It looks like I may be gifted with the chance to take up leadership once more. I would love to use my abilities to bring effective ideas to my new residence hall, and I will be taking up some sort of challenge to make improvements. My goals will be to make Daum and other residence halls throughout the University of Iowa as great as possible, by focusing on working hard to give our residents and advantage, with social activities, exciting events, unparalleled learning opportunities, and beyond.
To do this I will either run for President of Associated Daum, or for membership in the board of the Associated Residence Halls, so that I can work closely with other University students to ensure the best possible for all.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Small Business Marketing in Iowa City
Considering I've moved operations of my news gathering self to Iowa City, I thought I better quickly organize with the same kind of materials I have when marketing my small business. This time, in Iowa City, I'll be focusing a lot more on creativity and writing with The Owl, so I can hopefully use the publications to earn a little revenue but also advance other important issues. For example, I could write a little about Barack Obama, or perhaps any elections that might be going on. I could give people suggestions on where to go, where to spend time, what they should try eating. I think the unique design I've placed on things will have an enormous impact.
This time I've got a significant amount of creativity in my marketing - although most of it has probably been done before by others. I am using my knowledge of vistaprint to make some of the most professional looking brochures and postcards ever designed, much better than anything my competition could come up with. I have postcards with 1 side calling for artists and writers to help me create stuff, then the other side calls for people to submit their events online. It's is an excellent way to gain traffic to my Iowa City website, so that I can use that online space as a way to reach out to local people. I'm excited to be so organized in this marketing campaign, and I'm certain that I can be very effective.
I'm also certain that my Iowa City projects will be a tremendous success. I have developed a creative design that will attract readers to any print publications we create - and I have a pretty easy to navigate website that will also be filled with the same stories that appear in print. I have the ability to quickly add and update stories on-location, and can create a very useful tool for Iowa City residents.
This time I've got a significant amount of creativity in my marketing - although most of it has probably been done before by others. I am using my knowledge of vistaprint to make some of the most professional looking brochures and postcards ever designed, much better than anything my competition could come up with. I have postcards with 1 side calling for artists and writers to help me create stuff, then the other side calls for people to submit their events online. It's is an excellent way to gain traffic to my Iowa City website, so that I can use that online space as a way to reach out to local people. I'm excited to be so organized in this marketing campaign, and I'm certain that I can be very effective.
I'm also certain that my Iowa City projects will be a tremendous success. I have developed a creative design that will attract readers to any print publications we create - and I have a pretty easy to navigate website that will also be filled with the same stories that appear in print. I have the ability to quickly add and update stories on-location, and can create a very useful tool for Iowa City residents.
John McCain's Negative Politics
Have you guys seen John McCain's internet attack advertisements?
These things are more of the same, terror-inducing politics the GOP has had to rely on for the past 8 years to win elections. They don't talk about any real issues, they don't try to build their candidate up, they just try to tear the other guy down. Too bad it won't work this time. We need a strong leader like Barack Obama to bring about Universal Healthcare, a better economy, and an end to the Iraq war.
Negative politics won't advance our country's common goals, just like negativity anywhere else. What we need is to come together, overlooking our differences to work on furthering the values that all Americans hold in common. Values such as educating our children, or ensuring we have a sound economic future. I believe Barack Obama, having proven his ability so far, will be the best person to focus on what's really important. He sponsored legislation ensuring nuclear weapons don't fall into the hands of terrorists, ensuring that veterans get their earned benefits, fighting against meth and drug use, and sponsored legislation for clean water, government accountability, and ethics reform.
"We need a politics that doesn't focus on tearing your opponent down, but instead on building the country up" - Barack Obama
These things are more of the same, terror-inducing politics the GOP has had to rely on for the past 8 years to win elections. They don't talk about any real issues, they don't try to build their candidate up, they just try to tear the other guy down. Too bad it won't work this time. We need a strong leader like Barack Obama to bring about Universal Healthcare, a better economy, and an end to the Iraq war.
Negative politics won't advance our country's common goals, just like negativity anywhere else. What we need is to come together, overlooking our differences to work on furthering the values that all Americans hold in common. Values such as educating our children, or ensuring we have a sound economic future. I believe Barack Obama, having proven his ability so far, will be the best person to focus on what's really important. He sponsored legislation ensuring nuclear weapons don't fall into the hands of terrorists, ensuring that veterans get their earned benefits, fighting against meth and drug use, and sponsored legislation for clean water, government accountability, and ethics reform.
