Business Leading Into a Great Experience

It has been a long year but it was a great opportunity and great experience. I had the opportunity to work with two down to earth women who were sometimes not what I expected but in the end it was all worth it. Their project when I first started I thought was going to be simple and only take a couple of weeks but it ended up taking over six months till it was finally finished. I basically had to start at the bottom toreach where they wanted to be. They had no idea where to start or what they wanted their brand identity to be which is where I came. I kept giving them options of different logos and titles to call their business and each week there was always a small thing wrong, not enough color, too much color, not catchy enough, don't make it sound like aging. I had to stay professional and just say okay and keep fixing it till it was exactly what they wanted.

After giving them some of my final options they really liked moving forward as their title. It didn't scream old, aging, or transitional moving. I just needed to find the right graphics to go along with it. When I thought of moving forward I think future and moving to something better than for almost like something is growing up to something great. I thought of trees, a tree starts out small and not fully developed yet but turns into something fully bloomed and gorgeous to see. When I had showed them this idea they loved it they got the concept and loved the idea. They loved how the colors went so well with each other and they were satisfied. The past six months was worth it because I finally got a real taste of what is to work with someone and realize want it takes and how long it takes to work with someone till they are fully satisfied. I enjoyed working with these two women and wish them the best of luck in how far this project takes them and I couldn't have been happier to work with them.

New York City

Going to new york city again was amazing ! I've been to the city in the past numerous of times and I love every second I am there. It is like a second home to me. I love the atmosphere and scenery and the fact there is always something to do or see. For this trip it was junior and senior and imdd that went along. Thursday-Sunday we were filled with all different activities. Thursday after a seven hour long bus ride we had finally made it into the city. Our first stop was time square. Time Square is my favorite place in New York City. It's huge and there is literally everything there. All different kinds of people, stores, giant billboards, people dressed up in costumes. Time square is the place to be. I love going up the big steps and looking at the tower where the ball drops every new years. It is always so lively and never quiet there is just so much to see and do.

Being in New York this time I actually learned and saw a lot and it really put an impact on what I want to do when I grow up. Visiting a marketing firm JWT the advertising for the department store Macy's really impacted my thoughts. I loved every second of being there and listening to Sara talk about her job and how much she loved it and the city. She started just like any other DECA student graduated and went to college but now she works for Macy's and with different celebrities creating great pitches and advertisements to get people to Macy's. I loved her and her job I wanted everything she had she was very happy with where she was in her life and I learned a lot from her. It really put some thought into what I could do in my life and where I want to be someday.

One thing that really touched me I think was having the opportunity to visit ground zero. I know 9/11 was a very terrible day and I thought the memorial was going to be heartbreaking and tough to go through. Visiting the church right across from ground zero and hearing the story about how when the towers had fell not one single thing was destroyed from that church. Walking into it and seeing the letters and writings from kids and others really touched my heart and almost brought me back to tears when I read them. I thought walking into this memorial was going to be hard but it surprised me was I actually really loved it. It was gorgeous the two big squares with the water falling endlessly to represent the tears and each individuals name carved into the stone. Being there I never felt exactly sad I felt just relief and so at ease that each person who had died didn't want this memorial to be sad but for people to feel at ease and I felt that. I felt I could have stayed there my entire day and relaxed. I love every second of it.

New York City is second home to me I know I have been there so many times it never gets old or phases to amaze because there is so much to see no matter how long your there and so much to do it is truly a great place to visit and one of my favorites.

One Stop Prom Shop

It finally happened ! After all the drama and stress the one stop prom shop finally happened and it turned out to be very successful! After the great turn out during the assembly and the impact it had on everyone it got more people to the event. The set up for this year was a lot different than last but, it still looked pretty amazing. I think since this year one stop had to be better than last more people came especially for the grand prize of winning a free prom !

During One Stop Prom Shop I was one of the models for the fashion show for American Commodore dresses and it was so much fun! Everyone looked beautiful and everyone had a great time. I loved American Commodore the lady who was in charge of the dresses and helping the fashion show look great made me want to buy a dress from American Commodore. There were over 57 booths there for all kind of needs: tuxes, food, restaurants, hair and nail salons, photography, and limos and a lot more giving out information coupons and having their own little mini raffles for people.

