thinking of the bigger picture and being open and accessible to the world. This year I return to the University of Chicago as a Google Ambassador for the second time. This summer has taught me many things. Just like I was able to navigate effectively and make things happen at Kraft, I look forward to planting the seeds of Google products in similar ways- from the student who wants to keep his documents online to the school administration that aims to cut costs and integrate email, calendar and other online applications by Going Google. As a leader, I am always in search of a new direction. BOLD has given me mine.

How do you create as many options as you can? A conversation with Lazlo Bock, VP at Google

The following is an excerpt or agglomeration of ideas from a conversation with Lazlo Bock, VP of People Operations at Google, Inc.

The most important thing in your career is to pick your industry carefully. The industry you choose determines how many opportunities you can create for yourself. Following Jonathan Rosenberg’s ideas (another blog post pending on his talk), we all want to catch waves, find industries where there are tons of waves, and find a big one to ride. Technology is ours.

A lot of people say they want to work for nonprofits, since they have passions for things of charitable value. Do it, I’m not saying not to, but chose your priorities in life. You can have a very big scope of impact without staying always in solely nonprofit. As Vice President of People Operations, Lazlo Bock has the power to give millions of dollars in scholarships to touch people.

Pick your company right. “When I was in consulting at McKinsey, I would flip through thick resume books and take out the ones that had impressive companies on their resumes like Google, Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, and focus mainly on those candidates.” When you’re getting started in your career a big company is better. It doesn’t matter what job you have, but the fact that you’re there. Once in, you can find more opportunities for yourself that are better fits given the huge waves of opportunities flowing through everyday.

It doesn’t matter so much what you do, but whom you’re with and what opportunities you create for yourself.

The next important thing is about how you manage yourself. I see careers as managed in ten-year pockets. The first 10 are very experimental, jump from pond to pond, and try companies out, roles, and grad schools. Now, once you hit the 10-year mark you better settle, and excel! It’s like declaring a major. You don’t want to say “I could have gotten there” one day. Become known for that major you choose, the best at it, the expert in the field- have the potential to have real impact and establish yourself.

The other notion about how to manage yourself and your career goes back to an interview Lazlo had at Pepsi. “What are your three core values?” was the question that he got asked. Lazlo fumbled it, but was interested enough to ask Rusty (cool name for a Pepsi exec, ha?) what where his. There’s one that stuck with Lazlo over the years: always go above and beyond, because then they have no choice but to reward you.

One of the things I have been frustrated about is the quality of leaders around me. At McKinsey, they had this thing called obligation of descent. If you disagree, you are obliged to disagree, to stand up and fight back. Leaders should be inspirational, well-versed and truthful. “As a leader I put my money where my mouth is, and strive to build leaders like I envisioned,” he concluded.

Don’t be disappointed in your career at managers, don’t judge too harshly. Leaders are human. You will go from one manager to the next, but focus on the work you do because that is what matters.

Google's Zero Moment of Truth

This summer I am interning (Google BOLD) at Google in Chicago, working in the Consumer Packaged Goods under Catherine Roe. I am just getting started, and I am truly excited about what I'll be putting my efforts to over the next couple of months, and the quality of people in my team, especially those guiding me. The following is a blog post from the CPG blog about the Zero Moment of Truth that I really enjoyed. Lets make the case for online marketing's influence on consumer decisions.

I recall my father, Ysaac Akinin, saying once: "products on the shelves, most likely, don't get a second chance to a first impression." The depth of this statement in the areas of marketing, product diffusion and adoption and general merchandising is unique. Keep this phrase in mind as I go over a consumer's Moment of Truth.

The term "First Moment of Truth" (commonly called FMOT) was coined by Procter & Gamble in 2005 to define the first interaction between a shopper and a product on a store's shelf. This moment was considered one of the most important marketing opportunities for a brand, as P&G asserted -- and others believed -- that shoppers make up their mind about a product in the first few seconds after they encounter that product for the first time. While this first moment of truth is still important, the rise of full internet adoption and increased search engine use often lead to many brand interactions taking place between a consumer and a brand before that consumer ever sees a product on a shelf. This phenomena is what we are calling the "Zero Moment of Truth", or ZMOT.

We've pulled together some data which supports this new phenomenon.

Data from IRI's latest Economic Longtitude 2009 study shows that 83% of shoppers make their purchase decisions prior to entering a store:


We've seen an increase in searches, over time, for Food & Drink, and Beauty & Personal Care:

Google Insights for Search
	Gadgets powered by Google

SKU proliferation in the marketplace and more complex product ingredients, additives and benefits (i.e. anti-wrinkle, probiotics, acai, stevia) have given consumers more reason to turn to search engines to help them in the decision-making process.

P&G and other companies have started to re-evaluate a brand's true First Moment of Truth. For example, Peter Hoyt, Executive Director of In-Store Marketing Institute, talks about P&G's shift to focus on the notion of "Store Back" -- equivalent to what we are calling the Zero Moment of Truth.



