Technology and Business Proposals

The new and innovative technological advances in our society were very helpful in the communication between group members of our English proposal team. The communication was made possible by the interaction using Blackboard uploads to exchange important files such as agendas, group meetings, sections of the proposal document, and discussion boards. By using the Blackboard application to send e-mails our group was able to communicate via group e-mail to discuss group times for meetings and what was to be addressed at the meetings.

Without the technology used in Clemson's BlackB0ard application, the communication between our group would have been very difficult and would have taken longer to get things done.

Ethical Principles

After reviewing the ethical principle example in class about Hitler and the gas chambered vans and the memo concerning that activity, I see the difference between writing business letters or memos for a certain purpose and ones that violate ethical values. In the example in class, the wording of the letter had to be clearly dissected to get the true meaning of the letter which seemed to be the purpose of the writer because he did not want to reveal the unethical activities and changes of the vans to operators or to Hitler to expose his fear. I learned that by disguising unethical activities using writing in the business scenerio have to be hidden through word choice but are still unethical.

My own set of ethical principles as I enter into graduate school or physical therapy school would include going to the best of my ability and knowledge to serve and better my patients physically, emotionally, and mentally. In the school setting, my morals would include not cheating on exams and using my own words, works, and research to formulate papers about medical topics to further my education. I would also include saying the straightforward results of research instead of skewing the information to what the outcome should be.

Miscommunication

I have experience miscommunication on a sports team while I was in high school. The scenario was that I was the captain of the girl's cross country team and I was to receive information about if we were to have practice on a rainy afternoon after school. There was miscommunication between me and the coach on whether we were to have practice because the decision kept changing or rumors from other captains told us that we were not going to have practice. I informed the rest of the team members that we were not going to have practice, but the coach intended us to have practice inside to avoid hazardous weather outside. When none of the captains or team members showed up, the coach called me to ask where everyone was and we were further punished for missing practice.

The miscommunication here could have been prevented if I had just gotten the direct decision from the head coach and therefore informed the team the final decision rather than make a captain decision when it is not my place or role.

Although this is a minor mix-up, I learned from it and will always go directly to the person of authority to get the correct answer, response, or decision.

Last Presentations--Online Portfolios

Out of the last presentations, the one that presented itself best to me was "How to Perform Basic First Aid" by Erin Reifeis. This presentation had a purpose of informing and teaching the audience a new skill about first aid. I found it interesting to find the lastest techniques to perform the skill correctly that can save someone else's life. The fact that she had personal background to the subject made the topic more important and influences the audience to learn CPR and first aid.

I have never had experience with an online portfolio. I have had to compile works together for an English portfoilio in high school but they were hard copies. I feel like online portfolios are more innovative and easier for employers to use. For me to get my portfolio together by March 23, I know that I need to make sure that I get the following:

1. Resume checked by Michelin Career Center
2. Cover letter written and edited
3. Specific job description
4. Follow-up letter written and edited
5. Group Proposal for Healthy Campus
6. Individual Presentation on "Locks of Love"
7. Meeting Sheets printed, organized, and compiled
8. Progress Report/Project Draft???

I am most unsure of what needs to be done for the progress report; maybe some more information on this would be good.

THANKS!

Powerpoint Presentations

These are my top 3 choices for most interesting powerpoint presentations:

-"The Jetlev-flyer" by Scott Braun: I found this presentation interesting because of the new and different topic. The information provided was state of the art and very unknown. It was cool to hear the new technological advancements such as this flying designed machine used for recreational use. By learning about the price of these machines, of approximently $125,000, I will probably not be investing in one of these soon. I think he did a good job on picking and interesting topic, informing the audience on this new machine, and by showing the video helped the audience understand the machine better.

-"The Case for Women's Gymnastics at Clemson University" by Laura: I found this presentation interesting because of the case that she made which motivates me to feel a certain way towards having gymnastics as a NCAA sport at Clemson. I learned that South Carolina does not have a NCAA gymnastics program and these special women's athletes go out of state to train in other schools. Also, gymnists have a 99% graduation rate and average a 3.5 GPA or higher! Her presentation was good because she had many facts and statistics to back up her case which filled her presentation with logos. I also liked the legit handout.

-"Native American Mascot" by Kevin Crandall: I found this presentation interesting because the subject title was a subject to our collegiate population, but not necessarily Clemson University. I learned about the laws and bans about Native American Mascots and why they were made. I was most impressed with the logos that he built for his case that athletic teams should not be required to change their nickname solely because it refers to Native Americans. I enjoyed the pictures pertaining "bad" mascots versus the strong Native American mascots.

Writing Cover Letters

The links that were provided were about how to write effective cover letters for resumes. I feel like the purpose of a cover letter is to introduce yourself as a potential employee for the company or school and to show why you are looking into the job. Also, I feel like this is the time to make similarities with the job description so that the human resource employee can see that you will fit the job well. You agree that it is a standard business letter and should address the target in such a manner. The body should bring up your attributes but the list form should be more for the resume itself, where as this is a time to really connect with the job description and job title itself and to make yourself to be THE ONE to fit the job. I also agree that you should follow-up with the employer to make sure that they received the documents needed and to see whether a further interview is needed.

I do not agree with using P.S. for emphasis because it seems informal. Also, I feel like the length should be appropriate to the job description and company/presentation and not "limited" to 3 paragraphs. Finally, I do not agree with adding in testimonials into your cover letter because it seems self-centered.

I feel like the most useful part of this tutorial is the section on "The Reality of Cover Letters" where it emphasizes how cover letters are sometimes over-looked and to make yours really stand out, to make the cover letter about the company and not yourself, and to not send out a mass of cover letters/resumes which shows rejection.

I know that I need to work on my cover letter and really focusing it on the company and how my credentials, knowledge, and background can benefit the company.

"Client Visit"

The client from Redfern has projects for our class concerning "Healthy Campus," the ecological approach to having a healthy campus, and involves the 6 aspects of health and wellness (physical, social, emotional, social, intellectual, spiritual, and environment). I feel like these projects that are already going on are not well marketed to the campus that they are on because I did not know about the projects and their motivation. I feel like the way to market to our population about this health strategy to get our campus active and fit is to use our type of socializing as the audience. I feel like alot of the people on campus use facebook and that would be a great way to target the audience with little to no cost. We could set up a group and put events that are going on around campus that grab the member's attention that would remind them to stay healthy (Fike activities, menus for dining halls). By joining the group, we could have a central location to where students/faculty can find information about healthy activities by having many hyperlinks to get to the information that they need to know. To first get the members, we need to motivate them to join the group through banners, e-mails, "Toilet Paper", and other activities such as a making a quick snip video about the 6 aspects that make it fun ("True Life"?? "The Amazing Race"?) podcasts to yoga classes or cooking shows. To motivate students we could host a "Walk to Class" Day or even a Cook-off on the Library Bridge where we have healthy recipes or taste tests of the food from the Student Organic Farm, which another part we would like to find out and research more on as a group. (Ex: Veggie sales at athletic events, dining halls?) I do feel a little overwhelmed with the project because we do not have step to step directions and are just going but I think by working with a group will be easier and collaborating with each other will really guide our project towards success.