I've got a few weeks left in my modern version of the old classic, Back to School. (Yep, I'm Rodney, and by the way, that seemingly innocuous film is totally polarizing among people I know. Teej and I love it, many folks detest it. And don't know the first thing about Kurt Vonnegut.)
Anyway, I'm slated to graduate next month. Just 25 years after my buddy rob did so with the same degree from the same school.
Last week, we had yet another group assignment. This is the first class I've taken in my 3+ years of this program that interspersed students from the full-time MBA program with our program -- a program that I simply call "night school." And calling it night school, of course, can only make me think of one show, one episode, and one glorious scene that will remain close to my conscious for all my days:
But anyway, our group project was based on one of the many Harvard Coursepack cases that we've studied throughout the program. This one is about a guy named Dave Carroll. The basic story is here, encapsulated as such:
"United Breaks Guitars" documents the incredible viral power of social media, analyzing the reach and impact of a clever customer complaint music video produced by Canadian musician Dave Carroll when his attempts to recoup the value of his guitar (broken in transit) are stonewalled for over a year by United Airlines. Posted on YouTube on July 6, 2009, the video was tweeted by Carroll's friends, posted on social news sites, shared with Facebook friends, and picked up by bloggers. From there it was a quick hop to the mainstream media; by the end of July, the video had been viewed 4.6 million times, with external references expanding that audience by many more millions.
The video in question for United Breaks Guitars:
We, Team 7 of the Customer Experience Management class, were assigned this case and took on the role of United after this thing went kablooey, tasked with a 45-minute virtual presentation to the class last Thursday. My four teammates from the full-time program, each of whom was born during the Clinton administration, set about creating a slide deck and talking points. I, meanwhile, with their blessing as the old guy, took on a tangential task of what I figured was the no-brainer inclusion for any presentation on this subject: our own music video.
And then I got some sort of bronchial infection about the same time my second COVID vaccine shot was being sunk into my upper arm. And lost my voice entirely. And was down for the count. Bad times, and my part of this project was certainly in jeopardy.
I was able to rally, write some related lyrics, set some chords to it, and spend some time on my third floor (Les Coole Studios) hastily laying down the track. Gravelly (at best) voice and all. And then winging my way through iMovie, creating some visual accompaniment. We presented it to the class to modest fanfare. Here it is, just for kicks.
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19 comments:
b-school sure has changed in two decades
I only have one question...in 27 parts.
Good stuff Whit. Congrats on the pending graduation. In the interim, can you please prepare a five forces analysis on the airline industry as a whole, do a semantic differential scale survey to track the effectiveness of “United Makes Amends”, and conjoint analysis on the individual offerings?
Your lyrics are definitely better than "Easy Sleazy" but that bar is low. Grohl and Jagger should make a video together รก la "Dancing in the Streets".
people detest "Back to School"? who are these fools?
Timmy, I'll have all that on your desk in the morning
Juan, that silent video makes me laugh every time
Whitney, the Gravelly Groveler.
I'm ok with Back to School, though I haven't watched it since the 80s. I'm going to avoid Eazy Sleazy for now. Mick's musical work outside of the Stones has been peppered with lowlights.
Too true, Rootsy, though I do like "Sweet Thing"
Bernie Madoff, may you not get much rest in hell
A guy I used to work with grew up in New York City and dated Bernie Madoff's daughter in high school. This guy was 18 and the girl was 16. Madoff referred to him as "the felon".
i tell you what, friends. high school girls are dramaaatic.
Maybe it was the granddaughter.
i've been amused all day thinking about the earnest full-time mba students having whitney dropped into their midst and trying to figure out what to make of him. really would've loved to be a fly on that zoomwall.
Yeah, it’s a thing all right. Your fly self would be super amused for sure.
How do you know any are named Ernest?
Great content here, and there. The subject matter has been visited before for certain but the character here would make it so much more appealing...a reality show starring Whit and his fellow 22 year old classmates in an MBA program, and not of the virtual sort. Every other episode recounting an epic wkd of his past, classmates in awe, disbelief, and near fear at once....and reenacted for full flavor.
I'd rent that.
It would be called "Flavor of Whit" and Brigitte Nielsen would make occasional cameos.
it would be like if 'drunken history' and 'the odd couple" had a baby
Every once in a while Puck will stop by to create a little controversy.
And Dan, I would love to reenact some of the old weekends in rob's and my Arlington days... and the Electric Avenue house. Not ALL of them for sure. Maybe some of the Halloween parties like when I was H.I. McDunnough, or when we did Family Feud and I was Richard Dawson and you guys were the White Shadow team... actually that plays less well these days.
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