Dear Reader,
The standard size that scrapbook paper is sold in is 12 in. x 12 in.
Why do I know this?
Because over the past week (aside from eating turkey, Chinese style) I have bought many sheets of scrapbook paper for ISM.
What does scrapbook paper have to do with marketing? Quite a lot, actually. You see, for the upcoming Research Showcase each student must make a tri-fold board to present their research for the year. Scrapbook paper is used on these boards to make them look clean-cut and professional, which ultimately goes back to me marketing myself through my board.
My board is social-media themed. At first, I wanted to incorporate as many advertising mediums as I could in it, but quickly realized this was a) unrealistic and b) unrelatable to the general public. Therefore, I decided to make my entire board social-media themed because a) it's the new "it" thing in marketing and b) practically everyone has at least some degree of familiarity with it.
I wanted to make my board stand out. At Research Showcase, I will be just one of many ISM students there to present. We are all competing for the attention of our audience. (It's a come-and-go event; people will be walking around hallways that we've set up our own booths in). So as detailed in the last post, I decided to make my board interactive. The center of my tri-fold has a giant blank magnetic section. At Research Showcase, I will pose a question (marketing-related, most likely to do with packaging) and poll all those who come by. They will place their magnet (vote) in their chosen answer column. This way, not only do people get a chance to interact with my board, I also get to conduct a small focus group (research!).
I am equal parts excited and nervous for Research Showcase. Hopefully, this board turns out as dynamite as it is in my head. There are always many complications to be had on the path from brainstorming to reality.
Until next time,
Eileen Bau
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Sunday, November 16, 2014
11/17 Weekly Update #11: Eleventh Hour
Dear reader,
It is the eleventh hour, both figuratively and literally, as I am beginning to write this post at exactly 11:11 (make a wish!), and as Research Showcase is just around the corner. We have only a month left to prepare and polish. Research Showcase is becoming ever more a reality.
Research Showcase is one of the biggest events of the year. Basically, all ISM students put together a tri-fold reflecting the work done in the year so far, and invite the greater public to come by and observe and engage with it. If you remember, in a previous post I talked about putting together a display-board plan. This week, I must make that plan a reality.
However, before we get too far ahead of ourselves, here's the recap of what I did this past week:
1) I set up several interview with an advertising agency in Dallas (which I am extremely excited about).
2) I re-watched the video recording of my Research Speech (and made many notes of what to improve on).
3) I started technically planning my board (figuring dimensions of things, cost, etc.)
I doesn't sound like I did anything super remarkable, but I have to remind you that ISM is not all glamour and success. ISM is hard work and getting stuck and picking your brain. And sometimes, the week just seems so slow. But weeks like this are what make up the backbone of my journey. Weeks like this are where I have to force myself to focus, to keep pushing. Weeks like this are what help me prove to myself that I am wholly committed to this endeavor, because if I can grind through the grit, I can bring myself one step closer to success. Weeks like this are the best, and simultaneously the worst.
Until next time,
Eileen Bau
It is the eleventh hour, both figuratively and literally, as I am beginning to write this post at exactly 11:11 (make a wish!), and as Research Showcase is just around the corner. We have only a month left to prepare and polish. Research Showcase is becoming ever more a reality.
Research Showcase is one of the biggest events of the year. Basically, all ISM students put together a tri-fold reflecting the work done in the year so far, and invite the greater public to come by and observe and engage with it. If you remember, in a previous post I talked about putting together a display-board plan. This week, I must make that plan a reality.
However, before we get too far ahead of ourselves, here's the recap of what I did this past week:
1) I set up several interview with an advertising agency in Dallas (which I am extremely excited about).
2) I re-watched the video recording of my Research Speech (and made many notes of what to improve on).
3) I started technically planning my board (figuring dimensions of things, cost, etc.)
I doesn't sound like I did anything super remarkable, but I have to remind you that ISM is not all glamour and success. ISM is hard work and getting stuck and picking your brain. And sometimes, the week just seems so slow. But weeks like this are what make up the backbone of my journey. Weeks like this are where I have to force myself to focus, to keep pushing. Weeks like this are what help me prove to myself that I am wholly committed to this endeavor, because if I can grind through the grit, I can bring myself one step closer to success. Weeks like this are the best, and simultaneously the worst.
Until next time,
Eileen Bau
Sunday, November 9, 2014
11/10 Weekly Update #10: Tentatively Tenacious
Dear Reader,
This past week has been progressive. I wish all weeks were like it.
Firstly, I presented my research speech, a 10-12 minute spiel on what I've learned about Marketing/Advertising so far. This is important because it is the longest speech I've given in my entire life. I have never, ever had the undivided attention of the room for that long. It was thrilling, and nerve-wracking, and such an adrenaline rush. With this speech, I really feel like I'm beginning to unlock what I can do as a speaker. Before this week, I did speeches that were mainly below 5 minutes. But now that I know I can give a speech for an extended period of time, there are so many more possibilities to explore. The reason this post is titled tentatively tenacious is because that's how I feel about my speaking at the moment. I already am a strong speaker, but I have plenty to improve on. I want to become a stronger one, and so I'm planning on strategically trying out some new, unorthodox things in my next speech. Tentatively tenacious. Carefully aggressive.
Secondly, I had an amazing interview which led to an impromptu second interview, bumping my total number of interviews up to 11 (so sadly, I couldn't use that for the pun in the title as originally planned...but it's okay). This interview opened up some more opportunities with me which I will be exploring soon. Although time is beginning to run out for me to find a mentor, I'm not panicking because that's no use.
