excellence fund instrumental to MBAs tackling music industry challenges

by Andrea Ferdinand

Whether providing venues for little-known artists to cultivate a fan base or as a hub for two of this country’s best-known music festivals, Austin has played an important role in the American music business for many years. Now, McCombs students are helping MBAs nationwide get an up-close look at the music industry through a unique case challenge event.

Last year, McCombs MBAs created the Open Music Industry Challenge (MIC), inviting participants from around the country to travel to Austin during the annual South by Southwest Music Festival to compete and experience Austin’s music buzz. Now in its second year, the challenge is expanding, thanks to a $5,000 award from the MBA Alumni Endowed Excellence Fund.

“We see great ideas from students each semester,” says Beau Ross, MBA ’88 and a member of the committee charged with awarding the semi-annual grant. “The SEMA group showed a successful launch of a student-led initiative, a plan to sustain Open MIC going forward and an event that benefits students and the MBA program.”

The McCombs MBA Alumni Network established the fund in 2005 to help support existing and new student-led initiatives that improve the experiences of McCombs MBA students. Funds are awarded by a committee comprised of two current MBA students, two MBA alumni and two MBA program representatives.

Committee member Jason Downie, BBA ’92 and MBA ’99, says the Excellence Fund is an effort to more directly connect McCombs alumni with the current student body and to help support their efforts to improve the quality of the MBA experience. 

“The Open MIC Challenge was an impressive example of our students’ entrepreneurial spirit and can-do attitude,” Downie says. “It was an immediate success with limited resources, and we had an opportunity to help make it a permanent fixture of the McCombs MBA experience.”

The award allows Open MIC’s organizers, the Sports, Entertainment and Media Association, to expand the competition to include teams from 10 top business schools. Confirmed teams include the University of California at Los Angeles, University of California at Berkeley, New York University, Emory, Wharton and The University of Texas at Austin. The award and the resulting larger event puts the Open MIC one step closer to achieving its goal of becoming fully sustainable by 2008.

“SEMA running the Open MIC is a big deal,” says Andy Pesant, MBA ’08 and one of Open MIC’s executive producers. “Hopefully, the Open MIC will become a cornerstone of SEMA.”

Held during Austin’s annual South by Southwest Music Festival in March, the five-day challenge gives teams of four to six members the opportunity to analyze a situation in the music industry and present their findings to a panel of judges working in the industry.

Pesant, who participated in the Open MIC case competition last year, says this year’s case, sponsored by Rhapsody, will be more open ended, which will give the teams a greater sense of flexibility in reaching their conclusions and provide Rhapsody with more diverse solutions.

Unlike most case competitions, which typically last one or two days, the five-day Open MIC case allows the participants to thoroughly analyze the company’s situation while taking in the events at SXSW.

“Five days gives the teams a chance for a good analysis,” Pesant says. “But we also want to make sure people have fun.” One way Pesant is hoping to make sure participants enjoy their experience is by negotiating a discount on SXSW passes for team members. “We want the participants to be able to tap South by Southwest for its vast opportunities,” Pesant says, adding that in the future, SEMA and the Open MIC hope to work more directly with the music festival.

With Open MIC’s expanding list of long-term goals, Pesant and other organizers know the Excellence Fund’s award will give them the extra boost they need to make the competition a more beneficial experience for MBA students.