IMC Hawks Blog

Author: tchayes

  • Trick or treat..Smell my feet..IMC

    To many people, Halloween strictly means candy, tricks, costumes, and monsters. However, Halloween actually has a history rooted in religious conquests and power struggles; a characteristic that most people are unaware of. This national holiday dates back to Celtic pagan festivals that celebrated the end of the harvest season.Druid ceremony They believed that on this day the spirits would come back to earth and roam free; causing mischief and looking for living souls to possess. The people would dress up in frightening costumes, make blood sacrifices and leave food outside of their front doors in an attempt to ward off the evil spirits and appease their appetites. Halloween only fundamentally changed when the Romans took the Celtic lands and forced Christianity among its people. The Romans adopted the Celtic celebrations, infusing their religious beliefs into the concepts, and named it “All Saints Day” in order to honor the saints that did not have a day of their own.  By the 1500s, “All Saint’s Day” had become “All Hallows’ Day”, and the Celtic festival had begun to be known as All Hallows’ Evening, Hallow Evening, and eventually… Halloween. 
    This holiday fell somewhat dormant until 1921 when the first citywide celebration of Halloween began in Anoka, Minnesota; followed by New York and L.A. Only about 5% of the American population celebrated this holiday until now, as it has become one of the most celebrated holidays in the US. With this mainstream evolution in mind, many businesses are in debt to the creators of such a day. From candy to costumes, this day turns out to be one of the most profitable of the year, making the importance of marketing efforts vitally important. The goal of the holiday is no longer to ward off evil spirits; but rather to have the best costume and best collection of candy. For one day every year, people feel it necessary to build a costume based on their perception of a person, product, or trend; driving attention to some of the biggest “hits” of the year. Since everyone is now participating in the tradition, the role of marketers is to offer these costumes and candies to every main audience of Halloween: children, parents, teenagers, and young adults, in hope that their variety will be selected as the “hot item” this year.

    Jared Sales, Sally Shupe, Oliver Evans

  • Just Keep Moving – Lessons Learned on the Job Hunt

    “It is your work in life that is the ultimate seduction. “ Pablo Picasso

    Tonight, I would like to share some of the things I’ve learned while searching for jobs, and make some friendly recommendations for anyone either in the hunt for, or already in an entry-level position.

    I’ve never been one to make New Years Resolutions (can you imagine anything more arbitrary?), but this year I decided to jot down a few regarding my professional development. Here’s a few that made the list:

    • Make more mistakes. Fail more often.

    You’re either thinking (a) this guy is so full of himself that he doesn’t think he makes mistakes or (b) why the hell would someone want to fail more often? Let me explain! It’s nothing new to point out flaws in the modern education system, but let’s look at one: the absence of failure. With all the extra help offered from teachers, tutors, & classmates, it’s almost impossible to fail. Failure is an immensely important part of any serious development for two reasons. First, if you set audacious goals (which you should!), you will experience occasional (if not frequent) failures. Second, failures offer the best opportunities to learn. So set bold goals and learn from your failures: your professional growth will exponentially exceed that of your risk-adverse peers.

    “Anyone who has never made a mistake, has never tried anything new.” Albert Einstein

    • Quit using the kid sitting next to you in class as a benchmark!

    It’s human nature to compare. Seemingly without fail, humans adapt their expectations to fit their surrounding reality. Repeated studies reveal that lottery winners experience a brief jolt of happiness over their first few months of newfound wealth, and then find themselves either back at their previous equilibrium or even lower. It’s easy to let yourself align with the average of what people directly around you are doing. You need to remember however, that these people aren’t your competition (they’re only a small fraction of your competition). Your competition includes people graduating from MIT, Harvard, Yale, & Columbia. Many of them are MBA students. Beyond them, you’re competing with rapidly advancing populations in China and India. It’s easy to see this as a threat, but welcome this as an opportunity: you have the chance to work with the smartest minds in the world, regardless of their origin. So remember, your competition expands past UNCW, and always aim to associate with people smarter than yourself: you’ll learn plenty and it will help keep you humble.

