What is interesting?

"Something is interesting to the extent that, even in its absence, you continue to replay it, develop it, compare it, communicate it, translate it, share stories about it, laugh at jokes about it, use it to understand other things, have an opinion about it, imagine variations on it, seek further information about it, want to communicate with it and with others who also find it interesting." 

- Jeffre Jackson

Essentials of Happiness

The grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. ― Allan K. Chalmers

Collaborate with students outside of advertising

So I am graduating very soon and from an advertising student's perspective - my education was filled to the brim with projects. Whether it was (putting together an integrated campaign), (filming a movie), or (working on a group research blog), These projects certainly kept us busy!

It has been a rich experience of working with likewise people, but in my opinion, there was just one downside: that working on ‘school projects’ often meant you were limited to working with people within your directed field of study, or major.

I noticed the lack of major inter-mixing very early in my university career and made a conscious effort to take classes and get exposed to all of the extremely talented students the school has.

I have two examples of personal projects that involved collaborating with students outside of advertising.

Exhibit A; Going for experience: I was asked to be the actress in a movie filmed by Korean students in my 2nd year and got exposed to all of the elements of putting a short film together (screen writers, set & costume designers, cinematographers, acting, etc), as well as script rehearsal & the intensity of a full 3 day - back to back filming experience (A Rose in the Mirror, directed by Jung Hyng Park).

Exhibit B; Making a skilled trade: I met another director, MPT major named Christopher Gilson III and really hit it off in terms of creative collaboration. I’ll be working on developing a brand image for him and he’ll be filming my last class project, which happens to be an improv. dancing flash mob in Union Square with bananas and scarves.

Art school is just FULL of talent within arms reach! 

These are the students who will change the world with you someday.

The school is not going to foster your collaboration process very much. If it's something you are interested in, I would highly recommend it. Talk to a student you find interesting. Find out their story. Learn from them and the various majors the school has. You need to take it into your own hands and build that network. Network building takes time, so if you're working a full time job, you may be at a disadvantage. Think of networking with students as an investment. If you put time into it, it will pay you back!

Turn off your phone sometimes.

http://www.cashgenerator.co.uk/are-you-addicted-to-your-mobile-phone.aspx

 

 

 

Tune out. Turn off your phone once in a while. Go to a place with out signal. 

Hang out with each other.

Make a personal development plan

Life is about learning & self improvement. Sure, there's a correlation between experience and time but there's something to say for being active and owning the basis of what it is & how you learn. 

Hopefully with time, one gains in the areas they wish to increase knowledge. It follows along with the idea that we are constantly striving for self improvement or to become better skilled at something.

The pace of learning changes all of the time just as our bodies energy fluctuates throughout the day and season of year. Development plans are created for yourself. They are an aid to call to attention what you are practicing, what activities you are doing, where you want to be, and how you plan on getting there.

Are there times when you are more motivated to develop & learn? How do you get into this groove? What do you need to thrive?

Perhaps you are the type of life learner who takes everything in flowing freely without a plan. While I think this sounds like a soft cushion landing, I'm weary about it (and the length of time spent floating). Eventually, you're gonna need a plan. I'm not a casino gambler, but it's true: You can't win if you don't play.

If you're like myself, you set goals and you do everything possible to achieve them. Goal setting involves evaluating your self and deciding how high you want to set the bar. From what I have learned in previous personal plans, I tend to set the bar very high because I enjoy personal challenge. I intend to use development plans as tool post graduation because I think it is important to gauge, evaluate, and set & plan goals for your self. This semester's personal development plan focused on both short and long term goals (in bullet points below).

Skills / Muscles to Develop:

• I wanted to pinpoint my web presence Answer the question, what does your blog say? Here, in this blog I am sharing a semester's worth of leanings which include the art of getting connected to yourself, your community, your goals, and your style.
• Get comfortable and confident in sharing my work And talking about my work. This takes practice, practice, practice.
• Articulate my experience and what I have to offer to potential employers. This will be shown through cover letters and resumes
• Bring my point home (story tell with a strong finish) This involves practicing presentation.

