Before this class, I had arguably the worst resume and cover letter in history. After comm 299, I’m proud to whip out my concise resume anytime, anywhere, to apply for any job or position. This class has helped me to develop my writing and verbal skills, preparing me for interviews and many other useful and practical situations in “the real world”.  While I understand and appreciate the importance of OB and accounting, I think that comm 299, a business communications course, was my favorite course this year as I could immediately put what I’ve learned to use: through the application of an executive position of the Style and the City conference.

1. Greatest lesson learned from someone else:

One of the greatest lessons that I have learned  is from my mom. She taught me how to be patient, resilient, and open-minded. When I was 11 years old, my dad’s company relocated us from our home of Singapore to the United States, and later on when I was 16 to China. My mother gave up her job to follow my dad’s career and became a stay-at-home mom instead. Her dedication to our family is something I’ve always respected and her strength to support us through ups and downs across the world will always inspire me.

2. What you have learned about yourself in class:

What I have learned about myself in class is that I’m more of a hands-on learner. I don’t learn well in lectures, or through books. I also have a short attention span and have trouble paying attention for longer than thirty minutes.

Early this year, the wildly phenomenal TV program Glee featured music by Madonna. This musical comedy-drama TV show pulls together music from many different genres, from rock, pop, rap, R&B to more traditional Broadway showtunes. With over thirteen million digital single sales and five million album sales, the music on the show has become a commercial success with fans who are both young and old.

Featuring Madonna on that one episode became the most expensive Glee episode ever created. Network programs usually have a music budget between $100,000 to $200,000 and spent between $10,000 and $15,000 for the license to use a track.

Needless to say, Glee must have spent a fortune on their tribute to Madonna. Was it worth it? For both Glee and Madonna, yes, it was. The “Glee” episode — “Glee: The Power of Madonna” — and accompanying record  came out one week after Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet Tour CD and DVD hit the market. The album debuted in the Top 10, and the DVD topped the music-video charts.

In general, the “Glee” albums are doing pretty well. “Glee Volume 1,” which came out in November 2009, has sold 776,000 units between November and April 2010, and “Volume 2,” which came out in December, has sold 574,000 between December and April 2010, aside from the digital sales. The show, itself, is extremely popular. It started out with around 9 million viewers for it’s pilot episode, and rose to 11.07 million viewers for the season finale.

TV has never seen a program like this before, and it targets people of all ages. It is a unique show that resurrects old, classic rock songs (that my dad used to listen to) and reintroduces them to the younger generation (aka me). Sure, you can put a price on how much it costs to produce and create a TV show like this. However, the price to bring families together and totally create a new pop culture of Gleeks around the world? Priceless.

Ever since taking COMM 101, I’ve become more aware of marketing through social media. This past weekend, when I was up at Whistler for a “relaxing girls getaway weekend” at a bed and breakfast, we went to the Village for an afternoon and had coffee at a café called The Lift Coffee Company, an independent coffee/espresso bar that serves breakfasts, as well as paninis, sandwiches and pastries. As a small company, word-of-mouth is the best way to promote the company; and being available to consumers on the web through Facebook and Twitter (targeting younger crowds who go to Whistler to ski) should be a great marketing strategy for them.

"We are now on Facebook + Twitter. Follow, comment, give feedback, get involved!"

Unlike Shoestring’s Diner, which we wrote our group business plan on, social media marketing should work for The Lift Coffee Company. Shoestring’s, on the other hand, targets families and already has marketing programs using email and coupons.

Why is it, then, that Lift Coffee Company only has 64 fans on their Facebook page, and 29 followers on Facebook? Their Facebook page includes information about their opening hours, address, phone number, payment options, price range, specialties and services. Their last tweet was last September and mostly consist of local shout-outs.

In order to improve this marketing strategy, the company should perhaps provide more promotions as incentives for their Twitter followers and Facebook fans. Without this, there is no reason for consumers to utilize these web tools. On Twitter, each tweet should include a #whistler hashtag so that it’s more specifically targeting Twitter users who’re searching for tweets about Whistler. Their Facebook should also more actively communicate with their fans to ask for feedback or ask what the consumers want, so that they’re better able to cater to their customers.

With the holiday season coming up and with Whistler as a popular destination spot during the winter, The Lift Coffee Company should be able to draw in more customers if they implement these marketing changes quickly.

