Lesson From HTWIP Part 4

Part four of How to Win Friends and Influence People taught many important lessons about how to be a good leader. One principle that I personally employed was "ask questions instead of giving direct orders." I am currently working on a group project for my management class. There are two main parts to the assignment:
1.) Interview a manager about their experiences
2.) Talk about how these experiences relate to the course material we have covered.
One of my group members, Adam is in a circle of friends that I sometimes hang out with. We had planned on doing the interview Friday evening when our manager was done with work. There was also a large party planned for Friday night that I knew Adam planned to attend. On Thursday afternoon he asked me if I were going to the party and asked if I wanted to go to a movie with some friends before. It was evident that he had forgotten about the interview which was worth half our grade. Instead of yelling at him for his carelessness and ordering him to forget the movie I asked if there would be time between the interview and the party. The look on his face confirmed that he had forgotten, but he saved face and his pride wasn't hurt. He tried to play it off by saying "not sure how long the movie is, ill check it out and let you know." Later that night he text me and said there would not be enough time...duh!

Revised First Year Budget 3/30/09

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Two Sources of Financing

In an effort to seek funding I would first turn to angel investors to avoid debt. My business is in Niagara Falls, NY and it is more probable to get funding from a local financier. The HSBC Plaza is only 45 minutes from my location. Information about the Rochester Angel Network is found below:

Option One: Rochester Angel Network
Address:
Rochester Angel Network
100 Chestnut Street
HSBC Plaza - Suite 1910
Rochester, NY 14604

Contact Person:
James Senall
Director of Rochester Angel Network
Phone: 585-546-8477
Email:Takes Place Through Website

I understand however that acquiring this financing from RAN is highly improbable because their previous clients were mostly technology based companies. I therefore found two other sources to borrow the money through loans. Friends and family would not provide the necessary start-up capital.

Option Two: Bank of America:

Address:
1263 Military Rd
Niagara Falls, NY 14304

Contact Person:
Frank G. Giogas
Assistant Banking Center Manager
Telephone: 716-283-8783
Fax- 716-283-6462

Information about small business loans was found on the Bank of America Website. Bank of America is my personal bank and Frank manages my current account. I called and talked to him and he said that he would be responsible for the initial phases of getting a loan.

Option Three: First Niagara Financial Group:
Address:
7350 Niagara Falls Blvd
Niagara Falls, NY 14304

Contact Person:
Angela Robinson
Loan Officer
Telephone: 716) 283-0749

In order to attain this information I had to call the bank and personally ask who I would contact.

Updated Enterprise Value 3/30/09

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Social Interaction

After our games on Sunday two of my room mates and I went to Friendly's. In previous trips to this restaurant the service has been extremely poor. When we were seated I smiled at the waitress, and while using her name, said hello. Throughout the greeting I asked her how she was and she responded with the typical "im okay how are you?" I said that I was hungry and asked what entree was her personal preference. I took her advice and while waiting for a friend to make up her mind I asked "don't you hate it when people take forever to order?" She laughed and said it was no problem. This is slightly dissimilar from the secret of Socrates, but I think the humor eased the silence. Later in the meal she brought out the food and she served me the wrong entree. I asked her if this were the entree that she recommended and she said there must have been a mistake in the kitchen. Instead of taking the food and correcting the mistake she gave it to our table to eat. This was a nice gesture and unnecessary because I have been in similar situations where I had to wait another twenty minutes for food. The service that night was very good and I think it was partly due to Dale Carnegie and the book How To Win Friends and Influence People.

Journalist Interaction

The reporter who I contacted a few weeks ago was Andrea Thomson. I still have yet to meet her in person because she is not often on campus. She is very busy with the news section of the paper and during spring break the campus is shut down. She recently wrote an article regarding the opportunities offered by the shriver center. There are many internships and part time jobs offered over the summer. I really liked the way the article addressed the financial struggles of students. I contacted Andrea on AIM and found out that she is writing a new piece about construction on campus. I talked about her article and told her that the career fair on campus is how I acquired my summer internship. We had another positive conversation and then she had to go to a dentist appointment. I have not heard from her recently but I feel our conversations are going well.