Practices / Exercises / Activities

• Web presence
• Keep blogging
• Utilize Linkedin

• Presenting
• Include the audience

• Interact with the audience
• Slow down.
• Let them grasp it, for a second
• Articulation
• Conduct lots of informational meetings.
• Meet with people in and out of advertising.
• Show my work if possible.
• Ask for feed back.
• Ask for tips.

Thoughts: move em' to paper

 

I am a note taker.

If it's interesting, I'll want to remember it.

If it sounds good, I'll write it down word-for-word.

When my mind gets going, note taking helps me stay engaged in the moment.

I would recommend taking notes to anyone with an creatively active mind.  Carry a small notepad in your bag for random thoughts, ideas, reflections, etc and use presentation-sized post it paper (or white boards) for larger conceptualizing.  

Don't worry about how the thoughts will look on paper. Unless you're a writer, thoughts aren't meant to translate to paper exactly how you want them to. 

It's scary, its vulnerable, but it's a very important step. 

Love the imperfection. Embrace the spontaneous amateur. 

 

When we move thoughts out, we make room for new ones to emerge.

Get the fluffy stuff out of our heads!

Trust

Restle

 

We should all have anger/stress releasing outlets.

What do you do to take your mind away?

What do you do to release stress?

I kick box. I love the form & technique martial arts focus on.

On days I feel extra tense, I go extra hard.

Exercise is my outlet, but kick boxing is my favorite.

Talk less. Do more.

Mark Twain Quote

Keep Trying.

If life were easy!

There would be no gain.

We would have no character.

It used to be that "hard work pays off."

Nowaday I don't necessarily think so.

I think persistence definitely pays off and

"Work smarter, not harder" is more applicable.

And stay persistent.

About AAU

After finding my passion in advertising, I wanted to invest in my self fully by attending an accredited art school. I was serious about my goals and wanted to live in a big city. California seemed like a viable option because I have a handful of family there & the fact that I'd be returning to the state where my roots are.

San Francisco's Academy of Art was where I ended up. With an 80% drop out rate, I realized that it was a competitive school, to say the least. I gathered a general idea of the students around me and observed a few things about what brought them there. Some came to school to find their passions, or 'try it out'. Others came to school to meet people & instructors in the field. And others came to school to make a portfolio & get out. I came to the university to get a degree. Furthermore, I wanted to graduate confident about my skills and career choice in advertising.


Moving to San Francisco was one of the best choices I could have made in terms of life experience, exposure, and opportunity. The advertising school operates like an advertising agency. Group work, sourcing your own art work, juggling multiple projects at a time, and presenting to clients.

What brought you here?

For me, this means what brought you into advertising?

I have always been into helping people whenever possible.
So, as a side job while I was studying art education @ my first college, I used to help my best friends' older brother get through his advertising/marketing classes.

He introduced me to AAF (American Advertising Foundation) and invited me to attend chapter meetings where I was too passionate to be shy. Here I was, this bystander, fully involved in their campaign brainstorm sessions. I jumped in and shared my observations about how human beings think and feel and behave. I was a natural strategist; an idea generator & creative thinker.

I found his homework fascinating! I enjoyed spending time on it.

There came this pivotal moment when I actually considered advertising as a profession.
It seemed like the perfect marriage between communications, art, & psychology.

Since I already had exposure to what the school career was like, I began to question the training a traditional state school like SIU. I looked at what they were doing to prepare their ad students & thought about location, BIG TIME. I decided that if I wanted to study advertising Southern Illinois might not be the direction I wanted to take for a career in advertising. Rather than changing my major, I would change my training.

In retrospect, I think I was exposed to this passion very naturally (helping a friend). 
The realization came to me when I noticed that I was spending more time on his homework than my own. I think finding myself through this example shows a courageous part of my character to move across the country to completely "go for it."

