This is my last post for the semester. It has been quite the ride here in CreComm. I never thought I would make so many great friends and never thought I would be challenged is so many different ways.
This semester has been quite emotional. I even saw some people tearing up in journalism class today as our instructor talked about the end of the semester.
I feel sad to leave my new class behind and nervous for our new class. However, a very nice fellow CreCommer helped me with an assignment yesterday that is in my class next semester which makes me know it will be okay.
Have a good break everyone! And here is a video that is sure to make everyone feel good no matter what feelings they’ve had about the semester or our new classes.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Book Reading
On Tuesday, November 30, 2010 I attended a book reading of Colleen Sydor's new book for young adults: The McGillicuddy Book of Personal Records at McNally Robinson in Grant Park.
The reading took place in the Prairie Ink restaurant. The crowd was mostly older people, and a large portion seemed to know Sydor personally.
This is the first novel Sydor has ever written. She described how the story had become the boss of the book in her process of writing it. She also described the eerie feeling that she got when she wrote the book that she had written it before in a past life. She felt like she was more remembering the story than making it up. This experience confirmed her belief in reincarnation as she feels she writes this same story every lifetime. "It might be up there with War and Peace," one lifetime said Sydor.
Sydor was dressed in head to toe black as she dedicated the reading to all the dogs the people in the audience had.
The main character of Sydor's new book, Lee is a 13-year-old boy who tries to set personal records. He also collects personal quotes. He tries to set personal records because he is waiting for something to be good at.
My favourite scene Sydor read was when Ronda, a young girl in the book, is trapped at the bottom of a well and Lee is trying to pull her up by a rope. The interesting thing was the Lee was describing a scene from Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea." The clear connection between the current scene in the book, Lee holding a rope, and the old man holding a rope with a large fish on the end in Hemingway's novel. I think it is a clever spot in the story and introduces the element of allegory to young adults, the intended audience for the book.
I also enjoyed the fact that she started and ended each chapter in the book with quotes from E.E. Cummings, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Sue Murphy, and Robert Frost.
My favourite quote was "You can't win 'em all" which was very true for one of the sections of the book she read and so true in life.
Be Bad Smell Good AND be hip
Here are some ads that I made in my Desktop Publishing class. These were surprisingly very fun to make. I am by no means an expert at desktop publishing, but I am glad that I am starting to get a hang of it. I think the best part about it is the sense of accomplishment: the fact that I came up with an idea, designed and created it, and have a finished product to show. I hope you you enjoy :) And please let me know what you think of them - good or bad.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Found Poetry
In our creative writing class we learned about a new kind of poetry: found poetry. Found poetry is created by taking words from Google searches, signs, text messages, scrap pieces of paper, basically anywhere and creating poetry out of your "found" words and phrases. Here is my attempt at found poetry:
Public Service Announcement:
Clowns are creepy
The props they use are visually and emotionally disturbing
They’ll set you on fire
You’ll cry
Because you’ll smell
And you’ll have to find another gynecologist
And I won’t have to listen to you anymore
Public Service Announcement:
Clowns are creepy
The props they use are visually and emotionally disturbing
They’ll set you on fire
You’ll cry
Because you’ll smell
And you’ll have to find another gynecologist
And I won’t have to listen to you anymore
Monday, November 22, 2010
Review of short story in The New Yorker
From the October 25, 2010 issue
Review on The Tree Line, Kansas 1934 by David Means.
For some context, this story is about an old man who is remembering a stakeout that he was part of in his youth.
Means uses repetition in an interesting way in this story. Often repetition speeds up the pace of a story, since it is easy for a reader to skip over the word or read it quickly because they are already familiar with the word, moving the reader to move faster through the text. However, Means repeats the number five in the beginning of the story to ground and slow down the story in the first flashback scene of the story to the stakeout. He does this by repeating five at the beginning of short, simple sentences, so the reader is forced to read each description slowly and separately. The description of the scene is not bunched together in long descriptive sentences littered with details and adjectives.
Five days of trading the field glasses and taking turns crawling back into the trees to smoke out of sight. Five days on surveillance, waiting to see if by some chance Carson might return to his uncle’s farm. Five days of listening to the young agent, named Barnes, as he recited verbatim from the file: Carson has a propensity to fire warning shots; it has been speculated that Carson’s limited vision in his left eye causes his shots to carry to the right of his intended target; impulse control somewhat limited. Five days of listening to Barnes recount the pattern of heists that began down the Texas Panhandle and proceeded north all the way up to Wisconsin, then back down to Kansas, until the trail tangled up in the fumbling ineptitude of the Bureau. For five days, Barnes talked while Lee, older, hard-bitten, nodded and let the boy play out his theories. Five days reduced to a single conversation.
Another point in the story that was impactful was the description of a "gut feeling" and a "hunch." Means describes a gut feeling and a hunch as if they were physical things in the body. I'm not quite sure if one would call it personification of these feelings, but they are definetly described in a way where the reader can physically see these feelings when someone is feeling them which was interesting since feelings are so intangible.
Review on The Tree Line, Kansas 1934 by David Means.
For some context, this story is about an old man who is remembering a stakeout that he was part of in his youth.
Means uses repetition in an interesting way in this story. Often repetition speeds up the pace of a story, since it is easy for a reader to skip over the word or read it quickly because they are already familiar with the word, moving the reader to move faster through the text. However, Means repeats the number five in the beginning of the story to ground and slow down the story in the first flashback scene of the story to the stakeout. He does this by repeating five at the beginning of short, simple sentences, so the reader is forced to read each description slowly and separately. The description of the scene is not bunched together in long descriptive sentences littered with details and adjectives.
