I'm oddly superstitious in certain instances. I don't carry a rabbits foot, or own a lucky penny, but come to hockey playoffs I wear the same jersey or t-shirt until the PENS lose, and on New Year's day I always have my bite of sauerkraut. Along with superstitions or common reoccurring things we do on New Year's, comes New Year's resolutions. According to infoplease.com "It is believed that the Babylonians were the first to make New Year's resolutions, and people all over the world have been breaking them ever since. (1) " Not that I'm claiming this is where they originated, but my brief research found that New Year's resolutions have been around for a long time.
A study discussed on Quirkology.com tracked people who set New Year's resolutions in 2007. They found that "52% of participants were confident of success. One year later, only 12% actually achieved their goal. (2)" Not the greatest statistic. The study found that men actually achieved their goals more often then women. It also reveals reasons why some are more successful then others. I encourage you to check out the article if you're a New Year's Resolution setter, but here's the basic points they make:
1.Make Only One Resolution
2. Plan ahead
3. Avoid previous resolutions
4. Be specific
For Men: Set S.M.A.R.T goals and Carrot not stick
For Women: Go public and Be persistent
In the past I've set some New Year's resolutions and I can't even recall what they were. I was of the greater majority that didn't achieve my goal of working out more last year! I lasted about a month or so at going to the gym! This year though, I plan to be in that 12%. I'm confident I will be for a few reasons. First and foremost I don't consider my resolutions to be that, instead I'm calling them goals. Goals to me sound more definite and concrete. So without further delay, I'll take the recommended point of going public with your resolutions and reveal what I WILL accomplish in 2011.
1. Run a half-marathon. This is a big one since I've only ever run 5k's. I'm thinking this topic will be something that comes up in the coming year in this blog!
2. Try new things. While this is very broad, I've already identified specifics, but am keeping it broad to encompass both professional and personal me. One example is I intend to try new foods. I'm a VERY picky eater... the problem with that statement is I haven't tried a lot of foods, I just don't like the thought of trying them! This will change in 2011.
3. Be better at everything. Again, very broad, but I have the specifics! Personally I intend to work on my patiences. I've already got a jump start on this since my niece received Lego's from Santa! I never had Lego's as a kid... there was a reason why! Professionally one thing I plan to work on is being concise.
4. Find luck. ... no comments really necessary right?!
I wish everyone a happy and successful 2011, and may the year be always improving and better than 2010!
*Random hockey side note: I tried to abbreviate New Year's resolution as NYR so I wouldn't have to write it out so many times and all I could think when I read each sentence was New York Rangers.
1. http://www.infoplease.com/spot/newyearcelebrations.html#ixzz19p07Y4bt
2. http://www.quirkology.com/UK/Experiment_resolution.shtml
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Monday, December 13, 2010
I might need crayons for this.
Kids are smart. They tend to keep things simple and I like it. This all began a few days ago when I was at my sisters house discussing a business card I was creating. The discussion focused on whether the logo should be moved. My thoughts were that perhaps there was too much white space, or possibly it was just enough. After a couple minutes of discussion between my sister and I, my 6-year-old niece offered the perfect solution... we could color it! At that precise moment my heart melted and I handed all of my business cards to her to color. The solution of course for me wasn't that easy... but in her mind it made sense.
Today another, what I'll refer to as "youthful," event occurred. I received a card from a secret admirer! While in all reality I nailed down who it was from within 2-seconds of opening the card, the simplicity of sending/giving a secret admirer card is delightful. Made me think back to the elementary school days when you liked someone you simply wrote them a note, they circled yes or no, and you moved on. Looking at that now, the solution doesn't seem that easy... but in your mind at that age it made sense.
So all in all, this could be a homeage to a child's way of thinking, or perhaps a foreshadowing of what sort of New Years resolution I should make... Here's to keeping things simple... coloring and asking people exactly what you want to know. I might need to find my crayons for this.
-M
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
My other job
So it's been WAY to long since I've blogged. Oddly enough I actually wrote a blog just never posted it about a month ago! So, it's old news now! I've been super busy with all my time going to both my part-time and "full-time" jobs... My reason for rejoining this wonderful world of blogging... The topic of having a job and finding a new job!
I'm stuck in this endless cycle. I don't intend to rant about the issues regarding finding a job that you truly love. (Which is something I'm big on... why do something if you're not going to love doing it? Why waste both your own, and other people's time?) I've found that since I started working part-time as an administrative assistant I have less time to search for a career job! While I in no way intend to fall into the trap of not looking for the career I want anymore because I have a job (cause I'm sure all the people that have fallen into the trap intended to), I'm starting to see why you find engineers working at Radio Shack and business majors selling cars. It's time consuming to find a job. It takes patience and persistence and dedication. Finding a job is a full time job... now only if someone could pay me for it...
The job market is fierce. It's competitive and complex and takes a lot of skill almost to even begin to utilize a fraction of the available resources to finding a job. I'll keep working my 9-12 (or 3ish... whenever I'm finally done for the day) job, than head home to start in on my full-time job search to find that perfect job where I don't even notice I'm working way more than 9-5! Until then... it's double duty for this girl. Just one day/job search at a time!