What does ZMOT mean for marketers? It means that marketers need to button up their pull marketing strategies, not only the push strategies, and find ways to connect the two. Marketers need to ensure that a consumer has a consistent and positive experience -- from the Zero Moment of Truth to the point of purchase and beyond -- by getting in front of a consumer with the right brand message early in the process of discovery, and staying there along the way.
(credit: Jenny Liu) This is potentially the second chance to a first impression!

BizInk: The Latin American Challenge in Medellin, Colombia

It took me a while to make some time and write about our amazing experience in Medellin, Colombia. I'm late in writing it, perhaps, because I couldn't find the time I thought this incredible trip required for me to sit down and in retrospect give a full recount.

To begin, we are honored to be the first students in the history of the University of Chicago to obtain the Dean's Fund for Student Life Award twice in the same year.

Our team: Alberto Da Costa, Guimar Vaca Sittic, David Akinin, Pedro Sanchez de Lozada

Although I arrived earlier with my father, Ysaac, older brother Abraham, and Pedro, our week started on Sunday May 16th, when Alberto and Guimar got to Medellin. Now before I even jump in to the details of the competition, I must say that Medellin, Colombia is a beautiful city, filled with lovely, friendly people- something I had never seen before.

Abraham Akinin, Pedro Sanchez de Lozada, David Akinin, Ysaac Akinin

More than a recount of the competition (which I can talk about at another time and place), this post deserves to highlight Medellin's hospitality above all. My father came along for the trip because he wanted to meet Humberto Fernandez and Margarita Fernandez (unrelated, by the way) to push for the sale of a soymilk production plant for El Programa Para La Ayuda A La Ninez. However, instead of it seeming that he went to sell something to them or start a business with them, it appeared as if they expected their family. We hadn't stepped in Colombian land, and there they were- Humberto, his wife Carmen Beatriz and Margarita, in the airport waiting for us. Behind them, another gentleman, William- a friend's uncle, who had non-egoistically given us accommodations and transportation for the whole trip, as well as his unconditional friendship.

We stayed in a finca in Lomas del Escobero. Stables, the view, the service, the Zorro-style decorations- it was our mansion for a week. The air we breathed those days, the sights we saw every morning and the foods we enjoyed, marked our every second.

Lomas del Escobero

David Akinin and William

The competition was scheduled to start on Wednesday, but I decided to go earlier to become familiar with the people, the place and plan a solid strategy for the rest of the week. The two following days were a mix of sightseeing and meetings with different companies that were going to participate in the challenges. I met with executives of Bancolombia, the VP of Marketing of Suramericana (insurance company) and a Director of Enlace Operative, a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company, among other businesspeople affiliated with the companies we were to research a few days later. These meetings gave us a better understanding on how business was handled in Medellin.

Guimar recounts: "We were all very excited when the first day arrived. After meeting all our competitors that came from around the world, we sat down to listen the challenge presentation by a company called conTREEbute. This environmental, green, for-profit company showed their case and their actual problems to penetrate into the Colombian market."

Winners of conTREEbute Challenge

We prepared case study responses to live problems of countless companies including conTREEbute, colombiaMODA, Everfit, Levi's, Enlane Operativo and Suramericana. We were faced with expansion, outsourcing, financing, innovating, marketing and consulting challenges. Our team opted by implementing a plan with guerrilla marketing strategies that would have high reach to people and at the same time be cost-effective for the company taking into account the limited budget they had given us at the beginning, for campaigns liek Levi's. In some cases we accuded to executives in the area, like Joe Siegelman, founder of Office Tiger, and today Petro Tiger. Our presentations consisted of different schemes that would allow the companies to grow at a fast rate and at the same time not loose control of their financial statements.

EAFIT Organizers and BizInk participants

The final challenge presented consisted in developing different collection methods for micro-insurance premiums and potential channels of distribution that would help the company adopt these cost-effective strategies and provide a personalized service. I researched all night FACECOLDA, the academic journal of the insurance industry, at the EAFIT library. In addition, we met throughout the week with several employees of the company, and the founder of Banco de la Mujer, today Banca Mia- Margarita Fernandez.

Although we had won most of the challenges, the peer review challenge was something that hampered our chances from the very beginning and something we could not recuperate during the following days. At the awards ceremony I was awarded the "Best Prepared" Individual Award for the International Challenge and our team awarded the 2nd place internationally.We learned the importance of putting networking to practice when one is in a new environment. We met people, we worked under stress, early in the mornings until late at night.

Team holding check at Finca: Akinin, Sanchez de Lozada, Da Costa, Vaca Sittic

Humberto and Carmen Beatriz treated us better than one would expect to be treated by their family. In a letter to them I wrote as I departed: "You welcomed us the 15 and until the last minute of the 23rd of May, you were with us sharing, guiding and difussing happiness. Although for you it is the everyday land, for us, Medellin was 'wonderland' and 'the land of gold, milk and honey' of Latin America."

Dinner with Humberto and Carmen Beatriz Fernandez

We left Medellin with a considerable addition of friends to our facebook and blackberry lists, pictures in our cameras, memorabilia in our bags... but beyond all those material gains, we returned with a bond amongst us stronger than ever, an unforgettable experience that will bind us and our careers forever to that beautiful city and its people.

The Tiger and the Team

David Akinin, Ysaac Akinin, Abraham Akinin