Sunday, November 24, 2013

Social Media Final Presentation

With the end of the semester upon us, I thought it would be a good idea to reflect on my idea for the final presentation that we are doing on our own. First of all, I really like the idea of being able to do a voice over presentation. I believe that there is a good amount of emphasis placed on presenting in person in the CBA. Almost every class requires it to some degree, whether its a big or small subject. However, in business, many presentations are given remotely or using video software. As globalization continues, companies have partners all across the globe and this means the increasingly there is the need to present to these oversees partners. I believe the voice-over Prezi is a great way for us to experience a way in which we might work with distant clients. This is something that we don't get a lot of practice in doing during any other class and I believe it will be extremely beneficial.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

The Value of LinkedIn

As we continue to work on the CMMA project, my piece of which focuses on their use of LinkedIn, I continue to wonder more things about the value of LinkedIn. As a college student, I was introduced to LinkedIn during my time in the CBA. However, I have yet to see it used. Only a few places have I been online where you can actually apply to a job with you LinkedIn profile. And, of those few places, most of them are high-tech companies that are more innovative. So, I wonder what this translates to. Does this mean that other companies will follow suit, as technology companies are often leaders in the market? Or are alternatives such as HRIS systems valid for 'automating' the hiring process? Who knows. However, where I think the value lies is connecting and advertising. Companies may not want to go through the trouble of integrating LinkedIn into their HRIS, but they could easily utilize it to contact possible employees. This is the direction we are looking to recommend for the CMMA.

Real Life Examples: Social Media Let Down

Today, while at my job as an IT Tech, I was researching some new technologies for software update implementation across various platforms of OS X, the Apple operating system. In doing so, I stumbled across a video that was put on by Greg Nealge, the Sr. Systems Administrator for Disney Animation. This video was of a presentation that he put on at a MacSysAdmin conference talking about software installation and updating automatically. However, that isn't what I wanted to highlight about it. At the beginning he talks about ways to stay informed about these updates to a company's software. Jokingly, he suggests using Twitter. When Greg brings up the twitter accounts of three commonly used softwares, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Adobe Flash Player, there is no mention of updates on or around the dates of there most recently released updates. You would think that this would be a critical thing that they would share with their consumers. This is an obvious failure of the collaborative community effort at these companies. Most likely their twitter account is run by their marketing department and is not being updated to reflect communication from their product development team.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

24 Hrs Idea

I have not yet decided how or when I am going to remove technology from my life for a day. Both of my jobs thrive on my ability to use technology and use it well. I am employed for campus IT. So, in considering this assignment, I think I will have to try an approach where I am only utilizing a computer for work-related purposes. It will be more difficult to be on a computer AND stay off of social media than it will to cut a computer out of my day all together. With all of the internet enabled devices that us millenials are carrying around, this challenge is one that can be very difficult.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Alone Together

How do some people do it? They leave their phones alone when people are trying to get ahold of them. Sherry Turkle is describing that exact sensation. She talks about the idea that people cannot actually resist the sensation that people get from knowing that people are trying to get ahold of them. She discusses the behaviors that surround the intrinsic attraction to the phone as being a more stimulating device. It allows us to keep ourselves connected in small times of relaxation. Our minds have the thought that we can always go back to our phone, Twitter, Facebook, game, etc on our phone. This isn't something we just see in the younger generation. Business people are expected to reply to contact more quickly and to always be available.

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Networking and Finances

It is really interesting to ready the chapter of the new digital age that discusses distributions of wealth and their relations to bell curvature. At first, I was a little bit skeptical about how this played into social networking. However, after reading the chapter, I found it very interesting. The concept that technological jobs and distribution create different kinds of curves in different social classes is very unique. I never realized how much of an effect it can have. I do agree with the idea that before the advent of technology there was a different kind of bell curve distribution.

Friday, November 1, 2013

CMMA Visit

This week our group had the chance to visit the Morbark factory in Winn, MI. I believe that this trip was very rewarding for multiple reasons. While I was not able to see the factory portion of the visit, we did receive a presentation on Morbark prior to actually going into the facility. I believe that this presentation gave me a better appreciation for having a BSBA degree. Many of the concepts that we had learned about in different classes as part of our various core competencies were brought together by Morbark in their value and supply chain. I am currently taking the strategic management class as well and found it particularly interesting to apply those current concepts. I don't believe that any of my other group mates are completing degrees on the BSBA track, so I'm not sure that this was exciting to them. But, for me, I found a significant amount of value in the history and operations section that Mr. Shoemaker presented to us.