As QuickMBA states, an entrepreneur is either “a person of very high aptitude who pioneers change” or “anyone who wants to work for himself or herself”.

Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and CEO of multibillion dollar social networking site Facebook is definitely one of the most successful entrepreneurs of today’s society. A Harvard drop out, Zuckerberg still managed to develop the skills needed to create Facebook, a combination of the concept of “traditional facebooks with large-scale social networking sites like Myspace and Friendster”.

By August 2005, Zuckerberg managed to expand his website from college networks to include high school and work groups and in September 2006, anyone with an email address was allowed to join Facebook. Today, there are more than 110 million active users. Facebook rates as the Web’s top photo-sharing site, and is the fourth most-visited site in the world, accounting for more than 1 percent of all internet use.

Zuckerberg said in a New York Times article that “Facebook has always tried to push the envelope. And at times that means stretching people and getting them to be comfortable with things they aren’t yet comfortable with. A lot of this is just social norms catching up with what technology is capable of.”

As QuickMBA also stated, the definition of entrepreneurship placed emphasis on innovation such as new products, production methods, new markets, and forms of organization. Through his creation of Facebook, Zuckerberg definitely accomplished all of the above.

Zuckerberg once stated, “”Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.” More than ever before, people all over the world are plugged in and are constantly connected to the rest of society through Facebook. I know I am, at least. Ask anyone, I’m almost constantly on Facebook either on my laptop or on my phone. Fact.

Instead of studying for my OB midterm or writing my Comm 101 Lieber case analysis essay… thing, I logged onto Youtube, checked my subscriptions and watched of a couple of videos, when I suddenly remembered about the Youtube Partner Program. I guess I’d have to admit that I’m a HUGE Youtube geek, who worships “celebrity Youtubers“, or “persons or groups who have grown to prominence because of their appearance in videos on Youtube”. A while ago, I had this dream of becoming someone famous on Youtube, so naturally, I looked up what one had to do to become, you know, a Youtube celebrity. I found out that almost all of these Youtubers shared one thing in common: being a Youtube Partner. Of course, I thought I’d try to be cool and apply for it as well (as you can see, it’s dated 2008):

I also learned from this website that Youtube partners will/can

1. make $2.5 to $5 per 1000 video views
2. get paid $.05 per subscriber
3. make $.01 per channel view
4. make money through ads and sponsors

For example, my favorite Youtuber communitychannel, or the most subscribed Australian Youtuber, has 775, 852 subscribers, 37,657,473 channel views, and her most viewed video has 37,657,473 plays. This means that she might have made $94,143 + $38,792 + $376, 574 = a lot of $$$. Just by posting videos online. Some people have gotten incredibly well-known because of Youtube. People like Justin Bieber (singer) and Charice Pempengco (aka the new girl on Glee) can trace their popularity roots to Youtube, while others like John Green (author), Juan Mann (the guy who started the free hugs campaign) and Peter Schiff (financial broker, businessman and politician) have managed to gain popularity by promoting themselves and/or sharing their message and talents via video format on Youtube.

There are even Youtubers like sxephil and charlieissocoollike who have allegedly quit their jobs and dropped out of school because they’re making enough money just by being a Youtube partner. I don’t know about you, but I would really like to join this Youtube Partner Program asap.

Next year, Singapore Airlines will begin installing technology in dozens of planes to let passengers surf the Internet on board, during the flight. This new technological feature will also allow passengers to make airbourne phone calls. However, Singapore Airlines is still on the fence about whether passengers should be able to talk on the phone during flights. Besides risking the cellphone’s interference with the airplane’s navigation system, this feature might also turn a “crowded, airborne cabin into a flying phone booth”.

I generally hate flying. I have a HUGE phobia of flying which is sadly extremely ironic as I am an international student. I’ve lived in four different countries and fly on a plane at least six times a year. However, after reading this article about the new technological advancements Singapore Airlines has made and how it can offer passengers the ability to surf the web while in flight; the Facebook-addict in me jumped and my heart started racing. How awesome would it be to be able to chat with friends as a distraction from a major panic attack that usually results from my aviophobia?

