Journal Entry: 01/26/10

Cluster Chart/Brainstorming in-class assignment.

Angel and I picked the topic of Marketing. Here is what we came up with:

Marketing (definition: the process of creating, distributing, promoting, pricing goods and services to facilitate satisfying exchanges and relationships with customers. )

-Small Communities

• can benefit from small population.
• inside knowledge of what type of marketing will be most effective

-Planning

• know the target market
• fimiliar with competitive environment

-Product

• relative to target market/region
• identify what could be successful in your given region

-Place

• is the product something that can be created within the community?
• potential job creation
• does it need to be imported?

- Pricing

• knowing the spending habits/income of your target market
• tax exemption

-Promotion

• can depend on word of mouth in a small community
• use local events to promote self and community
• good will (how you can contribute to your community)

Professionalism Entry: 01/26/10

In today's class we did an overview of what our responsibilities would be if we chose to join the Committee. Tina explained what the conference is all about and what would be expected of us both on the Committee and in the related homework. I thought it might be something I'd like to try, as I have worked on a similar type of conference in the past (Northern Solutions Conference held in Happy Valley-Goose Bay back in 2002). I figured once we sat in with the Committee members that I would get a clearer idea of how it would all work.
We went to the conference room and were introduced to some of the heads of the committee. I took notes about what the different groups involved are and what they do. Of all the different groups (communications, hospitality, finance, etc.) the one that got my attention was finance. It seemed like my type of work: more behind the scenes, budgeting, and careful planning. As of typing this blog, I still haven't decided if I will join the Committee or work on an alternate assignment.

Being on the Committee would definitely have it's advantages:
* fun work experience
* meet people in the business community and try and impress them with your hard work
* reference letter from Tina for your résumé
* practical learning is ALWAYS more fun than theoretical learning

Some disadvantages may be:
* might get stuck doing crappy grunt work
* some people are a pain to deal with
* it may be time consuming (you definitely need to be into this sort of thing to make the most of it)
* may not get to work in the group of your choosing

Meeting with the Committee members did give me a more rounded idea of what to expect, but I am still undecided. If anyone has anything to add, feel free.


Cheers,

Craig

Blog Entry: 01/19/10

Today's blog assignment is to comment on what we expect of ourselves as students/professionals in training.

Personally, I try to conduct myself in a mature manner when attending classes. I make every effort to show up to all my classes and have any assigned work completed (the video project was an exception). I feel that preparation is important; I check the syllabus for each course that I am registered in to get some idea of what the instructor expects of their students. If there is an emphasis on class participation, I make sure I speak up every now and then. It is also helpful to get to know your classmates, just in case you do miss a class and are in need of the notes you may have missed out on. In turn, I am sure to assist any of my classmates who approach me for assistance. Attending University is more than just reading books (I could stay home and do that), the act of meeting new people with different perspectives in a learning environment adds more dimension to any subject. Class participation (speaking AND listening) is why I am here.

Two geologists that I worked with this Summer gave me some very good advice just before I came to Fredericton to attend UNB. The first one, who is a former Physics Instructor, told me to get to know my instructor right away. She said that if my instructor knows me as more than just a name on a piece of paper, they would be more approachable if I ever needed help, or had to miss a class for a doctor's appointment, etc.
The second geologist simply said "you never know where your next meal is coming from" .... by which he meant play it safe and be nice to everyone.

Professionalism Blog

I received my diploma in Computer Support from the College of the North Atlantic back in 1998. In February 1999, I was offered a job with ATCO Frontec in Ottawa, which I gladly accepted. I was hired on as a Microsoft Application Support trainee (a fancy title which meant I was tech support for people who didn't know how to use MS Excel or Access). Due to my brief training in website design, I was approached to work on a test project: to create an Intranet site for the Ottawa office. This involved gathering information from each department which would be hosted on a single server, thus making it easily accessible for all other departments. Once a month I had to host meetings with representatives from each department and discuss design ideas for the site, gather data to be centralized and hear any comments/concerns that any of the departments may have regarding this project. Some departments were excited about the project, and gladly lent their time and resources. Some departments (and some individuals more than others) did not like the idea of having certain information on the site. Their thinking was that "if people can now just go online and get what they used to have to come and see me about, I'll eventually have less to do". This made for some uncomfortable meetings, but I had to remain professional; I was tasked with a job to do and I did my best to perform it. I was 21 and some of the people I was trying to convince had been with the company close to 20 years.

I have worked many jobs since finishing College. Over the years the work I have been getting has been further away from what I would like to be doing. The past couple of years I have worked in the mining industry. I have always wanted to get a comfortable office job, but have been forced to take what I can get. That is why I decided to attend University. I hope to eventually get my Business degree and find a job that is rewarding and that I enjoy doing.

Learning Journal

January 12th was my first time attending an ABRG 4664 class for this semester (I was out of town the previous week). We went over the syllabus for the course and talked about the work load for the upcoming term. My initial reaction to all of this was that this course is nothing like I had envisioned it. I thought the Entrepreneur class would be all about having guest speakers come in and tell us about how they started successful businesses ... or meeting with agencies and/or funding groups and learning how to go about taking an idea for a business and making it become a reality.

Our first assignment is to create a 5 minute video about a random entrepreneur. The one I selected was John Kim Bell. He is a very accomplished musician and philantropist, but the fact that I have never used iMovie, let alone a Mac, had me a bit concerned. As of this evening (January 17), I have spent 4 afternoons trying to put together my video. I have wrestled with iMovie, been very careful to cite all references and record every website I have used to get pictures from to use in my presentation. This afternoon I went to the Multimedia lab to record the narration I carefully worded. To my horror, the whole thing only adds up to about 2:48 of a movie. I will have to try and fill it out a bit more, all the while fighting the little voice in the back of my head saying "it's only worth 5%" ....

The first class gave me a clearer idea of what the course is going to be like. To be honest, the work load is a little intimidating. Public speaking and careful referencing are two of my weaknesses, but I guess that's why I came to University; to improve.


cheers,

Craig