This class, we had Jeff Kroeker from the other COMM 101 lectures come in to speak to us about social good. I remember the topic of social good coming up in class before, but we did not expand on it. I have always been interested in the business of creating goods and services not only to make a living but to also help others in need.

Something he spoke specifically about was Salem’s Ethiopia, a craft boutique in Ethiopia. He discussed what her social good was, her success in crafts, and dealing with the authenticity of her hand-made crafts.

I think that incorporating social good into a business is a great idea because for some people who genuinely like to give back to their community, it is a great motivation to further the company while guaranteeing that they stay true to their company and the company’s value.

I especially enjoyed this class because we covered many different small organizations that have social good. I also enjoyed the use of videos from places such as Ethiopia as it gave a better visual interpretation of the topic.

Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-growth/day-to-day/can-fair-trade-boutique-expand-without-alienating-customers/article4405520/

You see this word everywhere; in class, at the mall, in washrooms, at the lounge. Signs can be seen everywhere to promote sustainability.

A video explaining sustainability:

In class, our guest speaker discussed all aspects of sustainability, and how sustainability relates to our COMM 101 class. This was interesting and new to me because I thought the that the topic of sustainability was only to help the earth, but I learned that it has an effect on accounting and marketing.

I also learned that Vancouver is a very sustainable city. I only moved to Vancouver this summer, whether it was the transition from high school to university or the new city, but I began to notice the effort put into making the world more sustainable. Vancouver is more sustainable because of the culture here, and because of events such as the Olympics that took place here in 2010.

I especially enjoyed the activity we did in class where we calculated our own carbon footprint. I learned that the calculation takes commute, long distance travel, food and shelter into account. Because of this activity I can learn to be more sustainable!

Example of sustainability posters in places we go to everyday.

Today’s class was much anticipated as last class, Rob asked us to be on time and prepared with thought-provoking questions to ask our guest speakers for this class. Today, we had two guest speakers: Eric Carlson, the CEO of Anthem Properties and Amielle Lake, CRO and Founder of Tagga.

I especially enjoyed Eric Carlson’s speech; he told us his story and journey through his career. Because he is the CEO of a large company, it was interesting to hear how he got to where he is today. Much to my surprise, he experienced many ups and downs.

His speech was very stimulating because as a student, I have doubts about how my future career will turn out. It was both inspirational and intimidating listening to his story. Firstly, it was comforting to know that he was able to continue going in business even when so many things went wrong along the way. However it was daunting but eye-opening because he was honest; things would not always go your way in business.

Overall, his speech was very informational and I felt that he taught us something that we don’t normally learn in a class lecture.

Source: http://www.anthemproperties.com/about/team/development