"Zooming" at the University of Muenster

As a result of COVID-19 the decision was made to deliver this year's Service Management course via Zoom.  So, lectures were pre-recorded and I have spent a couple of hours "live" each day with the students enrolled in the course.  The discussion has been quite good, and the three student teams did a very nice job with the service blueprint exercise.  The screenshot below includes all of the students...

What a great looking group of students!

A Quick Two Days Conducting the "Publishing Scholarly Research" Seminar at Hohenheim University

After spending time with Anja and her family, I traveled 25 minutes to Hohenheim University (just outside of Stuttgart, Germany).  I was invited to conduct the "Publishing Scholarly Research" seminar again.  (I first did this in May, 2017.)  The location was great, and the attendees asked a lot of questions related to publishing.

Great students and a great location!

As is my custom, the last activity we had was a drink together at Denkbar (on campus) to (1) ensure all questions had the opportunity to be asked, and (2) verify that all students will know how to celebrate when the receive an "Accept" on their manuscripts.  (I found that they know quite well how to celebrate!)

Prost!  (Cheers!)

"Chilling" with Anja and Family reminisce

I traveled from Koblenz to Stuttgart on Saturday to spend a couple of days with our (German) daughter, Anja.  She was home from university (she attends the University of Erfurt). We caught up on each family's lives and did a lot of eating (of course!).  During dinner that nigh at an Austrian restaurant in a village near Schlaitdorf, we reminisced about dinner the last time the six of us (see below) had a meal together.  That was not quite three years earlier and it also included my daughter Mallory at an Italian restaurant in Tubingen, Germany--where she had an admirer!  (See my blog entry on May 27, 2017.)

Dwayne, Anja, Helga, Dieter, Simon, and Kathryn

On Sunday, Anja, her father Dieter, and I went to the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart.  Anja thought that perhaps having two Dads there would increase her chances of us buying a Porsche for her to take home.  (That didn't happen, but we at least let her think it COULD happen.)

Anja dreaming of driving away in a Porsche!

After our visit to the museum, Sebastian and Karen Gremler joined us for coffee and cake at Cafe Trolsch in Gerlingen.  (Germans know how to live!)

Dwayne (who needs more practice at taking selfies), Sebastian, Dieter, Anja, and Karen.

Demonstrating Sufficient Celebration Skills

We wrapped up the "Publishing Scholar Research" seminar today at WHU.  We had a good week of discussing issues related to publishing academic research.  The final topic of the seminar was on "Celebrating Success."  In the academic profession, scholars seldom experience success in their publication endeavors, and when they do have something to celebrate they do a poor job at celebrating.  To ensure this group knows how to celebrate, the seminar ended with me purchasing each of them a drink (primarily tea, coffee, hot chocolate) and subsequently allowing them to show me they have sufficient celebration skills.

Sina, Kevin, Beatrice, Vera, Lioba, Sebastian, Alex, and Dwayne practicing celebration skills.

Relaxing on an "Off" Day in Koblenz

We scheduled an "off" day today (Wednesday) between the Publishing Scholarly Research sessions.  I am sure the students appreciate a chance to get caught up on the readings, and I get the chance to give my voice a rest.

How did I spend the day?  I slept in, worked on my slides for the rest of the seminar sessions, and went for a walk along the Rhine River.  I walked down to the "German Corner" (Deutsches Eck, where the Mosel River meets the Rhine River); the weather was great (about 55 degrees).

Festung Ehrenbreitstein, the fortress overlooking the German Corner (from the other side of the Rhine River).

Candy and I visited Festung Ehrenbreitstein when we were in Koblenz in 2015.  Quite impressive!

For dinner, I met Clemens Koehler for dinner at Adaccio.   Clemens was a Ph.D. student in Maastricht (in 2006) when I was there on a Fulbright scholarship.  He was an intergral part of the infamous "Service Desk" in the Department of Marketing.

Clemens showing off his selfie skills.

Adaccio is a nice Italian restaurant/steakhouse.

Adaccio in Koblenz

Making another Return to WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management

I returned to WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management, in Vallendar, Germany, for the fifth time overall and my fourth time conducting the "Publishing Scholarly Research" seminar.  We had a good start to discussing issues surrounding publishing academic research and what makes for interesting research.

A great looking group of PhD students eager to publish their research!