Overall, a lot of vendors seemed excited and happy with the turn out of how the event went and some said it was the best trade show they have ever done and been to. I can't say the exact number of how many people came or the amount of tickets we sold for the raffles but we had a great turn out and I feel it helped people with some of there prom needs. I can honestly say it was a lot of fun and I won a $500 raffle and it makes me more excited for prom especially since it is my last year and I can't even wait.

Here are links for One Stop Prom Shop Recap Check it out!


One Stop Prom Shop website - www.1stoppromshop.com
Follow us on Facebook - www.facebook.com/1stoppromshop
Twitter and Instagram @ 1stoppromshop
YouTube channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/OneStopPromShop?feature=watch

Click on the links below for media coverage of The One Stop Prom Shop
Cuyahoga Falls News Press - Sunday February 24, 2013 http://www.fallsnewspress.com/education/2013/02/24/one-stop-prom-shop-planned-for-march-3#.UTYGQItCZ04.email

Akron Beacon Journal Article - Tuesday March 3, 2013
http://www.ohio.com/news/local/jewell-cardwell-students-partner-with-businesses-to-do-the-prom-hustle-1.378160

Fox 8 News - Sunday March 3 2013 (this also appeared on the 3/3/13 at 10:00 pm
http://fox8.com/2013/03/03/students-create-one-stop-prom-shop/

Cuyahoga Falls Patch
http://cuyahogafalls.patch.com/events/one-stop-prom-shop-f19d351d

Harlem Shake

The Harlem Shake was a dance originated back in the 80s it was brought back by a rapper in one of his videos. It was where one person is just going crazy in a room full of as many people and they're just dancing while everyone else is being serious. Once the beat drops the room goes crazy and everyone is dancing to the song doing whatever.

Coming to class on tuesday one of us had saw this video and had mentioned the idea of trying to get all of us to do this to promote the one stop prom shop. Everyone seemed to love the idea and it sounded fun. We had planned everything out that wednesday who was going to be the one singled out in the beginning doing the dance, and what everyone else would be wearing or doing once the beat dropped and everyone was going crazy. We had shot it that thursday and it ended up turning out to be very successful and fun.

It was just released yesterday on youtube and we are already up to 898 youtube views and currently being favorited on facebook and twitter. Overall, it was just another way to promote the one stop prom shop through social media and catch more peoples attention. It was very fun and I enjoyed every minute of it. Check us out!

OSPS

One Stop Prom Shop has become one hell of a journey for interactive media and Deca class. We have all become one big family in order to make this huge event better than the year before. One Stop Prom Shop featured on March 3rd, at the Natatorium in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio is truly a great event for people looking advice on making their prom one of the greatest nights. One Stop Prom Shop has become an icon for some of its huge features such as the morph suits , fashion show, the raffles , and all the great prizes. This event has helped people find the place for the perfect dress or tux, wear to get hair and nails  done, the best place to eat or where to find the best flowers. Every prom need is right here at the One Stop Prom Shop.

But back to how this all even got started. At first Deca had came to imdd asking for help on what we didn't think could end up taking all of us Junior and Senior Deca and Imdd. Imdd thought we were just helping planning the assembly to promote people to go not turning it into a huge deal. However, it did we began to realize we were getting into more than what we expected. Those who chose to be a morph and perform a dance begin to become more irritated and tired of the same routine practice every day no matter how much our teacher kept pushing them and telling them it is going to be great and only a few more weeks left. Everyone was just waiting for this be done and over with because of how much it has taken and the pressure it has put on our classes especially the juniors since they have had to build this whole event up from the very bottom. Along with the morph suit dance there was a video , a game show and also all the audience involvement  we had to present to get more people to come to the One Stop Prom Shop.

Overall, even though it has taken up a lot of our class it is going to turn out to be something great and better than the year before. It is really coming along and there is so much more. We have become one big family and work hard to make this really successful. I know after it is all over we're not going to have much to do but we'll be able to share the memories we created to share because of this great event !

Business Project

In Imdd we had to not only learn about what to expect when working with businesses but literally find a business to work with. I happened to find a lovely business which sounded to be fun to work for. I am working with two wonderful women who are partners working for a company involving transitional moving. Transitional moving is helping older adults, retired, stay at home parents prepare for their next step in life when they are being moved to a smaller peaceful location. When I first began working on this project I had no idea what I was getting into. I did not know what transitional moving was, or what exactly I was getting myself into. I did not know how big this project would get. I could not turn this project down it was worth the experience. The women I was working with were extremely nice and very understanding but at times it got difficult to know what exactly they wanted.

