Wow has it been almost a quarter of a year since I last posted? It's been far too long. Not much has changed though, as far as my current advertising situation. I'm still taking my marketing/ E-commerce course as a junior in high school, and I'm still loving it. Anyway, three major (or perhaps in other views, minor) events have hopefully boosted my potential career as a businessman.

1)My school is taking part in a contest, hosted by a local marketing business (I'll leave out the name to avoid potential monetary issues), to design, create and market a new idea or product. Only six students could be used by each high school, and I was picked due to "My ability to think outside of the box'" as far as advertising. My marketing teacher has said that one of the judges seems extremely interested in applications for phones or other electronic devices. Since then I've found out that pretty much everything has already been thought of and patented, but I haven't lost hope. I've since drawn up (unprofessionally) some ideas, but found out that getting a patent is very technical and complicated. (Possible business idea...Streamline the patent system, to allow for everyone to develop ideas, which would boost the economy and possibly affect the American way of life.) Anyway, this competition would be a great thing to put on a resume, especially if we won. Plus it would help me get noticed by a local marketing company that I could see myself working for in the future.

2)As I walked into school one day, I said hi to one of my study hall advisers I had in 8th grade, who's also a business teacher in my school. (Since I was always quiet in her study hall, she's grown to like me.) She of course said hi back, but also mentioned a an event that was taking place in the summer that she thought I would be a good candidate for. It's basically an accounting workshop, being run at a college up north. She said that only one 11th grade student could go from each school, and she wondered if I would be interested. I of course pounced at the opportunity, thinking that this could also look great on a resume, and who knows, maybe I could become an "Accounting Amateur." She has since given me the paperwork that I need to fill out, and turn in. Unfortunately that doesn't mean I'm automatically "In." I still have to have an interview. So *Fingers crossed!*

3) I am part of a statewide history club, and have in the past two years been a delegate. This year, with a more business tamed mind, I went and personally came up with some appealing ideas. My first idea was to create more income. I thought of the hundreds of teenagers who come to the meeting with a pocket full of cash to spend, so why not tap into the money being introduced into the local economy? I proposed briefly, that we sell a sort of advertisement to the locals. They give us (The club) a certain amount of money and we'll spend a fraction of that on printing off pieces of paper, saying that they sponsor our club, so we should do business with them. If the businesses don't receive that much business, oh well, the convention is held at a different location each year. Another one of my ideas was to offer a student choice award for the best project presented at the convention. This will boost member moral, and ultimately get the members to talk about it to their friends. This would be a great way to receive free advertisement. Yet another idea I brought up at the meeting was to develop a new contest, to boost morale and eliminate arguments at the meetings. For the past two years, Ive noticed that much time is wasted on designing a t-shirt for that years convention. This not only wastes time, but also potential funds. So I proposed a solution, why don't we host a T-shirt design contest among all the members? That way we won't waste time deciding on overall color, text color, font, text placement etc. but rather spend maybe 10 min choosing from a handful of options. All of my ideas were a smash hit at the meeting, and are expected to take root, beginning next year.

Just an Update on my marketing Class

I realize this is just a blurb compared to my other posts, but so far this year in marketing class, at least one of my posters has been picked for every event. (Homecoming, a school club party, and the school play) I am currently satisfied with a poster I am mading for our upcoming business club. I present my poster tomorrow. I hope I do this well outside of our school...

Where I am as of today

After my experience at career day, I decided that I needed to experience it further, so I took our school's "Marketing/ E-Commerce" course. Prior to that point, I had already tried an architectural course, and decided I hated it and would never make architecture more than a simple hobby. So, I expected the same experience with advertising, however, I have yet to complain. It's simply amazing; I can apply my analytical skills, and create something that everyone one will both see, and hopefully (If the job is done right) become influenced by it's message. I, so far, believe I'm grasping the concepts of marketing, and successfully applying them to my ad's. Just last week I found out, my ad for a school sponsered party was one of only two picked. For now, that's a big deal to me. Through all of this happiness though, I am still somewhat skeptical. How can advertising be a fun? Isn't it supposed to be a job? I guess I'll find out...

why I desire to advertise

Throughout my younger years, I was known for my practicality. As some kids saw themselves as rockstars, or god only knows what, I, at the age of ten, saw myself as a carpenter. Perhaps it was because I saw a local contractor build an addition onto our house at that time. I later discovered that I had no talent, or good reason for the carpentry field. I went through several years afterward where I didn't really look to the future, which, even to this day, I'm not sure as to why. I guess it was because I was content with my life as it was. I had food on the table, a roof over my head, and quite a few "Gadgets," as my dad called them. During that time though, I never forgot the stories of when my family, prior to my birth, spent hours clipping coupons, and ate a diet of mostly cheap pasta. What changed? My dad was shipped downstate, along with people all over the country, to work in at a single location. They said it was for "Better results," some B.s. they got from a car company, which later recalled several thousand vehicles. Afterward my family started to spiral into debt, and actually still is. I've made a promise to myself that, although I hope to become filthy rich, I will never forget what corrupted company officials do to families, just to make a few more bucks. I suppose we'll find out later if my mind is changed. To get back in-line with the title, I first thought about advertising when my brother brought home the first series of "Mad Men" from college. Altogether, I thought it was terrible, too long, and too many awkward moments where something was said or shown that I, as a teen, didn't mind but knew my parents disapproved of, so I had to put on a show for them, to make them think I was disgusted with it as well. Even so, I couldn't get passed the lavish lifestyle and the application of analytical skills to do something creative. From that point, two things led me into deeper thought of advertising. The next year, in my tenth grade English class, we actually learned how to become analytical, and much to my suprise, I felt the teacher favored my analytical application more than that of others. I will admit that I may have gotten a little arrogant in that class, but in any event it has given me that boost in confidence needed to pursue my dream of becoming a successful advertiser. towards the end of that school year, my class went on a sort of field trip, called career day. It was sponsered by a local college and had countless of options from which to choose. I of course picked advertising, but also entrepeneurship, and lastly architecture (Which I was taking a class in, and absolutely hated). As could be expected, I hated the idea of being an architect because the speaker said that it would be your whole life, and if you didn't absolutely love it, you shouldn't do it. My session in the entrepeneurship category was very informative, maybe a touch too much, however, the speaker did give us his contact information, which I unfortnately lost. The advertising session consisted of a movie, which I noted was basically an advertisement to get you to choose the advertising career path. I'd like to think that it was my analytical skills which allowed me to see that, but maybe it was just obvious. Two things really stuck in my mind from that video. The first was the originality of the people in the video, they didn't blend in and wear besiness suits, but they stuck out and even looked comfortable in their surroundings. The second was the idea that you can find information anywhere and anytime. You could be driving home from work and find an inspiration in a person, or have an epiphany during the night. In any case, advertising didn't seem like just another desk job from 9-5; it seemed to be a lifestyle, a lifestyle I absolutely loved.

Reasons For this Blog

As a junior in high school, I don't believe it is fully necessary to develop a blog, however, I'm looking to the future, hoping to gain profit from my daily trial and errors in an attempt to become a successful advertiser. I just hope that Blogger.com doesn't look for a portion of my profit. I suppose I'll find out in thirty years. From here on out, I wish both myself and this blog nothing but success.