Padd Solutions

I knew who I would choose for my job shadow project right when we were given the assignment since I have a family friend in marketing, which I would say is a communication profession. To keep things confidential we can call her Jen and she has around 25 years in the marketing field. I spoke with Jen last Wednesday, and luckily she had a marketing meeting scheduled for Friday with a popular optometry company here in Amarillo, and I was invited to sit in!

The meeting was scheduled for 10am so I showed up to Jen's house at 9:45. We grabbed a few notes and a portrait picture of some of the higher-ups of the company we were working for then got in the car. On the way to the boardroom, Jen explained to me where she has worked previously and who her current clients are now. I found out she handles one of the largest accounts in Amarillo which happens to be a locally owned bank!

The meeting was much more relaxed than I thought it would be. When we arrived Jen introduced me to her clients as her intern/student, then we began the marketing process. Jen laid out her spreadsheet that listed all her clients objectives and what events needed to promote those objectives. Each tv ad, radio ad, promotional event, everything was compared to yearly sales for the company. Things like if June was a bad month for the company in sales last year, what particular television or radio ad should the company run to counteract lack of sales this year.

Overall I learned a lot! There are waaay more people than I expected involved from top to bottom when it comes to marketing for a company. From the CEO of a parent company, all the way down through Jen in marketing, and even down to the guy running the camera at the commercial shoot, everyone working on the same project.

This job shadowing has really helped me in trying to figure a more solid path for myself career wise. I thought I wanted to go into PR, and I guess marketing is a form of PR, but not really the same. I dont want to come up with the advertising ideas, really just coordinate the ads getting produced for the client. I've been in sales all my life, and I'm a very outgoing person so I really feel like this could be a good position for me! I guess we'll see when I finish school!

-MH

After food, we headed up to the condo which was about 25 miles north of Durango itself. When we got there I was surprised to find that there was no wireless internet and no cell phone service! Luckily there was a LAN line that had a 2ft cord, so internet was possible but very inconvenient. I cant believe that some places still dont have decent wireless coverage (*cough* Amarillo College *cough*).

The next morning we woke up to snow pouring down in whiteout conditions! The skiers in our group loaded onto a shuttle and hit the slopes, while B and I decided what to do for the rest of the day. We had planned to visit the town of Durango and do a little shopping and sightseeing, but due to the weather there was actually no way for us to get to the city. We decided to take the shuttle up to the ski lodge and visit the shops there on the mountain. After we arrived we met with the family for lunch, then when they went back up the lifts, we decided to have a few drinks at the bar on the mountain. I was pretty surprised to see a fully stocked bar right next to the ski lifts because drunk skiing sounds like a fairly dangerous activity. After trying a couple of the locally brewed beers, we went to a few of the souvenir/clothing stores and called it an afternoon. I bought a great snow hat that looks like a lemur, and B got a similar hat but with a white tiger pattern and wool moose shaped gloves. Everyone was pooped backed at the condo so we all just ate dinner then went to bed.

The sky was clear the next morning so B and I took our car into the city of Durango itself and hit Main Ave. The street was packed with art, clothes, candy, food, and souvenir shops. Our first order of business was food and we happened to find a fantastic Thai food place at the end of the block. After eating lunch we went to a few outlet stores and candy shops. B found a great pair of shoes at a skate/snowboard shop, and we saw some really great art that was definitely out of our price range. After grabbing a couple beers at a microbrewery right on Main Ave, we headed back to the condo to meet up with the family before dinner. Everyone wanted to eat back in Durango that night, so we showed them the brewery and all decided to eat there since they served food as well.

The next day, B's family woke up and left about an hour before we did since their drive was 13 hours and ours was only 8. We ended up getting an early start anyways because we wanted to stop in Albuquerque and visit their aquarium on the way home. B and I love going to aquariums and visit them pretty much any chance we get. The admission was only $7 each, and although it was a small facility, the variety of marine animals they had there was great! I have to say my favorite exhibit was a dark tunnel that a dimly lit eels swimming on all sides of the walls, some probably over 6ft long! The drive home was fairly uneventful and long feeling. Probably because I was ready to be back on my couch at that point.

Since then I have been working everyday and trying to prepare for the loads of homework and tests I have coming up. I'm about to start my convergence project which I am equally excited and terrified to do haha. Sorry to keep you all waiting for so long between blogs, but hopefully now that I am back on schedule I will be able to post more regularly! hope everyone has had a fun Spring Break!

-MH

So who witnessed all the weird weather we had yesterday? I remember leaving class, and it being sunny out, maybe 45-50 degrees outside. I was on the phone with my girlfriend later in the day and saw some flake-like objects land on my windshield as I was driving. I KNEW it was too warm outside for snow, so I figured it just fell off the bridge that I was passing under. As I pulled up to my house though, I could see very light snow was falling through the air, with the sun still poking through the clouds! I ran in to get my camera in hopes to take a good macro shot of a flake, but by the time I got back outside, the snow had already stopped. Amarillo weather never ceases to surprise me.

Today I had a short interview with one of the radio students about writing for the AC blog. The reporter asked some good questions and I gave honest answers. She said it would be aired this afternoon so I am currently listening to FM 90 to hopefully catch the recording.

Tomorrow I have an interview with the AC Ranger for what I believe is about my DJ alias Chiknbiskit. Either that or just being a student/musician at AC I'm not 100% sure. Keep an eye out in future issues of the Ranger for that feature!

I have a meeting scheduled with my advisor at UTA on Friday, right after I land, to discuss my schedule for next semester, as well as whatever else a transfer student like me might need to know. It was a time and a half trying to find an email for them, but my best friend (who has some weird knack for navigating and finding almost anything on a college website) found it within minutes, putting me to shame. I also have to finish up my financial aid verification documents this week and bring them with me as well to drop them off at the financial aid office at UTA. I finally got around to applying for the FAFSA, now all that's left is these documents and some more scholarship searching. Does anyone know of any good websites that have scholarship opportunities through different places? Sorry I can't be more specific, but I remember my mom found a few a couple years back, but I can't remember/find them again.

I'll hopefully be able to blog about my trip while on my trip, including my meeting with my advisor. It doesn't get too good until next Monday, when I head off to Austin for night one of John Mayer, then we come back to Dallas the next day and see him at the American Airlines Center. I've seen him four times before, but this is the first time I've seen him twice in the same tour. I could not be more excited. I'm using this vacation as kind of a last hurrah, since I doubt I'll be able to do something like this once I'm on my own in Arlington. Plus, it was part of my new year's resolutions that if I have the opportunity to do something, do it, no matter what.

Kind of bummed the Olympics are over. The last two weeks were amazing in so many ways. Team USA accomplished so much and there's always a feeling of unity during the Olympics. I'm a huge hockey fan, so while today's US vs. Canada matchup ended unfavorably, it was still a great game to watch. I can't wait to see what Russia brings in 2014.

I hope some of you got the opportunity to see Matt at the War Legion this weekend. I'm hoping to make it to one of his shows someday; I'm sure it's a great time.