Secret of Socrates

This week I used the secret of Socrates in an interaction with my boyfriend Ryan. We played five softball games this weekend and I was pretty tired. On Saturday we played two games at 12pm and 2pm. We were outside in 40 degree weather for about seven hours (we warm up for about 2 hours before games.) Needless to say I was tired, hungry and slightly irritated. Ryan wanted to go out for a nice dinner following the game. I on the other hand wanted to just relax and have a quiet night. I asked him questions like: Don't you want to just relax? Do you really feel like getting all dressed up? Wouldn't the time it takes to get ready prolong eating for another couple hours, aren't you hungry now? It turned out that Ryan decided to make me a nice pasta dinner. I was very pleased that he converted to my way of thinking.

First Year Budget

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Enterprise Value

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Revised Enterprise Value Calculations

The Enterprise Value of Apple on the IPO date: $1,192,737,304
Current Enterprise Value: $75,774,205,496.90
888,325,973 outstanding shares x $85.30
(According to the 10-Q report filed by Apple on January 23, 2009 and Yahoo Finance)
The comparative percentage is an increase of 6352%

The Enterprise Value of Microsoft on the IPO date: $52,500,000
Current Enterprise Value: $135,847,800,699.44
8,890,562,873 outstanding shares x $15.28
(According to the Second Quarter 10-Q report filed by Microsoft on January 20, 2009 and Yahoo Finance)
The comparative percentage is an increase of 258757%

The enterprise value of Microsoft is 56% higher then Apple.

12 Month Marketing Budget

Sledding

Name: Emily Thompson
URL: emily15@umbc.edu
From: Niagara Falls New York
Referral: Blog
VisitedTossingGames: No
Type: New Hill Submittal
State: Maryland
City: Baltimore
County: Baltimore
Land: School
Property: Private Property
Permission: Yes
Designated: No
Turf: Dirt
Slope: 50 degrees
Length: 300 - 400 ft. long
Accessible: Yes
Parking: Yes
Texture: Smooth & Bumpy
Hazards: Yes
Crowds: None
Photo: No
Specific Location, Comments, etc.: There is parking near the athletic turf. Trees to the far left of the hill cause obstructions.
subject: Sledding Location Submittal

Ten Social Interactions

1. On Wednesday night I went to see the movie He’s Just Not That Into You with some friends. One of my friends Chris decided that he did not want to see a “chick flick.” He said they were sappy and boring. Although I strongly disagree I did not tell him he was wrong. I offered some examples of movies he thought were funny. I challenged him to sit through the movie and try to enjoy it. It turned out to be a fun night and Chris didn’t complain.


2. My boyfriend Ryan finally went to get a long over due hair cut. I often go with him to supervise the event. The regular woman that does his hair was not in on Wednesday afternoon. After he told her not to cut his hair too short she did what she wanted anyway. I did not criticize, condemn or complain and I reassured him that it would grow back in soon.


3. On Tuesday the UMBC softball team played George Washington. One of the freshmen grabbed the bucket of machine balls instead of the regular balls. I called attention to this indirectly by asking Brandon if coach wanted us to bring the machine balls instead of the regular ones. I did not give an order to switch buckets and insult her but instead suggested the switch indirectly.


4. During warm up drills on Tuesday, I heard Valerie talking about her dislike for another teammate. I then told Valerie that the girl she was trashing spoke highly about rooming with her over the weekend because she avoids gossip. This gave her a reputation that I hope she tries to live up to.


5. Jen has been having trouble hitting. She has been consistently striking out and her mental game is taking a hit. At her last at bat on Tuesday she struck out but fouled off two pitches. I made sure to point out that this was an improvement and that she is making connection, she was sure to hit it in play soon. That seemed to cheer her up.