"We need a politics that doesn't focus on tearing your opponent down, but instead on building the country up" - Barack Obama
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Attending ArtFest in Iowa City
My team went to Iowa City's annual Artfest, a summer arts festival featuring several dozen artisans and craftspeople. There were quite a few people enjoying the festival, despite the occasional rain and sudden gusts stirring up the festivities. We managed to get several pictures, and even interview some of the artists. The smattering of rain and wind did little to discourage many of the vendors (although visitors were caught huddling under shelters), but they were told by organizers to pack it up early on Saturday.
Most of the artists were very receptive to our questions, although a couple told us not to take pictures of their work - bad reviews for them, lol! You have to be friendly with people, it's just common courtesy. But our article on Artfest describes a little of what went down, and details some of our artisan interviews.
Yuriy Maltsev and his wife were selling landscapes, but would rather use his masters in Fine Art to present people, emotion, and movement. Among jewelers, the Ellicksons were appreciative of the crowd, and appreciated the work of the festival organizers.
Most of the artists were very receptive to our questions, although a couple told us not to take pictures of their work - bad reviews for them, lol! You have to be friendly with people, it's just common courtesy. But our article on Artfest describes a little of what went down, and details some of our artisan interviews.
Yuriy Maltsev and his wife were selling landscapes, but would rather use his masters in Fine Art to present people, emotion, and movement. Among jewelers, the Ellicksons were appreciative of the crowd, and appreciated the work of the festival organizers.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Blue Ocean Strategy
A couple of years ago I briefly read through Blue Ocean Strategy, a book about winning in marketing by "making the competition irrelevant". The strategy divides the market into two categories: red and blue. Red consists of all market spaces already known and contested - they are filled with blood as epic marketing battles take place in this space. Blue oceans are everything that has not yet been crowded with competition, but mostly market space that has yet to be discovered. In a blue ocean you create demand, instead of fighting over. Imagine the first computer developers. They created something new, and also created the demand for it. It was a blue ocean at that time. A blue ocean can become a red ocean, of course, once enough competition arises. The focus on a Blue Ocean Strategy is the creation of value for both the buyer and the seller - basically adding new innovation to the market.
In my business, and my campaigns, I hope to come up with these sorts of innovations - unique additions to what currently exists. There are so many potential opportunities still unexplored, so many ideas still unthought. I will be certainly working closely with everyone creative around me to come up with these ideas, and I will be sure to use them to quickly win over new markets.
Find that you can't come up with brilliant new ideas? There's always alternatives. There are plenty of ideas already floating around that simply need picked up on. Many things have been tried once, but things have changed since then and need tried again. Research some unique business and marketing ideas that didn't quite work the first time, then tweak them to fit your style. You may find this to be your easiest option, sort of like entering a murkier blue ocean. Businesses newsletters featuring unique businesses, like Springwise, might be an interesting place to get ideas going.
In my business, and my campaigns, I hope to come up with these sorts of innovations - unique additions to what currently exists. There are so many potential opportunities still unexplored, so many ideas still unthought. I will be certainly working closely with everyone creative around me to come up with these ideas, and I will be sure to use them to quickly win over new markets.
Find that you can't come up with brilliant new ideas? There's always alternatives. There are plenty of ideas already floating around that simply need picked up on. Many things have been tried once, but things have changed since then and need tried again. Research some unique business and marketing ideas that didn't quite work the first time, then tweak them to fit your style. You may find this to be your easiest option, sort of like entering a murkier blue ocean. Businesses newsletters featuring unique businesses, like Springwise, might be an interesting place to get ideas going.
Advancing My Ruby Knowledge With The Ruby Way
I picked up a copy of The Ruby Way and The Rails Way today at Barnes and Noble, and decided to sit down and start reading through the first chapter of each. The both struck me as highly useful resources for my programming needs, but each cost it's own small fortune. In the end of my visit to BNN, I bought The Ruby Way, leaving The Rails Way for another day.
This book is pretty great, I've realized as I begun reading deeper into the first few chapters. Although I have used Ruby for quite a while, these books help bring to the front of my mind many of the concepts that have been a bit more abstract in the past, which is probably exactly what the author Hal Fulton intended to do. The book is, of course, a high authority on the subject, being the second edition of the second English book ever written about Ruby. Even "Matz" has heaped praise for Fulton's understanding of the ideals built into Ruby.
Simply reading over the first section was enlightening. I had the chance to compare some of the many day-to-day uses of the language, and could see a concrete comparison between some things that I never thought too deeply about. For example, Fulton detailed a comparison between at least 8 different types of loop statements (of course showing my favorite for item in list), which really helped to demonstrate the flexibility of Ruby. I should encourage you all to by The Ruby Way if interested in learning the advanced stuff in the Ruby programming language.