I don't doubt for a second that this is where I am supposed to be AND I just can't wait to look back on the days when I used to get paid $20 an assignment & $50 for finals.

FAVORITE QUOTES

"Why not go out on a limb,  
that's where the fruit is" ~Will Rogers

"Be yourself everyone 
else is already taken" ~ Oscar Wilde

"At the center of your being you have the answer; You know who you are and you know what you want."~ Lao Tai



"What the mind knows
where the mind will go"~ unknown

What does it mean to get LINKED?

Linkedin : 

Sure getting into linkedin helps you get linked. 

That is the first and minimal thing you can do to begin your process.

Getting linked means getting connected. 

Becoming aware of how significant it is to be linked enhances your chances of being noticed.

 

The more effort you put into getting connected the more doors there

to open up for potential opportunities. 

Opportunities are everywhere, but it's up to you to turn them into something.

Networking, getting connected to your self, your peers,

& your community expose you to people

& information to work with.

There are books you can read on being

CONNECTED for further study.

 Here is one that I thought was interesting.

Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives
– How Your Friends’ Friends’ Friends Affect Everything You Feel, Think, and Do
Authors: Nicholas A. Christakis, James H. Fowler

What is it about YOU ....?

Ask yourself and identify: What is it about you that makes who you are? Why are you special, unique, interesting, different, weird, etc?

Perhaps this will be an interview question someday? If not, it doesn't hurt to feel comfortable explaining the QUALITIES AND CHARACTERISTICS YOU APPRECIATE ABOUT YOURSELF, & HOW YOU FEEL THEY MAKE WHO YOU ARE.

 

Mad World - Gary Jules

What makes me unique?  (It's more like, shoot, what makes me normal?)

I think it's a mad world, full of nasty corruption, & painful injustice. Yet, my general outlook is cheerful, positive, & optimistic. I think about things on the big picture scale & find peace in the idea of balance and harmony.

I am the product of opposites and come from a family of teachers and existentialist thinkers.

People have told me before that "I have an old soul," which shapes how I listen, think, & observe the world. I am a "big picture thinker" who doesn't seem shocked or surprised by pretty much anything. My understanding of life seems so different than most people. 
I think we are here experiencing the same things, just on different levels; Decision, joy, fear, pain, gain, betrayal, satisfaction, loss, confusion, development, and maturity. Understanding this sort of -grand connection between all things (including you & I) is what makes me a unique and genuine person. My interests and background provide me with thoughtful and in-depth insights that I can apply to communication or branding strategy in my career; especially the field of advertising because of the connection to human interests & their decisions.

My mind & heart are my best qualities. 

INTERESTED IN
theosophic studies
anthropology
psychology 

mystical stuff

future sciences

energy
holistic health
magical earthy knowledge 

Stuff that's been taught to me by various teachers outside of the traditional school system. 

I am the one that people end up telling their life stories to and am known to have a ‘calming effect’ on people and situations, contrarily I'm a big cheerleader at heart.

I am attracted to strange & interesting people because I am rather strange & interesting myself.

THE 3 P's

PRESENT

• There is so much going on in our lives it is easy to loose yourself in thoughts. For me personally, that means thinking about grocery lists, dinner, planning the evening, etc. This is a recent thing, but I noticed that I often find myself thinking about the future more than I find myself being in the moment. I've started to find comfort in the moment and slow down future thoughts little by little.
• Being present to me means listening. Listening can be about listening to a presentation, or listening to the audience. You can learn a lot of you are a good listener.
• In life, being present is about finding harmony in the moment.

PRESENCE

• Presence is important because it reflects how others perceive you. Are you dressed for the part? Do you stand out?
• I think becoming in tune with one's presence is important for self awareness. It includes everything from how someone is dressed to how they communicate. Good posture, good volume, and eye contact are things that can improve your personal presence. We send & receive messages into the world all day long. Becoming aware of your presence and others can help you understand why it matters so much & certainly is not going to take away anything from you.

