Thursday, November 29, 2007

Free STYLE

This week we have another free topic to choose for our blog.
I think my positive experience in this class this semester is a worthy topic. At the beginning of the course, I thought the class was going to be overwhelming with all the deadlines for projects. However, throughout the semester I was able to keep up with the projects for both my individual work and group work. Angie definitely made the class run smoothly and always had a positive attitude about any of the assignments. When a professor is approachable and easy going then that makes the class so much more enjoyable. I appreciate all the feedback and effort she put into each student. I also enjoyed coming to class everyday to talk to my group members. We were able to work together, get our work finished, and laughed through it all. I will definitely recommend this class and my professor to anyone!

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Personalities for a Particular Job

The article mentioned several approaches of hiring employers depending on their personalities. Some of the ways sounded grueling but other ways did not sound so bad. I think the worst process for an employee was the process to get hired by Lindblad Expeditions. I understand that the people who work on the cruise company need to treat the customers well and have the best customer service, but the DVD sounds very intense. However, it does sound like a good idea to show the people applying for the job what they should expect so that they are not mislead. I think the neatest approach was done by the KaBoom company. The company makes products for children, and therefore, the people who work their need to be easy going and creative. A company like KaBoom does not want someone that is very formal and who can not relate to children. I think KaBoom would be an interesting place to check out, and it would be fun to see how they create the children's playgrounds. I think I would probably fit in a place that has a more easy going atmosphere rather than a more formal atmosphere.

Monday, November 5, 2007

The Advertising Business

I was reading the Shape and I found several advertisements that captured my attention.
The first article is an advertisement for Wheat Thins. The company directs the attention to women in efforts of promoting its snack. In the advertisement, A women is smiling looking off in the distance with several wheat thins in her hands, and the caption of the ad says
"A girl's gotta
dream
share
have a taste
defy
eat"
In addition at the bottom of the page, it says "Wheat Thins. The thin little crackers that are big on taste."
In the Dual Coding theory, it describes how the most effective system to use is both language and pictures. I feel that the magazine article is appealing to the eye, however it is nothing special. It does not really make me want to run to the store at this moment and buy some Wheat Thins.

As I continued to skim through the magazine, I found an advertisement for REI. It had an interesting approach to capture the readers. They directed their attention in this advertisement for both males and females. The backdrop is a beautiful nature scene with white capped mountains with greenery surrounding them, and also it includes a male and female running on a dirt path up the one of the mountains. The words on the page are descriptive and give an alternative outlet in place of a couple of minutes of speed dating. The slogan for REI is "Out is in." I think this is an effective ad that captures the audience's attention. As a reader of Shape, the companies want to attract people that love the outdoors and would like to adventure. I believe this advertisement adapts the Dual Coding Theory to the product that is being sold (which in this case is the actual REI company) more effectively than the previous ad for Wheat Thins.

Friday, November 2, 2007

Group Members

My group has been wonderful. We have worked well together and have completed all of the tasks smoothly up to this point. We only had communication problems once, and it was not a really big deal. I had volleyball practice in the evening and my group was going to meet right after it. The problem was that I had to get to the library at 7 but my practice at Fike got over at 7 . I figured that if I was a little late it would cause too much of a problem, but when I got there I couldn't find my group. I emailed everyone and apologized. Joel had computer issues and the rest of the group did not actually have the meeting when they saw I was not there. It was the day before the proposal was due, and luckily we were pretty much finished except for the conclusion. The next day in class we finished our conclusion and submitted our proposal. In the future, I am sure we will work a little better to communicate and fortunately this time it was not too important. I do not believe any other problems will occur in the future.
JenniGray, Joel, and Justin are all easygoing, but at the same time hardworking and determined. As a group we have a good time and laugh a lot while getting our work done. They have been wonderful group members, and I think it has been a great experience. I look forward to working with them for the rest of the semester.