https://waltdegrange.com/tag/catch-up/catch-upSource Themes Academic (https://sourcethemes.com/academic/)en-us© 2026 Walt DeGrangeFri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://waltdegrange.com/media/WCD-Headshot.jpghttps://waltdegrange.com/tag/catch-up/https://waltdegrange.com/post/2026-catch-up-post/Fri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://waltdegrange.com/post/2026-catch-up-post/<h1 id="back-in-action">Back in Action!</h1> <p>I finally got around to writing a blog post and realized it has been a while since the last time. Since then I have been doing a ton of travel here are just some of the highlights.</p> <h2 id="here-there-and-everywhere">Here, There, and Everywhere!</h2> <ul> <li>February 2025 - MORS Wargaming Special Meeting - Miami, FL</li> <li>April 2025 - Arizona Diamondbacks and Saguaro National Park - Arizona</li> <li>June 2025 - MORS Symposium - Washington, DC</li> <li>June 2025 - Pittsburgh Pirates - Pittsburgh, PA</li> <li>August/September 2025 - Safari - Kenya and Tanzania (<strong>Africa was my 7th continent!</strong>)</li> <li>October 2025 - INFORMS Annual Meeting - Atlanta, GA</li> <li>January 2026 - St. John National Park - St. John, USVI</li> <li>April 2026 - Arches and Islands in the Sky National Parks - Moab, UT</li> <li>June 2026 - MORS Symposium and Colorado Rockies - Colorado Springs, CO</li> <li>July 2026 - Chicago Cubs - Chicago, IL</li> </ul> <h2 id="baseball-and-national-parks">Baseball and National Parks</h2> <p>So I have been making really good progress with the Major League Ballparks and National Parks. I am actually down to only 9 more MLB ballparks. A few more National Parks but that is OK. The joy is in the journey.</p> <h2 id="analytics-still-the-main-focus">Analytics Still the Main Focus</h2> <p>As for analytics presentations and teaching I am still teaching twice a year for the University of Arkansas Masters of Science in Operations Management program, a few short courses for MORS, and advising student teams for the NC State Poole School of Management.</p> <p>This last academic year I had the pleasure of advising two teams that helped Advance Auto Parts with prototyping an Activity Based Costing (ACB) model. Both teams did an excellent job by developing a model and workflow that they then recommended to Advance Auto Part senior leadership during formal presentations. Advance Auto Parts was an excellent partner and both the student teams and I learned a ton about the business of selling auto parts.</p> <h2 id="remainder-of-2026-is-busy">Remainder of 2026 is Busy!</h2> <p>I am looking forward to the remainder of 2026. My plans include traveling to London for vacation and site seeing; Mystic, CT for a the MORS Global Infrastructure Special Meeting; New Orleans, LA for the 2026 CANA Offsite; Gainesville, FL for the Vandy/Florida game; and finally capping off the year with a trip to DC for the MORS Emerging Techniques Forum (ETF). I think I am finally back to the pre-COVID pace of travel for sure. Should be a great way to close out the year and move on to 2027.</p>