Five days of trading the field glasses and taking turns crawling back into the trees to smoke out of sight. Five days on surveillance, waiting to see if by some chance Carson might return to his uncle’s farm. Five days of listening to the young agent, named Barnes, as he recited verbatim from the file: Carson has a propensity to fire warning shots; it has been speculated that Carson’s limited vision in his left eye causes his shots to carry to the right of his intended target; impulse control somewhat limited. Five days of listening to Barnes recount the pattern of heists that began down the Texas Panhandle and proceeded north all the way up to Wisconsin, then back down to Kansas, until the trail tangled up in the fumbling ineptitude of the Bureau. For five days, Barnes talked while Lee, older, hard-bitten, nodded and let the boy play out his theories. Five days reduced to a single conversation.
Another point in the story that was impactful was the description of a "gut feeling" and a "hunch." Means describes a gut feeling and a hunch as if they were physical things in the body. I'm not quite sure if one would call it personification of these feelings, but they are definetly described in a way where the reader can physically see these feelings when someone is feeling them which was interesting since feelings are so intangible.
Friday, November 12, 2010
It's +3 and you're listening to 92.9 KICK FM
Today I anchored our radio test. Six of us prepared radio scripts and I introduced the station and my classmates, said the weather and time. Although I am on the radio two times a week on the morning KICKstart show and read the news this week, I was extremely nervous. It was a rocky start, but I literally shook the nervous out. I was really proud of the rest of the news crew: Alex Rohne, John Gaudes, Jon Champan, Tristan-Field Jones, and Lindsey Peterson. They were flawless! Great job guys!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Creative Writing
I wrote a short story recently for my Creative Writing class and just wanted to share it with all of you. Please let me know what you think (positive or negative). It would be a great help and I would really appreciate it. Thank you and enjoy!
Tilly strutted through the door and into the party. She closed the door with her knee, her hands occupied with paper bags. Tilly stumbled to the kitchen and plopped down the malleable bags. She delved into the bags and unpacked the cool, sweaty bottles. Tilly then went to the cupboard and reached up standing on her well-manicured tiptoes, the curvature of transparent lavender material peeking through the bottom of her skirt.
“Um, do you think you could help me,” said Tilly over her slender shoulder that her strappy top had slipped off of.
“Huh?” replied a dazed Tim.
“Um, I can’t reach the top shelf ‘cause I had to take my heels off and like…” said Tilly.
“Yeah,” mumbled Tim staring into his whiskey.
Tim shuffled toward Tilly and brought a frosted martini glass down.
“Oh thank you so much,” she said stepping back and bowing in Tim’s honour.
“Yep,” replied Tim.
Tim picked up his half-empty glass, swirled it, and leaned back on the counter bringing the glass to his thin lips.
Tilly flipped her long hair back, and pushed her chest out as she let out a sigh. “Sooo what’s your name?” she asked.
“Tim.”
“Oh cool. So how do you know Shelley and Rick?”
“I work with Rick,” replied Tim.
“Oh cool, well I know Shelley ’cause we went to school together, and then I quit, but then we worked at the mall together for a bit, and…” Tilly trailed off as she concentrated on concocting a fruity cocktail. She looked up to find Tim’s broad pin-striped back facing her. He turned supporting his full glass of whiskey with both hands.
“So yeah, I guess that’s how I know them,” finished Tilly.
“Interesting.”
“Hey, do you happen to have a smoke I could borrow?” asked Tilly placing her hands on the counter, her cleavage rupturing from her ruffles.
“Do you want to go for a smoke?” asked Tim.
“Yeah, that’d be great, I haven’t had one all day, you know I’ve been trying to quit and…”
Tim held up a cigarette as he walked past her with his head down towards the door, and Tilly skipped behind him.
“Light?” asked Tim as he stepped close to Tilly, her bare slender legs now feeling the front of his pants. Tilly leaned in as she grazed the cigarette along her glossy lips and slipped it in to her mouth. She gazed up through her clumpy eyelashes at Tim as he sparked the lighter with one hand, and with the other blocked any breeze. She then stepped back and rested her figure against the side of the house.
“How well do you know Rick?” questioned Tim.
“Well okay I guess, I mean I have known Shelley for a while and,”
“So you just know Shelley then?”
“Yea I guess then,”
“Cool,” replied Tim.
“You somewhere before this?” mumbled Tim.
Leaning in so she could hear him, Tilly replied, “Oh yeah, I has a few, a couple, mmm probably many drinks just before this with some girls ’cause I’m going out after, hence the outfit you know,” she answered displaying her outfit like Vanna White.
“Nice,” said Tim arching his eyebrows, revealing his deep brown eyes. “You finished?”
“Oh yeah. Thank you so much Tim,” said Tilly with a wide smile.
Tim took her cigarette butt from her hand giving Tilly a slight smile with no teeth, just stretched lips. He threw their cigarette butts aside and motioned his hand forward, guiding Tilly and himself inside.
Tilly grabbed her drink as soon as she got inside and looked back expecting to see Tim behind her. He had his head down, and was heading to the living room.
“Oh hey. Where are you going?” slurred Tilly.
“I just got some friends over here that I need to talk to,” said Tim.
“Oh, okay, yeah, go, I’ll be good over here,” said Tilly holding her martini glass in the air with one hand and pointing to herself with the other.