This book is pretty great, I've realized as I begun reading deeper into the first few chapters. Although I have used Ruby for quite a while, these books help bring to the front of my mind many of the concepts that have been a bit more abstract in the past, which is probably exactly what the author Hal Fulton intended to do. The book is, of course, a high authority on the subject, being the second edition of the second English book ever written about Ruby. Even "Matz" has heaped praise for Fulton's understanding of the ideals built into Ruby.
Simply reading over the first section was enlightening. I had the chance to compare some of the many day-to-day uses of the language, and could see a concrete comparison between some things that I never thought too deeply about. For example, Fulton detailed a comparison between at least 8 different types of loop statements (of course showing my favorite for item in list), which really helped to demonstrate the flexibility of Ruby. I should encourage you all to by The Ruby Way if interested in learning the advanced stuff in the Ruby programming language.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
New Sleep Routine - Sleep Is Needed
As a result of my new student programmer job, I'm going to be needing a lot more 'regular' sleep. On most nights, I seem to be most productive from 9pm to Midnight, but more recently I'm needing the extra sleep to get up early and be ready for the next day. I'll be spending 40 hours a week during the summer working, which will be fantastic for both my wallet and my resume. Unfortunately, my online portfolio might not get the attention it deserves, and my business could start to be under-marketed without me focused on it's promotion.
On the other hand, a regular sleep schedule is good. Studies have shown that people who get the recommended number of hours of sleep are more focused, can concentrate better, have higher intelligence, learn better, and have overall more energy than people who deprive themselves of sleep. Polyphasic sleep, meaning taking about six 1/2 hour naps throughout the day instead of sleeping straight from 11-6, has also been rumored to offer a brilliant solution, adding 30-40 waking hours every week. I think that trying polyphasic sleep might be pushing it for my schedule, although I may want to try it someday. I could get a lot more out of some of my favorite 72 hour events by missing half as much (9 hours compared to 18).
In fact, it's nearing a late hour tonight already, so I should probably head off.
On the other hand, a regular sleep schedule is good. Studies have shown that people who get the recommended number of hours of sleep are more focused, can concentrate better, have higher intelligence, learn better, and have overall more energy than people who deprive themselves of sleep. Polyphasic sleep, meaning taking about six 1/2 hour naps throughout the day instead of sleeping straight from 11-6, has also been rumored to offer a brilliant solution, adding 30-40 waking hours every week. I think that trying polyphasic sleep might be pushing it for my schedule, although I may want to try it someday. I could get a lot more out of some of my favorite 72 hour events by missing half as much (9 hours compared to 18).
In fact, it's nearing a late hour tonight already, so I should probably head off.
Politics - Elections
Barack Obama, my favorite candidate of all time, won the primary election at last. This is a good thing for America, because we need a strong, intelligent leader who will actually listen to the people of this country and get us back on the right track. After a long, drawn-out election, we can eventually spend more money on education, and healthcare, and on fighting our dependence on oil with the use of wind and solar energy as soon as Obama is president. Who should be his vice president?
CJ Ryan and Dave White won the Sheriff primaries in Muscatine. I'm not sure if I support Dave White, the 'democrat', because I've been told he isn't much of a democrat. (Of course, I'm pretty much independent in my thought). I'm up for whoever will ensure that the drug task force has the money it needs to keep drugs off our streets. The budget for the Sheriff's department is continually stretched and thinned, so the next Sheriff will have to have the vision and foresight to budget long into the future. Hopefully we'll get a Sheriff who understands technology and will implement the latest technology (after the price curve, of course), to keep our department up to date. I've even been considering holding another sheriff's debate to give the candidates and opportunity to talk about their personal convictions related to the position.
CJ Ryan and Dave White won the Sheriff primaries in Muscatine. I'm not sure if I support Dave White, the 'democrat', because I've been told he isn't much of a democrat. (Of course, I'm pretty much independent in my thought). I'm up for whoever will ensure that the drug task force has the money it needs to keep drugs off our streets. The budget for the Sheriff's department is continually stretched and thinned, so the next Sheriff will have to have the vision and foresight to budget long into the future. Hopefully we'll get a Sheriff who understands technology and will implement the latest technology (after the price curve, of course), to keep our department up to date. I've even been considering holding another sheriff's debate to give the candidates and opportunity to talk about their personal convictions related to the position.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Learning Calculus I - Again
So I've begun on my perilous journey to relearn everything I seem to have forgotten from Calculus I. This shouldn't be too difficult - I'd like to believe - because I aced my AP test with a score of 5. Of course, that was two years ago and I haven't used the stuff since. Fortunately, I'm sure that I have a wide variety of resources at my disposal. Number one is the internet, which provides plenty of solutions, such as notes for Calculus I, which can help me relearn Calculus as necessary. I also bet that I still have my Calculus for Dummies book, which can help ensure that I can quickly catch up on the long lost calculus calculations. Derivatives and integrals - how... unexciting. Well, hopefully I can master all of Calc I, and even a little of Calc II before this upcoming semester to give me a distinct advantage in all my classes.
