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Thursday,
Feb. 8, 12:30
David Blackwell Wal-Mart CFO of Global Procurement
More info |
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Friday, Feb. 9, 4:00
2007 Texas MOOT CORP®
Finals
Come watch!
More info |
Holt Named
New Director of Annual Giving
 Allen
Holt joined the Office of Resource Development in January as the
new director of annual giving. A career fundraiser with more
than 20 years of experience, Holt served most recently as
assistant vice president of the Memorial Hermann Foundation in
Houston. “Annual giving is all about the students, giving them
opportunities and choices while they’re here so they can go
out and do well once they graduate,” Holt said. “Increasing the stature of the school is good for everyone.”
Get the full story.
 In the News:
Boycott Planned if Wal-Mart Moves Ahead with New Store
KUT, Feb. 1, 2007
The group Responsible Growth for Northcross is calling for a Feb. 10 city-wide boycott of Wal-Mart if the controversial retail giant forges ahead with plans to build across from north Austin’s Northcross Mall.
Can a boycott be successful? Marketing Professor Linda Golden says the success of boycotts comes down
to “whether the other consumers vicariously identify with the issues that the boycotters are feeling. If the boycotters are successful in conveying the importance of their issue to other consumers, they may be able to persuade them.”
Get the full story.
In the News:
No Longer Free to Choose
Inside Higher Education, Feb. 2, 2007
New textbook prices are often a source of frustration for “starving” students, leading them to purchase older, cheaper editions of required reading.
Senior Finance
Lecturer Michael Brandl argues in an column written for
Inside Higher Education that the sizeable sums for new teaching tools are valid because new textbooks wouldn’t be written if only old books were bought. He adds that the used-book market is partly to blame for the new-book
prices, but acknowledges that professors are the true teaching tools. “The skill and commitment of faculty are the chief contributors to students’ educational success,” Brandl
writes. “A parallel axiom is that textbooks and course materials are the second-most important tools in the educational arsenal.”
Get the full story.
In the News:
Super Bowl Humor May Fail to Score with Some
Viewers
The Galveston County Daily News, Feb. 5, 2007
The real story after the Super Bowl is how the commercials
performed: which excelled and which tanked. This year’s
unanimous winner was Anheuser-Busch, whose three animal-related
ads scored highly in hilarity, according to a survey by the
Galveston County Daily News. Super Bowl ads can effectively
entertain a large audience of a specific demographic — usually
young, heterosexual males. However, non-target audience members
can be turned off by the viewer-specific tactics, according to
McCombs Marketing Professors Leigh McAlister and Wayne
Hoyer, who along with doctoral student Jennifer Young
examined reactions to humor in past Super Bowl commercials. “The
danger here is that marketers may be affecting their whole
portfolio of brands,” Young said. “If a customer is offended by
one ad, he or she may choose not to purchase a different product
within the portfolio.”
Get the full story.
 In the News:
Pinky’s Wireless Hangs It Up
Austin American-Statesman, Jan. 31, 2007
Due to crushing competition by retailers such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy, the finances of Pinky’s Wireless are in the red. The Austin-based company is ending its 17-year stint as check-casher, pager-provider and wireless service supplier. “It's like a tree,” said
Jim Nolen,
senior finance lecturer, about the increased competition in the telecommunications sector. “The limbs start to get heavy from all the people trying to make a living.
[Pinky’s] just got squeezed in the middle.”
Get the full story.
McCombs Communications Department Brings Home Three Awards
The Texas Public Relations Association
presented three awards to the McCombs School’s Communications
Department last week. The department’s work during the data
theft last April earned a Silver Spur Crisis
Communications Award.
Texas
magazine won a Best of Texas Award in the external magazine
category and McCombs Weekly won a Best of Texas Award in the
electronic newsletter category.
McCombs School Job Postings:
See past issues of McCombs Weekly.
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