Simulations
The simulation projects we worked on in HTM 301 with Professor Dillette was one of my favorite projects. It also opened my eyes to who I am as a leader when working with group. We were told to put on an event within a week with a $30 budget, so we got together and brainstormed some ideas. During these class meetings, there was an assessor who would observe us individually on the way we communicated with others. Normally, I'm more on the quiet side and I don't speak up as much, but I found myself speaking up more because of how exciting this project was. At the end of the simulation, the assessor gave me some feedback and noticed that I was very creative with my ideas and had a lot of valuable input to offer to the group. However, she noticed that I am someone who doesn't bring up ideas unless
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Overall, I learned how to work together as a team to bring an actual project to life, and that was my favorite part. Rather than talking about how to put on an event, we actually did it, and with minimal directions. I finally understood the stress that event planners feel, because things don't always go the way you plan. We planned to purchase items from specific stores to plan our budgeting by looking at prices online, but in reality, the items were more expensive or unavailable at the stores. We had to improvise at the last minute, but we pulled it all together. Professor Dillette, Carl, and our assessor said that we "hit it out of the ballpark." The project also taught me to gain more confidence in my ideas, even though not every idea is going to be pursued and that is okay. Not every idea is going to be the big "a-ha" lightbulb moment, but a great idea is actually a network of ideas (what I learned from reading Drive by Daniel H. Pink).
Restaurant Marketing (HTM 342)
This course with Professor Campbell was one of my favorite classes I have taken at SDSU. Jeff has so much real-life experience in the hospitality industry that made me really interested in the marketing aspect of the industry. This class had also taught me how to work in a team setting through a project, which was to recreate the HTM program for prospective students by developing a market plan. As a class, we all agreed there were flaws in the program for prospective students and transfer students. Our goal was to use target different audiences through different social media platforms (powerpoint slide to the right ->). Similar to the simulations, it was a real life project, which made it that much more interesting and I felt myself very involved in the discussions. I felt I had a connection to the older generations and their uses of social media, which is why I took on "Facebook," and found ways that parents would be interested in learning more about SDSU and the HTM program. My idea was to promote the student organization, "Foodies," and student cooking classes because in my opinion, parents would be intrigued by the idea. Overall, it taught me to speak up about my ideas and how to convince others why it was a good idea. Speaking up during discussions lead to great ideas and we all bounced back and forth, when most times I find myself being the listener.
One of the most memorable clips Jeff showed us is "Tricks advertisers use to make food look delicious" (Clip to the right ->).I was so intrigued and shocked at the way companies could market their products through bazar strategies. I have shared this video with many of my friends and family, who have similar reactions to the video. This video by itself made me very interested in marketing, which is something I am looking to pursue in my career. |
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