Vermont Weekend

We spent the weekend in Vermont on an HBS Section retreat. What on Earth does that even mean? Let me try to explain. Eric is in the HBS graduating class of 2011. There are about 1000 people in his class. Those people are divided up into lettered sections (Eric is in Section B) of about 90 people each. The 90 people in each section attended classes together for a few hours every day.

The weekend retreat to VT was a trip with just Section B. It was an opportunity for the students to spend more time together outside of the classroom, and for partners (like me) to meet and get to know other students and partners. Most of the people in Eric's section are single, but there were about 20 partners who were able to make it this weekend (we heard somebody flew in from Paris!).

We left Boston around 4 on Friday afternoon, and I finished my work in the car. I think we checked into the Hawk Inn & Mountain Resort around 7:30 that night. The resort was a little weird because we stayed in condos that weren't really near each other. The main parties were in a house which was at least a mile drive from our house. Walking wasn't really an option because we were basically on a mountain, it was pitch black at night (no street lights), and it was raining (sometimes pouring).

It rained all day Saturday, so outdoor activities weren't very appealing, but we still filled the day. In the morning we went to a breakfast that was arranged for students with partners. That was very nice, and I enjoyed meeting people in a quiet, comfortable place (there was a very loud party on Friday night). Eric and I set out on our own after that to go to the Simon Pearce glass blowing facility. We watched them make a fancy martini glass and a decorative pear. It was sort of magical. Saturday afternoon we played board games and at night there was a BBQ for the whole group.

We left pretty early Sunday morning, and I took pictures during the drive because it had finally stopped raining. You can see more on flickr.