Monday, April 17, 2006
One Final Salute to Mrs. David Brent
Earlier this semester, I've commented on Mrs. David Brent. She's actually made three separate postings. This woman is a complete ninny. I have the fortune of having her in my Portfolio Management class. It's a great class. We're basically picking stocks in three emerging markets (China, India, and Latin America -- remember that, it'll come in handy later). In two weeks, we're giving a presentation to our school's foundation (which manages an endowment of over $1 billion) as well as various fund managers in Chicago to recommend our portfolio.
This presentation is a really big deal. How big, you ask? Well, among the people who will be in attendance are: Jim Oberweis (yes, the guy who owns the Oberweis dairy and ran for governor), various company presidents (none of which you'd probably know), the dean of the school, the head of the finance department, and various professors. There are going to be some real higher-ups and this presentation is about more than just a grade. It's about making an impression on people you'd like to work for (and get investment money from).
Today in class, we went over the presentation in some detail. We organized the presentation and picked speakers. (Shockingly, they wanted me to speak. Really? The one guy who's always talking, is very opinionated about the project, and doesn't mind speaking in front of large groups? You want him to speak?) As we were going over the presentation, Mrs. David Brent suggested that we need some way to kick things off, you know, an energizer. (By the way, that's my sister's word. I learned it yesterday. She does presentations for a living and apparently has hundreds of energizers at the ready. They mostly consist of video clips of monkeys drinking their own pee. I didn't say she was a good presenter. God, I'm going to get a lot of heat for that. If only there were a delete key....) So, Mrs. David Brent suggested that I kick off the whole presentation by telling a joke. Naturally, I suggested, "A Chinese man, an Indian man, and a Latin American man walk into a bar...."
The whole class basically thought Mrs. David Brent was an idiot. A few of them literally told her so. One of the kids who had to deal with her last semester said, "I don't mean to be cruel, but that's the stupidest thing I ever heard." They went on to say how professional the whole thing was supposed to be and that these people will be paying attention because they want to be there and want to pay attention. After about 5 minutes of badgering and belittling, Mrs. David Brent conceded defeat. And the funny thing? I used to think that comparing Mrs. David Brent to the actual David Brent (the manager from the BBC version of The Office who always tried to make work "fun" by telling jokes) was a little off-base. Now I know it's spot on. I think Mrs. David Brent is doomed to work at a paper company in England. Which I'm all for, if it means I never have to deal with her boobery again.
This presentation is a really big deal. How big, you ask? Well, among the people who will be in attendance are: Jim Oberweis (yes, the guy who owns the Oberweis dairy and ran for governor), various company presidents (none of which you'd probably know), the dean of the school, the head of the finance department, and various professors. There are going to be some real higher-ups and this presentation is about more than just a grade. It's about making an impression on people you'd like to work for (and get investment money from).
Today in class, we went over the presentation in some detail. We organized the presentation and picked speakers. (Shockingly, they wanted me to speak. Really? The one guy who's always talking, is very opinionated about the project, and doesn't mind speaking in front of large groups? You want him to speak?) As we were going over the presentation, Mrs. David Brent suggested that we need some way to kick things off, you know, an energizer. (By the way, that's my sister's word. I learned it yesterday. She does presentations for a living and apparently has hundreds of energizers at the ready. They mostly consist of video clips of monkeys drinking their own pee. I didn't say she was a good presenter. God, I'm going to get a lot of heat for that. If only there were a delete key....) So, Mrs. David Brent suggested that I kick off the whole presentation by telling a joke. Naturally, I suggested, "A Chinese man, an Indian man, and a Latin American man walk into a bar...."
The whole class basically thought Mrs. David Brent was an idiot. A few of them literally told her so. One of the kids who had to deal with her last semester said, "I don't mean to be cruel, but that's the stupidest thing I ever heard." They went on to say how professional the whole thing was supposed to be and that these people will be paying attention because they want to be there and want to pay attention. After about 5 minutes of badgering and belittling, Mrs. David Brent conceded defeat. And the funny thing? I used to think that comparing Mrs. David Brent to the actual David Brent (the manager from the BBC version of The Office who always tried to make work "fun" by telling jokes) was a little off-base. Now I know it's spot on. I think Mrs. David Brent is doomed to work at a paper company in England. Which I'm all for, if it means I never have to deal with her boobery again.
