Although the United Nations and Social Enterprises are both interested in creating sustainable societies through resolving world crises by initiating change, they are still very different organizations in terms of size of operations. The extremely large size of the United Nations (due to the fact that it is an international organization for 193 member states) makes achieving their several goals extremely challenging. On the other hand, Social Enterprises are much smaller, and have a more focused goal: providing communities a way to alleviate from financial hardship through entrepreneurship and other business methods. Therefore, even if the United Nations were to be fully funded, Social Enterprises like the Arc Initiative are necessary in order to ensure that there is a platform for such changes to be made.

In order to initiate change in society, you must have people willing to initiate action. Specifically, the Arc Initiative at the Sauder School of Business has a goal of exchanging knowledge and business skills in order to provide people in third world countries the expertise they need to form their own local small businesses. Through internships and workshops, the Arc Initiative is able to provide a method that fuels the entrepreneurial spirit, giving a boost to the people who lacked the skills and resources before. Students from Sauder are sent to areas in South Africa, Ethiopia, Colombia and Rwanda, allowing them to become directly immersed within the communities they are trying to help improve by providing them a more specific understanding of the businesses and the problems their owners face.

“Non-profits that have donated money to Rwanda following the war but didn’t make a lasting impact”

– Arielle Uwonkunda.

While the United Nations and other big charities may be able to allocate large sums of money for third world countries, simply injecting funds is often unhelpful and may be easily misallocated for the people living within impoverished communities. However, the Arc Initiative gives developing entrepreneurs a method to learn how to create long-term economic success.

Sources and Further Reading:

http://news.ubc.ca/2014/06/30/upward-arc/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8LVa9pb-n8

http://www.sauder.ubc.ca/Global_Reach/ARC_Initiative/About_ARC

After reading this post by Stella on how marketing has changed, along with the cult-like influence by Youtube ‘beauty gurus’, I felt inspired to write about my own take on the Youtube beauty community.

For several years, I was a follower of many self-proclaimed “make up artists” like Michelle Phan. When one of my subscriptions recommended a D.I.Y. facial mask or a product, I would save money to purchase the product and try it for myself. It was an endless cycle, until my older sister told me to think more critically about the intentions and motivations of these Youtubers. Despite my insistence that “these girls are just like me, and they recommend that this really does work!” and that I was sure “they wouldn’t lie” since they would most likely have not been paid by the company, she was strong on her stance that I was being conned, along with the rest of the thousands of people subscribed to these girls. Then she said these words that have stuck by me since.

“You know they are most likely being sponsored, right? Companies are giving them free products because they’re cheaper than advertisements, but more effective.”

A few months later, these Youtubers were required to write disclaimers in the description boxes of the videos because of complaints. In videos, most gurus began to start announcing that the video was sponsored, or that they had been sent in the product they recommended. The backlash involving these gurus began to grow, with forums of former subscribers discussing which Youtubers to avoid in order to prevent being fooled.

Although marketing products through Youtubers is effective and a great, fast way to get your product/shop/brand out directly to consumers, there is always consequences of oversaturation. As a “guru”, you may begin to lose the trust of your audience, and losing authenticity is the quickest way to lose your audience on Youtube.

—

Further Readings:

http://www.reddit.com/r/MakeupAddiction/comments/1weuz0/which_beauty_bloggersyoutubers_do_you_avoid/

https://blogs.ubc.ca/stellacho/2014/10/05/marketing-in-a-digital-age/

http://beyoungandshutup.com/2014/03/06/subversive-marketing-at-the-youtube-beauty-counter/

With all the lessons we have learned in Comm 101, I think one that will definitely leave an impression in my mind throughout my next 4/5 years at UBC will be the Sauder Alumni class, or class 18. For section 101, we had SIP, Naked Coconuts, and Tangoo visit our 8 AM class in order to teach us more on entrepreneurships and the difficulties behind creating a business.

As a graphic designer, Tangoo first caught my eye with their website design and Paul’s own little graphic t-shirt that he wore in class. I tried to download the app when class was over, but I really didn’t feel like giving up my Facebook information in order to access the rest of the app. I did, however, check out the Tangoo blog.

A post that caught my eye detailed intern Alice’s own Words of Wisdom. There she gives advice on reasons why and how to build your startup. She also details on her time at Tangoo and what she learned interning for the app.

Since being a part of MiniEnterprize’s team last year, I have learned a significant amount about entrepreneurship and have entertained the idea of being able to create my own business since I first learned that I could actually specialize in this subject. Although I am still unsure about whether I could create my own start up or not, I hope that one day I’ll be able to encounter something I’m so passionate about that I will be compelled to create a startup just to solve the issues that come with it (like microfinancing banks).

