Los Angeles
The annual Los Angeles Media Trek takes place in early January before the start of spring classes and provides students with access to executives in areas such as film, television, digital media, and video games. During the four-day visit, the group visits several companies, attends a CBS alumni networking event, and meets up with other students from UCLA, Sloan, and MIT at an inter-school mixer.
Past company visits have included: Disney, NBC Universal, Warner Brothers, Sony Pictures Studio, Activision, Fox Interactive Media, Paramount, Hulu, and Dreamworks Animation.
Silicon Valley
The annual Silicon Valley trip is also in early January and typically includes site visits to leading companies and start-ups such as eBay, Genentech, Google, Intel, Intuit, SnapFish, WebEx, and Yahoo!. Students also attend a networking event with representatives from tech companies such as Apple and Cisco Systems as well as panel discussions with the Valley’s top venture capitalist firms, including Apax Partners, Battery Ventures, Hummer Winblad, and SAP Ventures. The dean’s annual Bay Area trip usually coincides with the Silicon Valley trip and students are invited to the dean’s alumni reception. The trip is organized by the Technology Business Group and led by Regina Resnick, assistant dean, and Bruce Lloyd, managing director and senior associate director of outreach services of the Office of MBA Career Services.
The TBG West Coast Trek featured in Poets & Quants:
Columbia MBAs Soak Up The West Coast Way
Sundance
In 2012, students began making an annual trip to the Sundance Film Festival, which takes place in mid-January in Park City, UT. Students attend opening weekend events that include film screenings, panels featuring industry veterans, and networking events with Columbia alumni attending the festival. Ira Deutchman, chair of the Film Program at Columbia University School of the Arts, is part of networking event celebrating student and alumni achievements in film.
East Coast Trek
The East Coast Office Visits team organizes an annual East Coast Trek to Washington DC, which has included office visits to the Washington Post, Hanley Wood, National Geographic, and NBC's DC Bureau.