New Wii Games

Santa was good to us this year and brought us many new Wii games:

Beatles Rock Band - words really can't describe how awesome this game is. Those already tiring of the rhythm game genre might not be as impressed with it as I am but this is our first such game and wow, what a way to start! Katie sings beautifully while I strum along on the guitar parts. Like so we're making our way (chronologically, of course!) through the entire Beatles repertoire. Very few things feel as awesome as getting a 100% score on the guitar part of While My Guitar Gently Weeps--hours and hours of endless fun and great music!

Wii Fit Plus - This is an example of evolution-not-revolution as there really isn't that much different from the original Wii Fit. However, I love the original game so the addition of 15 new mini-games was very welcome. I'm not sure how long it will take me to master all the new features but I do know that I'll have a lot of fun and burn a lot of low-impact calories while I'm trying.

Gold's Gym Cardio Workout - This should really be titled "Gold's Gym Cardio Kickboxing" as it is exclusively kickboxing content, no other cardio. Actually, so far it seems really to be only boxing, not even kickboxing. The jury is still out on it as I have only been through one session so far, but it seems like a good way to work up a sweat without leaving my living room.

Big Beach Sports - I wished for this aggregation of beach-based mini-games because it is one of the very few Wii titles to feature beach volleyball. The game on the whole is really weak, maybe even weaker than Deca Sports. However, the beach volleyball is this game's best feature and is definitely better than the Deca version. It's certainly not great, but it could be fun for groups.

Wii Motion Plus - This new technology makes the Wiimote controller infinitely more interesting. Instead of just detecting movement, the Wii can now tell the exact angle at which your Wiimote is being held and moving with great precision. Although there are still only ~10 games available for it, I see this as opening new doors for Wii possibilities--finally we can have a Star Wars game with real light saber action!

Wii Sports Resort - This was one of the very first games available to take advantage of the Wii Motion Plus. It is essentially a sequel to Wii Sports and is a lot of fun. The highlight for most people will be sword fighting, which allows much higher fidelity blocking, parrying, and striking than anything to date. However, the highlight for me by far is . . . TABLE TENNIS! Finally I can virtually return to my IMD days and get back to work on my smashes. It's not quite the same, of course, but it's a much, much more decent proxy than it could have been. I miss the fitness and training modes from the original Wii Sports but I guess you can't have everything.

We're awaiting the arrival of not one, not two, but three tennis games that use the Motion Plus so I'll review them once I've had a chance to form an adequate opinion!

Reunion

The last week has been absolutely wonderful. Building up to the IMD MBA 2008 reunion here in Lausanne, I spent most of my non-working hours catching up with those whom I haven't seen since our graduation last year. It began on Tuesday when my Swedish classmate, Jesper, arrived in town and crashed at my apartment for a few nights. We went out for drinks with the other Laussanois classmates as well as some others who had made it into town early but we also had great opportunities just to catch up between ourselves. I found this particularly valuable as Jesper is working on a project to bring distributed solar energy to the developing world. I know he will be wildly successful and perhaps some day we will have the opportunity to work together.

On Thursday, Jesper's family arrived so he moved into a hotel with them. Then Friday my Slovakian classmate, Tomas, arrived to take over the Jesper suite. Friday was fun. The reunion began with lunch at IMD followed by a full afternoon of presentations from IMD faculty and staff about the school, the program, and the like. After our back-to-class sessions (No case preparation necessary!) we moved to the IMD restaurant for a cocktail and dinner. For those of us who traditionally spent most of our lunch time playing ping pong, this meant that we first played ping pong all evening until the sun went down and it was no longer feasible. Oh what glorious memories!

That same evening the Class of 2009 had organized a Latin Party so we stopped by for some dancing and catch-up then wrapped up at MGM, one of our favorite lakeside watering holes from last year. It was a great kickoff to what was sure to be an exceptional weekend.

Saturday morning most of the class loaded onto buses for a day-long hike in the mountains. The four of us who frequently played beach volley last year, though, embraced the gorgeous weather and returned to the sand courts of Vidy. Mario (Brazilian), Martin N. (Czechoslovakian), Tomas, and I were the only ones playing so we enjoyed several games and a dip in the lake before a relaxing lunch at Le Carousel.

