Month: November 2012

Tom Dobrzanski was not unfamiliar when he walked into my Comm 101 class. Tom is a member of the band, the Zolas, a group I have been listening to for over a year, so to see him in front of me, was pretty exciting. To have him talk about his past experiences was even more exciting! What I didn’t know was that Tom used to be a student at Sauder School of Business, and that he has a Bachelor of Commerce.

Given that I love his music, that I’m a drummer and a piano player, and that we both are/were Sauder students, made listening to Tom a very inspirational experience. Instead of doing something like finance, marketing or accounting, like the vast majority of BCom students, Dobrzanski combined his business knowledge and his passion for music to create something outstanding. He is not only a member of a band, he is also  a producer and engineer. While in school, he was also creating a recording studio in his parents’ basement (Vertical Studios). A couple well known bands, such as Said the Whale and Hey Ocean! record their albums here. Due to his successes, Tom has been able to relocate and is now working on finishing his new recording studio, Monarch Studios.

I, along with many others, still don’t know what type of career I want, so seeing a Sauder grad tell us about how he strayed from the norm, followed his passions,  and became successful doing something he loves, was very inspirational! This really showed me, for the first time, that as long as I’m motivated and work hard, the possibilities for what I can do after I graduate are endless.

The answer is yes! In fact, some companies are socially responsible, and we don’t even know it. After reading Patricia Tumbocon’s blog, I realized that one of the big-shot companies in the food industry, Ben & Jerry’s, fits into this category. Ben & Jerry’s claim to fame is their ice cream, but they are also a B Corporation.

B Corporations are companies that meet the “rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency”. They are attempting to “create higher quality jobs and improve the quality of life in [their] communities. And, as the movement grows, it has become an increasingly powerful agent of change.” 1

Some of the great works done by these companies are:

• Caring Daily program – almost half of the cost of goods sold goes towards investing in small-scale suppliers
• Outsourcing key ingredients from community organizations
• The company’s lowest paid hourly workers make almost 50% above the living wage
• No animal testing

I think that this, in it’s entirety, is fantastic. It’s great that “B Corporations” exist. They are working hard to turn more businesses into positive businesses with ethical and constructive practices; are the way of the future. Being able to give companies a title such as “B Company”, should encourage people to purchase from these companies, and should hopefully encourage more businesses to try and become one of these. I was also very pleased to hear that Ben and Jerry’s is a B Corporation, because it means that a lot of people, whether they are aware of it or not, are supporting a socially responsible company. I hope that as time passes, more and more people learn about the socially responsible practices of B Corporations, and that more companies strive to share similar beliefs.

Sources:

1 http://www.bcorporation.net/what-are-b-corps/why-b-corps-matter

The owner of Frakas, a trendy clothing boutique, has three stores in total: two in Saskatoon, and one in Kelowna. This entrepreneur is trying to make her way in the fashion/business world one step at a time. For most new businesses, finding funding  is hard to come by. Another big issue is getting your name out there, so that potential clients know who you are. The owner of Frakas uses a solution that combats both issues: Blogging.

The Frakas Blog shows pictures of newly acquired items of clothing and accessories. It also informs clients of what the latest trends are. The blog features different contests that allow customers the potential to win some great prizes. The blog does all this, while remaining a source of free advertising.

I think that this interactive blogging system is great for the store. Having contests and giving fashion tips keeps buyers interested and insures that they check the blog on a regular basis. Because we live in a technological driven era, a blog is a perfect way for a store to reach people in its desired target market. Using social media as a means to advertise also allows the store to save exorbitant amounts on marketing fees.

UrthCast is a developing a new technology that will allow people on Earth to see what astronauts see. The idea is similar to Google maps, but incorporates a “live” aspect that one would find in movies. By installing two video cameras onto the Russian portion of the International Space Staion, UrtheCast plans to provides an “Image of the Earth Scrolling by.” In a promotional UrtheCast video, Scott Larson says that “you’ll be able to fast forward, skip, pause and rewind.”

The first I heard of this project was when Director, Co-Founder, Executive Vice President, and Sauder School of Business graduate Wade Larson, came to speak in my first year commerce class. Personally, I think that the idea is excellent! Mr. Larson is a great speaker and is very passionate about his career, which made it enjoyable to listen to.

Urthecast hopes to connect people by way of Social media. The video feed will allow you to tag portions of it, so people can show where they were and which events they were at. All this close-proximity however, begs the question: how will this not be a confidentiality breach? It may only be a matter of time before people start getting concerned about how much UrtheCast exposes. Then again, most social media sites can be considered as confidentiality breaches.  If this fact is overlooked, once people find out about Urthecast, I’m convinced it will become an app that they integrate into their everyday lives.