I will be available in my virtual office from 10:30 am to 11:30 am on Sunday, February 3, to help you with any questions you might have about Assignment 1. (I’ll answer any other course questions you have, too, if there’s time.) You can access the virtual office from the home page of Vista.

If you cannot make the scheduled session, not to worry: I will do my best to remember to record the session and post it in the Assignments folder for your review at any time afterward.

Hope to “see” you on Sunday morning!

On January 28, we will welcome into our classroom Dr. David Silver, Associate Professor and Chair in Business and Professional Ethics with the W. Maurice Young Centre for Applied Ethics, and two Ethics PhD candidates, TJ and Jamie, for a focused, working session on ethics in marketing.

In preparation for this session, I would like you to write a blog post about a specific marketing-related ethical issue of interest to you. There are a number of ethical issues that can arise in marketing — from privacy concerns in market research, to misleading advertising claims, to product safety, to price discrimination, etc. — and I am interested in hearing  your views on these types of sensitive issues.

As the basis for your post, please find a current news article, blog post, or video about an ethical issue related to marketing, then analyze it. What caused/causes the issue? Who are the parties involved, and who is affected? What conditions or circumstances exacerbate the situation? What should guide the organization’s navigation of the sensitive issue? And any other questions you feel should be addressed in your analysis…

Please ensure you embed a link to the article/post/video that inspired your thinking on this topic. See the Blog Assignment Outline on Vista for further guidelines about writing a blog post for this course.

Please complete this post by Monday, January 21, so we can draw on your perspectives in class on January 28.

This post will count as one of the minimum 6 posts required by the end of classes.

Set up your blog: If you have never set up a UBC blog before, there is a great resource to walk you through it. Go to this link to Dr. Blog and follow the instructions.

Access your blog: Dr. Blog also tells you here how to find and access your blog once it’s set up.

Register your blog to the Comm 296 blogroll: You must register your blog to the course blogroll (blogs.ubc.ca/comm296), or your classmates and I will not be able to find it. Follow these simple steps:

1. If you’re not already there, go to the course blog: blogs.ubc.ca/comm296
2. Find the “Register Your Blog Here” section on the right-hand side of the home page.
3. In the “Link URL” box, enter your blog URL (e.g. https://blogs.ubc.ca/tamarm)
4. In the “Last Name, First Name” box, enter your last name, then first name (e.g. Milne, Tamar)
5. Enter the course password: marketing.
6. Click the “Add Link” button. The button can be finicky sometimes, so if it does not seem to be allowing you to press it, refer to the picture below for the exact spot you may have to find and click in order for it to work:

   

   Showing the exact spot on the “Add Link” button that you might have to click to get the widget to respond (it can be finicky!)

PLEASE NOTE: Only click the “Add Link” button ONCE! It may take some time to load, so please be patient. If you do end up adding your blog to the blogroll more than once, don’t worry – I have access to the links and will delete any duplicates. No need to email me about that.

Customize your blog: Dr. Blog is also a great resource for customizing your blog’s appearance. Have some fun and show your personality and interests!

Remember, I will be looking for an average of one post every couple of weeks, for a minimum total of six posts by the end of classes. Why not get started right away?