MBA Program

Peer Recognition Awards: Eric Silverberg

Eric talks about how the calendar came about ...

Even when Sloanies travel afar they can keep tabs on campus activities through the MIT Sloan Google calendar, thanks to Eric Silverberg, who himself traveled to India recently.

The MIT Sloan Google Calendar began during a Student Senate meeting in April 2007 after the group had just wrapped up a conversation about the myriad of IT changes and initiatives underway at MIT. Students in general were feeling that our IT changes, and in particular the calendaring initiatives, weren't moving as quickly as they could.

As someone who comes from a software background, it seemed to me fairly self-evident that a student-driven calendar was an ideal solution, since it was a distributed information problem in a highly motivated community. Some senators were skeptical that we would see any uptake of the calenar given the fact that it was grassroots, so like any good entrepreneur, I set out to prove that there was a market.

I sent an e-mail to the MIT Sloan community asking for everyone's Gmail address, and within two days I had the addresses of half the student body. I unilaterally added them all as administrators to the new "MIT Sloan" shared calendar on Google, and announced a pilot of the calendar in the final three weeks of school in May 2007.

Everything was successful, so when new class of first-years started in August, we sent them an e-mail inviting them to subscribe to and edit the calendar. The beginning of the school year is the best time to introduce change, and that was definitely borne out here — the calendar was bursting with events and activities two weeks before school even began, and hasn't let up since!

The Google Calendar has helped MIT Sloan students discover the spectrum of activities that take place every day, and is an essential tool for deciding among the numerous lunchtime speakers in the fall. The best part is that it's totally self-run and self-monitoring.

Numerous people have commented the MIT Sloan Google Calendar is the most tangible improvement in their day-to-day lives this year. I'm proud to have started something that will continue to benefit the community long after I've graduated. If you're thinking about coming to MIT Sloan, take a look at our calendar and see what we have to offer!