BLOG REBORN!!!!

Sorry for the dramtic title, but I've decided that it's time for this blog, which was started as part of one of my college classes, to be reborn and converted into something a little more personal and entertaining. It was always my intention for this blog to evolve into something more than just a school project, hence the reason that I included one of my online tags, The Guy In the Penguin Suit, as part of the title. No, the tag is not refering to a tux, it's refering to an actual Penguin Suit. No, I've never actually worn a penguin suit, but maybe one day I'll share the story behind it all. So first, just a little bit about myself. As you may have guessed, my name is Roger. I live in a small town in Utah, and before anyone asks, yes I am a member of The Church Of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints (a Mormon). I'm 24 years old. I have an amazingly wonderful and beautiful wife (yes, only one), but no children as of yet. I work full-time for the local phone company dealing with Directv, Cable TV, cell phones, landlines, and internet. I'm also going to school full-time trying to finish a degree in business with an emphasis on accounting. I love to watch movies with my wife, my parents, and my siblings. I love music. I love to play video games (come find me on the PSN as Andivarious, or come find one of my characters in RIFT). I love to read sci-fi, fantasy, and mystery books (though I don't read a lot of mysteries). And, I love to write! I currently have about four different ideas that I'm actively working on, but I find that it's very difficult to get any writing done at all between the time commitments and the stress caused from working and going to school full time. When I get a little closer to being done with some of my ideas I'll trying and write a bit about them. I've decided that I'm addicted to stories. The games that I love to play, the books that I love to read, and the stuff that I love to write are all about the stories that they tell. Along the lines of loving to write, I found a new website that is pretty awesome. It's called writingsnippets.com and they've got some awesome stuff on their site for writers, including interveiws, that include helpful tips, from current authors. If you like to write, or even if you just love to read, you should check out the site and see what they've got. Now that I've introduced myself, I have to figure out what exactly I'm going to write about with this blog... Guess I'll have to think about this for a little while. Until later, Roger, The Guy in the Penguin Suit.

And so it ends in Week #14...

It's sad that our class is now over. Originally I wasn't really all that excited about this class, in fact I was kind of dreading it, but it turned out to be one of my best classes this semester, and by far the most fun.

This week's chapter was interesting. I thought that it was cool to look at the different pricing methods and try to figure out how they apply the company that I work for. It was kind of hard to really place our companies mind set because we sell phones at a discount in exchange for a two year contract. The balance of long term income versus an immediate loss is something that is beyond be without more information than I have, but it was still interesting to speculate about it.

The other thing that I found interesting was the discussion about the effects of hard times on pricing and a marketers job. I liked that part because of the current economic climate. It was good to see something that applied to today, to my everyday job.

Well, I guess this is it, my last entry for this class. It seems so strange for this class to be over, but I guess that's the way it is. I'll continue to use this blog for personal things I think. It's been kind of fun.

Until later,

Roger, the Guy in the Penguin Suit

Week #13...Are we really so close to the end?

This chapter on sales promotions was very interesting. Sales promotions is probably one of the things most associated with marketing by the general populace. I had to laugh about the Loyalty Marketing section with the comment about how the average household participates in twelve different frequent buyer programs, just because that is so true of my family. I swear it's like a compulsion that my mother has, if there is a loyalty program out there, she has to be a part of it, it's just funny. I think that my favorite promotion for most things is sampling. This seems to be the most effective one for me, because I want either reliable information from a source that I trust will give me the honest truth or I want to be able to test it out for myself. Maybe it's because I'm poor and so every purchase carries a higher finacial risk... that's a thought... but who knows.
The other part that was interesting was the steps in the selling process. I found this interesting because I'm in sales. Not all of the steps apply to me, cause I'm in a more retail environment, but it was still interesting to read.
Well, until next week I suppose, at least for one more time...
Roger the Guy in the Penguin Suit

Starting to wrap it up, week #12

Well, I wasn't there last week so it writing this is going to be a little more difficult than usual. The chapter was good. I found the different looks at the various advertising channels and all the associated facts very interesting. The other thing that I found very interesting was how much was spent of advertising. Some of those companies spend ten million a day on advertising, that's just crazy. I guess it is worth it though because they continue to spend the money on it. Also, I have to say that the huge sign of the soccer player in the chapter was pretty amazing. Sadly I'm not sure what more to say, so...

Until next week,

Roger, the Guy in the Penguin Suit

And around comes week #11!

This was an interesting chapter. I thought that it was interesting that it talked about how one concern of advertising is that the receiver of the message may not always decode the message in the intended way. I don't even know how many times I've watched an ad on TV and wondered what on earth the marketers who developed the ad could have been thinking, or wondered if they thought their commercial all the way through. But this chapter helped me understand a little better about how it may not be as easy as it seems to get your message across in exactly the way you wish. Every person is different and we all interpret the stimuli we are presented with in a different way. So you would have to be able to make a message very simple, while still making it unique and interesting enough that it is memorable.

The other thing that was interesting was the section on blogs and how they have impacted the world of Marketing. I never realized how big and how important for business blogs have become in recent years.

It was also interesting to me to see how the market has changed from being mostly product driven, to being more consumer driven. It makes sense that such a change has happened, however, when you consider the advances in technology.

Well, I'm not sure what else to say, so...

Until later,

Roger, the Guy in the Penguin Suit

Wow, #10 already? CRAAAZY!!!

Once again, I'm amazed at how my business classes overlap. The whole section on JIT inventory and inventory control was a new view on some of the material I covered in accounting. It was nice to have it discussed in a different light. I really love seeing the many roles that technology plays in business.
I also found the various things from the IPs on Dell. I suppose that I have to admit that what they have done really is fairly impressive. They've really changed the way that your average person buys computers. That said, I hate their products. I think that they are poor quality and they are very expensive to repair, but that's just my opinion. I do have to acknowledge their business prowess.
And I found the section on transportation interesting since I used to work for a trucking company. It was interesting to see where we stacked up on the matrix.
I think that I'm out of things to say, so...
Until next time,
Roger, the Guy in the Penguin Suit

And now, the amazing #9

I really don't know what to say about this week. The test was pretty good. It went well and I was glad to see that my studing served me well.
Until next week,
Roger, the Guy in the Penguin Suit