Tilly turned around and urgently topped up her drink. She pressed into the counter and her shoulders slumped. She caught a reflection of herself in the mirror and stared back into her own glazed eyes covered in shimmer and eyeliner. She smiled, but could not sustain it, as if it was an advanced yoga pose for her face. She fluffed up her teased hair, tugged at her clothes and swiftly turned around to face the party again. In her swiftness, she knocked over her fruity red cocktail on to her cropped white skirt.
“Oh shoot. Shoot shoot shoot shoot,” she whispered, attempting to wipe her skirt.
Tilly bounced over to the bathroom to clean herself up. A few seconds after Tilly had closed the door, Tim excused himself from his conversation and calmly walked to the bathroom door, opened it, and entered –
Tilly clambered out of the bathroom. She walked quickly through the party and out the door, leaving her high heels and bottles of liquor. She opened her car that was parked in front of the house with a key she kept in her bra. She looked at herself in the rearview mirror. She tried to smooth her hair now messy hair, and when she looked down she noticed her top button had been torn off. She ran her fingers under her eyes to remove the makeup and moisture that had gathered. Her wrists ached as she turned the ignition and sped off in her car.
Tim left the bathroom and returned to his conversation.
“Oh Tim, are you afraid of heights?” asked Rick.
“Huh? Oh yeah,” said Tim as he noticed his fly was down. “These things happen,” he said with a grin.
Tilly strutted through the door and into the party. She closed the door with her knee, her hands occupied with paper bags. Tilly stumbled to the kitchen and plopped down the malleable bags. She delved into the bags and unpacked the cool, sweaty bottles. Tilly then went to the cupboard and reached up standing on her well-manicured tiptoes, the curvature of transparent lavender material peeking through the bottom of her skirt.
“Um, do you think you could help me,” said Tilly over her slender shoulder that her strappy top had slipped off of.
“Huh?” replied a dazed Tim.
“Um, I can’t reach the top shelf ‘cause I had to take my heels off and like…” said Tilly.
“Yeah,” mumbled Tim staring into his whiskey.
Tim shuffled toward Tilly and brought a frosted martini glass down.
“Oh thank you so much,” she said stepping back and bowing in Tim’s honour.
“Yep,” replied Tim.
Tim picked up his half-empty glass, swirled it, and leaned back on the counter bringing the glass to his thin lips.
Tilly flipped her long hair back, and pushed her chest out as she let out a sigh. “Sooo what’s your name?” she asked.
“Tim.”
“Oh cool. So how do you know Shelley and Rick?”
“I work with Rick,” replied Tim.
“Oh cool, well I know Shelley ’cause we went to school together, and then I quit, but then we worked at the mall together for a bit, and…” Tilly trailed off as she concentrated on concocting a fruity cocktail. She looked up to find Tim’s broad pin-striped back facing her. He turned supporting his full glass of whiskey with both hands.
“So yeah, I guess that’s how I know them,” finished Tilly.
“Interesting.”
“Hey, do you happen to have a smoke I could borrow?” asked Tilly placing her hands on the counter, her cleavage rupturing from her ruffles.
“Do you want to go for a smoke?” asked Tim.
“Yeah, that’d be great, I haven’t had one all day, you know I’ve been trying to quit and…”
Tim held up a cigarette as he walked past her with his head down towards the door, and Tilly skipped behind him.
“Light?” asked Tim as he stepped close to Tilly, her bare slender legs now feeling the front of his pants. Tilly leaned in as she grazed the cigarette along her glossy lips and slipped it in to her mouth. She gazed up through her clumpy eyelashes at Tim as he sparked the lighter with one hand, and with the other blocked any breeze. She then stepped back and rested her figure against the side of the house.
“How well do you know Rick?” questioned Tim.
“Well okay I guess, I mean I have known Shelley for a while and,”
“So you just know Shelley then?”
“Yea I guess then,”
“Cool,” replied Tim.
“You somewhere before this?” mumbled Tim.
Leaning in so she could hear him, Tilly replied, “Oh yeah, I has a few, a couple, mmm probably many drinks just before this with some girls ’cause I’m going out after, hence the outfit you know,” she answered displaying her outfit like Vanna White.
“Nice,” said Tim arching his eyebrows, revealing his deep brown eyes. “You finished?”
“Oh yeah. Thank you so much Tim,” said Tilly with a wide smile.
Tim took her cigarette butt from her hand giving Tilly a slight smile with no teeth, just stretched lips. He threw their cigarette butts aside and motioned his hand forward, guiding Tilly and himself inside.
Tilly grabbed her drink as soon as she got inside and looked back expecting to see Tim behind her. He had his head down, and was heading to the living room.
“Oh hey. Where are you going?” slurred Tilly.
“I just got some friends over here that I need to talk to,” said Tim.
“Oh, okay, yeah, go, I’ll be good over here,” said Tilly holding her martini glass in the air with one hand and pointing to herself with the other.
Tilly turned around and urgently topped up her drink. She pressed into the counter and her shoulders slumped. She caught a reflection of herself in the mirror and stared back into her own glazed eyes covered in shimmer and eyeliner. She smiled, but could not sustain it, as if it was an advanced yoga pose for her face. She fluffed up her teased hair, tugged at her clothes and swiftly turned around to face the party again. In her swiftness, she knocked over her fruity red cocktail on to her cropped white skirt.
