Joie de Vivre (JDV) in Businesweek

Max Jahn, what a guy. I used to be a part of the JDV club during my last year at Sloan, which mostly meant that I spent time with some great people and organized group homebrewing sessions. A nice shout out in Businessweek:

“In January 2011, 20 students at MIT Sloan School of Management traveled to Austria to learn about chocolate-making, the waltz, and proper etiquette for greeting a dance partner in the grand tradition of the Viennese ball. (The gentleman bows his head to the lady’s outstretched hand, but stops short of planting his lips.) Those aren’t skills most MBAs have on the top of their to-learn lists. Then again, Sloan’s Joie de Vivre club, which organized the trip, isn’t your typical student organization.

Max Jahn, a former Merrill Lynch (BAC) banker, started Joie de Vivre in 2010 after attending a classical music concert with fellow Sloan students during his second semester at the school….“I was listening to this beautiful music and I thought, I have classmates that are gifted in so many fields,” he says. “But when I meet them in a data models class or at a recruiting event, I don’t ever hear about their amazing talents.” 

The idea for the club, often called JDV to spare Sloan’s quants from attempting French accents, was to give students an opportunity to share extracurricular passions and interests. The group’s first meeting included a viola performance, a chocolate tasting, and a lecture on rare orchids given by a Sloan student who had cataloged the flowers for the Mexican government prior to entering business school. Other activities included a talent show and the trip to Jahn’s hometown of Vienna.”

Good times. More here.