Mission: Project Completion

Now that our project is nearing completion, it is time to reflect on the past few months. Technology has been very beneficial to the completion of our project. It has been helpful in numerous ways, including communication and finishing the project. Our group has used BlackBoard to communicate with each other, and also post all of the minutes and work we did. It is nice to be able to post all the stuff on BlackBoard and save it instead of sending it to everyone and having them save it on their own computer. It saves time, space, and the members of the group can easily find any thing that they need by simply logging on to BlackBoard.

We used email to make sure every one in the group knew what sections of the project they were responsible, as a reminder. Most of the meetings had every member there, and so emails would be sent out to remind these members what section they were responsible for, and to also let the members who weren't there know what we did and what part they are responsible for. Also, we used email to organize meetings. This was very beneficial for our group, because we needed to make a time for a meeting, and by sending out an email we could easily figure out a good time to get together.

Our group never participated in virtual meetings. We thought the best way to meet would be to meet in person. That way, we all can get our views in and agree upon a way to accomplish our project. Also, not every person has virtual meeting capability, so it was just easier for everyone to meet in person.

I really enjoyed working with everyone in my group. We were able to get along right from the start, and everyone respected everyone, which, I believe, is one of the most important factors when forming a group. I believe our proposal, presentation, and actual project (website) have turned out really, really well, and can't wait to see Jennifer's reaction to our final project.

Ethical Lapse is Synonym for BAD

After listening and reading the description of the car for the Nazis, I am so surprised that someone would write something like that and seem indifferent. Also, with the Ford fiasco, I can't believe how they would settle for the cheaper solution to save their car sales. It seems like companies will do whatever it takes to make sure that they make the most money that they can, regardless of what problems may ensue. I really think that someone has to have some feelings toward what they are doing, and especially feel something when they know that their proposal is going to affect so many lives. These people that were involved with these proposals must not feel much; all they "feel" is how much money they can make. This might be a reason why the "Big Three" automakers in Detroit are struggling right now. Since they make such cheap cars, with all intentions to make as much money as they can, people are finally starting to realize this, and the companies are losing tons and tons of money. If the companies went more in to pleasing the customer and not just pleasing themselves, the companies could not be in the situation that they are right now. "Greed is the root of all evil (problems)." The whole banking problem has also ticked me off, and I'm glad our government is doing something about it. These people have gone unchecked for too long, and all that greed is coming back to bite them.

I believe my ethical principles are very good. I do not want to hurt people, regardless if it hurts me or not. Sometimes, you have to sacrifice for the greater good. Of course, I want to make a lot of money just like any one else, but I want to do it as ethically as possible. If that means losing money to make sure my product is top notch, then I will lose money. I believe that it is better to spend a little more on customers to make sure that they come back for more; not making the most money I can with no care for the customers. Customers are the reason why companies exist and flourish; without them, companies wouldn't be around competing for their business. So to me, I will always try to please the customer, no matter what sacrifices I have to make. If I have to make so many sacrifices that I will "go under", then I don't deserve to be in business. A company that is always having to fix their screw-ups should not be operating.

I just wish that everyone could think similar to the way that I do, and not let money rule their lives. Maybe, one day it will be like that...

Poor Communication

I have held a few jobs in my lifetime, and although I have had a job since my freshman year in high school, I have had very few miscommunications in the work place. One of my jobs was as a neighborhood lawn mower, so miscommunication never occurred since I was the only one in my business. I always tried to make sure that the customer knew when I was going to mow/when they needed to pay. Only on a couple occasions was a person gone when I mowed their lawn, so I would have to prove to them that I had done it while they were away. Otherwise, no miscommunication occurred.

While at my job at Firehouse Subs, the only miscommunication that occurred was with customer orders. Although we were told to make a specific sandwich, sometimes the cashier would ring up the wrong sub and we would have to make an entirely new sub for the person. This miscommunication was very costly to the restaurant, especially during peak operating hours (mostly lunch time on weekdays). We would have to put that sandwich ahead of every one else's, causing a back up on tickets, and sometimes, causing people to leave because the line was long. The customer might receive a negative image about Firehouse Subs, but we would try to fix it with bringing the correct sandwich out quickly, and sometimes we would offer something for free to make up for the mistake. This miscommunication could have been prevented by the cashier taking his/her time to make sure the order was correct. By repeating the customers order, the customer could make sure that it was all correct before any mistakes were made, saving the customer time and hassle, and saving us from having to make extra subs.

Although this happened, it did not happen as often as someone would think, especially during the hectic times. I believe communication in Firehouse Subs was handled very well, and everyone within the business made sure everything was communicated properly and clearly. If anything was ever misunderstood, someone would clarify the situation and make sure the person would have the correct knowledge for future use.

I have been fortunate enough to not have to deal too much with miscommunication. I do believe, however, that if I was involved in miscommunication I would be able to deal with the problem very well, based on my experience with my lawn mowing business and Firehouse Subs. I know what it takes to solve the problems, and what customers expect, since I am also a customer and have been in their shoes.

Online Portfolios??