“Oh shoot. Shoot shoot shoot shoot,” she whispered, attempting to wipe her skirt.
Tilly bounced over to the bathroom to clean herself up. A few seconds after Tilly had closed the door, Tim excused himself from his conversation and calmly walked to the bathroom door, opened it, and entered –
Tilly clambered out of the bathroom. She walked quickly through the party and out the door, leaving her high heels and bottles of liquor. She opened her car that was parked in front of the house with a key she kept in her bra. She looked at herself in the rearview mirror. She tried to smooth her hair now messy hair, and when she looked down she noticed her top button had been torn off. She ran her fingers under her eyes to remove the makeup and moisture that had gathered. Her wrists ached as she turned the ignition and sped off in her car.
Tim left the bathroom and returned to his conversation.
“Oh Tim, are you afraid of heights?” asked Rick.
“Huh? Oh yeah,” said Tim as he noticed his fly was down. “These things happen,” he said with a grin.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Am I Annoying You?
So today after my hockey game I was talking to my significant other on the phone and he said:
"Do you think we could talk one time without out talking about school?" he gently requested.
Now, don't take this quote completely out of context. My significant other has been encouraging, completely supportive, and has listened to me talk non-stop about school since I've started. CreComm has been new and exciting experience for me, and since I'm so excited about it, I guess I have talked a lot about it.
Has anyone else gotten this kind of comment from friends, family, etc?
Should I get some new things in my life other than school-related things? However, I feel like taking anything more on (I feel like I have quite a few things on my plate now) would be a bit hard with this intense program added to the fact that I learned a huge kick-in-the-bum lesson to manage my time better regarding school recently. I'm so confused.
"Do you think we could talk one time without out talking about school?" he gently requested.
Now, don't take this quote completely out of context. My significant other has been encouraging, completely supportive, and has listened to me talk non-stop about school since I've started. CreComm has been new and exciting experience for me, and since I'm so excited about it, I guess I have talked a lot about it.
Has anyone else gotten this kind of comment from friends, family, etc?
Should I get some new things in my life other than school-related things? However, I feel like taking anything more on (I feel like I have quite a few things on my plate now) would be a bit hard with this intense program added to the fact that I learned a huge kick-in-the-bum lesson to manage my time better regarding school recently. I'm so confused.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
The Socially Awkward Network
Facebook, most people I know use it (consistently and obsessively, but enough about me), and if they don’t use it, they most likely have heard about it. So what to do when a juggernaut like Facebook bursts on to the scene, find a way to make more money off of it make a movie about it of course!
The movie is called The Social Network, and it chronicles the creation and subsequent legal battles of Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg , co-founder and CEO of Facebook, is played by actor Jessie Eisenberg. The movie does portray Zuckerberg as somewhat of an “asshole” as his girlfriend would say in the movie. Eisenberg plays Zuckerberg as a fast-talking, quick-witted, smart-ass. The Zuckerberg character frequently back-talks to lawyers in legal briefings (he’s a billionaire that runs Facebook, he doesn’t have time for measly million-dollar law-suits), refuses to give straight answers, and even suggests that his girlfriend in the movie couldn’t possibly have homework, she doesn’t even go to Harvard. Zuckerberg even takes jabs at his one and only friend, Eduardo, in the movie suggesting that the reason his friend got into the prestigious Phoenix club was because of diversity requirements, and not because of legitimate qualities.
Although the movie shows Zuckerberg as insensitive, he blogged about his girlfriend being a bitch and developed a website where female undergrads could be judged based on their hotness, his portrayal is not necessarily negative. My feeling from the movie was that Zuckerberg was simply socially awkward (he created a website to interact with people without actually interacting with him). I the end, it is clear that Zuckerberg has many “Facebook friends” but no real friends. This is most evident when Zuckerberg is sitting alone, Facebook open, and refreshing the page to see if his ex-girlfriend accepts his friend request at the end of the film. Even as a multi-billionaire, Zuckerberg’s hero, Sean Parker, is gone and owns 7% of his company, and his best and only friend has sued him for millions of dollars. Zuckerberg is portrayed as sad and lonely. I almost felt sorry for him….that is until I remembered that Facebook is worth 25 billion dollars. You can buy friends right? I think they’re something like $100,000 dollars each, potatoes for Zuckerberg.
The film reveals many dirty details about Facebook like: the site started out of Zuckeberg’s post-break up anger, the site’s creator is kind of a d-bag and thought it would be funny to compare female undergrads to farm animals. I doubt any of this information is going to have a major negative impact on Facebook’s popularity. If anything, it might even popularize Facebook even more, you know for those people who have been living under a rock for the past six years.
Zuckerberg has responded to his portrayal in The Social Network. The PR Post blog (prpost.wordpress.com) noticed four consistent responses to the movie.
From the PR Post blog: The three- part “Blowing it off strategy”: “It’s a movie; it’s fun... I can promise you, this is my life so I know it’s not that dramatic. The last six years have been a lot of coding and focus and hard work, but maybe it would be fun to remember it as partying and all this crazy drama” (comment during Oprah Winfrey’s show).
By this comment on Oprah, he relates to the everyday Joe and Jane (his audience) who make up most of the users of Facebook. He offers a reasonable explanation, it’s a movie, they obviously exaggerated my life to make it interesting. Admitting that he doesn’t remember the last six years as full of partying humbles him as well, good PR for him and Facebook.
“We build products that 500 million people see… If 5 million people see a movie, it doesn’t really matter that much” (comment from Ben Parr’s interview) from the PR Post blog.