PRESENTING

• Presenting defines: what is it that you are trying to say? and How will you say it?
• There are different strategies (how to deliver) an effective presentation & will depend on your message (intention) and who the message is for (audience)
• In medicine, presenting means not only present, but seen. (wikipedia)
• Presenting is a purposeful role with a desired response.

Become a D.J.

Class names and D.J. names:

Luke Kreinberg
L'il Baby Thought I Wasn't

Sarah Chavez
DJ CHACHA CHICA

Joanna Dawson
 Little J

Rona Duldulao
Shorty

Barbara Friehs
DJ. Barbarella

Lance Gillette

DR LANCEALOT

Amy Griffith
SHNIQUA

Hunter Hayden
DJ Zaddé

Samantha Hinrichs
DJ Sssssssssssssss

Israel Nevarez
Fabule

Cassia Peterson
DJ slip sublime

Misha Manila
DJ My-Nillz

Gabriella Svensk
Dj Bella

Amanda Sweeting

Belen Tenorio
Dj Belena

Stacey Valdez
Dj stooce

Elizabeth Vicente
LIZZAY

Sara Walchli
S-DUB

Jamies Po Man Yam
DJ Hamis!

Do something bogus (No phone)

Do something bogus; Like leave your phone at home.
Turn of your computer at night, it doesn't need to be on.
Leave your computer out of your room if possible.

Think about the quantities it takes you to be connected.

How many emails do you send in a day?
How many text messages do you send in a day?
How many conversations do you have that last over 8 minutes?

My phone is well known to die about 2 times a day. I am constantly charging it through the wall or plugging in into my car. It has become such a nuisance that yestday when the battery indicated yellow I decided I would just let it go and live without a phone for 4 hours. During that time I walked down Haight Street in and visited Safeway for some groceries. I came home, walked the dogs, fed the dogs, gave them their vitamins and left to attend a networking meeting at school.
Since I wasn't expected anywhere, I had a wrist watch, & I knew where I was going. I didn't seem to miss my phone at all. In fact, it was nice not to worry about charging it again.

I love the information at our fingertips but I have no problem stepping away and turning off my phone every now and then. It feels nice to get off of the grid out in the country or on an exclusive weekend trip. My relationship with my phone has become more distant from mindless searching and app savy pleasure and has shaped into tool for maps/directions ever use ever since I switched iphone to htc. I check voicemails through my email and call from my computer when I can before 7pm.

Take the Internet away from me for 4 days, and that's a little bit more uncomfortable.

Tending/Defining our Digital Self

Snap shot - My Linkedin

Snap shot - Groups on Linkedin

I've talked about Linkedin before and how much of a supporter I am.  I joined groups that represented my interests and view the discussions of 1 or 2 groups once a week. I have made a pact to keep linkedin as professional as possible. I will occasionally share presentations around that I find relevant, but I will not post updates on my wall or anything like that. I save that kind of stuff for facebook.

Manila Wafers' facebook page

I am a re-born facebook user. I joined on the early curve in 2004 and didn't like what was happening. My facebook page is limited to close friends and family only. Here I post stuff I run into on the web or recent projects I have finished. It's less professional than twitter but still somewhat censored. 

I am still working on defining exactly what my page will represent, although I think the process is meant to shape it self. I use twitter to follow updates on people and industry news. I share quick thoughts on things I hear on the radio/news or in person. I get more of a thrill re-tweeting and tweeting back to people.

I also have an about me page. It's very simple. 1 page and a brief description about me.

Learn the career paths of peers

Guest speakers were another component to our class "getting Linked."

Students who were ahead of the curb (working @ internships), Gavin Shelton & Apo Bordin came in to speak about what they took out of the class and where they were now.