Out of the final few presentations we had last week, I really liked Jeremy's the best. All of the presentations were good, but I really liked Jeremy's topic. I have been considering a tattoo for a while now, but I'm not sure as to what to get. His tips definitely helped out a lot. I never even thought about keeping my career intentions in mind when getting a tattoo, so that tip was definitely helpful. I also like how he said to make sure the tattoo has a meaning behind it. This is what has been holding me back. I'm not sure what to get, or if my parents will approve first. My brother got one a couple of years ago or so now, so that definitely had a little influence on me wanting to get one. I'll have to figure out something that I want and then use Jeremy's tips before I get it.

As for the online portfolios, the only thing that I think would be similar is the LRO (Learning Record Online) that I did in English 103 freshman year. I don't think it was a true online portfolio since I was just posting everything on to Blackboard, but I'm guessing it is somewhat similar, with posting everything that I have worked on this semester in one place. Although that was fairly recent, I would need to be refreshed on how to do everything, but I don't think it would be too difficult. When I did the LRO, it wasn't a bad experience, since I wrote everything for class and then just posted it on to Blackboard. I guess I will just need to be told what to do and how to do it. I don't think it will be too difficult to figure out; I will just need to make sure that I understand everything and I will need to make sure that I post everything correctly. I am looking forward to it.

A Few of My Favorite Things (Presentations)

Up to this point, I have seen a lot of good presentations in our class. A lot of them stuck out to me, and really appealed to me by providing humor or talking about something I thought was really funny. I'm not trying to take anything away from the other presentations, but the ones that were funny really stuck out to me a lot more. The others were interesting and informative, but just not as good as the ones that made me laugh.
One of my favorite ones was about how to survive in a large family. I thought that Kelly did a great job of talking about how the normal rules don't apply in large families. She made the presentation very funny which helped everyone pay attention and stay interested. I thought the driving tips were hilarious, especially how no seat is safe, no matter what.
Another one of my favorites was the top five worst pick up lines. I always get a kick out of the really corny pick up lines that I hear. It's fun to also make up some. When my friends and I make them up, we know how corny they really are and how they would never work. We know that girls are not going to go for terrible pick up lines, but it is still fun to make them up and produce a laugh.
The final presentation that I thought was pretty funny was the Bud Light Real Men of Genius commercials. Every time I heard these commercials on the radio I always laughed. I used to download and find the latest commercials, but I have lost them. I really enjoy all of those commercials; they were effective and made you think of Bud Light as soon as you heard the drums at the beginning. All of those commercials were funny in the presentation, and I could not stop laughing.
All of the presentations that we saw were very good and effective. All were very informative and interesting, and I enjoyed them all. I just preferred the hilarious ones more because that's the kind of person that I am, as everyone could see from the presentation that I gave on the funny commercials of the Super Bowl. The presentations were all very professional and kept everyone interested, proving that all of the presenters were effective.

What's Under the Covers?

After reading about cover letters on that site, I believe some of what they say is true, but some is not. I think the fact that they state the cover letters are the second thing read, after the resume, is not true. Everything that I have heard involves the cover letter being read first, and then if that is good enough, they will move on to the resume. Basically, you have to impress them with your writing to have them look at your resume. I also think that the cover letter should talk about the company, but should also talk about how the applicant fits in to the company. Just talking about the company won't set you apart from other applicants. The people that are reading the cover letters already know about the company, so they want to see what you say that sticks out from others.
I think the format is very similar to what I have been taught, so I agree with that section. I think the adding of the P.S. section is a little silly and unprofessional. I think that if you are trying to market yourself to the company, you should do so within the main points of the cover letter. Show them why you are good for this company and why you stick out from the others. I also do agree that you need to personalize each cover letter, and not send out mass cover letters. If you don't personalize the cover letters for each company, then the company will just throw your cover letter out.
I think the most helpful sections of the site was the format section, the sample cover letter, and the checklist. That way, anyone can compare their cover letter to their sample, and then check off to make sure they have the correct format and check to make sure everything is included in the cover letter that they should include.
Although most of this information is useful, I have heard most of it (except for the stuff I didn't agree with earlier). I have written a few cover letters for various internship applications. I think that this information is helpful, but some of the information is not correct. I would suggest someone going to an actual professional person, or someone at the Michelin Career Center. They have a great background in writing resumes and cover letters and can help you out tremendously. You can't trust everything on the Internet!

Healthy Campus

After hearing our client talk about what she wants to see happen, I think it should be somewhat easy to accomplish. Mostly, we just need to get the projects name out there and inform the student population about it. As of now, I don't really have too many ideas about for the project. This past week has been absolutely hectic for me: 4 tests in 3 days and a paper due on another day. And this coming week I have another test, so it has never let down.

From the free-write that we had on Wednesday, you noticed that I am not really for this whole healthy-campus initiative. I feel like we should be trying to implement other things that are more important to the success of the campus, especially with the economic situation we find our university in. I don't think that Clemson University should be worrying so much about the healthiness of our student population. I think that should be up to someone's own views. I am all for people being healthy and making good choices about what/what not to eat, but I don't think it's the role a university should take.

I think our group is getting along very well and will be able to come up with some good ideas. The only thing I see as a potential problem is that we have a lot of members (7 total), and being able to get a time when everyone can get together will be a little bit of a challenge. Otherwise, I see this going fairly well.

As of now, I do not have any questions regarding our project.