I agree with the PR Post blog that Zuckerberg blows of the movie by making it seem insignificant. He shows that the Facebook movie doesn’t get him down and that he has bigger fish to fry, he’s runs Facebook the biggest social networking sight in the world!
From the PR Post blog: "Zuckerberg also steers the conversation to a safe area by talking about “lots of messages” he has received from people who saw the movie and feel inspired to become entrepreneurs. This gives Zuckerberg room to say something complimentary about the movie and himself."
I agree, by embracing the movie, it’s better PR than scorning and ignoring it.
PR Post Blog also mentioned “ Zuckerberg’s Little League Strategy.” Zuckerberg appeared on Oprah on the day the movie came out to announce the establishment of his foundation and his first gift of $100 million, which was given to the Newark school system. This is what Jim Grunig critically referred to in his classes as the little league strategy, which occurs when an organization looks bad and decides to sponsor the little league team in hopes that this gesture will make up for things.
I think the effectiveness of this donation is mute. I don’t think the movie has caused significant damage to Zuckerberg’s image plus I applaud Zuckerberg for donating tons of money to a great cause. Oh no, did his attempt to soften his image with this donation work on me?
Friday, October 15, 2010
Buyer Beware: WestJet vs. Air Canada
Advertising isn't just about brainstorming in offices while wearing suits or drinking rye while proposing to your secretary (Mad Men), it's about research. Over the past few weeks, my Advertising class got a taste of what it is to research by doing a "Buyer Beware" project.
With travel junkies and people with contacts inside airlines, my group chose to compare the two Canadian airlines: WestJet and Air Canada. As part of our research we booked three mock trips, polled customers, researched baggage and flight cancellation fees, and talked to a professional travel agent.
The first step my group took was to conduct some primary research. We booked three mock trips:
-one domestic to Vancouver over Thanksgiving
-one international to Cancun Mexico during winter break and
-one vacation package over reading week (spring break).
While booking the trips, we set tight parameters on dates and times. We did this not only to test the companies' availability of flights, but because in life there are often strict parameters like school, work, family, and length of vacation time. By including parameters, we made the trips as close to how real people would book them as possible.
Based on our three mock trips, we learned the following:
Domestic flight to Vancouver
Air Canada was better in price, cheaper by $84.00. In regards to travel time, WestJet was better, the flight 41 minutes faster.
Best Buy: Air Canada
Why? We concluded that a savings of $84.00 was better than WestJet’s flight that was 41 minutes faster.
International flight to Cancun, Mexico
WestJet was better in price, cheaper by $265.98. In regards to travel time, Air Canada was superior. The flight was nine hours and eighteen minutes faster.
Best Buy: WestJet for price with $1190.40, a savings of $265.98.
Vacation Package to Montego Bay, Jamaica
WestJet was better in price, cheaper by $338.96. In regards to travel time, Air Canada was better. The Air Canada flight was five minutes faster.
Best Buy: WestJet
The second part of our research consisted of polling people who had flown with both airlines in the past five years. Here were the results:
Best Price:
Air Canada: 20%
WestJet: 80%
Accommodations/ Services:
Air Canada: 52%
WestJet: 48%
Customer Satisfaction:
Air Canada: 22%
WestJet: 78%
Who Will You Book With Next?
Air Canada: 32%
WestJet: 68%
Polls were conducted with 25 participants. If the interviewee enjoyed both airlines equally a point was awarded to both airlines.
WestJet had a consistently lower perception of price, while providing a consistently higher customer service rating.
The majority of people interviewed found that Air Canada planes were more up-to-date and provided better services such as food and entertainment. However, we concluded that this heightened level of accommodations and services did not lend Air Canada a solid foundation or loyalty with their customers as more were willing to switch to WestJet flight for their next trip.
Conclusion: After all the research, which is the better buy?
Better buy for domestic flights: Air Canada. (Surprised me! I always thought Air Canada was more expensive). Air Canada has more flight options so they can offer lower prices for their domestic flights. However, through consumer and professional interviews it can be concluded that if the availability were the same, more people would prefer to fly with WestJet than Air Canada.
Better buy for international flights: WestJet. Although Air Canada has more international destinations, WestJet has created a niche market by providing more direct flights and shorter flight times. This can be coupled with WestJet’s ability to offer better customer service and match Air Canada’s services and accommodations for international flights.
Better by for international vacation packages: WestJet. WestJet offers a more competitive price and is able to match flight time almost directly with Air Canada to the point where time becomes irrelevant in comparison with the high price differences.
WestJet also has a better consumer outlook, consistently beating Air Canada in consumer perception of price, customer satisfaction, and overall consumer opinion. WestJet also rated high enough to become competitive with Air Canada in the areas of accommodations and services, an area which Air Canada has prided itself on.
We also concluded that from a professional standpoint (the interview with a travel agent) that WestJet is the preferred company because of their willingness to work with travel companies and agents to ensure customer satisfaction.
We found that WestJet had more lineate policies on their extra charges such as baggage, change fees, and cancelling. We did discover though that Air Canada had better policies for those flying Business Class.
Therefore, our group made the conclusion that the airline company WestJet is the better buy in Canada.
With travel junkies and people with contacts inside airlines, my group chose to compare the two Canadian airlines: WestJet and Air Canada. As part of our research we booked three mock trips, polled customers, researched baggage and flight cancellation fees, and talked to a professional travel agent.
