Module 2, Week 4; Part 2

With this final blog post for Module 2, I decided to look at who I have in my “team of experts.”

Scott and April: Owners of “A Hero’s Legacy”: Without there store (Specifically, the “Independent Rack”) I would not be able to have easy access to the kinds of comics I want to discuss on the podcast. I would have fallen into the same pitfall that most comic book podcasts fall into which is discussing only DC and Marvel Comics since those are the “Big Two” in the comic industry. In terms of relating this to my Business Model Canvas; Scott, April and the store itself help me fill in the “Key Resources”, “Key Partners” and “Channels” blocks in the canvas. That’s one-third of my entire business model being connected to them, so it is critical to the success of my podcast that they stay within this team.

Stacey: Much like Scott and April, Stacey is a close friend of mine who helps me fill in the “Key Resources”, and “Key Partners” blocks of my Business Model Canvas. Her creative writing skills and the story she has produced through those skills provides content for me to use on the podcast. In return for allowing me to use her story as a source of content on my podcast, I am helping a friend solve a problem of getting their work out to a larger audience. My podcast will be a platform to get constructive criticism for the story that will help make it better, which in turn help improve the quality of the content in my podcast.

I will set aside time this week and revise my “startup schedule” yet again, with the goal of looking for at two other people to bring into my “team of experts.” The first person I will be looking for is someone who has written their own story and would be comfortable with having it read out loud on my podcast. The second person I will look for is some who has experience working with the technology involved in creating this podcast. From microphones to headsets to editing software. The goal of having in person with this technical know-how in the team is to help navigate technical problems I encounter. In addition, this person will a source for recommendations of any specific brands/product that will help improve the sound-quality of the podcast and the efficiency in producing it.

    

Module 2, Week 4

With this blog post I wanted to respond to an e-mail I got from Professor Noble in response to my submissions for the Business Model Canvas, Startup Schedule and “Plan of Attack”

“Also, final email. Your work is far better than you have ever done before. It’s the first time I’ve seen you approach your potential.

Tell me what happened please?”

Regarding what happened in terms of the quality of my work I think there has been an improvement because I started to be more social and start more conversations with people with the goal of building a connection that would be beneficial in this course (looking for people to bring into my “team of experts” for the podcast I will launch). An example of this is my conversations with the owners of the local comic book store I go to. One day, after I picked out and paid for the comics I wanted like usual, I noticed a poster one of the owners put up advertising the most recent Avengers movie called “Age of Ultron” I asked one of the store owners “Have you seen the most recent trailer for “Age of Ultron?” while pointing at the poster. From there, we went on for a good hour talking about all of the movies that make up the “Marvel Cinematic Universe”, the ones we liked, disliked and which characters or story arcs we think would make for good superhero movies.

Recently, I have brought up the podcast I will launch in my weekly conversations with the owners and they are intrigued by the idea. They especially like that I want to focus specifically on comics form their “independent rack” as well comics from smaller publishers like Image, IDW and Valiant as it will highlight the characters and creative teams that don’t get the same kind of publicity as DC and Marvel comics. I’ve also tried to pitch the idea of co-branding my podcast with their store “A Hero’s Legacy” to bring more customers to their store.

The other main thing that I believed help improve my work is that back during the brainstorming phase when I pitched the idea of a podcast, it allowed me to incorporate what I love (reading and talking about comic books) into the course work. As a result, I take more pride and consideration into the work I do for this class more than I have for almost any other course I have taken during my entire time at UConn. 

Module 2, Week 3

I decided to take up Professor Noble’s suggestion of taking a 30-minute walk at some point over the weekend. During this walk, I tried to free my mind of thinking about any problems I am facing outside of school along with all of the school work that I still need to do to be successful in not just this class, but my other classes as well.

For this walk, I decided to walk to the local comic book store and buy the comics I was excited to read this week. In terms of “imaging the possibilities” a lot of this was centered around “What If?” scenarios in the comics I am reading. Specifically, these “What If?” scenarios were centered on characters/teams and the possible actions they could take after being presented with a “crossroads” kind of moment in their most recent issue.  I had my phone with and plugged my headphones in so I could listen to music as I took my walk, so, I spent a small portion of the 30-minute walk imaging I was a part of a famous band walking out on stage to play in front of a sold out stadium.

Upon returning home from my walk, I felt refreshed and more energized when I sat back down at my computer and when back to work. At the time, I was working on a group project for another course I am taking this semester. (For this class, my team members and I are doing a project centered on how we would train new elderly hires to work with the current staff who are younger.) Within 30 minutes, I was able to get a good portion of my work for the group project completed. That included putting together a budget of the various things we would need to implement the training program and how much it would cost. I was also able to find a couple of YouTube videos to help argue why integrating younger and older employees would be beneficial not just for the employees, but for the company.

This idea of using exercise, specifically going for a simple walk is something that I will try to incorporate into my weekly schedule not just for this semester but moving forward in life. I think going for a walk, then coming back to my work is a great way to clear my head and boost energy/productivity.