Gavin, a media intern at AKQA showed us a grinning smile when he talked about the hard work & long hours he is putting in and balanced it out with the fact that he is building his network at this very moment and that we should be too. He traced back the reason he got there in the first place which boils down to pure persistence and potential. You could smell Gavin's passion when he was talking and I know he will go far. We met in our first semester and did a killer marketing project on Yerba Mate Tea. That was 5 years ago. Today the stuff is bottled in every convenient store!

Apo, shared a dynamic opposite to Gavin's career path. Like several students, he is an advertising major who does not want to get into advertising. He landed a gig working as a social media intern with a start up company called tripping.com. He has such a laid back and European charm in the way he gives his presentations, you can't help but smile. He is honest and wants to find meaning in his work, a very respectful personality trait.

Put energy into something you actually care about

Isn't it funny how your tone of voice switches when you talk about something you care about?

It's like a moment of truth. The presenter is no longer presenting and the audience feels something within the presenters heart. We need so much more of that!
It's a crisis in my mid-twenty-something mind.
We spend so much time doing presentations on things that have no connection to us. IT's a waste of energy. Creatives are filling their portfolios with the same campaigns that everyone else who is graduating has. There are QR codes and Apps fricking everywhere, just because its an easy way to integrate things. A passion project is a challenge because you can't let yourself do a lousy job on it. Passion projects are the ones that have a real influence on your academic career. They may take a bit longer and might feel like they are never done, but they illustrate the ability to think.

Passion Projects

Passion projects were given by people who were absent from class. I'll describe some of the memorable presentations:

Lance Gillette:
Brought in posters that he painted representing a social experiment he conducted asking Online hookers about the brand of cigerettes they smoked. What he found had a lot to do with personal image and acceptance. His paintings were an errie reflection of the feelings associated with their interviews.
His idea is borderline and risky. It evokes curiosity, emotion, and uncertain feelings. He knew what he'd be getting into with his presentation. It was brilliant! How did he ever think of that idea? Certainly marks a creative mind in my book.

Israel Nevarez
I haven't seen his passion project yet, but I would like to comment on the originality of his idea.
He is someone who doesn't want to have his identity all over the internet so he is doing an anti-social networking project. This project is by him for him; I can't to see where it goes.


Amanda Sweeting
She stepped out of her comfort zone and participated in an open mic poetry reading. Acknowledging the fact that it takes guts to hold the mic and publicly read poetry, I think she did a great job. Being nervous was only a small bit of the overall experience. It seemed like she enjoyed herself. We could learn from her example and step out of our comfort boxes every so often.

Sara Walchli
Does amazing work for a non profit origination called Rocket Dogs. Often, a little furry friend would join us in class. Her passion project was about dog training. You would have paid to see her interacting with her dog! She was so precise in a kind and loving way; the animals trust and respond to her. We learned that dogs don't understand yelling, so if your trying to get your dog to "sit" you may as well not say anything at all. Dogs respond to body language and smell mostly. She also talked about the three important things for a healthy dog which were (1) exercise (2) good quality food (3) socialization. She made everything sound so simple and I could tell she was an expert at what she does.

Jamies Po Man Yam
A fellow planner friend who will be an amazing planner one day. He has a unique style and humorous undertones. His passion project was on his personal blog highlighting cultural humor. The blog idea stems from noticing the differences in humor between Asian and American humor. Sharing this with the class gave everyone a playful idea about what goes on in his mind while inspiring us to come up with such a great idea!

BOTTOM LINE: The audience is more attentive to presenters who are affectionate/ speak about something they care about.

      
  

Exposure to New Things

    Exposure to stuff is like plant food for your brain.

        Each week we were introduced to
(1) a web video & heard a music choice
(2) and heard music from a guest D.J.

Music played when we walked into the classroom. The D.J. for the day went by their D.J. name. It was a chance for people to share their interests with the class and tell us why they choose a particular artist. Not only is music a nice way to enter the classroom, but I think music has a profound way to connect with people.

