Sunday, June 7, 2015

University of Roehampton Business School, London, England

The last stop on my England university tour was in London at the University of Roehampton.  My visit was arranged by Sabine (Mueller) Benoit, a colleague I have known for several years.
Sabine treated me to Thai food while in London.
At the hotel I stayed at, The Alma in Wandsworth Town, I found some amenities I do not recall ever seeing at any other hotel I have visited.  They included a "Love Kit" and a "Hangover Kit."  A bit pricey, though...
The "Love Kit" and the "Hangover Kit" at The Alma in  Wandsworth Town, England

I had a couple of extra days before I returned to the U.S., so I took the train up to Cambridge and attended a Marketing Research Camp at the University of Cambridge.  I went "punting" in the canals around the university, and one of the more interesting sites was the Mathematical Bridge. Although it appears to be an arch, it is composed entirely of straight timbers built to an unusually sophisticated engineering design, hence the name.
Mathematical Bridge at Queen's College at the University of Cambridge
While in London I also met up with a BGSU Alum, John Bernard, that I had in class a few years earlier.  He married another BGSU student, and they now live in London.  John works as a  Senior Strategic Planner at AKQA. He has been involved in doing work for Nike, Eurostar, and GSK.  As John explained to me, much of what we discussed in class about customer-centric experiences and outstanding service is applicable to this work.  When in class, John created a couple of commercials about my class.  Click here to see one and click here to see the other.

BGSU Falcon John Bernard and Dwayne in Hampstead Heath.

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle, England

The second stop on my "Publishing Scholarly Research" tour was the Business School of the University of Newcastle.  I spent two days with PhD Students from Newcastle and surrounding universities. My colleague, Christof Backhaus, took me on a brief tour of the city afterwards, including a walk along the river to see the Millennium Bridge.  (The bridge, by the way, pivots about 45 degrees to allow ships to go under it!  Click here to see how it works...very cool.)
The Millennium Bridge is a pedestrian/cyclist tilt bridge spanning the River Tyne in Newcastle.
I take all of the pictures with my (relatively cheap) Canon PowerShot Camera.  Occasionally I forget to take it with me, and thus I am forced to use my phone's camera, as in the picture below.  But, it is not nearly as good.
Dwayne and Christof Backhaus (outside of my hotel, just nest to the Newcastle Business School)