Thirdly, I've started watching the TV series Mad Men. No, this isn't an accomplishment, but I really like the series. Aside from the dramatization, it's got quite a few good tidbits about advertising and marketing, and it offers a unique glimpse into the ad agencies of the past. Racism and sexism aside (not that they should ever be put aside), the ad agencies of old are fascinating and we still learn a lot from them today.
And so, I am one week closer to the end of my journey. I hope that you are enjoying it as much as I am.
Until next week,
Eileen Bau
This past week has been progressive. I wish all weeks were like it.
Firstly, I presented my research speech, a 10-12 minute spiel on what I've learned about Marketing/Advertising so far. This is important because it is the longest speech I've given in my entire life. I have never, ever had the undivided attention of the room for that long. It was thrilling, and nerve-wracking, and such an adrenaline rush. With this speech, I really feel like I'm beginning to unlock what I can do as a speaker. Before this week, I did speeches that were mainly below 5 minutes. But now that I know I can give a speech for an extended period of time, there are so many more possibilities to explore. The reason this post is titled tentatively tenacious is because that's how I feel about my speaking at the moment. I already am a strong speaker, but I have plenty to improve on. I want to become a stronger one, and so I'm planning on strategically trying out some new, unorthodox things in my next speech. Tentatively tenacious. Carefully aggressive.
Secondly, I had an amazing interview which led to an impromptu second interview, bumping my total number of interviews up to 11 (so sadly, I couldn't use that for the pun in the title as originally planned...but it's okay). This interview opened up some more opportunities with me which I will be exploring soon. Although time is beginning to run out for me to find a mentor, I'm not panicking because that's no use.
Thirdly, I've started watching the TV series Mad Men. No, this isn't an accomplishment, but I really like the series. Aside from the dramatization, it's got quite a few good tidbits about advertising and marketing, and it offers a unique glimpse into the ad agencies of the past. Racism and sexism aside (not that they should ever be put aside), the ad agencies of old are fascinating and we still learn a lot from them today.
And so, I am one week closer to the end of my journey. I hope that you are enjoying it as much as I am.
Until next week,
Eileen Bau
Sunday, November 2, 2014
11/3 Weekly Update #9: Nine in the Afternoon
It's nine in the afternoon/
Your eyes are the size of the moon/
Dear reader,
Yes, I know, nine is not in the afternoon. What I am alluding to (it is a bit obscure) is a song. Nine in the Afternoon is a song by Panic! At the Disco, a pop/rock/punk/vaudeville band. The reason that I bring it up is because there is one particular line in that song which happens to fit in perfectly with my yearlong theme of exploring the "final frontier", or breaking boundaries:
You could 'cause you can so you do.
In other words, why not? Why not do everything you can do? Why not put 500% effort in everything? Why not take risks? Why not become anything you want to be?
I tried to keep this in mind as I progressed through this past week. Lately, we've really started becoming more defined. Some in the ISM program have already found mentors, and all of us have done display boards designs and compiled the beginnings of a portfolio. Slowly, but very surely, we are determining our personal brands for the year.
In the beginning, I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Of course, all of this is necessary to be successful. But one of the things I hated about defining myself is that it closed off possibilities. For example, I knew that my theme colors were going to be black, blue, and purple. This doesn't mean I can't use other colors, but I knew that black, blue, and purple would have to be more prominent (unless I changed it).
However, as the week progressed on and I could feel myself becoming boxed in, I decided to change my perspective. Instead of viewing my decisions as limiting, I embraced them as opportunities for why not? Why not keep black, blue, and purple and the theme colors but also put a separate rainbow section in my board to break the monotony? Why not use my decisions to open up new realms of possibilities? People say that as one door opens, another closes. That may be true, but as one door opens, so does an infinite amount of other doors in the new hallway you've discovered.
Until next week,
Eileen Bau
Your eyes are the size of the moon/
Dear reader,
Yes, I know, nine is not in the afternoon. What I am alluding to (it is a bit obscure) is a song. Nine in the Afternoon is a song by Panic! At the Disco, a pop/rock/punk/vaudeville band. The reason that I bring it up is because there is one particular line in that song which happens to fit in perfectly with my yearlong theme of exploring the "final frontier", or breaking boundaries:
You could 'cause you can so you do.
In other words, why not? Why not do everything you can do? Why not put 500% effort in everything? Why not take risks? Why not become anything you want to be?
I tried to keep this in mind as I progressed through this past week. Lately, we've really started becoming more defined. Some in the ISM program have already found mentors, and all of us have done display boards designs and compiled the beginnings of a portfolio. Slowly, but very surely, we are determining our personal brands for the year.
In the beginning, I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Of course, all of this is necessary to be successful. But one of the things I hated about defining myself is that it closed off possibilities. For example, I knew that my theme colors were going to be black, blue, and purple. This doesn't mean I can't use other colors, but I knew that black, blue, and purple would have to be more prominent (unless I changed it).
However, as the week progressed on and I could feel myself becoming boxed in, I decided to change my perspective. Instead of viewing my decisions as limiting, I embraced them as opportunities for why not? Why not keep black, blue, and purple and the theme colors but also put a separate rainbow section in my board to break the monotony? Why not use my decisions to open up new realms of possibilities? People say that as one door opens, another closes. That may be true, but as one door opens, so does an infinite amount of other doors in the new hallway you've discovered.
Until next week,
Eileen Bau
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