First, they wanted to create an image, a title for themselves but without stating what they were doing. They did not want their identity to sound like they were old, aging, transitioning, they did not want it to sound like a depressing mistake people were getting themselves into. I came up with three different options to look at. I created the titles of "Moving Forward, "A Living Journey", "Peace of Mind" each with slogan related to their names. I wanted to make it stand out but still relate to the point of what they are doing. I also made flyers to go with each logo I created to give them an idea for what it could possibly look like if they wanted to go in the route of a certain logo. Overall, I still am working with them and I think this is a great opportunity to take advantage of and I am looking forward to see how big this project is going to get.

One Stop Prom Shop

The one stop prom shop is a huge public event welcome to anyone with prom needs. It made its first debut last year and became a huge success. So many vendors and sponsors representing their companies trying to gain people's interest for more information. This event included raffles, a fashion show, pep assembly and more just to get people to love this event. My favorite would have to be the event. It was my first year of going to prom and I did not know where to get a dress, flowers or even where to go to eat. The one stop prom stop helped me I won a few raffles and gain some interesting deals that could help me.

For this year we have decided to do this event again since it became a huge success. Although, we wanted to make it bigger an better than before. For our job in IMDD we were welcomed to help. We had to plan the pep assembly to try an make sure people would go to this event. Our class broke up into different teams based on what we wanted to have in the assembly. There was the video team who were going to try and create a stop animation video to promote the event, the "morphs" who are a symbolic icon to the event, the game show team, and the audience involvement who coordinate mainly the whole event. I had chose the audience involvement team because I like to coordinate things and it sounded fun to come up with ways to get the audience involved.

For audience involvement we came up with ways to get people more involved. Some of our ideas included confetti, balloons, raffles, t-shirts and more. We were basically the ones who plan what's going to happen during the whole thing. Also, what people were going to get, how they were going to get it. It is a challenge but it is a challenged I'm ready to face I am determined to make sure this assembly is better than the year before.

Yearbook Design

Creating an option for the yearbook design was probably one project I struggled with. I think I struggled with this project because it is the design over 1,000 students may see. I am not saying I want my designs to be chosen but I did put a lot of effort into creating these designs. For my first design I thought mainly trying to stick to black and gold. I tried to recreate what our parking lot sort of looks like with gravel and paw prints with student names or companies written in it. However, when I got critiqued on my first design it was rough but I knew I had to make my second design better. The yearbook staff doesn't go for paw prints or our typical black and gold logo look. For my second design I tried to focus on our mascot a tiger. Although, not a picture of a clip art tiger but an actual tiger. I really liked the affect of having a black and white tiger but bringing out the gold in his eyes and words. I played with filters until I got a cool design for his face and created a shadow effect to make it look as if his face was descending in the background. The yearbook staff has chose the quote "every ending is a new beginning' so with the shadow of the tigers face kind of incorporates with the meaning of the quote. The ending is just the start of a new beginning. Even though I struggled with this project I did enjoy it and I am satisfied with my second design.

Black Friday Madness

Every year I look forward to one of my holidays which is Thanksgiving. I get to be reunited with my family have fun, laugh, and eat delicious foods. Although, I look forward to what  I consider my holiday Black Friday. Black Friday is usually my day I get so excited to see all the new things on sale I just have that thrill of the moment. Just the excitement of when that clock hits that time and all chaos breaks loose I just love every second. This year I am looking forward to black Friday very much because I finally have my own money to spend! I can go an be one of those crazy people waiting till midnight to get those great deals. After stuffing myself with great food I am taking a quick power nap and heading out. Some of the places that really got me to want to shop there is Victoria's Secret, Radioshack, Bath and Body Works, and some of my favorite clothing stores. Radioshack they have a phone I really want free for a new plan and I have been waiting all year till the price got lower so I could get it. With Victoria's Secret and Bath and Body Works they have offered the same sort of deal spend a certain amount of money and get a free bag full of stuff which is one of my favorites I look forward to every year.

Black Friday was giving this name because most retail companies are usually in the red zones they have spent more money on things than what they originally have. When Black Friday approaches it is the day when the company finally starts to make a profit again all the way through the holiday season. With more and more people willing to buy the companies profits are going to rise up. I think black friday is the day I see more people willing to buy and in a store than any other day. Everyone is trying to get the best deals at the best prices they offer.