It is amazing but the weather here is clearly tending toward fall already. The high on Saturday was in the mid-60s (F) and there was evidence of many fallen leaves on the ground. Furthermore there was that particular autumn smell in the air that indicated warmer clothing would be necessary soon. It seems that just about the time that it becomes too cool for beach volley in Lausanne I will move to Houston where I can keep playing for another two months--good planning!

After lunch we returned to the courts and played against locals, who had finally begun arriving. A dip in the lake and a nap back home prepared us for the evening's festivities. What seemed like the entire class gathered at Le Pur for dinner and followed up at Red Club afterward. It was wonderful to see everyone but it was apparent that everyone was dead tired after a full day of physical activity in the sun. By 3 AM only Peter (the Great Dane), Ian B. (Canuck), and I were left at the club so we decided to call it a night.

Sunday morning began early as I met up with Sergei (Belorussian) and Martin N. for a mini-reunion of our first building block bbb7 group. We decided to allocate some time to discuss the weightiest issues on our mind. I therefore expected to be talking about career issues, professional challenges, etc. but, instead, we spent the whole time talking about the women in our lives! Hmm, maybe that's dangerous to refer to our women as "weighty" but they know we love them! :-)

Although we could have tarried for hours, we wrapped up our discussion and made our way to Parc du Milan for the final Class of 2008-vs-Class of 2009 soccer match of the year. 2008 won 2-0 to take the series decisively. The Class of 2009 will forever cry foul that some of their players were unavailable due to ICP travel requirements but, well, a win is a win. :-)

All Sunday afternoon was spent at a relaxing picnic along the lake. We grilled out, ate, drank, and took hours to say all of our goodbyes. It was a wonderful weekend and many thanks go out to the organizing committee--especially our fearless Chair, Irina (Russian), for pulling it seamlessly together. Those who were unable to attend were sorely missed but we will all hope to see them soon.

Pictures are in my facebook album.

On the subject of tearful goodbyes, today is my last day at Poken. I have a great deal to accomplish in order to enjoy a farewell drink this evening at Les Brassieurs. What an intense ride it has been! I will definitely miss the Poken team and just as definitely I will continue to foster Poken adoption wherever I go.

Chance Encounter

Yesterday was wonderful. I went to IMD to have lunch (OH how I miss those lunches!) and talk with the MBAs about careers in technology. On my way out, I debated whether or not to stick around and play a little ping pong--oh why not?! As I was playing a my first game, who should walk by but Martin, my Czechoslovakian classmate, bbb7 member, MBAT volleyball partner, and ping pong opponent. An immediate timeout was called for a big hug and overjoyed surprise.

I invited Martin to join me in ping pong so we played against two executives in doubles. Our first game wasn't pretty but Martin had just enough time for a second before he had to rush off to the train station. We barely won the second game so he HAD to stick around--whether he had time or not--for a tie-breaker. Fortunately we won the third game handily and he made his train on time.

What a fortuitous meeting. IMD truly is the global meeting place for executive ping pong!

On a more somber note, I wish all my family--both immediate and extended--a good May 28. Wow, 19 years . . .

It Finally Happened

This weekend has been remarkable for several reasons. Chronologically:

1. On Friday it was announced that Jimmy Buffett will be performing not one but two shows in Europe this year, both in small venues. July 5th he will be in London in a theater that seats ~2,000 and September 26th he will be in Paris in a jazz lounge that seats ~900. Last year's show in a jazz lounge in Paris was UNBEATABLE. If you really consider yourself a parrothead, come join me one of these shows!

2. On Friday I finished J.R.R. Tolkien's Book of Lost Tales. It was very long and slow going but it provided amazing insight into how Tolkien arrived at the stories that were ultimately published in The Silmarillion and laid the foundation for The Lord of the Rings. It's not for the faint of heart but I recommend it for any die-hard Tolkien fans.

3. Many of you know that I have never been shat upon by a bird before in my entire life. Walking to and from IMD every day last year, I always had this fear that my streak would be broken as the paths through the woods around campus were coated with bird poop. Miraculously, however, I made it through unscathed and reached my 30th birthday still unsoiled.