My favorite piece of music was played by Joanna Dawson a.k.a DJ "Lil Jo" who played the composer Ennio Morricone. This selection was especially relevant because I've been studying film music composers in my Music & Film class.

Studying Personality and Archtypes

Like I said before, this was not a normal class. At times, there were exercises that reminded me of kindergarten and conversations that seemed more like a group therapy session. One thing is for sure, The Art of Presentation class relied heavily on group participation. If your body was physically in class, you couldn't escape it. You were there for the 3 hour session and you liked it.

Lectures and desks allow for people to play with their cell phones & zone out in the back of the classroom. There was none of that going on here. In fact, we completely changed the classroom by moving all of the desks out of the way and arranging the chairs in a circular formation.

We were exposed to different ways of learning about our selves and each other which is pretty "new age" if you ask me.  I loved every bit of it. People are so different and learn in many different ways. Thinking about our behavior and how that shapes our intentions was the first step.

We looked into these 2 personality tests:

(Traditional) personality test
(Personality archetype system based on animals) Are you a beaver, fox, dolphin, or owl?

The next step was finding out about our passions and what makes us unique.

Who are you?
What makes you authentic?
What drives you mad?
What soothes your soul?

 ----------------------------------

My Results:

H. I am an optimistic person who enjoys coming up with new and interesting things
to do. I have a very active mind that quickly moves back and forth between
different ideas. I like to get a global picture of how all these ideas fit together,
and I get excited when I can connect concepts that initially don’t appear to be
related. I like to work on things that interest me, and I have a lot of energy to
devote to them. I have a hard time sticking with unrewarding and repetitive tasks.
I like to be in on the beginning of a project, during the planning phase, when there
may be many interesting options to consider. When I have exhausted my interest
in something, it is difficult for me to stay with it, because I want to move on to
the next thing that has captured my interest. If something gets me down, I prefer
to shirt my attention to more pleasant ideas. I believe people are entitled to an
enjoyable life.

 
About this personality type

I strive to be OWL like, but live like a DOLPHIN



Dolphins:

“The Idealists”

Want to create a family feeling
Intuitive about people
Harmonious
Communicative
Social
Big Picture
Saviors (cross species)
Vicious when personally attacked

Quest: Connect to people
Style: Collaborative
Achilles Heel: Guilt

Owls:

“The Rationals”

Analytical
Visionary
Big Picture
Independent thinker
Strategist
Powerful
Stimulated by challenge

Quest: Competence
Style: Visionary
Achilles Heel: Incompetence 

Mindfulness & Consciousness

We spent as much time time looking out into the world as we did looking internally.

Some of the things that we brought into our consciousness are things that will help us become more thorough, clear, and inspired throughout our lives. They will improve our presence and affect our ability to stay present.

Some of these considerations were:

What are your inhibitions?
What is your intention?
What are your perceptions of others?

How are you structured? 
What do you do for yourself?
How is personal care?

On the outside, the mirror can tell us what we look like. But it is our brains that processes how we feel about ourselves. Our bodies are like engines and our brains are like hardware for a computer. Together these two create a system that needs sleep, exercise, good food, and water. If one of those necessities is compromised, your body get's pissed off at you!

We practiced breathing exercises every class and did an occasional group stretch or game of patty cakes. This uplifted the energy levels in the room and put everyone on the same plane.

I think getting oxygen to the brain and good water into our bodies is more valuable than we even know. The quality of the these two combined will undoubtedly affect the rest of our health.

Think about country air.
Think what happens when you feed the same 2 plants clean water and city tap water.

Not so busy work

Informational interviews are great ways to get "linked." 

For starters, they force you think, reach out, & put your word out there.
For me that meant asking myself the following questions:
 
Who would I like to talk to? Who would I be excited to interview?
Is there a position that I'd like to know more about?
Is there a brand that I favor?
Who would have an interesting story or career path?
Is there an industry that I'd like to get insight on?

