CAP506
Profle Projects
Example: a top Profile from 2004: Christina Liang
Example: a top Profile from 2004: Christina Liang
Profile
Project
Submitting
and Presenting the Project
The
Profile Project Package
Building
a questionnaire
Profile
Examples
Example
of Profile Story 1: Mel Bellissimo
Example
of Profile Story 2: Ophilia Davis
Part One: Starting the Team Project
1. Select a student who has graduate from Seneca's Marketing Administration Program and who has been out working for at least two years.
2. Develop a plan for meeting with this person. Decide where to meet them and when and how to learn as much as possible about them as needed to create the profile.
3. Develop a questionnaire that will help you get the story of this person's life and how it has been affected by the program and the work since graduating.
4. Collect photographs from your graduate's life and take photos which capture how they are today so that you can illustrate the profile you are creating. This will require a shooting plan and schedule of locations.
Part Two: Preparing the Presentation
1. Once the team has approval for student they have selected and have collected all of the information needed, they can begin to create a Power Point presentation. You may want to begin with a simple slide show to get a basic framework for the story you will be presenting. Demonstrate your approach to creative problem-solving by the ways in which you and your team organize and work together. Be able to show plans for how the final profile presentation will be built.
This is a 10 minute professional presentation that has been well rehearsed, with team members contributing equally and all are wearing appropriate attire. This project is for exploring the realities of marketing graduates and how their skills and abilities are being used in their lives today.
2. The team will prepare (and submit) a written report describing the work you and your team have completed and the roles of each member of the team who created this profile.
A. Describe all aspects of the project from research to completion of the final profile.
B. Include a summary of how you put this project together and what you experienced as a result of working on it.
C. Include the Power point presentation print-out (6-9 slides per page and the outline) as an appendix to the written proposal.
Part Three: Presenting the Site and Final Report
The profile will be shown in class in Week 12, at the same time handing in a professional written report on the project. This report tells how the profile meets the objectives of the project. The report should have a section that gives the script of the story, the shooting schedule and any other contributing artifacts. Be sure to include a print-out of the slide show in this final package.
The packages (for both presentations) may contain the following:
To submit your Team's Profile Project
When teams present their profiles, they will hand in a presentation package. (See below) Be sure that the team has already submitted two updates regarding the project on the team's discussion board. Also, in Forum 2, Please attach the Power Point slide show file to a message. Put your team's name in the subject line and profile project - example: Aces - Profile Project
Items to include in the package:
Reading over the stories given here, what are the questions you will want to be sure to ask your graduate when you interview them. Working together as a team, brainstorm to come up with at least twenty questions that will guide you through the process. As a guideline, once you have edited the interview, you should have enough material to create the profile. In the case of Mel and Ophilia, I asked them to time their stories to run no more than ten minutes. By giving this time constraint, they were able to hone in on the really key events that have contributed to shaping who they are today.
Two Profiles were created to serve as models for the profile project. Both students graduated from Seneca's Marketing Administration Program in 1998. Both were on the President's Honour List. Both were students of mine when I first began teaching in the School of Marketing and eBusiness back in 1996. It was an honour to work with them for six months, preparing these profiles together. We began this journey in June of 2003. The very first thing we did was look at what they had been doing with their lives, particularly what had been happening since the graduated from the program.
You may already know of students who were in the program. Look for graduates who have stories about what they have been doing so that you can create an interesting presentation and can learn from their experience. As you can see, in the following examples, I had about five years of stories to work with, and the challenge became how to edit those stories in such a way as to capture approximately ten highlights from each student's life. Below, you will see how both Mel and Ophilia have incorporated their revised stories into their eportfolios. Additional files related to the development of the two profiles can be found in Course Documents for CAP506 in MySeneca.
