Self+Reflection

=Self Reflection on Assignment 1, 2 and the Final Project.=

Assignment 1 allowed me to put academic focus on what I love. Because of this I thoroughly enjoyed it as I found myself delving into the deeper, less pronounced aspects of my favourite skateboarding website, The Berrics. I particularly am attracted to their advertising model, partly because I am a skateboarder, but also because of its un-intrusiveness into my online experience. I realized that they effectively have merged branding and advertising, whereby their videos are seen by millions around the world through the website and Youtube, and their products are showcased in several of the videos, along with the foundation one supports by purchasing the product. I also analyzed Cheetah Power Surge Energy Drink, a startup company that offered big bucks for the voted best advertisement submission. They used social networking, by tagging an incentive into other people in effect doing their dirty work for them: promotion.

Assignment 2 was less of my forte, as I am not as developed in my design/photograph manipulation skills as I am in my writing skills. Nevertheless, I set out to create 3 ads centered around the UTM Green Team with the tag line "Grow Up". Nice little pun. I struggled a little with using the logo, as I was not given a photoshop/illustrator raw file, I had to perform tedious magnetic lasso cuts in order to pull the logo from the JPEG into an editable form. Having to create three different ads, each one in a different size forced me to think constructively, as I had to convey a general message bound by different constraints each time. This mirrors the online advertising market whereby several design strategies may have to be shifted along with the ad size.

I particularly enjoyed the group aspect of the Final Project. I feel that UTM struggles to reward cooperation and social skills, which are sometimes more important in the workplace than individual academic brilliance. As I anticipate myself in a job relying heavily on communication, I welcome group activities. The task of the project was easily understood and very clear cut. We chose the UTM Women's Centre, an organization that struggles with an online (and offline) presence. We essentially revamped everything the organization does in terms of marketing. We defined our target market, set our goals, and employed our strategies to achieve these goals. As one of our group members volunteers with the UTM Women's Centre, we are hopeful that she can get our recommendations implemented so that we may see a positive (or negative) result.

In conclusion, CCT356 was an excellent class which balanced academics with humor and provided many enlightening resources and exactly what to do, and what not to do, to become a successful player in the game of online relevancy.