In this article it talks about how last year Black Friday played out. In the article there was a comparison between 2011 and 2010 there had been more of an increase in sales through the use of mobile. When you look at it today more and more companies are looking for ways to not only get the best deals in store but also online because of how much more people use technology especially through their phones.   Companies are looking for ways to take their black friday deals mobile. Another way is through the "couch commerce" some people do not want to go to out and wait in the ridiculous lines for certain products. They want the same kind of products and deals featured online so they do not have to be out waiting somewhere. If more is featured online then online sales are more likely to increase this year. Also is the way of marketing a certain stores deals for Black Friday. People want to have a good experience and I think that is very important. If a store is going to have all these great products they should back it up with a good promotion. A company should look at their audience and find the best solutions to find a good way to promote their deals. 

Business Letter

For our next project we had create our own professional business letters. These letters are trying to attract other businesses and companies to try and buy our design services. This letter is the one I created and I  am hoping that it is successful in getting businesses to buy my designs. When I made this letter I used my brand identity logo that I created to use as my letterhead. It gives a little preview of what my design skills are. Throughout, the letter I talk about what Imdd is and what this class can do for businesses. With these business I had to create a prospect list with ten different businesses that I would like to send my letter to who might seem interested in buying our services. Eventually, these letters will get to sent to those businesses and I will wait hopefully get some positive feedback from them. I thought it was something new to learn about how to write a professional business letter. I learned what is right and wrong and what is needed and what is not. All I am hoping for is that I get lucky and a great opportunity to work with a real company or business. 

My Business Logo

For my next project which seemed to be the most important was creating our business logos. Some had easier times than others. However, I was one of those who struggled. It was almost like I had writers block but instead a creative block. When I created my partners logo hers was so much more simpler. I knew what she liked and wanted and I did my best. In the end I came up with a very good logo for her focusing on her favorite colors greens and blues. When it came to mine I could not think of anything that I knew would make a good logo. This logo was going to be what I would have to attract companies to want me to be their design service for them. Although, I did finally come up with something that did make a good logo. I love the color purple and I wanted that in my logo no matter what. Also, swirls and fancy fonts so I tried to combine that all into one. I played with shapes and fonts and I finally came up with something that looked pretty appealing. Now that I have created my logo I don't know if it is permanent or is going to change in the near future. All I can do is hope that when I send out my designs someone will be interested and want my design services for my business.

Thank You!

One of our design based projects was making a thank you card. It took me about maybe an half and hour to make this but it was not the easiest. I took just a basic white background adding little shades of blue and then I found these images of swirls and put them on the side of the card and played around with them till I could get the colors to match an make the card look good. The quote I found by JFK really interested me because it is something that is very true and relatable to anyone. Overall I am glad how my thank you card turned out.

Aren't Carrots Just Carrots?

Reading this article "How Carrots Became the New Junk Food" about how carrots are trying to become a new popular thing people remember interested me. I mean I thought carrots were just carrots, you buy them they sit in your fridge forever and then they get bad and you throw them out. They were just this orange crunchy vegetable you would put in your salads, soups, side dishes, etc, nothing special. It was the vegetable parents would get their kids to believe it would make your vision stay good. However, reading this article I was definitely proven wrong carrots are not just ordinary carrots they are more than that. I knew about the company bolthouse because they are our usual  carriers of carrots we provide at Kriegers. People would buy them along with their other usual fruits and vegetables and I thought they were just a common thing. I didn't know until I read this article what  was really going on. Bolthouse was making no money their sales were decreasing not increasing and they were just looking for an opportunity to get their sales back up.

The CEO of Bolthouse Jeff Dunn was looking for new ways to get Bolthouse carrots known a new marketing strategy for them. He surveyed people and asked their opinions about carrots and they all kind of just said the same thing. They are just carrots, they still eat carrots like any other time nothing special. Dunn went to even agencies for their opinions and one recommended contacting their rival Crispin's Porter + Bogusky. Dunn thought they did not have the resources to have them as help but he gave it a shot. Dunn had flew out to meet Crispin and discuss what could be done. Dunn was joking about how baby carrots could be the new junk food, but Crispin had put his foot down and said he baby carrots are the new junk food. Crispin wanted to make it more fun and not something that sits in your fridge till it rots. So he took the idea from a bag of potato chips like Doritos. Making it fun and attractive for kids and people to eat like it was a bag of chips. They installed a few of these babies in a few high school vending machines and sales were increasing greatly. It wasn't cool ranch doritos or a bag of lays but it was baby carrots "eat em like junk food" new snack.

