Tuck Work/Life Symposium

April 7-8, 2000

 

The second annual Work/Life Symposium will be held at the Tuck School April 7-8, 2000. The event is sponsored by 4 student clubs: the Women in Business, Finance, Consulting, and Technology Clubs.

 

Achieving and maintaining a balance between work and personal life is an ongoing challenge.  As the pace of work quickens, and with technology both helping and hindering along the way, this balancing act has become an issue of great concern to both women and men. The Work/Life Symposium provides a unique opportunity for students, faculty, alumni, and corporate sponsors to participate in an open dialogue and exchange ideas in the search for solutions. 

 

SESSION I

A. Dual Career Couples and Families: Making it Work

Balancing the priorities of work and family is demanding.  Couples talk about facing the day-to-day challenge together and discuss how to make it work for each other as well as their families.

 

B. Entrepreneurship: Building Balance from the Ground Up

Hear from men and women who have started their own businesses.  What does it take to succeed?  Can building your own business provide you with more control over your time, and greater balance? 

 

C. Flexible Work Arrangements

Flextime, job sharing, telecommuting, and the compressed work week have become commonplace for many individuals and corporations.  Men and women who have either taken advantage of these arrangements or helped establish such arrangements in their companies talk about how these solutions have changed the way we live and work. 

 

D. Integrating Social Responsibility into Work and Life

Panelists share strategies for incorporating volunteer work, community service and company-sponsored social programs into personal and corporate schedules.

 

SESSION II

 

A. Work/Life Balance in Internet Careers

Does a job at an Internet company mean ordering pizza and sleeping at your desk every night?  Does work necessarily become your life?  Panelists discuss the trade-offs of working at a web-based company and the steps they have taken to achieve balance in their lives.

 

B. Switching Careers and Making Alternative Career Choices

Women and men who have made career shifts in their post-MBA careers, often in search of greater balance, share their stories and advice.  Hear from individuals who have switched functions within their company or industry, moved to an entirely different industry, or left a megacorporation for a tiny dot-com. 

 

C. Consulting and Work/Life Balance

Finding balance in the travel-heavy business of consulting is challenging. Consultants talk about how they and their companies have managed to achieve or provide balance.

 

D. Finance and Work/Life Balance

Does "high finance" have to be high stress?  Is there balance to be found on Wall Street?  Panelists share their tips on how to survive and thrive in this work-intensive industry. 

 

DESCRIPTIONS OF WORKSHOPS

Experts lead smaller, interactive sessions and provide tips and tools.

 

A. Using Technology to Enable, Not Inhibit, Work/Life Balance

Email.  Voice mail.  Laptop computer.  Dial-in network access.  Pager.  Cell phone.  Today's techno-gadgets can either be a great convenience, by providing mobility or flexibility, or a huge nuisance, by allowing work to follow you home on evenings, weekends, and even vacations.  Learn how to manage the technology facilitators in your life so they help you maintain work/life balance, rather than take over your personal time.

 

B. Relaxation Techniques

Do you have trouble sleeping at night after a stressful day at work?  Do you have knots in your neck during department meetings?  Learn how to relax through various proven techniques.

 

C. Life on the Road: Tips for the Business Traveler

Today's business world requires more and more travel.  Learn how to make the most of your time on the road, how to minimize the hassles of a long-distance commute and navigate the pitfalls of frustrating delays with planes, trains and automobiles.  The workshop will also cover tips for staying healthy and keeping in touch with friends and family when you're out of town.

 

D. Networking within Organizations

Working successfully within any organization requires building and maintaining relationships with people at many different levels.  Learn how to make use of mentoring, build a personal network, and contribute to networks within your organization.

 

MORE INFORMATION

 

Suggestions about speakers/panelists:

sarah.burley@dartmouth.edu or  wib.symposium@dartmouth.edu

 

Website updates:

http://mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/pages/clubs/wib/

 

Symposium Co-Chairs:

Debra Odeh (T'00)

John Torget (T'00)