I'm stuck in this endless cycle. I don't intend to rant about the issues regarding finding a job that you truly love. (Which is something I'm big on... why do something if you're not going to love doing it? Why waste both your own, and other people's time?) I've found that since I started working part-time as an administrative assistant I have less time to search for a career job! While I in no way intend to fall into the trap of not looking for the career I want anymore because I have a job (cause I'm sure all the people that have fallen into the trap intended to), I'm starting to see why you find engineers working at Radio Shack and business majors selling cars. It's time consuming to find a job. It takes patience and persistence and dedication. Finding a job is a full time job... now only if someone could pay me for it...
The job market is fierce. It's competitive and complex and takes a lot of skill almost to even begin to utilize a fraction of the available resources to finding a job. I'll keep working my 9-12 (or 3ish... whenever I'm finally done for the day) job, than head home to start in on my full-time job search to find that perfect job where I don't even notice I'm working way more than 9-5! Until then... it's double duty for this girl. Just one day/job search at a time!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Hockey Boards...
Hockey boards are plastered with advertisements. These logos, pictures, and catchphrases cost a lot of money. But who are they intended for? The fan in attendance or the TV spectators? And how effective are they I wonder? While both in-house and TV fans alike are exposed to the ads, I'd argue the TV fan barely notices a lot of them, and the fan in attendance has too many other things to pay attention to. AND even if they do notice them ad, is the recollection of the ad even effective?
The Boards and TV: When watching the game on TV you notice how quickly the camera moves to follow the puck. I challenged myself to try and actually read and recognize some of the logos. While I could figure out what a lot of them where, there were many that had I not had a few opportunities, or previous knowledge of who some of the sponsors are, I would still be trying to figure it out. The issue came down to that the camera was either zoomed out so far to watch the play that some logos were too small, zoomed in on a close-up that you could only see bits and pieces, or the play was simply too fast.
At the game: While at the game the issues are similar in that hockey is a fast-paced game. You rarely look at one section of the ice for an extended amount of time. Add into the numerous sponsorships and ads throughout the arena, and game as a whole, it's tough to really pay attention or care about what is going on aside from the game itself. I would argue that there is a saturation of advertising causing the consumer to be able to easily tune it out in hockey arenas, if not all sporting events.
Kevin Lane Kellar in The Journal of Consumer Research © 1987 (1), discusses the consumers likelihood to retrieve an advertisement from their memory based off of what they felt or saw during the time they saw the advertisement. So let's say the PENS win a game, Highmark is an ad I saw on their boards, I was excited during the game. I find out after the game I'm fired from my job and need to find my own health insurance coverage. Does the excitement of winning and the feeling of hope tie into the getting insurance, and being able to afford good coverage through Highmark, or does the excitement of winning tie into the fact I lost my job and now have more expenses. Change the situation and the PENS lost the game, I need insurance for the same reason, now I'm recalling Highmark based off a bad situation, will I really think highly of Highmark? It's a tough question advertising researches must face when placing these ad's on the boards. A sure thought of association for most people is "I like the PENS. The PENS are associated with Highmark. Thus I like Highmark." A simple concept and train of thought.
But the boards cost a lot. There are different exposure times depending on who is meant to see them and where in the rink they're located, while the speed of the game makes you constantly change where you're looking. does the memory retrieval work and even out the cost to put a giant sticker on the boards?
1. Memory Factors in Advertising: The Effect of Advertising Retrieval Cues on Brand Evaluations. Kevin Lane Keller. The Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 14, No. 3 (Dec., 1987), pp. 316-333. Published by: The University of Chicago Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2489494
The Boards and TV: When watching the game on TV you notice how quickly the camera moves to follow the puck. I challenged myself to try and actually read and recognize some of the logos. While I could figure out what a lot of them where, there were many that had I not had a few opportunities, or previous knowledge of who some of the sponsors are, I would still be trying to figure it out. The issue came down to that the camera was either zoomed out so far to watch the play that some logos were too small, zoomed in on a close-up that you could only see bits and pieces, or the play was simply too fast.
At the game: While at the game the issues are similar in that hockey is a fast-paced game. You rarely look at one section of the ice for an extended amount of time. Add into the numerous sponsorships and ads throughout the arena, and game as a whole, it's tough to really pay attention or care about what is going on aside from the game itself. I would argue that there is a saturation of advertising causing the consumer to be able to easily tune it out in hockey arenas, if not all sporting events.
Kevin Lane Kellar in The Journal of Consumer Research © 1987 (1), discusses the consumers likelihood to retrieve an advertisement from their memory based off of what they felt or saw during the time they saw the advertisement. So let's say the PENS win a game, Highmark is an ad I saw on their boards, I was excited during the game. I find out after the game I'm fired from my job and need to find my own health insurance coverage. Does the excitement of winning and the feeling of hope tie into the getting insurance, and being able to afford good coverage through Highmark, or does the excitement of winning tie into the fact I lost my job and now have more expenses. Change the situation and the PENS lost the game, I need insurance for the same reason, now I'm recalling Highmark based off a bad situation, will I really think highly of Highmark? It's a tough question advertising researches must face when placing these ad's on the boards. A sure thought of association for most people is "I like the PENS. The PENS are associated with Highmark. Thus I like Highmark." A simple concept and train of thought.
But the boards cost a lot. There are different exposure times depending on who is meant to see them and where in the rink they're located, while the speed of the game makes you constantly change where you're looking. does the memory retrieval work and even out the cost to put a giant sticker on the boards?
1. Memory Factors in Advertising: The Effect of Advertising Retrieval Cues on Brand Evaluations. Kevin Lane Keller. The Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 14, No. 3 (Dec., 1987), pp. 316-333. Published by: The University of Chicago Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2489494
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