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My full name is Melchiorre Adriano Bellissimo given to me by my older brothers, Joe and Frank, 12-18 years older than me. I have had a great sounding board to bounce ideas off and the opportunity to experience life through their eyes putting me ahead of the game growing up. I won a scholarship in Grade 9 for being the top all around student. I was captain of the soccer team, lead trumpet in the school band and an honour roll student. I went to Chaminade College for grades 11 and 12. Through the early years of my life I spent 8 years playing the piano which several of those years were spent at the Royal Conservatory of Music and then spent another 8 years on the trumpet. At Chaminade I played in a quintet and in one of the best high school orchestra’s in the city with 85 members. I also played soccer which led me to playing soccer for the North York Blizzards in the National Soccer league. I a was a running back for the Junior Football team and took part in a variety of other sports and activities through my high school career.
Even at the age of 13 I had a love for people and dealing with people and I guess I knew on some level that I wanted a job that was related to front line work or customer service of some sort. Of course life got in the way of my career dreams and I guess the social butterfly in me took over. After leaving high school I had no clue what I was going to do. In fact, I had tried my hands at so many different jobs it would make your head spin. I think I changed 6 jobs in a span of 1 month. I then started working for a large construction company that was contracted by the city to fix the roads. So I spent almost three seasons doing asphalt with three different companies. I also managed to get my first job as a bouncer at a Gentleman’s club. As mentioned I was always active and bodybuilding was very important to me so I spent a ton of time working out. I guess that after working construction I realized that if I didn’t get an education I would have to do this work the rest of my life not to say construction is a bad job but it just wasn’t for me. Of course my problem was that I knew I wanted to go back to school but I didn’t know what to take. At a career seminar at from all the tests and self –evaluation activities I was best suited to get into marketing so I signed up for Marketing Administration at Seneca College.
1998 Winter Entrepreneur
Trade Show
I started at Seneca in 1995-96 and put my heart and soul into it. My first class was accounting and believe it or not the first question that was asked was who has or has had their own business. Well of course I was the first to raise my hand. I was involved with two other partners in a vending business and by the time I got out of the business in March of 1999 we had over 100 pop machines not including all the coffee and snack machines as well. It was a decent small business and a great learning experience.
The marketing course itself
was very good. I enjoyed most of my classes and with hard work and
a little schmoozing I managed good grades. In fact One semester I
had a 4.0 GPA and graduated at the end of 3 years with honours. I
had some very interesting classes including Marketing, advertising, Computers
in Marketing and Marketing presentations. I have to thank God for
the gift of the gab because I developed great rapport with my professors.
Some of the special projects I was involved in during my stay at Seneca:
*Operations director for
1998 winter Entrepreneur Trade show at Seneca
*Project Leader for Market
research project Conducted for Polo Ralph Lauren
*Production Manager for
“kickstart Newsletter” at Seneca
*I Designed a Direct Mail
Package for Andom Fine Men’s Clothiers
While in College I had a variety of Jobs all in the Restaurant, Bar and Nightclub business. Included were Scorso Restaurant and Bar, Remy’s in Yorkville, El Rancho and Plaza Flamengo Latin Night clubs and a Greek Night Club called Alpha Beta. I love being around people and loved the fact that I was working in an environment where people were happy and enjoying themselves. At the same time it provided me the opportunity to use my best characteristic…. My Mouth. I went to school during the week full time and worked part time on the weekends at these clubs and restaurants. I managed to get a small contract marketing a professional development course at the Canadian Opera Company. It was right up my alley and was very successful, but short-lived.
In spring of 1997 I had an unfortunate motorcycle accident and fractured my pelvis in three spots. I was exempted from my exams. At summer break I left with my family and my crutches to Italy for both business and pleasure. When I returned for the third year at Seneca I had many personal family matters on my plate. We found out that my dad had a brain tumor. It was a very difficult period. In 2 weeks I went to 9 different funerals but I managed to the best I could to get through all of it. Graduation was a very special time for me. I was happy that I made it. All in all college proved to be a very rewarding experience for me.
