Jason Pearce

Big news. I emailed an acceptance letter to Khalid Gourad of Gourad Media Group. If we are able to hash out all of the compensation details, I’ll start on April 1, 2003.

I haven’t had a job since May 2002, so I figure it’s time for me to actually do something productive (and get paid for it). More details on my new job will follow.

I forgot to mention last week a story about my rental car. When I arrived to the counter, the Dollar guy tried hard to “up-sell” me to a Jeep or van. I was already happy with my price and premium car selection, so I declined (three times).

When my car finally arrived, I noticed that it had only three miles on it. I was the first driver. It had that fresh new-car smell and everything.

My only mishap occurred on I-95 on my way up to Norfolk. Upon entering a toll both area, I got stuck in an EZ Pass lane instead of a Cash Only lane. Forced to travel on through it, I figured I could “fix” the problem at the next toll booth.

Naturally, there were no more toll booths. So on the way home the next day, I tried to pay the toll I owed to the next toll attendant I met. They wouldn’t accept my payment.

I then called EZ Pass, asking them if I could turn my self in, provided them the license plate of the rental car I was driving, and pay the toll plus applicable fees over the phone. Again, they wouldn’t accept my payment and had no way of processing “good Samaritan” orders.

So now I’m stuck with getting the fine, plus a car rental fine to boot. All for making a simple driving error with no ways of making amends.

Earlier this week I traveled to Norwalk, Connecticut, to interview for a position at Gourad Media Group.

Norwalk is located about an hour north of New York City along the coast and I-95. Its population is 83,000. So while many have not heard of the city, it’s still a good size.

Gourad Media Group was founded by Khalid Gourad in 1997. Khalid was born in Morocco and is energetic, talented, and would likely be fun to work with.

I have received an offer from Khalid, one that I’ll be considering over the weekend. I’m excited about the opportunities and am ready to return to the working world. At the same time, waking up before 9:30 will take some adjusting.

Went skiing this weekend with two fraternity brothers, Martin Hill and Shawn West, and 60 Raleigh Jaycees. Conditions were great for both skiing and partying, making it a great weekend. I spent two days snowboarding mostly greens and blues. I could make most runs without falling at all, but the occasional wipeout would always keep me on my toes, then heels, then toes again.

Forbes is going to be featuring an article called “Best Fraternities For Future CEOs” in its upcoming March issue. The article’s idea and research was influenced by a friend of mine, Jon Williamson. One of Jon’s hobbies is collecting fraternal alumni directories, and then reading them. He has a gifted memory, which helps him match names and ages to notable individuals, like Forbes’s list of 500 CEOs. Way to go Jon.

Best Fraternities For Future CEOs
Davide Dukcevich, 01.31.03, 12:00 PM ET

NEW YORK - Don’t be surprised if you see your company directors exchanging secret handshakes at the next board meeting. After all, about a quarter of all chief executives on the Forbes Super 500 list of America’s largest corporations were members of college fraternities.

Despite what movies such as Animal House suggest, fraternities and sororities are more than just freshman rush and beer busts. The social skills that help students gain admittance into the Greek system are the same aptitudes that can later give them a leg-up in corporate climbing. Plus, once they’ve graduated, they can tap into the network of past fraternity brothers or sisters who litter all tiers of corporate America.

The numbers certainly seem to back this theory up. A mere 8.5% of full-time university undergraduates are members of either a fraternity or a sorority. Not only have fraternities been the breeding ground of those 120 Forbes 500s chief executive officers, they also have spawned 48% of all U.S. presidents, 42% of U.S. senators, 30% of U.S. congressmen, and 40% of U.S. Supreme Court justices, according to data from The North-American Interfraternity Conference.

Wachovia CEO G. Kennedy Thompson said that Beta Theta Pi, which he joined while an undergrad at the University of North Carolina, gave him “the opportunity to meet people from different backgrounds and places, and the connections have continued beyond my university years to my business life.”

He is also a member of the fraternity that produced the most CEOs among the biggest 500 companies in the country. Beta Theta Pi can boast of 11 such CEOs, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Sigma Chi are tied in second at nine, Lambda Chi Alpha has eight, and Alpha Tau Omega seven.