A-M-A-N-D-A

To all my univesity peers out there; have you realized that the things your father sometimes, or usually buys, isn’t something that is very useful? or that the thing he buys would be more useful to you than it is to him?

that is what fathers do, i have come to see. our fathers or the past generation, widely known as baby boomers, have not the experience and knowledge of technology and advertising today like we do; and they are more easily sucked into things that really, they do not need!

Whereas in marketing we learn to take the good with the bad. to analyze advertisements, go behind the scenes, critize a firm’s supply chain managment and learn from another firm’s marketing success. On the other hand, our fathers, the very people who tell us the importance of money, saving, getting a good job, etc…  how ironic is it that every once in a while, or everyday, depending on who what type of person your father is; buys something that is very high-tech but really, all he ever does with it doesn’t do it any justice.

My father just recently bought a new iPad. Now there has been many opinions about the iPad. you either hate it or love it. The same thing can be said about Apple in general. My dad, and me to tell the truth, are both big apple fans. HOWEVER, the day my dad bought an iPad was the day i began to question him AND myself, and the effect Apple was having on us, and generally the whole wide world.

The thing is, do we REALLY need another ipod? another iphone? another ipad that is basically either a very large itouch or a very light and less useful macbook?

Do we need all the things that we see on tv?

there is a difference between what you WANT and what you NEED. A BIG DIFFERENCE.

We as commerce students will in the future be the ones to decide what the consumers of the world will buy. In a way we are our own hypocrites.

I had a recent dicussion with a friend who is, if there is a simply way to put it, very anti-commerce. In a way i do understand how she feels. The world today is a commercialized society. We hear that all the time in our commerce classes, commerce conferences, commerce networkings. In the business world it is a great thing. To the everday man and woman, it isn’t.

What do i think? I remain neutral. I choose to learn commerce, but not let commerce control me.

that is all.

Remember what people say about high school not counting for anything in the future? that everything you put your heart and soul into – Maths, Geography, Science, History;  All of that don’t matter when you begin to look for a job, hoping to land a high paying career and live in the top floor of one of those high rise buildings you see on tv all the time.

You think everything will change when you start University; only to find that people nowadays are saying the same thing about university that they did about high school. How your bachelor’s degree will not amount to anything; and that it is your master’s degere that matters. To become a successful Businessman, Doctor, Lawyer, Psychatrist you must at least complete your masters and even after that, consider accomplishing your P.H.D.

Think about all that time spent! Nay, All that MONEY spent! and here you all are now trying to gradually pay off your university debt in a couple of years time. What will you do when the time comes for you to do your masters? your P.H.D?

You may be sucked into the stories of people unable to find a job after graduating from their first 4 years of University. May stress about which University you will apply to for your masters even before finishing your bachelors at your current university.

I, on the other hand, choose NOT to focus on these things, but take my time to enjoy wha is now my second year of University in UBC. In a way, i think of Unversity as a huge corporation. Especially private universities like UBC who are Profit organizations. Of course they want motivating, idealistic students to nuture and live up to their expectations and reputation. They also want money.

I find it troubling when i access my bank account sometimes. Where i am shocked each and every time by the amount i have spent. Everywhere you go in UBC you spend money. It is like a small city. There are restaurants, commonly known as UBC FOOD SERVICES; who price their products twice the amount it is worth anywhere else. You have printers that don’t print double-sided, forcing you to spend more on paper than you would like to. Even worse are the professors who demand that you print only on One side Double spaced with a Title page, Appendix and everything.  Not to mention the lack of water fountains around campus, leaving you with no choice but to buy water bottles for $2 each.

University is Important. I understand that. I wouldn’t be here if i didn’t. But i also do know that Universities are profit-based organizations who make money out of the students taht attend; more so if you are in faculties like Commerce and Engineering; where you are expected to pay for the construction of new buildings even if you may not be around when it is finally completed. I am not saying that it is a bad thing. But it does make me feel that, if so much of your money is being spent on your first 4 years of University education; it would be a good thing to actually use that education. Don’t rush straight into your masters. Don’t let what you learnt vanish into thin air.

The future is always undecided.

Vancouver Fashion Week ran from Nov 2 – Nov 7, ending on a pleasant sunny Sunday morning. There were Cameras flashing, models strutting their walk, designers smiling and the audience clapping with delight. Without a doubt, Vancouver Fashion Week was an extreme success, and everybody who came and participated will already be planning their next visit in 2011 for the spring/summer collection. I was a volunteer in this amazing event, and i would like to share my experience of it with you, both from a personal and a marketing perspective.

Not all things the end well start well. The chaos backstage; which i was a part of, will be to this day kept behind the scenes. Many people would be surprised at how much effort, time and evergy is spent every minute of every day getting everything prepared so that when the show starts, there will be no complications. And trust me, up to the last second before the first model got on stage and began each show, there was always something that had to be done, changed or corrected.

I was a backstage and a front door helper for all of Vancouver Fashion Week. Fashion has always been my passion and being able to help out was by far one of the most amazing experiences that i have had in my entire life. I was responsible for so many errands; like finding the suitable models, fitting those models, tapping shoes (not as easy as it sounds by the way), steaming outfits ( a very careful task), handling the designers clothes, ensuring that the designers were properly attended to, quick changing the models when the runway started…

All of these things were always fun and interesting, but i must admit that at times i felt the strain and pressure on me as i fought hunger and fatigue.

Admist all the craziness; i thought about how this related to marketing. Many people think of marketing as the part where you promote a good or service through the media, using advertisements, commercials, brochures and many more. They do not consider what goes behind the scenes.  In other words, they are not aware that marketing also involves the “Place” section of the Marketing Mix- the 4 P’s. I myself was not aware of that untill i started Marketing (Comm 296) in my second year of the Sauder School of Business. Being involved backstage during Vancouver Fashion Week make me realise and think of a lot of topics talked about in Marketing.  From the backstage settings to who would sit where in the audience; everything had a marketing aspect to it. I had to connect with the designers backstage, remember the models that the designers wanted and make sure that the models knew their order, what clothes and shoes they were wearing, and how many changes of clothes and shoes they had. This took a lot of communicating with almost everybody involved in fashion week, from another volunteer to the director of the event. Everything had to go through someone – it was the supply chain of management.

Through my experience in Vancouver Fashion Week, not only did i get to live out my passion (a commerce student aspiring to work in the fashion industry and in the future open her own boutique); but i also learnt firsthandedly; so much about the supply chain of management that is widely talked about during our Marketing classes.

For those who are into fashion, who heard about Vancouver Fashion Week and went to the shows, or wanted to go to the shows but werent able to; even those who had no idea that this was going on; come and check out all the glamour that was Vancouver Fashion Week by clicking on these links below! Get to know the designers who make Vancouver Fashion Week such a success, and enjoy viewing the fantasic collections as well as the poise and elegance of the models on the runway.

http://www.vanfashionweek.com/

http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Photos+Walk+catwalk+Vancouver+Fashion+Week/3786591/story.html

http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/Models+show+vibrant+styles+Vancouver+Fashion+week/3795847/story.html

http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Fabulous+designs+from+Vancouver+Fashion+Week/3773569/story.html