The first step my group took was to conduct some primary research. We booked three mock trips:
-one domestic to Vancouver over Thanksgiving
-one international to Cancun Mexico during winter break and
-one vacation package over reading week (spring break).
While booking the trips, we set tight parameters on dates and times. We did this not only to test the companies' availability of flights, but because in life there are often strict parameters like school, work, family, and length of vacation time. By including parameters, we made the trips as close to how real people would book them as possible.
Based on our three mock trips, we learned the following:
Domestic flight to Vancouver
Air Canada was better in price, cheaper by $84.00. In regards to travel time, WestJet was better, the flight 41 minutes faster.
Best Buy: Air Canada
Why? We concluded that a savings of $84.00 was better than WestJet’s flight that was 41 minutes faster.
International flight to Cancun, Mexico
WestJet was better in price, cheaper by $265.98. In regards to travel time, Air Canada was superior. The flight was nine hours and eighteen minutes faster.
Best Buy: WestJet for price with $1190.40, a savings of $265.98.
Vacation Package to Montego Bay, Jamaica
WestJet was better in price, cheaper by $338.96. In regards to travel time, Air Canada was better. The Air Canada flight was five minutes faster.
Best Buy: WestJet
The second part of our research consisted of polling people who had flown with both airlines in the past five years. Here were the results:
Best Price:
Air Canada: 20%
WestJet: 80%
Accommodations/ Services:
Air Canada: 52%
WestJet: 48%
Customer Satisfaction:
Air Canada: 22%
WestJet: 78%
Who Will You Book With Next?
Air Canada: 32%
WestJet: 68%
Polls were conducted with 25 participants. If the interviewee enjoyed both airlines equally a point was awarded to both airlines.
WestJet had a consistently lower perception of price, while providing a consistently higher customer service rating.
The majority of people interviewed found that Air Canada planes were more up-to-date and provided better services such as food and entertainment. However, we concluded that this heightened level of accommodations and services did not lend Air Canada a solid foundation or loyalty with their customers as more were willing to switch to WestJet flight for their next trip.
Conclusion: After all the research, which is the better buy?
Better buy for domestic flights: Air Canada. (Surprised me! I always thought Air Canada was more expensive). Air Canada has more flight options so they can offer lower prices for their domestic flights. However, through consumer and professional interviews it can be concluded that if the availability were the same, more people would prefer to fly with WestJet than Air Canada.
Better buy for international flights: WestJet. Although Air Canada has more international destinations, WestJet has created a niche market by providing more direct flights and shorter flight times. This can be coupled with WestJet’s ability to offer better customer service and match Air Canada’s services and accommodations for international flights.
Better by for international vacation packages: WestJet. WestJet offers a more competitive price and is able to match flight time almost directly with Air Canada to the point where time becomes irrelevant in comparison with the high price differences.
WestJet also has a better consumer outlook, consistently beating Air Canada in consumer perception of price, customer satisfaction, and overall consumer opinion. WestJet also rated high enough to become competitive with Air Canada in the areas of accommodations and services, an area which Air Canada has prided itself on.
We also concluded that from a professional standpoint (the interview with a travel agent) that WestJet is the preferred company because of their willingness to work with travel companies and agents to ensure customer satisfaction.
We found that WestJet had more lineate policies on their extra charges such as baggage, change fees, and cancelling. We did discover though that Air Canada had better policies for those flying Business Class.
Therefore, our group made the conclusion that the airline company WestJet is the better buy in Canada.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Ambiguity and the Candidates
This Wednesday Red River College students, and those who wanted to join, were invited to a mayoral forum at Red River College featuring Sam Katz and Judy Wasylycia-Leis (which I know how to spell off by heart now thanks to Journalism quizzes courtesy of Steve V). The mayoral forum was mediated by CJOB’s Richard Cloutier and aired live on CJOB. Cloutier investigated the candidates’ platforms through asking his own questions, taking polls and asking questions from the audience, and allowing for questions from he audience that were prearranged.
I personally had some great experiences at the mayoral forum. In a poll of who were affected by crime, I raised my hand, and Cloutier asked me to describe what had happened to me, and what I wanted to know from the candidates. I asked them what they were going to do about youth crime. I was quite nervous sharing my story and asking Sam and Judy my question, I hope it didn’t show in my voice.
In his response Sam said he blamed the revolving door policy and had gone to Ottawa to lobby for change.
Judy responded and talked about how the NDP caucus pushed for tougher laws, but that that is not the only part of the solution. She also said that she was there in Ottawa when Katz lobbied.
Shout out to cbcturner and bkives on Twitter who tweeted these answers. It was neat to see that someone had tweeted about my situation and my question.
I also remember Judy reiterating her point that she intended to increase spending for community clubs so youth don’t feel the need or want to enter a life of crime.
I was also interviewed by CBC and CJOB after the forum on how I felt about the answers to my question. I wasn’t overly satisfied with the answers to be honest. Their answers were vague, as was the entire forum. The candidates rarely gave specific detailed answers, but fit their platforms into the answer of most questions they were asked.
However, I did see Judy overhear my interview with CBC. I had said that community centers were a great idea, but how do we stop crime at night, like when my story had happened. Later, she did mention that there had to be community club programs at night to keep youth away from the life of crime.
Overall, the forum was exciting, nerve-racking, and tense; it was a very interesting event to be part of, even though politics isn’t something I am intensely intrigued by. I’m glad we had the opportunity at our school, and even though I didn’t find much out about the candidates’ plans, I did learn about their personalities, but I’m still pretty torn about who do vote for!