Virgin Airlines already does offer this beautiful amenity that’s a thousand times better than all the complimentary bagged pretzels and cashews that other airlines offer. Having WiFi on flights would be a great business strategy that would benefit business travelers, honeymooners and families. One would be able to send off work reports, upload photos from a vacation, or simply pass time by watching Youtube videos.

I’m a straight up Facebook addict. I spend hours and hours each day on this site. Needless to say, when I heard that a Facebook movie was coming out in theatres, I got really excited. I jumped on the 99 B-Line to the downtown Scotiabank theatre to watch The Social Network on opening night.

Knowing nothing about the history of Facebook, I was shocked to find out that Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook creator, might have acted in unethical ways in order to get Facebook to where it is today. With more than 500 million users, it has knocked other social networking websites such as Friendster and Myspace out of the ring. Three other Harvard students insist that they first came up with the original idea and that Zuckerberg stole their idea. Mark Zuckerberg, also allegedly got into a feud with his best friend and co-founder of Facebook, Eduardo Saverin, over shares of the company.

Now, I was just wondering, is this all really worth it? Getting into lawsuits with classmates and fall outs with your best friend in order to create this company that has impacted the lives of millions of people all over the world? As a consumer, or user of Facebook, I’m so grateful to Zuckerberg and everything he’s done- no matter what he did.  I’m all for business ethics and acting in honest, transparent manners; however, if Zuckerberg acted that way, maybe we wouldn’t have Facebook today. Like the tagline of The Social Network states, “You don’t get 500 million friends without making a few enemies.”

Extra links:

–Fun statistics about Facebook

–Interview with Mark Zuckerberg

–Information about Eduardo Saverin

If you’ve never heard of Grey’s Anatomy before, this short video summarizes basically “everything” you need to know about the TV show. It’s a highly popular American medical drama TV program that has won a couple of awards. As I was searching the wonderful Internet for interesting articles to blog about, I stumbled upon this article on the NY Times website titled “Fictional-Hospital Scrubs for Real-Life Doctors”. Article author Rob Walker’s friend had been at the hospital when she realized that her nurses and doctors were wearing scrubs with “Grey’s Anatomy” tags on them.

$22 Barco Uniform "Grey's Anatomy" Scrubs

Turns out, “Grey’s Anatomy” scrubs made by Barco Uniforms have been popular with medical professionals since they were first produced in 2006. These scrubs, made for “outstanding, extended performance” is not only made for work, but is also considered one of the pioneers of “fashion-scrubs”. With these advantages, paired with its advertisement on Grey’s Anatomy, Barco Uniforms is now a leader in the “medical-scrub world”.

Walker notes, “How odd is it that a profession that asks people to trust its members to take life-or-death actions would advertise a brand based on a TV show on the job?” While it is odd, I don’t think this should be a big deal, however. The hospital’s quality should be based on its work, and not on the scrubs they wear. Still, tt’s so interesting how much the media can do to promote an item. As a die-hard fan of the show, I would for sure run out to buy myself these scrubs as soon as possible. I mean, if I were a surgeon, or something. Not sure how Sauder feels about scrubs though…

In today’s society, young girls are more afraid of becoming fat than they are of nuclear war, cancer, or losing their parents. With about 50% of girls and 33% of boys engaging in unhealthy weight control behaviors such as fasting, skipping meals, using laxatives, or smoking to control appetites; the diet industry including diet foods, programs and drugs) takes in over $40 billion each year and continues to grow. Children, teenagers, young adults and adults now battle the negative messages sent through the media that is indirectly affecting our choices and behavior. A shocking figure of only 2% of women in the world today would describe themselves as “beautiful”.

However, some companies such as Dove has taken this controversy and turned it into a highly profitable asset that has given them a distinct “pro-natural beauty” brand. Even a Facebook group, this campaign is extremely popular. Two years back, the UBC journalism service posted an article “Dove’s Campaign for real… profits?” pointing out that “maybe the real question is whether we should we even care” and that this campaign might only exist solely to make profits. Even though this might be Dove’s ulterior motive, I fully support their organization and what they do.  They have managed to create a one-of-a-kind marketing campaign. When you say Dove, the first thing I’ll think of is their self-esteem fund and all the work that they’ve done to promote self-confidence and their support of a wider definition of beauty, beyond typical stereotypes. With this in mind, of course I would consume more of their products.