Week 5 EOC: Social Networking & Job Hunting

"More companies are trying to tap Facebook Inc.'s 750-million-plus user base to find new employees, threatening traditional job boards and competing with LinkedIn Corp., which has dominated the online professional networking arena"

This all depends on who you ask.  Some people might think that social networking is ten times more beneficial then job hunting others may think the opposite. In my opinion this generation today is all about social networking.  Unfortunately the sane that goes somewhere in the line like this "its not about what you know but who you know" is true and is very common in the work force today.  I am a true believer when it comes to social networking, I believe it works and if it wasn't because of the people I know now I wouldn't be employed.  As the number of job postings overall has bounced back from the depths of the recession, Monster's core job postings businesses have benefited. Revenue in the second quarter at Monster Worldwide Inc. rose 25% to $270 million from the prior year.
LinkedIn's revenue from company recruiters is also growing rapidly. In the second quarter, the company's hiring solutions segment—which among other things helps recruiters search through their profile database for candidates—grew 170% to $58.6 million from the same quarter a year earlier

"The antibodies kicked in pretty quickly. They thought it was very invasive," he said. The company posts job openings on its Facebook page, but Mr. Vijungco said they have had more success finding employees through LinkedIn.

Week 4 EOC: Consumer vs. Bus to Bus

“The real challenge is to win buyers’ business by building day-in, day-out, year-in, year-out partnerships with them based on superior products and close collaboration.”  Buyers have different approaches in the way they choose to sell to a client.  I just happen to use the best friend strategy.  When I style I look for what my client feels comfortable and looks great in.  The key to a successful business is having the employee represent the brand whole heartedly.  In order for buyers to make sales they need to almost bribe their potential clients in order to catch a sale. Also another strategy to increase sells is making your client your best friend. “GE wins contracts by partnering with business customers to help them translate that performance into moving their passengers and freight more efficiently and reliably.”

GE clients have believed in the brand for over a century now.  Reason being is because a company like GE strives to constantly improve and better themselves for their clients.  GE is constantly innovating new ideas and is communication with their clients about them, which is key to success considering the fact that clients want to know what is going on at all times.   

 "Business customer buying decisions are made within the framework of a strategic, problem-solving partnership. “We love the challenge of a customer’s problem,” says the company on its GE Transportation Web site."

EOC Week 3:My Demographics

"Millennials. Both the baby boomers and Gen Xers will one day be passing the reins to the Millennials (also called Generation Y or the echo boomers). Born between 1977 and 2000, these children of the baby boomers number 83 million, dwarfing the Gen Xers and larger even than the baby boomer segment. This group includes several age cohorts: tweens (aged 9–12), teens (13–18), and young adults (19–32). With total purchasing power of more than $733 billion, the Millennials make up a huge and attractive market."

My demographic seems to be somewhat correct.  The way they based it off was by looking at what generation gap I take part in.  For example I was born in 1992 which makes me part of generation "Millennium" therefore according to statistics and studies it shows that my generation grew up with technology. Millenniums also lack on social interaction.  Generation Millennium tends to always spend more of their personal time glued onto their computers rather then being outside and enjoying nature.

“All generations are comfortable with technology, but this is the generation that’s been formed by technology,” says a Yahoo! executive. For them, “it’s not something separate. It’s just something they do.”
Demographics are crucial for business owners whether it'd owning small business owner or a big corporation, regardless its their job to find out what consumers fit their market.

EOC Week 3: Making money for good

“The holidays are all about giving. We are very pleased that our ANN Cares program, in partnership with St. Jude, provided Ann Taylor associates the opportunity to give in such a meaningful way,” – Kay Krill, Ann Taylor president and CEO.

Ann Taylor is a well known American retail company that has been around for over 50 years.  They are proud sponsors of a non-profit organization better known as St. Jude's Hospital.  Ann Taylor has teamed up with St. Jude for the past 5 years to help raise money for all children fighting against cancer.  St. Jude helps families that are unfortunate and arent able to cover cost for any of the medical procedures that their children may need. 

"Since the start of the partnership, ANN INC. has raised an amazing $11 million for the St. Jude mission, which has placed ANN INC. in the company of Top 10 St. Jude corporate partners." 

Ann Taylor prides themselves in being able to help those that are less fortunate. Just in the past 2 years they have raised over $11 millions dollars in donations ANN inc.has raised a tremendous amount of money for example just last year the company raise a 4.2 million.  

"Both the Ann Taylor and LOFT brands have enhanced the St. Jude presence in-store and online. ANN INC. continued its commitment to St. Jude in 2011 by repeating the add-on at the register, adding additional elements including an on-screen prompt on the credit pad, LOFT Charm Collection and Facebook “Like” campaigns for both Ann Taylor and LOFT. The Facebook campaigns alone raised $50,000 for the kids of St. Jude."

EOC Week 2: Boston Consulting Group

"The tentacles of the recession have reached into the video game industry, a business that was long considered downturn-resistant."-Wall Street Journal-http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124865158612682399.html

Who in this day in age today would have thought they'd live to see the day of video game extinction?!  Well we just might luck out, wall street journal has just announce a 39% decline this past month in video game sales.  This has been a consistent decline in sales for the past year.  In 2008 they predicted the game industry would bring $11 billion dollars this upcoming year like it did then but now they are saying it will only be bring in 5%.  "Retail sales are down 27 percent compared to this time in 2011. Mobile devices are stealing the spotlight from traditional consoles. And naysayers are openly questioning the long-term viability of the console industry." http://www.cnbc.com/id/47614501. Our technology is advancing faster then what we projected and so are our minds.  In this generation today we tend to like things that are convenient to us for example smart phones. Now that we have touch phones in the palm of our hands we are able to access pretty much anything within seconds. Part of the reason why the video game industry is declining would be because people now a days are able to access and play video games through their phones making it no longer necessary to purchase an actual game or gaming system.  If i were to grade where the video game market stands I would grade it a "cash cow" which means their is plenty of money to be made in that market but its currently not making enough. "Gaming received a massive boom at the start of the cycle because of the Wii," says Handler. "Schools were buying Wiis. Nursing homes were buying Wiis. Everyone under the age of 95 was playing ‘Wii Play.’ It created this massive groundswell. I would say the hard-core gamer has been pretty constant [in his or her gaming habits], but the big shift has been among the casual players who have come into this space."

EOC Week 1: My Voice

My name is Jose Gonzalez and im currently a senior studying Fashion &Retail Management at The Art Institute of Las Vegas. I moved out to Vegas about two and a half years ago, originally from Santa Barbara, CA. I come from a small town where fashion isn’t the big interest therefore I decided if I wanted to pursue my career in fashion I would have to relocate. I currently now work as a Manager at a woman’s clothing store better know as Ann Taylor. I have been working with Ann Taylor for about one year and 3 months now. I plan on pursuing my career with Ann Taylor and perhaps running my own store in the Las Vegas district in the next year. I later on plan on moving to the East Coast to pursue corporate level work, I plan on working with the buying team and look forward to working with the brand for the next few years. Of course buying wont be the only focus, Id also like to pursue developing my own clothing brand. I want to develop an online business that produces tees, tanks, hoodies, and underwear. I want to cater my business to the gay community and perhaps expand to other consumer markets. I believe Fashion is everywhere that is why I am so passionate of what I do.