I had a busy day in the morning with interviews, although the outcome was nice, as I got to enthusiastically recommend hiring one of my candidates. Particularly as he revealed that he'd applied to Accenture in 2008 and had been rejected, and that he'd always wanted to work here, I was really excited to finally be able to make his dreams come true. Alas, I'm not allowed to tell people, even when I know we'll be hiring them, that they're hired! Yet, I really hope that this guy comes to work here, as I was incredibly impressed by him.
I found myself in a race to leave the office at the end of the day, as I was supposed to get to this lecture that was starting at 6:30 PM. (Who on earth starts an after-work event at 6:30 PM? That's insanely early! And I found anyway when I got there that they'd pushed back the start time due to the number of people arriving late, which annoyed me incredibly, given that I could really have used a bit more time in the office to get things done). I ran into Princess as I was leaving the office, which set me behind a bit, but it was nice to walk out with him and chit-chat a little bit.
Once I got to the lecture (with it's delayed start), I found that there weren't too many people there, which was okay, but did make me wish that J, the girl who had originally told me about this event, hadn't had to cancel at the last minute.
The first lecture, a nuclear physicist explaining how you build a ballistic missile, with detailed PowerPoint slides, absolutely sent me to sleep. The second guy, a BBC reporter, spoke without notes or slides, and yet gave the best presentation of the evening, talking about the election in Iran and the ongoing protests, reminding us all that even though it wasn't in the news anymore, it still wasn't over. I don't remember much about the third and fourth presenters, but at least I don't remember falling asleep.
Afterwards, the wine and canapés were brought out, where I'd hoped to get my £18 registration fee out of the lecture, but there weren't actually that many canapés, and as I found myself standing and talking to a bunch of Americans, of course nobody was drinking. (Although of course, nobody wants to drink too much of the cheap wine served at these events anyway, as the canapés are really where it's at!) I did end up chatting with a nice American chap from Notre Dame who was about to go to HBS, and I wanted to give him my card, but foolishly found that I didn't have any in my bag! Ooops! Lesson for the future, always make sure you have business cards with you. I also got to chat a bit with the president of the Georgetown Club in London, who gave me her card (and I was able to follow up with her the next morning). Definitely a hassle though, not having my business cards on me!
Finally left with the chap from Notre Dame, and made it home having stayed out surprisingly late at this lecture. I don't think I would go to another one any time soon, but overall, not a bad evening out...
Busy day with interviews in the AM.
Leave office with Princess.
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