Tag: OWIB

Olin Women in Business continued its annual tradition of bringing together students, faculty and staff for a fun night with a purpose on Friday, Jan. 25, 2015.  The casino- themed event was topped off with both a silent and live auction this year.

Bidders were enticed to compete for prizes such as:

• Wine Tasting with Joe Fox and Mark Brostoff
• St. Louis Blues game with Prof. Dan Elfenbein
• golf outing with Sarah Miller and Evan Bouffides
• a day at shooting range with Prof. Mike Gordinier
• Flying Trapeze class for four people with Prof. Andrew Knight
•  gift certificates to local restaurants and retailers

All of their generosity helped raise funds for The Scholarship Foundation.

Some of the silent auction items donated by generous local companies (Dogs not included)

A flying trapeze class with Professor Andrew Knight? Wine tasting with Joe Fox and Mark Brostoff. Attend a Blues hockey game with Prof. Dan Elfenbein. A day at the shooting range with Professor Gordinier…these are just a few of the unique experiences that will be on the block at the annual auction for charity sponsored by Olin Women in Business (OWIB).

This year’s fundraiser will benefit The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis. The event to be held Friday, Jan. 23 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in Holmes Lounge will feature silent and live auctions with prizes offered by some of the best St. Louis retailers and restaurants.

Cost: $15 in advance, $20 at the door (tickets available on CampusGroups)
Your ticket price includes admittance, appetizers, drinks, and fun activities.

Image: trapeze by Sam Teigen, Flickr Creative Commons

How much would you pay for lunch with the Dean? Wine tasting or bowling with a professor? If history repeats itself, students will engage in spirited bidding for these priceless items at the annual charity auction sponsored by Olin Women in Business (OWIB), to be held at 6 p.m., Friday, Jan. 31 in Holmes Lounge.

This year, the auction will benefit Gateway to Hope, a local organization that provides comprehensive care, at no cost, to uninsured and under-insured individuals with or at a high risk of breast cancer.  The donation will be made in Annette Veech’s name. Veech, senior lecturer in business communication, passed away July 1, 2013 after a long and valiant battle with cancer.

Bidding action at the 2013 OWIB Auction. Auctioneer Joe Fox gets the audience on its feet!

Don’t miss the fun at the OWIB Auction. Get your tickets on Campus Groups.

Last month, a group of Olin Business School MBA students came forward to mentor young women at Marygrove, an institution that provides shelter, counseling and a safe healing environment to children and young adults that have been through severely disturbing family situations. The event, organized by Unite4Kids, turned out to be a great success as the MBA students connected right from the word go and formed a close bond.

The event kicked off with the mentors from the business school introducing themselves to the young women at Marygrove. The delicious dinner prepared by the Unite4Kids volunteers soon broke the ice as the kids instantly connected with the MBA group and we all got talking! The young adults at Marygrove were extremely happy to be around the Olin volunteers and at no point did it seem that we were meeting for the first time! In fact, these kids also made us to their favorite numbers!! Obviously, we rose to the occasion and matched them move-to-move! ☺

As I was driving back from what turned out to be an incredibly successful event, I realized just how much a little bit of our time could mean to these kids. For those 3 hours, we all became family. A big happy family.

Ah, another thing. Just about the time when we were leaving, a girl that spoke very little throughout the event walked up and asked –

“When are you guys coming back?”

That made my day! All of us collected the formal mentorship application forms so we can return to the kids and have fun again!

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Guest Post by Ryan Rakestraw, MBA Class of 2013:

On Friday February 1, Greg Hutchings, Assistant Dean and Director of Specialized Masters Programs, hosted 11 MBA Students at his home in St. Louis. In addition to being a passionate educator and an experienced financial professional, Greg is also a phenomenal chef.

Greg prepared a slow roasted beef tenderloin, poured several flights of wine, and even provided a homemade citrus cheese cake. By the end of the evening the 12 of us had eaten more than our fill, roughed out plans for several new business ventures, and debated all of the world’s important problems.

What, you might ask, was the cause for such a festive occasion?

On December 7th, the Olin Women in Business (OWIB) held their annual charity auction to raise money and awareness for the Red Cross’ relief efforts for the victims or hurricane Sandy. During this auction, graduate business students bid on a number of different “items” which have a high value for our community. Examples of this year’s “items” up for auction were:

• Wine Tasting with Joe Fox and Mark Brostoff
• Bowling with Professor Milbourn
• Dinner with Greg Hutchings

The night of the auction, my friend and classmate Cory Glass realized that an evening spent with a former investment banker and real estate mogul could prove to be a lucrative transaction. Thus, Cory became intent to win the dinner with Greg.

During the auction, the bidding battle for dinner with Greg was intense, yet somehow the auctioneer (Joe Fox, Director of MBA Programs) was able to maintain order. Ultimately, it was Cory’s steel resolve and icy stare that proved victorious over his opponent’s quant model.

My immediate reaction was to begin ingratiating myself with Cory, which eventually resulted in an invitation to the dinner.

Due to the generosity of Olin graduate students, faculty, and staff, this year’s charity auction netted over $7,000 for the victims of hurricane Sandy.

Additionally, the dinner at Greg’s was one of the best experiences that I have had at Olin.

However, these are only a couple examples of what makes our community great.

Thanks OWIB, Cory, and Greg,
Ryan Rakestraw, MBA Class of 2013

This past Friday evening, the Olin Women in Business organization hosted its annual Charity Auction.  This year, the silent auction included everything from local restaurant gift cards to handmade necklaces. But, more importantly, the OWIB team had tracked down Olin faculty and staff to donate some of their time for the live auction items. Our very own Associate Dean and Director of Graduate Business Programs, Joe Fox, served as the auctioneer again this year. Below is a sampling of some of the auction items:

• Beers and bowling with Finance Professor Todd Milbourn
• A day at the shooting range with Statistics Professor Mike Gordinier
• Lunch with Chancellor Wrighton
• Dinner with Dean Gupta
• Margaritas and Mexican with Supply Chain Professor Sergio Chayet
• Wine tasting for 10 students at Joe Fox or Mark Brostoff’s (Associate Dean & Director of Weston Career Center) home—this item was auctioned by our guest auctioneers Kasey Joyce, 1st year MBA, and Matt Lutchen, 2nd year MBA. They did a fantastic job and sold the wine tasting for $800. Graciously, Joe and Mark offered to host a second tasting which also ended up selling for $800!

At the end of the night, after much good food and drink, OWIB had raised over $7,000!  All of the money was donated to the Red Cross Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.