    “People only learn through two things. One is reading and the other is association with smarter people.” Will Rogers

    • Read. (I know, I know, but there’s really no way around this one. Sorry.)

    I’m guessing half of my audience just left. Two years ago I would have done the same thing. Let’s ignore how awfully similar that sounds to an addict in recovery, and explore why I’ve made this 180 with such conviction.

    A broad range of knowledge is going to be a rare, and invaluable talent in my generation. One of our greatest advantages is also one of our greatest burdens: we have access to more information than any previous generation. The problem, is that our constant 24-hour access to this data gives us much less incentive to remember it. In a job setting, this prevents us from connecting the dots of multiple pieces of data, that alone, would mean nothing.

    Just Keep Moving!

    You are responsible for your own career path. You control where you will go. You control how you get there. This is a lot of responsibility, but it’s an even greater amount of opportunity. You can coast through school, work, & life aiming to meet the bare minimum and avoid criticism. OR You can take pride in your work. You can find a job that you actually enjoy. You can attain fulfillment & meaning from your career. If you ask me, the “easy” path of doing the bare minimum sure seems harder in the long run.

    “I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road.” Stephen Hawking

    A few important notes:
    – I don’t suffer any illusions that I’m being completely original here; much of what I’m recommending is practically cliche it’s been said so many times.
    – I try to follow my own advice as much as possible, but I’m far from always being on the right path. I feel like I’m beginning to get a pretty good grasp of what best leads to professional development, but “knowing” and “doing” can be deceptively far apart.
    – Feel free to disagree with me on any of this, and please share your thoughts in the comments if you do!

    – Terry Hayes

  • Com Studies Graduates Share Their Experiences

    Today, I had the opportunity to see a panel of five recent (graduating between 2004 and 2009) UNCW Communication Studies graduates. After giving a brief introduction of where they each studied at UNCW and what their current job positions involve, the floor was opened up to questions. I would like to share some of the panelists’ responses that struck me the most.

    A common theme shared among the panelists: make the most of your time in school. Panelists especially urged seniors to challenge themselves by taking as many 400 level courses as they can, because those classes will provide the best experience and preparation for post-graduation life. Similarly, panelists talked about how internships played immensely important roles in their development and transition to entry-level positions. Continuing the thought, when asked about the importance of GPA’s and transcripts in the interview process, panelists unanimously expressed that little concern was given to GPA’s and transcripts, and that employers were much more interested in extracurricular activities and work experience.

    Here are a few other comments that I found particularly useful:

    Regarding the need for strong written communication skills, Chris Duke stressed the importance of writing “clear and concise.”

    When asked about bringing new ideas to an organization, Laura Smith suggested spending time learning everyone’s preferences, because unlike teachers’ seemingly endless enthusiasm for participation, professionals may not always be so receptive.

    And lastly, my personal favorite insight of the night came from Chris Duke. Paraphrasing, Chris said, “Use the opportunity during the interview to ask questions that give you a feel for the organization and the culture.”

    Wrapping up both Business Week and Com Studies Day, we hope everyone was able to use the myriad networking opportunities. If you feel you may not have done enough networking, or perhaps you’ve got “the networking bug” now, be aware that there are plenty of networking opportunities in Wilmington regularly. Visit WilmingtonNetworkingEvents.com for a calendar with each month’s events.

    For a full transcript of our Com Studies Day live-blogging, click here.

    – Terry Hayes

  • Hollywood’s Oxygen

    They are some of the most well-paid people in Hollywood. They’re welcome at the most exclusive parties and are constantly brushing elbows with the town’s biggest names. Leaving aside the numerous jokes to be made about Hollywood’s oxygen, I am referring to the agents that manage the town’s top talent. These agents provide a continuous stream of deals “in a town that needs deals like oxygen,” as the Financial Times characterized agents’ place in their story on the industry.