All in all, I will be eager to watch Tangoo’s episode on Dragon’s Den.

—

Further Reading:

https://blog.tangoo.ca/words-of-wisdom-from-an-intern/

https://blog.tangoo.ca/

http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/episodes/

When I was a child, my parents would bring me to a small Chinese grocer in Vancouver on Saturdays in order to do some weekly shopping. They entertained me with Barbie lollipops – and I loved them so much that they eventually bought home cans. The lollipops came with stickers, and collectible cans that I still have lined up in the kitchen cupboard. One day, I remember going to the grocer and realizing that it was unusually empty. When I got home, my parents told me that the store was closing and something bigger was going to replace it. It was the only place that sold Barbie lollipops, and my little heart broke over the prospect of no more Barbie lollipops, ever. I saved the one I had in my pocket and to this day, I have it wrapped in its original condition.

***

I stumbled across this article, mostly intrigued at first because the writer and I share the same name. Reading more into the article, I was touched by the content of the piece, written about a man and the business he grew up with and in.

Essentially, the article talks about Robert Low and the 55-year-old confectionary store that his family has operated over the years and how it has been impacted by the news that came from BC Housing. BC Housing, who owns the building the store runs in, has plans to renovate the location – which in turn will raise the rent to a price Low may not be able to afford.

Although it is easy to overlook small businesses’ like Low’s, they are exactly the shops that give a community a sense of uniqueness and most importantly, history. Low being pushed out of his shop draws parallels in my mind of the contrasting topic of startups and makes me think about the lifecycle of a business.

As a child, the small business in my life closing had broke my heart because it was a place that provided lots of memories of weekends spent with my mom and dad. For Robert, this small business means losing the place he grew up in – a business that has provided compassion and smiles that served the community’s needs.

P.S. – The lollipops aforementioned are so rare, it seems, that I can’t even find a photo of them or an eBay post that sells them.

—

Sources:

http://www.vancouversun.com/Daphne+Bramham+beloved+small+business/10109625/story.html

I recently sat with my friend in a Comm 101 class, and she came up with what I believe is a genius idea for an iPhone application. I told her I could design the graphics using her idea – but I didn’t have enough knowledge in coding to help materialize her brainchild, and unfortunately, she did not either. This is exactly why I was so glad when I heard how Google was implementing strategies in order to encourage more female employment within their company.

By launching the $50 million initiative “Made with Code”, Google hopes teach young girls coding and give their parents resources to encourage their girls in participating in computer-science courses.

This initiative reminds me of the many ways businesses can choose to reach out towards their communities by creating positive movements without losing sight of company values. Through this project, Google can to integrate important social changes while redefining company values.

This also goes back to Class 15 when we discussed CSR and how it is incredibly significant in business. A company with a positive social standing and reputation can lead to not only incredibly loyal customers, but also loyal employees – who all trust the company, and in turn trust their products.

It’s because of initiatives like this that help propel Google as consistently one of the companies with the best CSR reputation.

—

Further reading:

https://www.madewithcode.com/

http://time.com/2901899/google-made-with-code-girls-in-tech/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/10/02/the-companies-with-the-best-csr-reputations-2/

Since elementary school, I have learned a lot about aboriginal issues in Canada; at one point, I was even pen pals with a girl my age in the Cree tribe. Her community was kind enough to send us flags, pins, and information pamplets about their culture in order to broaden my understanding of Canada as they saw it. When I think about the issues being boiled down – I can only come up with one word: ignorance.

Racism, discrimination, hateful and hurtful behavior stems from ignorance. In the article about the Tsilhqot’in people declaring the New Prosperity mine as their tribal park in order to preserve the land and the nature with the boundaries, I read the comments section and was surprised at the amount of hatred that was voiced. One particular commenter said:

That must be real nice! Just go and make a plan on whatever piece of property you happen to like and call it a park….Voila it becomes yours! (…) Sick and tired of this inequality (…) Time to put a stop to it! For good.

That comment shocks me for a number of reasons – but the foremost thing is how ignorant this commenter is. It’s extremely ironic that she mocks the Tsilhqot’in people for taking “whatever piece of propery [they] happen to like” when that was exactly what the white settlers did to them to begin with. And inspite all the hurt and pain the aboriginals have been through, they have reached an agreement to collaborate and partner up with the government in order to find a solution.

When it all boils down, I think the true issue behind this matter and any other conflicts behind professional relationships (partnerships) is the refusal to reciprocate and compromise between two parties.

