A Tweeter who combined the timeless with technology has received a full financial award package from the University of Iowa Tippie School of Management for writing the best application Tweet.
John Yates, 33, has global experience working in China and Thailand and currently provides cultural and language training for Berlitz to international diplomats and business executives in Houston. He used the classic form of Haiku to explain why he would be an outstanding Tippie MBA student.
"Globally minded (5)Innovative and driven (7)Tippie can sharpen (5)"
"Mr. Yates had the discipline and creativity to submit a Tweet by writing a Haiku," wrote the Tweet judging committee. "He has taken one of the newest modes of communication in Twitter and one of the oldest forms of poetry in Haiku and combined them into one winning entry."
Potential MBA hopefuls submitted 58 Tweets for consideration; eight were from applicants subsequently accepted into the program after meeting the admission requirements. Those requirements include such factors as academic performance, entrance test scores, work experience, a traditional essay and the admissions interview.
The Tweets from those eight were then considered for the financial award. Yates will begin attending classes this month.
The Tippie full-time MBA program is considering adding an application Tweet to its application process and implemented a pilot program this year to test it. To encourage applicants to participate, the program offered the tuition award to the best Tweeter, a value of $37,240. Candidates were asked to Tweet about why they would be a good Tippie MBA candidate and future MBA hire in 140 or fewer characters.
Jodi Schafer, director of admissions for the Tippie School of Management's full-time program, was pleased with the results of the first application Tweet.
"Social media is fast becoming a powerful business tool, so we want our applicants to demonstrate an ability to use it," she said. "We received many entries that were really cutting edge and showed how some candidates fully embraced and understood social media. We also received submissions from candidates who did not take full advantage of the ability to link to other media, which might have been the result of the quick turnaround time."
Other selected Tweet submissions include:
"All that Twitters is not Gold yet Everything under the Sun can be Sold. 'Twas either This (Behold!!) or Twenty-Four Ounces from my Billfold." --Submitted by Aaron (AJ) Honore of Yonkers, NY.
"10 yrs as top corporate atty, know my deals, have plenty of stories but tired of staring blankly @ financials. Time to upgrade @TippieMBAIowa." --Submitted by Michael Thompson of Iowa City.
"A passion for discovering intrinsic value combined with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge results in excellence as a student and beyond." --Submitted by Seth Goldstein of Dublin, Ohio.
"Go to http://bit.ly/od3jhr and click "India" to see my blogs. While I study the world, I love where I am: the Midwest and Iowa. Go Hawks!" --Submitted by Michael Bouts of Iowa City and Troy, Mich.
Schafer said other outstanding Tweets were submitted, but many were from applicants who did not meet the qualifications for admission. Tweets were also received from people who were simply inspired to Tweet because of the contest, but weren't considering applying or had already been admitted and so were ineligible for the financial award. Among those was one from Ryan Jennings, who will be a first year Tippie MBA student in the fall.
"Experience in 3 markets: China, Mexico and India. Passion in 2 fields: Operations and Finance. Ready for 1 MBA: Tippie. http://ow.ly/5Q4xT."
"It's an outstanding Tweet because it succinctly tells us something significant about this person, and it links to another website with a great video that tells us even more about him," Schafer said.
The Tweets were judged by a committee made up alumni and College of Business faculty and staff. Three finalists were chosen by the committee and the winner was selected by the Tippie College of Business dean, William "Curt" Hunter. The judging committee included Rob Johnston, a Tippie MBA alumnus and director of brand management at Transamerica; Barbara Thomas, external relations director for the Tippie College of Business; John Murry, associate professor of marketing in the Tippie College of Business; Scott Seibert, associate professor of management and organizations in the Tippie College of Business who studies the use of social media as an evaluation tool; Pat Downes, a doctoral student in management and organizations who also studies the use of social media as an evaluation tool; and Erin Dougherty of the Tippie MBA career services office.
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