Friday, October 1, 2010
First Time
This week I was on the radio for the first time ever!
Wednesday morning, I joined Mike T. and John Chapman, on the Chapman, Mike. T and Krystalle show. (My name is pronounced KrystaLEE so it rhymes).
My overall experience was that it was so much fun! I am ecstatic that our school provides us with the opportunity to practice our broadcasting skills at a real live and operating radio station. I prepared the night before and on the bus (using my trusty news app) on the way to school by researching recent news stories, or anything interesting happening in the world. I jotted down the lead or the gist of the story and when we went on air I introduced the story and then conversation rolled out of it. Even though I had to get up at 5:20am, I laughed a lot, and because I was so energized from the broadcast, I wasn’t even tired for the rest of the day.
The best part of the experience was that people actually listened and commented. It was really encouraging to hear that people actually listened for one, but two also enjoyed it. I did get a couple of pieces of constructive criticism as well. I though this as well when I was doing the broadcast, but I need to be careful that what I’m saying is meaningful, no ums and ahhs, and to not to talk over people or interject too much. I can understand that those kinds of things aren’t necessarily kind to the listeners’ ears.
Champan, Mike T. and Krystalle will be on every Wednesday morning 7-9am. I hope you all will listen (if you’re up at that crazy time), call in, and do not afraid to give me feedback, I’d love it actually.
Wednesday morning, I joined Mike T. and John Chapman, on the Chapman, Mike. T and Krystalle show. (My name is pronounced KrystaLEE so it rhymes).
My overall experience was that it was so much fun! I am ecstatic that our school provides us with the opportunity to practice our broadcasting skills at a real live and operating radio station. I prepared the night before and on the bus (using my trusty news app) on the way to school by researching recent news stories, or anything interesting happening in the world. I jotted down the lead or the gist of the story and when we went on air I introduced the story and then conversation rolled out of it. Even though I had to get up at 5:20am, I laughed a lot, and because I was so energized from the broadcast, I wasn’t even tired for the rest of the day.
The best part of the experience was that people actually listened and commented. It was really encouraging to hear that people actually listened for one, but two also enjoyed it. I did get a couple of pieces of constructive criticism as well. I though this as well when I was doing the broadcast, but I need to be careful that what I’m saying is meaningful, no ums and ahhs, and to not to talk over people or interject too much. I can understand that those kinds of things aren’t necessarily kind to the listeners’ ears.
Champan, Mike T. and Krystalle will be on every Wednesday morning 7-9am. I hope you all will listen (if you’re up at that crazy time), call in, and do not afraid to give me feedback, I’d love it actually.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Cheating Permanently
This week I had to reveal my dirty little secret…
It started with a complement on my manicure from one of my fellow students that prompted me to reveal that I had been cheating…permanently. I wasn’t an exceptionally good or adamant artist at painting my own nails, and I wasn’t a regular at the nail salon, I had gotten permanent polish.
As a busy student, who isn’t blessed with steady hands, I have been plagued with the dilemma of keeping clean, neat, professional, and fashionable nails. Nails are a big deal to people. At least one person has always noticed when I do have my nails done, be it friends, family, or even a stranger. Nails tell you something about how someone keeps themselves, how meticulous they are, their personality, and their fashion sense.
In my attempt to present a professional, but still fashionable self-image, I tried permanent polish. The manicure started with the standard question of square or rounded nails; I picked square. I think it’s a more modern shape, but this also depends on the shape of one’s nail bed and fingers. If you have nail beds on the larger side, a rounded shape might suit your fingers better by removing some of the bulk of the nail and streamlining the look of your nail.
Next I picked my colour. There are limited colours, but the usual and most common shades of red, pink, blue, green, and purple were available. There is also the option of a french manicure in different base shades including: clear, light pink, and nude just to name a few.
After I picked my colour, the manicurist buffed my nails manually with an emery board to remove all of the oils so the gel she would latter apply would adhere properly. You have to be careful not to touch your nail after the manicurist buffs, or they will have to go over it again.
After the nails are buffed and ready to go, two layers of gel were carefully painted on to my nail, and held under a light to dry and seal them for about 30-45 seconds after each coat. After the gel base is done, then the colour is painted on to my nail. The colour is in the same gel form as the base gel. After the last coloured gel layer is painted on, I held my nails under the light for 2 minutes. After that the manicurist put a little shine serum on to my nails for a shiny new look and gave me a massage with scented lotion.
Overall, I would totally recommend this service. The gel doesn’t chip, so the manicure lasts until you can see the growth of your new nail. If you get a light colour, this could be up to four weeks. Also, your nail isn’t ruined by mechanical buffing as in the case of traditional acrylic and gel nails. The price is $45, but when you compare prices, standard manicures are in the range of 20-25 dollars and only last as long as you can keep from chipping them. An added bonus was that there was no drying time, just the 2 minutes to seal them. I usually spend at least half an hour after getting my nails done at the salon just waiting for them to dry.
I had the permanent polish done at Tiber River. Has anyone else heard of this service or knows anywhere else that is doing it in Winnipeg?
On a side not, I’m off to the Bomber game tonight on assignment from my Journalism class, it should be an exhilarating experience! Good luck fellow CreCommers
It started with a complement on my manicure from one of my fellow students that prompted me to reveal that I had been cheating…permanently. I wasn’t an exceptionally good or adamant artist at painting my own nails, and I wasn’t a regular at the nail salon, I had gotten permanent polish.
