Nina Tannenbaum underscored "the purpose of the trek is explicitly to feed our intellectual curiosity for the business of entertainment. And while the MBA does little to help us get jobs in this industry, the MIT Sloan name has opened doors."

Leveraging the MIT name enabled participants to network and build relationships with heavy hitters including Henry Schleiff, CEO of CourtTV, and Jim Rosenthal, President of New Line Cinemas television division. Even in the business of entertainment, it's not what you know, but who you know, so the New York and Los Angeles Media Treks are musts for those MBAs wishing to work in the field.

Left: Nina Tannenbaum with Jim Rosenthal, President of New Line Television. Right: Robert Vega and MGM speaker Bob Chenoff, VP of Advertising & Sales. Photo credits: Derek Beck

Jaime Singson noted that 2004 marks a turning point in the history of the Trek, proving not only that media is a blossoming interest at MIT Sloan, but also that more companies are recognizing the school as a premier cultivator of future leaders in the field. "The New York Media Trek is among the most well attended treks at Sloan and has grown significantly from last year," added Singson

The New York Media Trek is one of the most popular events at Sloan for many reasons, most importantly because participants have fun during and get a lot out of the meetings.

Ravi Mehta, MBA '06, was outspoken in his positive feedback. "The NY Media Trek was an amazing experience. I had high hopes for the trip, and it exceeded my expectations in every way. I learned a ton about the entertainment industry, and feel like I have a much better understanding of how the industry works. In addition, the logistics were flawless," said Mehta.

Lucas Guimaraes, MBA '05 and a first-time participant in the trek, enjoyed the experience for different reasons. "Taking a break from classes to listen to executives in this dynamic industry, where most of senior management doesn't have MBAs, is a valuable reality check. As much as an MBA can help us in our careers, there is no substitute for talent, street smarts, and hard-work."

Left: Jaime Singson chills with ABC's Director of Productions, Jeff Morris, and his staff. Photo credits: Derek Beck

Integral to the success of the trek was the diverse backgrounds and view points of the student participants. Combining Sloan and CMS students created a particularly great synergy, as we were able to captivate the executives with a diverse set of questions touching not only on the business angles of entertainment, but also importantly the creative and production side of the industry.

Joellen Easton, one of four CMS participants, said "I think the blend of business, technology and media practice created when Sloan students and CMS students get together is impressive, and the executives responded to it." Easton particularly enjoyed the presentations at Bertelsmann (Keith Titan, VP of New Media) and Reuters (Charles Stocks, VP of Media Strategy and Development), where we heard from executives working on the challenges of integrating new technology, content and practical business constraints.