Pathik Bhatt

Author: Pathik

  • The People of Taco Bell Versus the People of the DMV in Aurora IL

    Several times over the last couple years I have experienced something so rare that each of these experiences have nestled themselves into my memory. What are these experiences you ask? Excellent customer service at fast food restaurants and the DMV. No not just any fast food restaurants – specifically the Taco Bell in Aurora, IL near me (1000 N Farnsworth Ave Aurora, IL 60506) and the McDonald’s in Oak Brook, IL by my workplace.

    So where does the DMV come in? We’ll get to that later [shudder]. (more…)

  • Kelley Direct Ranked Top 3 Online Business Graduate Program – Infographic

    UPDATE April 2014: Kelley Direct was ranked #1 this year by U.S. News.

    Kelley Direct claimed a spot in the top 3 in the US News Best Online Graduate Business Programs list released earlier this month behind Washington State University and Arizona State University. It’s great to see your MBA school getting recognized by others. The more positive visibility the better, and that has been the case since I joined the Kelley Direct Program in 2012. In addition to getting bumped up to the top 15 ranked business schools by Bloomberg Businessweek, Kelley was also recognized for having the best MBA teachers and career services in the US. It’s no wonder why Kelley MBA students are the most satisfied B-school students in the country.

    Even though number 3 isn’t bad, I was curious as to why Kelley Direct didn’t rank higher on this list. So I decided to take a look at other rankings that prospective students and employers typically look at and my suspicions were confirmed. One of the main ways a B-school gets its reputation is by its full-time ranking and its ability to place its students into jobs. This is not to take anything away from the other schools on this list, but Kelley takes these things very seriously (and I love it because of that). Here’s a quote from faculty chair of the Kelley Direct MBA Program, Phil Powell after seeing the US News rankings: “Our goal is to be number one,” Powell said. “Number three is good, but our goal is to become number one.”

    Here are the results of my Online MBA Program Rankings study: (more…)

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  • 28 Reasons Why I Am Lucky As I Turn 28 Part 2

    I’m glad you made it all the way through part 1, the second half is a wee bit longer than that one… enjoy:

    1. I grew up a little oblivious to what people thought, and later realized how nice that was. Until someone blatantly (and condescendingly) pointed out that I was the only boy playing the flute in our band I didn’t think much of it. I feel like I lost something when I started taking those kinds of things to heart. I literally wore sweatpants under a flannel button-down shirt in middle school without thinking twice. I was damn lucky that I still had friends despite of myself… but really it’s a nice state to be in to not have to worry about what others think – and I like to think I’ve finally gotten back to that state and now: (more…)

  • Birthday Reflection: 28 Reasons Why I’m Lucky As I Turn 28 – Part 1

    Saying the number “twenty-eight” kind of hit me today. I’m 28 years old. That number seems immensely greater than any other number that has been associated with my age before. For most of these 28 years of my life, I like most other people have spent my time either: A) doing what my parents told me to do, B) getting an education so I can earn money, or C) doing what I think is fun (why I celebrated my 20th birthday at Chucke Cheese’s… see below). Well, A and B have been becoming a smaller part of my life over the last couple of years, but C is definitely still a huge motivator and will continue to be for the rest of my life. (more…)

  • 10 Experiences That Made My Life Better in 2012

    1 – Best Motivational Speech I heard in 2012 goes to Eric Thomas – Watch this for some ENERGY:http://bit.ly/VpVkhX

    2 – Best TED Talk I heard in 2012 goes to Sean Achor (The Happiness Advantage) – Watch this for a SMILE: http://bit.ly/RZm2Cx

    Arjun UK Artist3 – Best New Music Artist I discovered in 2012 goes to Arjun from the UK – Listen to this guy to SWOON:http://bit.ly/VNRqhV

     

    4 – Best Travel Destination w/in driving distance of Chicago I discovered in 2012 goes to Grand Rapids, MI – go ENJOY: http://bit.ly/TqiA23 (more…)

  • Desi Wear Provides Great Service To Customers Who Don’t Pay

    Desi Wear showed they care by following up their free Desi United t-shirt giveaway on Facebook with great customer service – even though I wasn’t a paying customer. While the “ROI of social media” can be difficult to measure, the “ROI of caring” will always matter and payoff when you think big picture. Social media is just a tool that Desi Wear and others use to show their clients how they care. I wouldn’t have bothered writing this post if it wasn’t for their creative use of social media paired with customer service.

    Every so often Desi Wear gives away their cool desi t-shirts to people who like and share their posts on their Facebook. I happened to be the lucky winner chosen out of the 73 others who liked their post last month.

    desi wear facebook giveaway

    (more…)

  • Ravioli Oli Cares – Best Ravioli Restaurant in Oak Brook IL

    My boss had a Groupon for Ravioli Oli about a month ago and suggested we use it for a team lunch because the restaurant is near our Oakbrook Terrace office. As a vegetarian, ravioli is a popular item for me whenever I go out to Italian restaurants so I thought it was a great idea after seeing their online menu. You get six ravioli pieces (plenty for lunch), choose your filling and add a sauce. If you can’t decide on just one combination, you can go with their “Oli Duet” and try two different ravioli combos, 3 pieces in each.

    Ravioli Oli Plate

    (more…)

  • Link Building Strategies for 2013 from SES Chicago

    I was fortunate enough to attend the 2012 Search Engine Strategies Conference last week in Chicago (Twitter: #seschi) and saw several great presentations about link building strategies for 2013. Link building is an essential part of search engine optimization (SEO), and the techniques required to acquire more links from other websites are becoming more and more time consuming. For years SEO’s have tried to find ways to automate and speed up link building by submitting to every Web directory that will give them a link. Google’s Penguin update earlier this year was launched to devalue links from those types of sites and to discourage site owners from pursuing more “black-hat” link building. (more…)

  • Remove Laziness From Your Life on Kali Chaudas this Diwali

    Diwali 2014 Dates:
    Dhanteras (10/21) | Kali Chaudas (10/22) | Diwali (10/23) | New Year (10/24) | Bhai Beej (10/25)

    In 2014 Kali Chaudas is on Wednesday, October 22. This 14th (“chaudas”) day of the month Ashwin reminds us to get up and make use of our strength to overcome the evil and darkness (“kali”) in our lives such as laziness, jealousy and negativity. We worship Kali Mata, the Goddess of Strength (“shakti”), on this day to give us the strength to overcome our own weakness and to for the courage to help others. (more…)