Grand Opening of The University of Louisiana at Lafayette's Moody School of Business and Northwestern Mutual's Professional Sales and Research Program Lab

Images - B. I. Moody III College of Business Administration

A few weeks ago I was invited to judge at a Sales Competition for the Marketing & Hospitality School of the B. I. Moody III College of Business Administration of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Dr. Gwen Fontenot, Head of the Department, and Dr. Duleep Delpechitre, Head of the Sales Competition Team, invited me down to help select two students to represent the University at their next Sales Competition.


Little did I know that a friend of mine, Abigail Payne, had been working with her firm, Northwestern Mutual, and the University to put together a donation of $250,000 to help construct a state-of-the-art Sales and Research Lab for the Hospitality and Marketing School.  At the competition, we were treated to a sneak preview of the new facility and I can tell you it is AMAZING!

It is truly a technical marvel, with multiple class rooms and sales labs that are fitted with some pretty high end AV gear and IT equipment.
From the classrooms, you can view the students on video in the lab, provide feedback, and interact with the back-end software as both teachers, students, and onlookers.

What's greatest about the new facility is that is designed to be used both by Faculty, Students, & Researchers at the University  AS WELL AS for private firms wishing to partner with the School for more advanced or focused research programs.

But it wasn't all techno-wizardry...

Abigail and I had a chance to interact with some of the Faculty, like Dr. David Baker who played the role of the Customer during the competition, as well as some of the current and former students who've been in the program, like Ryan Robin (one of the winners of the Competition) and Stacey Chamberlain (former Competitor & graduate now with Archipoint Consulting).  Everyone was really excited to participate and see the enthusiasm of the students and faculty.

You really ought to come down and check out the Grand Opening (Download the Invite PDF).  Not only will you be supporting ULL & The Moody School of Business, but you may see an opportunity for your own firm to take advantage of this unique facility and team!