Saturday morning, one of my coworkers, Bogdan, and I went to IMD to play ping pong. Bogdan is a good athlete; he was a soccer star in Romania and he has picked up beach volleyball very quickly, providing me with a much-needed partner who is consistently available. It turns out that he is pretty good at ping pong too; he beat me 5 games to 3, but most of our games were settled by 2-3 points and a few of them went to deuce.

During one game, as I was winding up for a forehand smash, I felt something on my shoulder. After putting the smash away for a winner, I looked back and was surprised to see what was obviously bird poop. On May 23rd, 2009, at approximately 11:30 AM, 30 years and 2 months to the day after I entered this world, my great streak was finally broken! It's actually kind of a relief. Bogdan and I already share a special bond because we went into the cold, cold lake together after beach volleyball earlier this year. Now we shall truly be united forever--thebrotherhood of Poken sports and bird poop!

4. After ping pong we went to play some beach volleyball and then met up with another coworker, Dave, for a late lunch. Dave and his family had arrived in their boat so they took us out for a quick tour of the lake. I'm embarrassed to say it but, after almost 18 months in Lausanne, this was my first time actually out on Lake Geneva. Crazy! Better late than never, though. It was fun looking at Lausanne from the outside in. We traced all the paths I usually run along and it felt like I was looking at them from the other side of a mirror.

5. I beat Military Madness and am now starting over, playing as the bad guys. I really don't have any time to play video games, but it really is therapeutic to devote brain cycles to strategy in a context other than Poken.

6. Rice baseball is undefeated in the C-USA tournament and will play in the championship game tonight. Go Owls!

Bogdan and I are off for some more ping pong and volleyball then this evening I'll work on a presentation for a talk I am giving on Tuesday. If anyone will be in Geneva on Tuesday, come by for the panel on new media and the future of social networking.

Pics of the above are in my facebook album.

Google Tech Talk

Yesterday, a small group of us from Poken traveled to Google to give a Tech Talk about our product. It was cool to be invited and it was fun to discuss our design and future directions with Googlers. Several of them now have Pokens of their own so we'll see what ideas they come up with!

We hung out at the Zurich office for a little while after the talk and this was notable for two reasons. 

1. I played my first ping pong of 2009. It didn't last very long and it didn't elevate to Smash Ball status, but it was fun just to pick up the paddles again.

2. I played Rock Band for the first time and actually did pretty well. According to our host, I "rocked it like a hurricane," which is appropriate on many levels. It's kind of addictive; I have no idea how people get things done there!

Many thanks to Rupert et al for organizing the talk; we look forward to a tigther relationship with Google as we become more OpenSocial-friendly!

Jurassic IMD

Yesterday our afternoon class was interrupted by numerous loud booms that sounded (and felt!) progressively closer and closer. Theories about the source of such tremors ranged from the boring (construction of the building next door) to the outlandish (fiesty Evian launching an offensive from the other side of Lake Geneva). As I sat watching the shock waves in my cup of water, I was positive that the booms were attributable to a Tyrannosaurus Rex that had escaped her pen. Good times.

Fortunately we had a really cool case about Palm, US Robotics, 3COM, and Handspring during Entrepreneurship so there was no time to fret. It was fun analyzing the entrepreneurial opportunities in the handheld software industry during the .com boom because my first startup was . . . a handheld sofware company during the .com boom! What amazing times those were--and were only in Austin. I can only imagine the electricity in Silicon Valley!

John Doerr's name came up again during that class and today's strategy discussion about Apple has included some talk of Intel and AMD. AMD's CEO, Dr. Hector Ruiz, is another Rice alum--go Rice!

And speaking of Rice, I wore a War Owls shirt to Saturday's ping pong tournament (pictures) but it didn't seem to help much. I won a few games but was out before the semis. This forced me to break out the football and toss it around in the gorgeous weather. Rough life!

Rice at IMD

Yesterday's classes featured two prominent Rice alumni. In Entrepreneurship we covered John Doerr (class of '73 and '74), one of the world's most influential venture capitalists. Later, in an etiquette class, we saw pictures of Jim Turley (class of '77 and '78), the Global Chairman and CEO of Ernst & Young, who apparently knows how to dress appropriately for business events. Incidentally, both of these accomplished gentlemen were at Lovett--RRF! As a Lovetteer myself ('01 and '02), I hope one day to join them in the pantheon of distguished Rice alumni.

