On the morning of September 23, 2004 at 7:30 AM, three members of the SA Orientation Committee received the prestigious SA MBA Award for their excellent contributions towards the Class of 2006 Orientation this summer.
Adeline Ng (OI), Staffan Andersson (OD), and Dave McCann (OF) were presented with the awards during a breakfast ceremony in Spangler Room 257. In attendance were Dean Carl Kester, Steve Nelson, (Executive Director, MBA Program), members of the SA Executive Committee, Nushin Kormi (President of OI), John Berkley (President of OD), Warren Brown (President of OF), and other members of the HBS administration including Ron Peracchio, Barbara Siegfriedt, Rachel Cohen, and Kelly Diamond.
Adeline, the chairwoman of the SA Orientation, spent the better part of the summer soliciting manpower from the Class of 2005 to make the Orientation a remarkable event this year.
In addition to orientation favorites such as the boat cruise, casino night, and small group dinners, Adeline added many new activities for the incoming students. During the first meeting last year with the committee, she looked the group in the eyes and said ‘We can make this orientation the most exciting orientation ever witnessed by HBS.’ She was right! New activities she helped implement included:
1. The Apprentice Games: A full day of outdoor team games modeled after ‘The Apprentice’ series, topped off with a challenging treasure hunt around the HBS campus.
2. Welcome Reception: SA Co-Presidents provided the RCs with a sneak preview of the year ahead in Burden.
3. Boston Scavenger Hunt: The true test of leadership as teams raced around downtown Boston finding hard-to-find items.
4. Quiz Night: A challenging quiz with questions on HBS, world politics, automobiles, and everything else under the sun. Adeline even secured 10 Cadillac Escalade scale models from GM as prizes for the winning team.
5. Dance classes: These were taught by Brandi Tobias, the professional-dancer wife of Shawn Tobias (NF).
Adeline also spearheaded a $44,500 corporate fundraising effort, which led to a significant saving for the SA.
Staffan led the sponsorship campaign for orientation. He single-handedly raised $23,000 of the $44,500, the result of calling over 30 potential sponsors on a daily basis and showing tremendous creativity in dealing with sponsors’ requests.
In addition to fundraising, Staffan also led the organization of the Boston Harbor Cruise and soccer games. He was also responsible for producing the orientation booklet detailing the events for the incoming students and designing the t-shirts for the Apprentice Games. Throughout Orientation, Staffan, and his wife Jennifer, were key to the success of many events, such as Club Night, Quiz Night and West Coast Swing Dance Class. Staffan went beyond the call of duty in dealing with last minute crises such as overcapacity at Club Night, and he never lost his cool or forgot his sense of humor.
Dave was the CFO for the SA Orientation Committee. He was responsible for preparing the committee’s budget, which involved more than 20 revisions due to uncertainty in sponsorship and event costs. In addition, he was instrumental in securing funds from the SA Senate during a time when the SA was facing budget cuts.
Besides his job as CFO, Dave invested many long hours during the summer planning and organizing orientation events. He was responsible for designing two new events: the Boston Scavenger Hunt and the Quiz Night. He also organised the small group dinners. Despite working at a demanding job and falling ill during a portion of the summer, he cheerfully fulfilled his obligations and never wavered in his commitment to orientation. Even while nursing his girlfriend who fell ill during the first week of orientation, Dave kept in close touch with the committee to ensure that the events he had planned were still proceeding as per plan. Dave’s actions under difficult personal circumstances is a testament to his leadership capabilities.
Once again, the SA would like to thank all members of the SA Orientation Committee who made this event unforgettable, Asim Hussain (OG), Jennifer Smith (OB), Indy Ratnathicam (OE), GD Orsi (OA) and Giacomo Picco (OJ).
The SA Executive Committee consists of Les Williams, Co-President, Jeff Liaw, Co-President Krishna Mahesh, COO and Ivan Moller, CFO.