Source:

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/metro/Unilateral+park+declared+Tsilhqot+includes+Prosperity+mine/10192766/story.html

http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Premier+urges+cooperation+more+litigation+government+natives+reach+fork+road/10194776/story.html

Continuing from last week’s post, I decided to read more about employment issues: this time, in Canada. I’m sure everyone remembers the strike that IKEA employees went on a year ago; it is in fact, still happening. A family friend who was employed at the bistro told me that her labor union paid her more per hour than IKEA ever did, and ironically, her striking schedule was a lot more secure and stable than her working one. That strikes me as being both sad and a very difficult pill to swallow.

A recent article touched on this event briefly – and expanded further more on the other problems part-time workers had. One interviewee says “I know I should [just] be happy I have a job,”. Her attitude – desperately trying to make ends meet, yet never once giving up – reminds me of the woman I mentioned last post. Their circumstances have driven them to a wall, and they’re not alone in this. 27.3% of part time workers are unwillingly part time, but have to do so in order to just simply be employed.

I want to know if there’s something to be done for those who are obviously working hard to provide for their families and their retirement plans. It just doesn’t seem fair that whenever firms and companies need to cut costs, low-wage workers are the first to go when they can barely stay afloat with a part time job.

Source:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/the-15-hour-workweek-canadas-part-time-problem/article20926986/

A thing I learned growing up was that people can often be unsympathetic – especially the rich and privileged towards those less fortunate. The most infuriating thing I’ve heard was when someone said that “Poor people are poor because they don’t work hard enough” – because I didn’t and I still don’t believe that that’s true.

Over the week, a woman died in her car. She was napping during a break between her three minimum wage jobs, when a gas can she kept in the car fell over and filled the car with fumes. She was found motionless, with foam running out of her mouth, still wearing her Dunkin’ Donuts uniform at the time of her death.

I’ve learned quite a few things from Economics 101 – one of which is the idea that government interference with employee wages (such as increasing minimum wage) can cause issues such as increased unemployment. However, when I think about how this lady worked her body to complete exhaustion, never once complaining and was essentially “the model employee”, I wish there was something more that can be done for people like her. People who have dreams and hopes, but who can’t afford a college education to get the credentials for a better job. When I think about how she died in her uniform, it makes me rethink about the privileges I’ve been blessed with so far in my life.

—

Source:

http://www.businessinsider.com/its-hard-to-live-on-minimum-wage-2014-10

I’m the type of person to install Ad-Block on all my browsers, set Facebook privacy settings to be as secure as I can get them, disable the Location app on my phone, block public access to twitter, use pseudonyms for any other social platforms, and tape up the webcam on my Macbook Air. Whenever I can, I try to minimize potential information websites can get from me – but being in an era where a social life is half dependent on your online presence, privacy controls has been difficult for me.

Needless to say, I do not like knowing that social media algorithms know how to target me as a university student living in Vancouver, B.C. But after being on the other side and paying facebook to run targeted ads for a conference I was a part of – I am intrigued with online advertising.

A man decided to target his roommate with a list of ads on Facebook. By using Facebook’s Custom Audiences, his roommate was successfully spooked out to the point of refusing to use his cellphone, fearing that it was bugged. The man behind the pranks said that he learned a lot about how to target consumers without seeming too personal.

Although it was just a joke, I have a feeling that if I ever decided to disable my Ad-Block add-on, I would be too disturbed to go online again. It seems like that this may in fact be the future of online marketing – up and way too personal advertisements.

Further Reading:

http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/roommate-makes-his-friend-paranoid-creepy-facebook-ads-160320

ttp://www.businessinsider.com/10-things-in-advertising-september-24-2014-9

Roughly every year a new model of the iPhone will be released, and the mall will be packed with lines of people just dying to get their hands on the shiny, new device. In fact, many of these people will buy more than one. When I was in high school, I had a classmate who would be one of those people: he would skip class to stand at the front of the line. Just like those behind him, he had camped out in front of the store overnight – except he was not purchasing the new model for himself, but rather reselling it for a higher price overseas.

When I read Lily’s blog post, I remembered a conversation I had with this friend. I asked him how much he made from reselling the phones, and why he did it. Why would anyone want to buy the new model from him at such a high price? “We live in a world revolved around money and unfullfilled desires” he said. “It doesn’t matter how much I price it – there is always going to be people who want it before everyone can get it.”

I, myself, also had the newest model of the iPhone (until recently, but that’s a different story), and bought all the latest gadgets. I think consumers like myself have been conditioned at a young age the simple equation that more + new = better – but that does not give any of us an excuse to be ignorant as adults and continue this reckless behavior. There are lots of resources for us to go to in order to be more informed consumers, and not be ‘preyed’ upon. We just have to take the first step and become educated.

Further readings:

http://www.inc.com/vanessa-merit-nornberg/why-2014-is-the-year-of-the-informed-consumer.html