6. We went to eat at Taco Bell following our games on Tuesday. The restaurant was short staffed and did not seem ready for the twenty-three people that walked in the door at once. Jeff, the man at the counter, looked overwhelmed. He accidentally overcharged me one apple empanada. I told him it wasn’t a problem because im sure my friend would like a dessert, besides it was only 89 cents. The fault was easy to correct.


7. Brittany is very protective of her things, specifically her milk. A friend came over and drank what was left of her milk. I thought her overreaction was really amusing but I sympathized with her and let her drink my milk.


8. Amanda was working at the UMBC bookstore. I walked up to her and asked how her day had been. I smiled, used her name and said I have a sister with the same name. She said she only had a brother and proceeded to talk about how annoying a younger brother could be. I took and interest and let her do most of the talking. I chimed in and said that I also have a younger brother. The conversation was pleasant and we parted ways.


9. Jeffrey is good with computers. I recently had to make a spreadsheet for a certain class and was a bit confused with excel. I went up to Jeff who is typically cocky and offers help while making you feel terrible. I praised him for his computer skills and appreciated his skills. After complimenting him he was happy to help me with my spreadsheet.


10. The softball booster club donated new travel gear for the team. I felt we should send them a thank you. I received some hesitation from some teammates as if I were too sentimental. I dramatized my idea by expressing how nice it is to be thanked for helping out others. I brought up creating an elaborate thank you video and had everybody laughing. After that it was simple getting people to sign a card.

Jeffrey is an early adopter. He currently has an LG Voyager from Verizon wireless. He uses his phone for text, picture, and video messaging. The touch screen is becoming more accepted in the cell phone market. It is in the process of crossing the chasm and entering the early majority. Jeffrey purchased this phone six months ago, which excludes him from the innovators. He bought this product early in the life cycle which makes his an early adopter. The touch screen is not yet completely accepted because its practicality is often questioned.

Updated Enterprise Value

According to the Second Quarter 10-Q report filed by Microsoft on January 20, 2009:
There were 8,890,562,873 shares outstanding. The price of stock is currently $15.79 on March 2, 2009 at 4:48pm.

The Enterprise Value for the company is therefore: 140,381,987,764.67
The comparative % is currently -2.23%

According to the 10-Q report filed by Apple on January 23, 2009:
There were 888,325,973 shares outstanding. The price of Apple stock is currently $87.94 on March 2, 2009 at 4:49pm.

The Enterprise Value for the company is therefore: 78,119,386,065.62
The comparative % is currently: -1.53%

Reporter Interaction

My attempt to form a positive relationship with a "Retriever Weekly" journalist is still underway. I looked at all the staff members and viewed their facebook profiles if possible. Many of the writers had privacy settings that limited the viewing of personal information. I was not able to touch base with anybody at the 214 University Center address this week. My daytime schedule is very filled between class and softball practice. When I went by later at night nobody was there. I then resorted to looking at facebook profiles to get AIM screen names. Two members offered this information, Magan Zlock (production) and Andrea Thomson (news). I sent both writers instant messages and Andrea responded. She was hesitant to talk to me because she did not recognize my screen name. I then explained that I was contacting her for academic purposes and although I blew my cover, I think we had a positive conversation. I know that an online conversation eliminates some of the principles in HTWFIP, but I tried to make up for these losses wherever possible. My initial message read "Hi Andrea :-)". This was my attempt to smile. We had a very in depth conversation and I sent her my UMBC softball biography so she could get to know a little about me. My picture was also included so that we will recognize each other on campus. Even if we are not yet friends, I think I have laid a good foundation for a positive personal interaction.

Revised Slides with Marketing Budget

Additional Traffic

The ways in which I will increase the volume and quality of traffic to my blog include:

-creating a link to my blog on my facebook page
-linking the most popular google search terms of 2007 to my blog. These terms include baby names, weather, maps and directions. I “googled” each term and linked the first page listed to my blog.

The links are:
http://www.babynames.com/
http://www.weather.com/
http://www.mapquest.com/beta
http://maps.google.com/