TIPS:

Be prepared to spend loads of time on Linked in if you are serious about getting connected.
It is one of the best tools I have found.

First, you need to find someone/something to guide you. Search by company, job titles, locations or industries. You can also search though who you are connected to (If they are a 2nd degree connection, you can ask your 1st degree connection to introduce you to them.)

Next, you need to choose your person(s). Choose multiple people start with 10 a week. Don't expect responses from anyone. Make a general note asking them if they would have time to chat with you. Tell a little about your self to make it personal. Include what you do/where you study or when you graduate. Tell them why you are interested in what they do. I'll say it again: tell them why. This increases the chances of a response. And when they respond, you feel flattered and feelings of joy, as if you've accomplished something.


PREPARATION:


Preparing for an informational interview is very important. You need to know about them before writing your questions. Look for conversation points that you can have with them. Look for things you have in common or experiences that you can talk freely about. Where are they from? Where did they go to school? These questions will give you a good sense about their interests and career path. It's ok to have some standard questions that you'll ask everyone. But as a general thumb, I think it is most beneficial to reshape all of your interviews based on the person you will be talking to.


DURING THE INTERVIEW:


Should you bring your labtop?
Should you pay for their coffee?
Should you take notes?
Should you look at your notebook every time you ask a question?


These were all of the things I wondered about. All interviews will be different, but you do have some choices to make that will impact the overall experience. 
The best and most valuable interviews I had were without anything in front of me. If there was a notebook, I would keep it closed and only refer to it at the very end if there was a moment of science or when they asked "if there was anything else I wanted to cover." 
I find that the best connections are made naturally through organic conversations. If you have done your research, you will not need to refer to your notebook to decide what to ask them. When the interview is over, that's when I hit up my notes, labtop, or whatever device there is to relay all of the information I heard in my head onto paper. 
This method works well for me. I may be an audio learner or something.
If you are going to try and get the most information, I'd say bring your labtop and type away word for word. The personal connection will not be there, but hey, you'll have a lot of stuff to read later.


WHAT TO EXPECT:


Not only are you learning about them. They are learning about you. Be prepared to be able to talk about yourself. Articulate what you do and how you got there. Think about where you see your self in the future. Think about your dream job and be able to bullet point the things in a job that are important to you. Seem like you have a direction. Talking about yourself in a professional way comes with practice. And then there's positioning yourself as an interesting person.

THANKING THEM:

Thanking them can be done in your own personal way. Just be personal about it.
Written notes are classic if you have their address. I sent courtney a hand written thank you card, especially because she sent me a whole box of Clif Bar products!

Clif Product Bonanza

Bottom line: It's not busy work if they are valuable experiences.






My Interviews


I conducted 10 informational interviews with people from different industries and points in their careers. They all had something in common, that they liked what they did. I interviewed the following people:


1) Lisa Maulhardt, Managing Principal @ SY Partners, San Francisco, CA
2) Courtney Lynch, Brand Manafer, Clif Bar & Co. Emeryville, CA
3) Nick Holder, Paralegal Effico Law Group, San Jose CA
4) John Holland, Founder & Chief Experience Officer, Searchme Inc. Berkley, CA
5) Libby Kaiser, Fitness Instructor 24 Hour Fittness
6) Vanessa Reed, Event Coordinatot,Event Planning San Jose, CA
7) Chris Gilson, Director, MPT Student @ AAU
8) Apo Bordin, Social Media Intern, Trippin.com, San Francisco
9) Michael Dolan, Junior Copywriter, Coakley & Haggerty, San Jose, CA
10)Richard Heggem, VP Sales at Sales Analytics, Inc.


