the home stretch

well school is almost over. On monday I will be turning in an 8 to 10 page report about the expansion project in Grapevine. I've done some research but so far the only thing I have found is that the residents in Grapevine are not very excited about this expansion. I'm not sure I totally understand why. I'll be the first to admit that when it comes to situations like this, I'm pretty neutral.

To me it seems like there is a lot of room for expansion in grapevine and that hotel is nice. I don't really understand what is so upsetting about their being more to do there, but I will do my best to try and see it from both sides. These kinds of topics are a bit of a challenge for me, but we'll see how I feel at the end of the project.

the tipping point..

Well on monday I presented the chapter I read from the tipping point. This has been my favorite book we've read thus far. I really have enjoyed talking about it. It's a very interesting way to look at how to influence change in a positive direction.

I do believe that small things can make a big difference. Ironically the chapter I was given to read was my favorite. I do think that the whole smoking teen problem is more complex than the media tries to make it seem. It is true that cigarettes are seen as cool even by non smokers like me. It is also true I never really had any "cool" friends growing up who smoked and therefore was less likely to try it myself. In fact I didn't try cigarettes until I was well beyond legal age. It never really took and here I am a non smoker. Still I think that by trying them I have become a little more understanding of the appeal they hold.

The majority of teen smoker are just experimenting and wont continue into adulthood. Still a few of these teens will end up being smokers and here is where that gray area appears. Who will become a smoker? The book has a theory that only those who are more strongly affected by nicotine will end up being addicted. So people like me who dont really get any kind of buzz are not likely to make it a habit. Beyond just being affected by it, those affected have to exceed a daily amount that they tend to smoke. It also differs depending on the person. Some will push past this barrier and fall into the addicted smoker category. Surprisingly the process takes a few years. Once again here is another gray area that is hard to define. Only some will push past this area too.

Enron part 2

Once again we watched the Enron movie. I still feel it is overdramatizing the situation. The movie blames pretty much any republican in power they can link the situation in any way to. Big suprise the Democratic representative they get backs them up on this. "Do you beleive it was a republican conspiracy?" "Oh yes!" well duh he's going to say that. It makes him look like such a good guy.

I don't know in addition to the obvious political push, I really had the overdramatization of the "macho" atmosphere. The part of the movie that talks about them being really big fans of motorcross seemed pointless. It shows photage of people on motorcycles doing flips and other dangerous stuff. It's really hard to imagine 40 and 50 years olds doing flips on a motor cycle. Yes it's not really them and I realize that, but still. I don't think it had much to do with anything.


The man with the strippers same thing. Let's not kid our selves a lot of people go to strip clubs, not just evil jerks. It's just one more detail to emberass the guy. It's not really related. It seems cheap and over sensational.


I would rather watch a real documentary without all the emotion and political push to get my facts. I have a hard time taking this movie seriously.

Enron

Well we watched most of that movie on Enron. I'm not really sure what to think of it yet. I don't typically like films like that because I feel they are too emotional and are likely to over dramatize what happened.

Of course it was a big tragedy. I'm not going to try to take that away. It effected alot of people. It was horrendous.

To me the film had somewhat of a political agenda, which is something I'm not fond of. It's things like that, that keep me away from politics. I never feel like I'm getting the full story. Each side tries to make the other look like the anti Christ. It's hard for me to beleive either side is trying to do something "evil". I honestly just think it's different perspective.

I disagree that it was "overshadowed" I cannot even remember a time before Enron I hear about it so much. Really it's in the news alot. It had a huge impact on the economy. We can't stop hearing about it!

I hear alot of people lately blaming the President for the recession, but I don't really buy that. It's as if most people think the President has this big lever that he pulls and more or less money comes out. Money comes and goes that's just how it is. We have rises and falls. We scramble for straws to make sense of it all. Maybe we can point the finger at so and so. I just dont think the President has as much power as we'd all like to beleive.

we think we'll just put some guy in office and suddenly he does everything we've ever hoped and we're rich and happy again. To me it seems blind to assume that will fix the problem. I dont think the new president republican or democrat will magically just pull us out of the recession. I think it will run its course until it's over. I'd like to talk to people about this kind of topic but it's really hard to find a setting where someone isn't overly charged about it. My family? forget about.

Social trends and word of mouth

So we talked about word of mouth and social trends on monday. I think word of mouth is one of the most interesting ways to advertise something. It's cheap but very effective or at least can be.

I'm interested to learn more about how corporate people try to get something going word of mouth though. I don't really understand why the average person would listen to a corporate person who is boosting their own product. I'm not saying I'm against it at all. I just don't really understand it.

The story about those hush puppy shoes was really interesting. What a lucky break. It reminded me of another story about shoes though circumstances were different. The converse chuck taylors were dying out several years ago. You could buy them for like 20 bucks. Then nike swooped in and saved them. Now chuck taylor are everywhere in many different collors and patterns. Nike is really popular in Japan and over there they sell shoes in tons of patterns and designs. I guess they realized they could sell more chucks by applying that idea to here in the states. Suddenly chucks are now 40 dollars or more. I own two pairs myself. Recently the one stars started disappearing from everywhere too. I bought a pair for 20 bux and it was the last one in a shoe star. This year I noticed they signed some kind of deal with target and now you can buy them again for 30 bucks at Target. It's not word of mouth, but it was taking advantage of a social trend. Everyone I know lately has been wearing converse. A lot of young people wear them. Some like those interesting colors since a lot of the wearers are: punks, goths, indie etc.

doing what's right...

Well it is really hard to do what's right sometimes especially when it involves your job. It's very tempting to just turn a blind eye to the dishonesty in your company and just not deal with it. Your boss can make things sound like they have to be lied about in order to accomplish bigger company goals even going so far as to promise bigger things for you if you comply.

In reality honesty as corny as it sounds is definitely the best policy. Your clients and your fellow coworkers will respect you for being honest. It's not easy to be a whistleblower and I do think that sometimes its ok not to blow the whole scandal out in the open depending on the situation. Quieltly walking away is better than nothing.

our guest speaker had an experience to share with us. He told us what the company he worked for was doing and how he found it unethical. I think anyone who listened to his story would have to agree. It's just plain wrong to decieve people for profit or recognition...in fact I think it's wrong to decieve people for any reason at all.

I had a friend who applied to work at a well known gym in california. He was very excited to work there. He would be helping the company gain memmberships and they would pay him pretty decently to do that. He found out there was a catch. His employer wanted him to lie to customers and tell them he was a personal trainer to try and seal the deal. My friend is not a personal trainer he has no liscense or certificate saying that he is. Insulted my friend didn't come back the next day.

My guess is that his new employer knows that most customers will never get personal training. Most customers will buy the package deal but never even start working out. In all likely hood, these kinds of customers are not going to ask for proof or even take him up on the offer. Still it's wrong and ultimately he would be to blame for lying about his position.

We all have to protect ourselves and we have an obligation to protect our profession.

Commercials and ads that go too far...

I am not a hugely conservative person when it comes to tv, but I felt our discussion today was really invaluable. It's true that there is a definite distinction between sexy and going too far degrading any group of people. There are some ads all over the world that really cross boundaries of what is acceptable.

Here's an add for noodles in Korea...be warned don't watch it if you feel you will get too offended. It was actually bland for it's blatant sexual content. To give you a rundown incase you don't want to see it the commercial depicts a woman who looks like she is giving oral pleasure to a man but then it turns out to be ramen noodels she's slurping...pretty horrible
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1hEBBwz584M


well anyway that's all I got my brain is fried from homework today