For this to take place the branding and packaging of carrots was very important. To get sales up no one is going to find a simple bag of carrots attractive enough to buy. In this article when they were considering making carrots the new junk food they had to think of how they would do it. They took and idea of a potato chip bag making the graphics bright, cool, and eye-catching to the public. Also, very similar to the texture of a potato chip bag so more people are likely to see it and try it out.

My opinion is I think it is a cool idea. I enjoy carrots but I don't buy them always but if I saw a bag of baby carrots like in this article in our vending machines I wouldn't hesitate to try. I feel like this is going to target kids of all ages to have them because of the way it is now shown to the public. Carrots are no longer boring carrots but they are something fun and very healthy snack to eat.

Check out this article yourself !
http://www.fastcompany.com/1739774/how-carrots-became-new-junk-food

A Sponsorship....worth it at all anymore?

The Olympics has been a huge international world event for a very long time but, besides the athletes being the big show an stars, but also the brands sponsoring them for this huge world event. However, the technology created now Smartphones, Netbooks, Tablets, etc is it even worth the time to have a sponsorship for something? New technology has created a new world for brands to sponsored whether it's just from a simple video or photo to this new social media world created.

In this article "Brands Winning Big at London Olympics" some of the things I read really caught my attention about how strict a Sponsorship has become to be and stay recognized. Being in the Olympics is one thing but to have your own brand be recognized can be a huge deal for a company. Certain amount of brands an endorsements can be in the Olympics and they don't want another brand to over power them right? But social media has caused that to be a bigger issue and the rules to become more strict. Where nowadays it has become so easy for unofficial brands to get recognized in a huge event with one finger. The rules have come to the point of not being able to take photos and videos and uploading them to the certain size of your camera! Is it even worth the time to have a sponsorship anymore?

It's almost like Brands have their own competition; a fight to see who can make it into the Olympics. The Olympics is like the "Holy Grail" especially for brands. Almost everyone sees the Olympics so why not be the perfect place to have a sponsorship for something? It creates that halo effect if someone sees one of their favorite athletes sporting Nike or Adidas it makes them want to go out an get the same because they saw it on the Olympics.

How clever really is a brand? If a sponsorship being worth the time anymore becoming a question in the industry the brand equity should be an important factor for any brand. Making sure from just a logo, slogan, picture that brand name is known always. Some examples could be "All day I dream about sports" Adidas, or just Nike's swoosh sign or their clever slogan's like "Just do it!" Nike I believe is more clever though on getting their brand name known well. Getting through the online restrictions Nike had came up with a clever slogan "Make it Count" never once referring to the Olympic games. It could be inferred its about the games but it could also be inferred on just going for what you want and doing your best at it which allows this slogan to balance out being somewhat a sponsor for the Olympic games but also just another typical Nike campaign.

In my opinion Olympic sponsors should have strict laws but to some point. As time goes forward newer and bigger things are going to come a long. People have the technology to get what they want out too and it could either hurt or help a sponsorship. Who's to say that going to a world event someone shouldn't be allowed to take a video or a picture while cheering their favorite athlete on? Or just some of the nice features they see being at the Olympics venue? I think a sponsorship should look at what we have today and what people can do and include them not exclude them.

How it all begins...

How did I start blogging, how did I get into this? where does it begin? As a current high school student enrolled in the program Interactive Media and Digital Design I take you through the epic journey of what this class is about. Whether it's from designing such a simple thing, to working for companies, or just learning ways to be successful in the marketing world one day. This class is not just about business and marketing but also looking at from the perspective of design too. This class brings out the inner artistic and business oriented in all of us. Some of us may be better at design or graphics, while some of us are just better at a business perspective but, we come together to create something great. Going into this class there were some worries, shyness, quietness, but eventually we all began to open up the more the days went by, being in this class. We find out some of the neat things we do and having our first clients from the senior DECA marketing class. I know that i've only been in this class for about five weeks but I believe that this year I am going to learn a lot that is going to help me in my future. I am very excited to see what this year is going to bring, the closer I get with the people in my class, and all the clients and businesses i'll get to see.