All my life I have been very athletic and participated in numerous types of sports including basketball, volleyball, taekwondo, and track; all of which require some sport of spandex-wear. Now, I want to zero in on one garment in particular: spandex pants. Much like a true Vancouverite, I am guilty of wearing yoga pants out without actually going to yoga class. Having owned many pairs of these pants I have seen firsthand as to how the prices of these pants have climbed higher and higher. As of now, most brands are pushing the $80-$100 limit. These brands include Nike, Lululemon, and Under Armour. Much like the LeBron sneakers that have inched closer and closer to the $300 limit, spandex pants have been testing the $100 price for a while now. The reason they have been successful in forcing that price on consumers is because they continue buying them even at ridiculous prices. I, of course, have been victim to these companies because of my brand loyalty to them. I feel that owning their product will not only give me the quality that I have been accustomed to from them, but also give be an ego boost because of the brand name. Companies like these are fully aware of their customer’s loyalty and have wasted no time to use that to their advantage.

sources:

http://www.businessinsider.com/why-lululemons-pants-are-so-expensive-2014-9

“If the United Nations was fully funded why would we need the Arc or social enterprise”?

The UN is an international organization that provides a platform for numerous countries to discuss and resolve world crisis. On the other hand, social enterprises are smaller, less funded, and a more concentrated group of people whose goal is help communities through business methods. One of the most flawed aspect of the UN is that the decisions they make are too heavily influenced by individual nation’s interests. One of the most recent injustices seen in the news has been Russia’s and China’s veto of France’s draft of resolution. Despite the United Nations being fully funded, it is unfortunate that that money cannot be used in the way which will benefit people who suffer from injustices and hardships. The world needs social enterprises such as the Arc Initiative because they have the ability to help the less fortunate without politics in the way. One of the reasons why the Arc Initiative is so beneficial to the people in the countries that it is involved in is because they help build develop business management and leadership in the communities so that they can sustain themselves. Rather than just giving them supplies as aid they are teaching them the business skills that will help them create a long-term economic prosperity.

sources:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27514256

http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/

I have always been on the fence about pursuing entrepreneurship as a career. I use to think that it would be a dream being my own boss, creating my own goals, working on my own hours; but after hearing the Sauder Alumni come in and speak to us my mind has definitely been made. I have come to a conclusion that I would dislike entrepreneurship. Why? Well for starters, one thing I value greatly is stability. Hearing all these stories on how Jennifer Martin, Paul Gill, and Paul Davidescu scraped together enough money to start-up their companies only to hit wall after wall has really showed me that entrepreneurship has absolutely no stable assurance; one second your company may be booming, the next crashing. Now not to be misunderstood, I truly admire the amount of perseverance and determination that these exceptional people have put into their companies. I am just saying that this type of moil is not one which I will find passion in like they have. Another reason why I do not think entrepreneurship is right for me is that I feel I am not creative enough for this line of work. Unlike successful entrepreneurs, I fail to see the finished product before it is produced. I feel that I don’t have the necessary intuition that leads companies to advancement. Having the alumni come in and talk to our class was a genuinely eye-opening experience for me which has helped me advance one step closer to knowing what I want my future career to look like.

sources:

https://www.google.ca/search?q=entrepreneurship&client=firefox-a&hs=RNk&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=fflb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=lSVfVOCJLMH0iAL__IGAAw&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=696#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=GFsm9dTb-WISFM%253A%3BHtALuvPZRI2jPM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252F3.bp.blogspot.com%252F-QWzZ_unLU8M%252FU02hpmlu5bI%252FAAAAAAAAA40%252Ff6OXW4lgwfU%252Fs1600%252F%252523entrepreneurfail%252BEarly%252BSigns%252Bof%252BEntrepreneurship.png%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.entrepreneurfail.com%252F2014%252F04%252Fteachkidsentrepreneurshiptraits.html%3B1024%3B768

I have never been the type to do much online shopping. However, I usually like to do some research on the product I’m buying before I do so. Recently, I have become very absorbed on purchasing new boots and have been doing some browsing online. Now this all ties into Daphne’s article “TMI.” Her article talks about the many ways she protects her privacy as much as possible, one way being installing ad-blocker on all her social media sites, which was when I came to a scary realization. As mentioned before, I have been doing copious amounts of online browsing on shoe sites. For the past week or two every ad that I have come across while scrolling through Facebook, YouTube, and even Thesaurus.com have all been from sites that I have recently browsed through. These ads are so specifically targeted to me that they even have the exact shoe I want plastered all over my laptop screen. My point is not how these advertising tactics are highly effective (which believe me, they are), but how I find it disturbing that companies have the ability to track my every move on their sites and then target me on personal social media sites like Facebook and YouTube. I have always been aware of the insecurities that come along with being online, though it never hit me until now.

sources:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/daphnetse/2014/09/25/tmi/

https://www.google.ca/search?q=online+stalking&client=firefox-a&hs=IWl&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=fflb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=3vBXVLXkFMa0oQTql4LgDQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=696#rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=fflb&tbm=isch&q=audience+targeting+ads&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=jhBDpW3RvBQdcM%253A%3BkDzk_myiujCjUM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fdmdejavu.files.wordpress.com%252F2012%252F07%252Faudience-targeting-dreamstime_s_9711375.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fdmdejavu.wordpress.com%252F%3B800%3B636