In the meantime I just finished playing ping pong in the snow during our lunch break. It is the 8th of April. Toto, we're not in Houston anymore.

Hassin 2 - Virus 0

For the second time this year I felt the beginning of a cold coming on. Unfortunately this time it was on Tuesday, just before our Integrated Exercise was to begin on Thursday. Given that the coming days would be intense and sleepless, I knew I needed to beat this thing or the IE would go badly for me and my group. Tuesday and Wednesday nights I made sure to sleep at least seven hours. I also drank plenty of fluids and stocked up on immunosupportive foods. As it did earlier this year, my immune system came through. Although I did become a little stuffy one day, I didn't experience any major symptoms and my performance was never impaired. Strong like bull!

The IE was something. So as not to spoil any of the surprises for next year's class I won't go into much detail but the basic premise was that on Thursday each group was given a challenging business problem to solve in 48 hours. We had to address accounting, finance, marketing, operations, and other areas in our solutions. Each group presented its solution on Saturday to a random pair of critical faculty members.

It was intense. Channeling seven exhausted people from different countries and with different professional backgrounds to solve such a broad problem in such a short amount of time was a real challenge. Tensions were high in our group but I was pleased with the quality of our deliverable. The faculty found several holes in our ideas (I would have been disappointed if they hadn't!) which will help drive our approach to solving such problems in the future.

After presenting and defending our plan, I surprised our group with a bottle of champagne I had squirreled away for this express purpose. We popped it open (Who says 10 AM is too early for champagne??) and spent several hours debriefing our performance, process, and group dynamics. The discussion was heated at times but I think we all learned from it. These learnings can't be captured in a textbook and are one of the key reasons I came to IMD, where such discussions are not only encouraged but required in many cases.

Saturday night I went out for dinner and drinks with my fellow students and we did an admirable job of keeping school discussion off the table. It was nice just to kick back and connect with each other on a personal level. The drinks didn't hurt either.

I updated my FaceBook album with some pics from the IE as well as a ping pong tournament ad featuring yours truly. Now it's time to do some real work: my taxes!

Men, Men, Men, We are Stout-hearted Men!

Today was a great day. Accounting has moved from archaic ledgers to useful tools (cashflow forecasting and investment valuation, for example) and our afternoon was spent with our leadership coaches working through issues in our study group dynamics. There were some difficult topics in those discussions but the fact that we are addressing them feels really good. This is the part of IMD I really love: the focus on the softer side of business.



What made today really great, however, was world class ping pong! We had more time than usual to play today and there were few enough people that we could play singles instead of doubles. This allowed me to play several matches with Martin, Alex (both in my study group), and Paul, the staff ringer. My games with Martin were pretty evenly matched and a lot of fun. Alex, after he warmed up, showed off why China dominates in this sport. Standing 10 feet off the table he dug everything up and brought serious offense too. It was inspiring to watch. Although he beat me soundly, my level of play increased as I played him. The hard forehand smashes I wrote about in a previous post were coming several-per-match instead of a few-per-week; it felt great!



The icing on the cake was beating Paul, though. Three weeks ago he would destroy me every time; today I was able to pull out our last match in extra points. He's still going to beat me nine times out of 10, but winning once was a big step. I feel like Rocky. AH!



To commemorate this feeling, I must share a link sent to me by one of my buddies back in the States: The 9 Manliest Names in the World. Somehow “Bryan Guido Hassin” was left off the list so take these suggestions with a grain of salt. I’ll just assume I was #10—who knows why they only published the top 9?! Don't follow this link if you're easily offended by profanity. Do follow it if you ever had a conversation with me about how envious we were of a friend living on a street called Iron Master.

I must end this post here as there is much work to prepare for tomorrow and the weekend. After all, I'm sacrificing tomorrow night's productivity for the most manly of activities: going to the opera!

Ping Pong

Ping Pong has become a regular part of life here at IMD. After lunch it is a great way to get the blood pumping before afternoon classes. Most of the people who play are a lot better than I am, having played much longer and more consistently. This afternoon, though, I was briefly on fire. I absolutely nailed a forehand with just about everything I had. It felt good. ICA/E with Boschek felt less good. Oh well, I call it a net positive.