Much To Do Volunteerwise
I really love volunteering my time. It helps give me something to do, and exercises both my creativity and my leadership ability. I often help come up with ideas, make suggestions, and work on special projects for whomever I'm working with.
I've been spending a lot of time with the Mindbridge Foundation, and I'm really glad for it. Mindbridge is basically a resource for Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Anime, and Gaming fans, offering local convention and more. Of course there is a business side to it, and to getting things done, and that's where I've been spending my volunteer time. Right now I get to suggest an update to some of the rules for volunteer points, which help reward volunteers with free convention memberships, and possibly more (T-shirts, for example). I'm also getting the opportunity to work on a big database project, which should help synchronize activity between all Mindbridge events (Gamicon, Icon, AnimeIowa).
I've been spending a lot of time with the Mindbridge Foundation, and I'm really glad for it. Mindbridge is basically a resource for Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Anime, and Gaming fans, offering local convention and more. Of course there is a business side to it, and to getting things done, and that's where I've been spending my volunteer time. Right now I get to suggest an update to some of the rules for volunteer points, which help reward volunteers with free convention memberships, and possibly more (T-shirts, for example). I'm also getting the opportunity to work on a big database project, which should help synchronize activity between all Mindbridge events (Gamicon, Icon, AnimeIowa).
Crazy Busy Schedule? - Maybe Not
Today I read an article about a couple of hardcore students who graduated super early. Each of them had graduated with double majors after only two and three semesters respectively, making me think I might not be pushing myself hard enough. I can usually understand coursework with ease, and don't have to worry much about falling behind. But during my first two years spent at Muscatine Community College, perhaps I slacked off more than I should have allowed myself. But nonetheless, I wouldn't call my non-class time wasted. After all, I had the opportunity to run for Mayor, I spent (and still spend) a lot of time volunteering, I had my own videogame center, I started my own news companies, went to AnimeIowa, met several people, and overall learned a lot more about myself and my potential future goals. Not only that, but I spent my time learning some Ruby, Perl, HTML, CSS, graphic design, Ruby on Rails, subversion, and things like that which should help me in my future career. What's even better is now I have a job in my major field, which will give me the experience I need to find a full time position after graduation.
Things have been working out well for me so far, also. I'm taking only three classes this semester, which should equal 15 credits in the end (Japanese will be a whopping total of 7 credits, considering I earn an extra 2 for taking four years of high school Spanish). Calculus II may be a little bit of a challenge, considering I don't remember much from my first Calculus I class, which was two years ago in high school (AP class, in which I got a 5 on my exam). Hopefully, though, I can be thoroughly organized enough to accomplish my dream goal.
Goal: Two A+s and one A.
That's right, I said it. This semester I hope to do extremely well for myself, with my desire to get some extra padding in my GPA. These grades not only would boost my GPA forever, but they would also boost my confidence in myself. I would know that I can spend less time slacking and more time focused on what's really important. In the meantime I hope to continually cover local news on my iowacityowl.com website, and potentially get more advertisers and writers. Also I hope to expand my working knowledge of a variety of programming languages, and eventually become proficient in several additional languages.
Things have been working out well for me so far, also. I'm taking only three classes this semester, which should equal 15 credits in the end (Japanese will be a whopping total of 7 credits, considering I earn an extra 2 for taking four years of high school Spanish). Calculus II may be a little bit of a challenge, considering I don't remember much from my first Calculus I class, which was two years ago in high school (AP class, in which I got a 5 on my exam). Hopefully, though, I can be thoroughly organized enough to accomplish my dream goal.
Goal: Two A+s and one A.
That's right, I said it. This semester I hope to do extremely well for myself, with my desire to get some extra padding in my GPA. These grades not only would boost my GPA forever, but they would also boost my confidence in myself. I would know that I can spend less time slacking and more time focused on what's really important. In the meantime I hope to continually cover local news on my iowacityowl.com website, and potentially get more advertisers and writers. Also I hope to expand my working knowledge of a variety of programming languages, and eventually become proficient in several additional languages.
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