    Mainly known for fetching their clients top-dollar contracts, agencies are being forced to expand their repertoire. In the past, garnering promising and proven talent may have been enough. Today, though, agents are finding themselves forced to find new ways to offer value, and they’re forced to do so in a changing environment. Studios are making less movies (last year saw a 20% drop), and becoming less willing to take risks on an incomplete picture. Agents are adding value by “packaging” movies – a term referring to attaching a director, star, and script.

    Citing fewer movie productions and sharply declining DVD sales, Jeremy Zimmer, partner at the talent agency UTA, states, “Real agents aren’t bookers any more, they are job creators…we have to be creative.” Agencies are looking to other areas for additional revenue sources. Television has become increasingly important with agencies fighting to package pilot shows for big profits.

    Others are looking not to create new content, but rather to bring existing content to a new audience. For example, Creative Artists Agency, the largest talent agency, which manages infamous curmudgeon Simon Cowell, worked on contracts to bring his hit UK show, The X Factor to the US.

    Further still, agencies are vamping up their efforts on branding their clients. One agency helped singer Gwen Stefani create a clothing line, while CAA snagged a marketing deal with the New York Yankees’ new stadium. In contrast to the growing concern over the use of sports endorsers, CAA has made a strategic decision to pursue some of the world’s top sports talent. The bottom line is a valuable lesson for any industry: when opportunities seem scarce, adapt by creating your own.

    And as for who really came out on top at the Oscars? CAA lead the pack with 9 awards (out of a dominant 28 nominations)

    For more info on agencies’ Oscar nominations and awards, go here: OSCARS! Which agencies were the big winners?
    Read last month’s Financial Times story on the agency industry here: Hollywood’s golden talent agents

    – Terry Hayes

  • Tall, Dark, and Handsome, or Overweight, Old, and Unattractive?

    It is likely the most important, yet most illusive goal one can pursue. Different strategies for achieving it have been passionately debated throughout the ages. The goal: achieving lasting happiness.

    What makes people happy? Which, if any, factors are universal across all races, genders, and locations? The New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof explored this issue in his Op-Ed column, irresistibly titled, “Our Basic Human Pleasures: Food, Sex and Giving.” Borrowing examples from University of Virginia psychology professor Jonathan Haidt, he poses the question, “who would you rather trade places with?”

    First up is Richard: “an ambitious 36-year-old white commodities trader in Florida. He’s healthy and drop-dead handsome, lives alone in a house with a pool, and has worked his way through a series of gorgeous women.”

    Next is Lorna: “a 64-year-old black woman in Boston. She’s overweight and unattractive, even after a recent nose job. Lorna is on regular dialysis, but that doesn’t impede her active social life or babysitting her grandchildren. A retired school assistant, she is close to her 67-year-old husband and is much respected in her church for directing the music committee and the semiannual blood drive.”

    The somewhat predictable outcome is that Lorna is more likely to live the happier life. As you may already know, our class spent the beginning of the semester reading Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone, in which he argues vehemently for the positive impacts of social capital. Putnam argues social capital creates a positive impact in all areas of people’s lives, including the social, political, and economic realms. Looking into recent studies on happiness in different groups, the data seems to suggest Putnam was right (at least when it comes to happiness).

    Moving across the NYTimes website to the Freakonomics blog, we are shown some interesting and pleasing findings on happiness inequality: the gaps in race and gender are shrinking. The gap between those with more education and those with less education appears to be widening, but this fits with our expectations based on Putnam’s social capital arguments. The benefits of higher education are myriad: a better functioning democracy, a better understanding of the world and each other, more fulfilling careers and countless others. Let’s be sure not to forget one of the most important and often overlooked benefits: happiness.

    If you’re interested in reading more, Jonathan Haidt’s book on the subject can be found here: The Happiness Hypothesis.

    – Terry Hayes
    (Twitter: @TCHayes
    Blog: The Sunroom)