Best Advice:


"Find somewhere you already love. Or that you can learn to love" - Lisa

Top Quotes:

“The thing most instructors are scared about is putting their personality in to it. It’s scary, but that is what takes the class to the next level. That, and something as simple as smiling” -Libby

Encounters

One of the other ways to become comfortable talking is by approaching and talking to strangers. Connecting feels good to me. It spreads love and reminds you that every conversation is an opportunity to learn. 
At first, this exercise reminded me of all of the interesting and boarder line crazy conversations with homeless people I've had here (in San Francisco). Those came naturally because I worked at Starbucks and lived in the Tenderloin. I knew I would have no trouble finding people to talk to, but to make it more interesting, I would focus on how I approached them and what their responses were like. As a planner, it's important to be able to talk to people from all walks of life. I don't know if the skill is ever something you can learn or practice. I think it's the kind situation where: you have it or you don't.

These were my most memorable encounters:

David, an extremely flexible male dancer.

The conversation was initiated through the means of a complement. "You have great flexibility" was the wording I used. "I bet that feels amazing!" We talked about the importance of stretching: for safety reasons & how great it feels to stretch. Many people come to the gym and pump up their muscles for an hour and then go home and forget to stretch. He said it took a lot of training to become as flexible as he was. David was super friendly and I felt very comfortable engaging in conversation with him. I had no fears about sending him a complement and I would not have done anything differently. I learned that he was a ballet dancer for 17 years and toured up and down the coast of California. We talked about the popular show "So You Think You Can Dance," and how wonderful it is to watch people dance. He preferred to watch a more traditional method of dance such as ballet, ballroom, or jazz as opposed to hip-hop of modern.

He said, "I'm kind sick of hip hop." That moved into a new conversation about dance theory and we agreed that that traditional dance has a deep rooted connection with the audience. We touched on the ancient qualities of dance and that it has been around for centuries. I thought it was interesting to hear his perspective when he said, "Traditional forms of dancing involve more communication. It's like the dancers are dancing for you. Some newer forms of dancing like 'break' or 'hip-hop' seems to fufill a sense of self. It seems like the dancers are dancing for themselves." He now teaches private dance lessons and works part time at Macys. 

Kevin, a 13 yr old futuristic kid who is obsessed with video games
The next person is someone I already know, in fact, he is my 13 yr. old cousin. I engaged him in the new video game he is playing called Mine Craft. He is a modern day genius type kid who I know, will some day change the world. I learned about the premise of the game, which is similar to Civilization or Survival. You must build a home, build hunting tools, find chickens for food, etc. It’s a game about exploring and has lots of outlets for creative thinking and problem solving.

This conversation was about taking time to learn about someone and their passions. I was fascinated at the fact that these gamers are extremely self taught experts! He resources you tube (research) and learns how other players built their worlds. Now that I spent some time getting to know what he is into, I hear constant updates on what’s going on in Mine Craft. 

Thoughts

As an outcome of all of this engaging and interviewing process, I am more aware of how much/ how often I engage with people conversation. This extends to both strangers and people who are close to me. 

Choosing the candidates almost became like a personal game.

It takes a little bit of extra energy to talk to someone you don’t know. It's kind of risky and compares to playing a potential game of catch. If you are the conversation initiator, you are the ball thrower. The recipient can do whatever they want with it the ball you throw. They might throw the ball back or they might just walk away.

There are a couple of different ways to engage in conversation with a stranger. I realized that I was most likely to use (1) complement, (2) question, and (3) expressing thanks.

There are several other ways to talk to strangers such as sharing an opinion/observation or pointing out a shared connection/ similarity. 

I thought this assignment was fun and that the pleasure outweighed the risks of experimenting with your own comfort level. For the last note, I think your surroundings have an effect on this assignment. Somebody who is surrounded by public very often, might be more comfortable engaging in random conversations than someone who is alone most of the time. The people who were in my pool to choose from had to be integrated and accessible with my world. I knew that I would be engaging with someone from the bart, cal train, muni, school (inside), school (surrounding), the grocery store, the gym, or out at a party, or at some kind of a sale somewhere. The location will have an impact on your conversation and it's also good to consider the timing.