As a busy student, who isn’t blessed with steady hands, I have been plagued with the dilemma of keeping clean, neat, professional, and fashionable nails. Nails are a big deal to people. At least one person has always noticed when I do have my nails done, be it friends, family, or even a stranger. Nails tell you something about how someone keeps themselves, how meticulous they are, their personality, and their fashion sense.
In my attempt to present a professional, but still fashionable self-image, I tried permanent polish. The manicure started with the standard question of square or rounded nails; I picked square. I think it’s a more modern shape, but this also depends on the shape of one’s nail bed and fingers. If you have nail beds on the larger side, a rounded shape might suit your fingers better by removing some of the bulk of the nail and streamlining the look of your nail.
Next I picked my colour. There are limited colours, but the usual and most common shades of red, pink, blue, green, and purple were available. There is also the option of a french manicure in different base shades including: clear, light pink, and nude just to name a few.
After I picked my colour, the manicurist buffed my nails manually with an emery board to remove all of the oils so the gel she would latter apply would adhere properly. You have to be careful not to touch your nail after the manicurist buffs, or they will have to go over it again.
After the nails are buffed and ready to go, two layers of gel were carefully painted on to my nail, and held under a light to dry and seal them for about 30-45 seconds after each coat. After the gel base is done, then the colour is painted on to my nail. The colour is in the same gel form as the base gel. After the last coloured gel layer is painted on, I held my nails under the light for 2 minutes. After that the manicurist put a little shine serum on to my nails for a shiny new look and gave me a massage with scented lotion.
Overall, I would totally recommend this service. The gel doesn’t chip, so the manicure lasts until you can see the growth of your new nail. If you get a light colour, this could be up to four weeks. Also, your nail isn’t ruined by mechanical buffing as in the case of traditional acrylic and gel nails. The price is $45, but when you compare prices, standard manicures are in the range of 20-25 dollars and only last as long as you can keep from chipping them. An added bonus was that there was no drying time, just the 2 minutes to seal them. I usually spend at least half an hour after getting my nails done at the salon just waiting for them to dry.
I had the permanent polish done at Tiber River. Has anyone else heard of this service or knows anywhere else that is doing it in Winnipeg?
On a side not, I’m off to the Bomber game tonight on assignment from my Journalism class, it should be an exhilarating experience! Good luck fellow CreCommers
Friday, September 17, 2010
Twitter!
So I have to admit, I was one of the people who was unsure about signing up for Twitter...but it isn't so bad!
I thought Twitter was for Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian, and chronicling fights between Samantha Ronson and Lindsay Lohan, but I've discovered much more.
I must confess that I actually did have a Twitter account before we set one up in our Public Relations class this week. I had attened a comdey show by Louis CK (check him out, he is truly hilarious and has great delivery), and in my attempts to stalk him after his show(creepy I know, but I just love stand up comedians) saw that he had deactivated his Facebook and Myspace accounts, but did have a Twitter account. I actually even received a message from someone who had also gone to the show and actually met him....quite exciting.
So now that I've revived the account, here are a couple of things I've learned:
-You don't actually HAVE to hear undesired tweets. You can follow whoever you want, and keep those twit tweets far far away
-You can follow legitimate news sources and have useful headlines (especially superb for Journalism quizzes) at your fingertips. Currently I'm following CBC, The New York Times, The New Yorker just to name a few
-You CAN follow celebrities of your choice, and they're ususally fairly funny and entertaining.
-It's been a great way to get to know my fellow classmates and other students at Red River College
.....AND I can let you all know about this great opportunity...
Are you creative? Are you passionate about the arts? Do you love Superheros?! Then check out Red River College Creative Communications students call for Superhero themed content at the following link:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?pid=31248086&fbid=525803100422&id=121101363
I thought Twitter was for Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian, and chronicling fights between Samantha Ronson and Lindsay Lohan, but I've discovered much more.
I must confess that I actually did have a Twitter account before we set one up in our Public Relations class this week. I had attened a comdey show by Louis CK (check him out, he is truly hilarious and has great delivery), and in my attempts to stalk him after his show(creepy I know, but I just love stand up comedians) saw that he had deactivated his Facebook and Myspace accounts, but did have a Twitter account. I actually even received a message from someone who had also gone to the show and actually met him....quite exciting.
So now that I've revived the account, here are a couple of things I've learned:
-You don't actually HAVE to hear undesired tweets. You can follow whoever you want, and keep those twit tweets far far away
-You can follow legitimate news sources and have useful headlines (especially superb for Journalism quizzes) at your fingertips. Currently I'm following CBC, The New York Times, The New Yorker just to name a few
-You CAN follow celebrities of your choice, and they're ususally fairly funny and entertaining.
-It's been a great way to get to know my fellow classmates and other students at Red River College
.....AND I can let you all know about this great opportunity...
Are you creative? Are you passionate about the arts? Do you love Superheros?! Then check out Red River College Creative Communications students call for Superhero themed content at the following link:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?pid=31248086&fbid=525803100422&id=121101363
Friday, September 10, 2010
Welcome!
This is my first official post on my first blog ever. I will be chronicling the life and experiences of a Creative Communications (CreComm) student and all the other things I try to fit into the schedule such as coaching and playing ice hockey and my new job as a Creative Communications instructor to youth at the Red River College Notre Dame campus. I also love to travel, read, and generally take in culture so hopefully I include some tales from those times as well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)