13 weeks later, these two final weeks are the final presentations by the teams to the senior management of their respective Sales or Marketing projects.  Completing this from the NH beach this AM before heading out to Waltham in a couple of minutes where the student team of six will present their marketing research, strategies and implementation tactics to six sales and marketing managers at the company.  Real life. Real expertise. Real and direct feedback.  For the students and for me, the culmination of their work is very exciting and always a bit unnerving since the success (and 40% of the grade) is defined by the customer.   

Jack's 3 Rules

Always on the last content day, I outline my definition of my own three rules focused on my seniors, and, of course, always commit to them that I will always be available for whatever they need for as long as I can.

Rule #1:  Always Continue to Connect

We've learned throughout this course that connections among ourselves, with Tufts peers and alums, and with connections that I and my customers can bring to them are critical to their success whether that is in a project or in a job hunt.  We teach the science of Value Propositions and the technologies of CRM and LinkedIn in enabling those connections, but fundamentally the critical importance and humanity of just staying connected all the time.  I actually extend beyond "connect" and purposefully sometimes use the word, "cherish" talking through the mechanics of how to extend congratulations on promotions and other life events.  

Rule #2:  Always continue to learn

As the seniors move into the world of jobs and careers, I know from my own math and my 1,200 graduates over the years that a large percentage of them will reach out to me between the ages of 24-28 asking for recommendations for graduate school.  MBAs head the list, followed by advanced degrees in engineering and in healthcare, followed by 10-15 every spring looking to go to law school.  I point out that while advanced degrees are important for numbers of reasons, more important is the necessity to keep learning and keep educating oneself whether that's in six years of medical school or in completing an online certification course in a specific marketing discipline, or in returning to Tufts for our highly acclaimed graduate program in Engineering Management.   

Rule #3:  Always Break Some Rules

I point out, of course, to stay clear of breaking "The Big Rules", whatever they are, but, and especially now-pre-parenting and pre-mortgages, explore, be different, fill their curiosity and stretch outside the norm.  Perhaps that stretch is at work at the new job, and maybe it's paddling up the Mekong.  I point out that in my own life after graduating BC and with my ticket punched to do graduate work at the U of Chicago, I chose, much to the consternation of my father, to go into the Peace Corps, which changed my life forever.

So, with one of the last presentations due today at 11:00 and ahead of the upcoming weekend of grading, it's both a superb day to experience what will unfold in this team's presentation of their final work... but also always a time tinged with a bit of sadness as this semester ends.   

It's been a great semester coupled with a very busy time at the firm, plus kicking off the launching of our new Tufts-grown smoothie company,  one of the winners in The Tufts annual $100K New Ventures Competition last week!      Why not!  Even at this age, I need to always keep learning and stretching beyond the norm.  This is a great opportunity developed on years of deep nutrition science developed at Tufts coupled with the marketing reality of a highly competitive market where Tufts connections and experience are providing uniquely qualified deep experience and hopefully breaking a few rules along the way!  More later!

2023 SALES PLANNING-NONE OF US CAN CONTROL RESULTS!