Blog 26: Senior Project Reflection

(1) Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your 2-Hour Presentation and/or your senior project? Why?

The thing that I am most proud of is learning business adminstartion. I thought that I would need to find a class and spend a ton of money but instead I got a free one course. It really opened my eyes and helped me see into my future and career path I would like to take. This is why I felt that by me completing this business course was very good for me.

(2) Questions to Consider

a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your 2-Hour Presentation (self-assessment)?

      - I would say that I hit all the "P consideratin" boxes so a P.

b.     What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?

- I would give myself a overall P too because I did everything and it was not bad.

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?

- My research really worked for me, even though I was not getting high grade I was getting good grades. It worked for me because at the beginning of the year I was not doing good on my research checks. At the end I improved and it helped gain knowledge on how to research. I felt that it was important to have them and I enjoyed them.

4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would have you done differently to improve your senior project if you could go back in time?

- I would say that the science component did not work for me. I would have choosen something better to do than what I previously did. It was hard for me to find out what scientific thing I could do because my topic was running a skate shop so I felt that my scienc component was not strong. 

(5) Finding Value

How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?  Be specific and use examples. 

- During my senior project I learned a lot through my mentorship and just by myself. For example through my mentorship I learned that when you buy from suppliers they check how far other skate shops are from you to see if they already sell to them to not cause competition. Over all I just learned a lot about business managment and the skateboarding culture.

Daewon Song vs H20

Having problems with the rain? Well Daewon Song has being battling H20 for a long time. Here are some clips with Song fighting against the water. It is really amusing and funny, you might even learn a couple of tips. Click the video and find out for yourself. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnqNEGePx0c

DVS in Brazil!!!!!

This an awesome video of the shoe team DVS. It shows them skating and doing some awesome tricks in the one and only country Brazil! Daewon Song has to be one of my favorite skaters, so this video was very awesome for me . Check it out!!!! Click the link the below to see it man!

http://theberrics.com/news/dvs-ill-in-brazil.html

STEE PREMIERE

Anybody going to San Diego this weekend? If yeah might as well and check out Sk8Mafia x Sweet Video premiere. It will be worldwide and you can get your free tickets at Pacific Drive Skateshop. It's all ages and you'll be seeing probably some great clips with the Sk8Mafia and Sweet skateboard crew!

BATB 6 Championship

Battle At The Berrics is where pro skaters come together to compete in a game of SKATE. This is the 6 BATB with the theme of Goofy vs. Regular. The game SKATE is played with two skaters that try to do the same trick the first skater did. Baiscally it is like a game of horse for basketball but with a skateboard. If you don't land the trick the previous skater did you get a letter, the person to get all letters loses. At the Berrics they have a competition and yesterday was the championship final with P-Rod vs. Pj Ladd.

It was an intense game and totally rad to watch, here is the link if you are interested. There may be some mature content (but not really) so just for the heads up.



http://theberrics.com/battle-at-the-berrics-6/championship-battle.html

Blog 25: Mentorship

    Literal

·     Log

·     Kurtis Beckstorm

Phone Number:1(626)551-8222

    

Interpretive

     What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

• The most important thing I gained from my experience with my mentor was seeing and understanding how difficult it actually is to run a skate shop. At the beginning of the year I thought that being an owner of a skate shop would be the easiest and funnest job to have. It was shocking to see how busy Kurtis is and the struggles he faces with his shop. I learned how important it is to be connected with your shop at all times, just really being on top of things and getting them done. I learned that being connected with your shop 24/7 is a great thing but very diffucult to do. I found this important because it showed me the struggles and benfeits it would be to run a skate shop.

   Applied

     How has what you’ve done helped you to answer your EQ?  Please explain.

• I realized how important and diffucult it is to attract customers to your shop. With knowing how important customers are I reasearched marketing strategies  eventually leading me to a marketing plan.  Through my mentorshio I came to conlusion on how important marketing is. Covert Board Shop, recently moved locations so we sent fliers to previous customers that have boughten there. Every flier cost 40 cents each and we sent thousands of fliers to customers. I saw how important it is to keep in contact with your customers and trying to attract new ones.This is one example that made me believe how important a marketing plan is to have a profitable skate shop.

Blog 24: Exit Interview Questions

Content: 

(1) What is your essential question?  What is the best answer to your question and why?

• My essential question is “What is the best way to sustain a profitable skate shop?” and my best answer is having a good marketing plan. This is my best answer because by having a good marketing plan, your business will become most profitable and be stable. It tells you the strengths and weakness your shop has, giving you the opportunity to improve it. Also, you will have the kind of marketing strategies you will have, which is very important in a skate shop because you want to attract customers. 

(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

• The process I took to come up with my answer was at Covert Board Shop, I was just evaluating what was going on at the shop when some days the shop would be busy and other days the shop felt like a ghost town. I asked Kurtis Beckstorm and he said the best thing you can do is have good marketing plan. This will include marketing strategies that can help you gain customers from all different parts of areas if they are really good. The marketing plan is key in making your shop run according to Beckstorm.

(3) What problems did you face?  How did you resolve them?

• The problem I faced was at the beginning of the year, I could not find a mentorship to get my hours at a skate shop. I only had one week to find a mentorship because if I did not I would have had to find a different topic for my senior project. I really did not want to change my topic, so I looked up “skate shops” on Google and a bunch of locations appeared on the screen. I wrote down all the skate shop’s addressees and went to every single on personally to see if I would be able to get my hours there. Luckily, Covert Board Shop was the only one that said yes, which I’m very grateful for.

(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

• One of my most significant source would have to be what I did for my second independent component. I took a free online course, at saylor.org, called BUS305 Small Business Management. In this course I had to do read a lot of articles about entrepreneurs, building a team for your business, business plan, marketing plans, and financing. The book Principles of Marketing by Saylor, really helped me understand my third answer. This course helped me gain knowledge on the business side if a skate shop.
• Another significant source has to be Kurtis Beckstorm, founder of Covert Board Shoppe. I really got see how a skate shop is most profitable and what it takes to run one. I have learned a lot from Beckstorm when it comes down to business and just personally level in creating a good atmosphere. 

(5) What is your product and why?

While at doing my mentorship at Covert, I really did not have an expectation how involved the business was going to be with the community. Now I have an expectation that a business should be more involved with the community. Covert has many events that involves getting the community together to have a good time. These events are sticker exchange, skating contests, and live music. It was really cool seeing some of the same faces showing up to these events and just having a blast. I feel like by having the business be more involved with the community it showed me how really important the customers were.