For the second time while at Frankfurt School, I traveled to London to partake in the Financial Times Quiz. Last year, it was a named the Financial Times Business School Challenge, while this year it was rebranded as Financial Times MBA Quiz. With more schools and more participants, the task remained the same: to find the smartest business school on the planet!
The team, consisting of Australian music star Thomas Nichols (MoF), Hong Kong´s fashion expert Samantha Wong (MiB), ping pong champion Sandra Schönhage (MoF), knowledge wizard Eric Bishop (MBA), and myself, was ready to take on the challenge. Like the year before, the whole event was for charity, and the entrance fee made a contribution to a nonprofit, which for this year was the International Rescue Committee UK.
Studying the FT on the way to London
Potential questions were anything that had been written in the news in the past twelve months. Seven rounds with six questions each made up the core of the quiz, and a final round was for the schools with the highest score. One question for instance was to give the name of the commodity or stock which was being shown on a chart without labels. Another task was to name the slogan for Apple´s recently released iPhone 6. Whenever a question was displayed on the screen, the team had 30 seconds to come up with the right answer. The first three rounds were multiple choice, and the last three were free style.
Being accompanied by British humor, our host, the Financial Times, ensured that the event was both competitive and fun. There was also enough time at the event to get to know other teams. Coming from Business Schools all over Europe, it was interesting to not only learn about the individual school´s programs, but also hear about working prospects post-graduation and individual backgrounds.
As the evening went on, and our team cheered for ever correct answer as if we had won the world cup, we anxiously waited for the announcement of the participants of the final round. Even though we hadn´t been selected, we felt great about our performance for the evening and knowing that Frankfurt School had contributed to a charitable cause.
Conclusion
Having the opportunity to attend such competitions is what makes Business School fun. The networking that naturally takes place, and being surrounded by interesting people with broad backgrounds, reminds you that business people come from all corners of the globe. While we all compete for our companies in whichever industry we may work for in the future, business competitions are the testing ground for our own skills of team work, communication, strategy and knowledge.
I`m a huge fan of such events, because I see the benefit of a healthy competition and being able to meet people. While at Frankfurt School, this was already my third competition for which I traveled abroad, not to mention the challenges that Frankfurt School also creates in a classroom setting. The 2015 MBA Quiz was a great opportunity with a worthy cause, and I´m glad to see Frankfurt School students partaking in events that complement their studies!
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