Well, I am not going to lie. Tonight I am simply blogging because I have too. I really have nothing of value to say to anyone. I wish that I did, but I really don’t.
Ash and I just had nachos and soda with our friends, the Gibbons. That was the highlight of the day. Ash also made some cookies that we plan to take to my family tomorrow.
I dunno, I hope that everyone is doing good. I guess I will see you when I see you… Peace out.
I spent my Saturday down at the University of Utah. The business students held a very informative conference aimed at student entrepreneurs. At the conference, there were three breakout sessions, each separated by networking sessions, and a keynote speaker.
I really liked the keynote, a gentleman that co-founded Avalanche Games, and his perspective on business. He started up the company with three other friends with really no goals in mind. His company eventually grew at was bought by Disney. He really was fun to listen to.
Just wanted to update my family, and whoever accidentally fell onto this site, that the Opportunity Quest orientation on Tuesday.
The orientation will be a good time to bring any questions that you might have. It is also a great place to network with the New Venture Consulting Group. They will be mentors for all of the participants and, after the ideas are submitted, judges for the competition.
After the orientation all are encouraged to register for both, Opportunity Quest and the Student Entrepreneur Conference. To register for Opportunity Quest, please visit the Entrepreneur Club’s website. Registration for the Student Entrepreneur Conference will be handled through the University of Utah’s website.
It feels like I have tried everything. I have made posters, shirts, slides, adds, events, but I am still not getting participation. I have to make this a success, but how? How do you go and try to make hard-work look fun? A cash prize? Check. Free t-shirt? Check.
The thing that I am coming to learn is that, this might be a growing thing. That despite my efforts, this event has to be built over time. That year by year, this brand must be built. It just requires nurturing, patience, a little water, and sunlight.
If you are a student at Utah State, come check this out. I guarantee that our judges, the New Venture Consulting Group, will make you a winner. They will take that passion and get you the money you need to start your business up. Why wait?
I have been trying to find effective ways to market Opportunity Quest. So far I (with a lot of help from my wife and Bergendi Hatch) have been working on a poster. It has really come a long way. The final version looks like this
This is going to get put all over campus. I am really excited for this thing to get under way. It is going to be a great tradition to look forward to every year. I really like that the competition is open to all students of Utah State.
In addition, all of the finalist will move onto the main competition at the University of Utah. If you are interested in participating let me know. This could be the beginning that your idea needs to be the next multi-billion dollar business.
Earlier this semester I was given the privilege to be apart of the Entrepreneur Club. I was given the responsibility to organize a competition for USU called Opportunity Quest. When I first heard about it I was stoked. I thought, that organizing a competition was going to be easy. I basically got the final say on everything; the marketing, planning out the dates, and helping with the judging. It also seemed that this would look great on a resume. The shock is that organizing this is hard. I mean really hard.
To date I have had to meet with multiple people several times. I have designed a poster numerous times to ensure that when it prints it will look awesome. Dates have been scheduled, re-scheduled, then scheduled again. To say the least, it has been a whole lot of work to get just here.
Where is here you might ask? Currently, I have a poster designed that I will place across campus. I designed a t-shirt that will be a freebie later on. I designed a TV slide that will be displayed in key areas. In cooperation with others, I planned dates for events such as: orientation, registration, executive summary submission deadline, presentations for finalist, and a dinner for the finalist.
I still need to market a seminar that is in the middle of all of this. This is quite the task, but I have never regretted the responsibility. I truly believe that Opportunity Quest can foster a healthy entrepreneurial spirit. If you would like additional information concerning Opportunity Quest feel free to contact me.
I have been thinking, ‘what can I be doing to get ready to graduate.’ So far, this has only provided me extra anxiety, and a bad case of ‘the runs.’
In all honesty, there is plenty that I can be doing. The first step that I have been looking at is, how long do I have left? I have been trying to give myself a good timeline detailing the classes that I need and what can I be doing with the rest of my time.
Speaking of open time, I have been researching internships. When I first starting thinking them, it was confusing how to really maximize the experience. For instance, it is hard to get a sense of responsibility and leadership when you have none. It really is quite silly. Well as I have learned, the responsibility is completely on you. You really have to make the most of your time by shadowing every action that you see take place. A professor of mine was instructing us to ‘really put yourself out there.’ Meaning, you have to be the one to ask.
Another opportunity that I have tried to make the most of is networking. As of right now, I am participating within three clubs, at Utah State. This is really a three-fold initiative. First, it is a great place to learn of additional fundamental theories of business, theories such as Lean management. Secondly, within these clubs are some of the best students here at Utah State. I am in the middle rubbing shoulders with them. My fellow peers provide deep insight to current topics of study. Also, it is a great way to get a boost into the workplace. Third, participating in clubs provides great opportunities in leadership roles. Currently, I am helping the Entrepreneur Club in planning Opportunity Quest.
In total there is so much more that I can/should be doing. The possibilities are endless.
Coming this Fall is a competition called Opportunity Quest. It should be pretty exciting. The point of the competition is if you have a good idea for a business to come and pitch it to a panel of your local peers.
This competition is exciting because the winner will take home $3,000. There is no registration needed. Just submit your ideas, if it is a good enough idea, you can pitch it to the panel of judges.
Another cool part is that anyone can can be apart of this; Such as a student, faculty, resident, or anyone else! More details are coming, so keep your eyes peeled.
I have been assigned to plan out my next five years. To find out what I am going to do while I pay out every cent that found its way into my wife’s checking account. As a class we were told that we must know the company that we are going to work for or know the industry. It has been enjoyable to research what my options will be once I finish. It seems that there is so much out there for me to experience.
I have been looking a lot into Economics and Finance. While researching I noticed that it is a rapidly expanding occupation. The Bureau of Labor Statistics(BLS) noted that this field of work will see an expansion of nearly 33% through the year 2016. That might not mean a lot, but it means job security to me.
The assignment was not just to surf the Internet and find who is hiring. I was to find what position I would apply for, my daily schedule, pay scale expectations, and working locations. It is cool to think about where I might be in five years. I want to submit myself to my first few jobs. Learn everything that I can. Go where I have to. I really believe that if I keep a good attitude it will erase much of the competition.
I am in a class right now that is called Business Communications. At first I thought it was a English class mingled with business vocabulary. I heard that it was going to be a lot of busy work covering the basics of grammar. Well thus far it has proven to be quite interesting. Each day there is a student prepared lecture covering topics in which we students signed up for. From time to time there has been homework; sample readings, blog posts, and other things.
On Friday it so happened that as a class, we were assigned to do some reading on marketing ourselves. From the get go, it has seemed really interesting. Up until now, I have simply relied on what rolls off my tongue, in the heat of the moment, to market myself. This has usually yielded some interesting results. Some times for the better, other times leading to the demise of whatever credible perception that I had. Well as I read the assigned readings there were very interesting points that have stuck out to me. These points which I plan on working on.
One of the things that seemed to be universal, was that I needed to be consistent in having a clear foundation. Meaning, that I needed to organize what I wanted people to perceive in me. This can be very difficult, especially in our digital world. It is so easy to be misunderstood. Often when people can not read your body language it is remarkably easy to take something the wrong way. Another way to look at the originally mentioned point, is that I need to have a clear road map on what I want to become. I need to have long term goals running parallel with my short term goals. Furthermore, I need to be consistent with my branding. The example that I read talked about Nike. The author spoke how they market to create the image of a active lifestyle. If you were to suddenly see them market saying that they were a bunch of couch potatoes it would get youreally confussed. Thus, remain consistent with markeeting your image.