Now that I was finished college I didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do. I wanted to do something that I had passion for. I had tried my hands at so many things I didn’t know where to start. I had done every single Multilevel marketing scheme you could imagine Amway just to mention one. Everybody had told me that I had a special gift. My interpersonal skills were fabulous and I was an extrovert right off the charts. I would like to say that I always had a way with words and a great ability to make people feel comfortable in a short period of time.
My first job after graduating was at a Restaurant/Bar called Collage. I started as a waiter but after a few short weeks I got involved in not only managing the everyday duties but also was the Promotional manager. I spent countless hours creating a direct mail package and press kit. I was working some 70 and 80 hour weeks especially during the holidays. It did however to prove very successful. In the 6 months I was there the restaurant doubled their income monthly. I also had the best karaoke party in the Northern part of the city. But I felt taken advantage of, and when asked for a raise after 1 year and few months I got refused. I was making $350 a week plus some tips from waitering. My heart said it was time to leave and I did. After giving 100% of my heart to this restaurant and not getting compensated for it, my faith in people slipped and at this point I really had no clue what I was going to do with my life.
Growing up with an Italian background in the city of Toronto I spent a lot of time with so many friends who had a lot of opinions. You see the Italian culture dictates that you go to school college or university, you get a good job, find yourself a nice woman, settle down have kids and get mortgage. As Italian as my mannerisms were I just couldn’t follow some of these traditions. I had a history of changing jobs frequently and of course I was no where near settling down. I did however through all the jobs and experiences put 100% into everything that I did. I would like to say that I am a passionate person in search of my life’s passion.
I decided to keep going with the restaurant and hospitality industry because I was good at it. No one could talk to customers like me and so many of them always came back to see me no matter where I was. Till today I am still in contact with some customers from restaurant jobs I had. All of my jobs were referrals. I always got my jobs because I knew someone who worked there or I knew someone who knew someone else.
Next I worked at the Keg Steak house. My experiences in this industry were fairly well rounded, from a small family owned business to corporately owned restaurants. I waitered and bartended to get a feel for all positions. But at the end of three months I wasn’t given the management position I was promised and I found out that I was a terrible sheep. You see the corporate restaurant environment wants you to be a certain way; it was very robotic, and left no room for creativity. For me, this was a dead end job.
In February of 2000 I thought my ship came in. I landed a job as a distribution coordinator for Coca-Cola. I was a dispatcher in charge of coordinating the routes for some of the cities in Ontario East, the single most challenging job I ever had. I had dreams to one day work for the marketing department. I moved departments after 6 months into sales as a Sales Execution Specialist, a fancy name for a merchandiser. This was the single worst job I ever had. I had to go to a store like Fortino’s and stock 14 pallets worth of inventory. I realized the corporate world wasn’t for me. I was just another number and the company wanted me to act a certain way, dress a certain way and talk a certain way. I really do make a bad robot because most of my co-workers did just that and I wasn’t like them.
I then worked at several banquet and convention centres. One job in particular was at Supreme banquet and Convention Centre as director of corporate sales. It was a really fancy title for a job but my marketing ideas didn’t fit with this old family business. So I decided to take a trip to see if I could get a job in one of the restaurants or resorts on the Cayman Islands. I managed to get one but my work permit was not processed and I had to leave the Island when my visa was up.
In every job including Coca-Cola I always met good people and some dear friends came out of some of the jobs and experiences. I was taught from my brothers “Never to burn your bridges”. You never know when you may need them in the future. This rule I followed really well. I had friends all over the city in many different industries.
Through my networking I went next to a very famous established restaurant on Yonge St. Il Pesto was the name. I started as a waiter and moved to Maitre D’ and was the top seller of wines. This was supposed to be a filler job until Pittsburgh P.A. opened. My old boss from Collage was starting a new concept restaurant in a great location. I thought this was the perfect job as a manager in a scene that I was very familiar with as well as the opportunity to be creative with my marketing skills. The project was delayed and delayed and at Il Pesto I was working my tail off and once again felt taken advantage of. Pittsburg PA never opened and I had to move on. I had a friend who was a manager for Sun Holidays, the biggest vacation travel company in Canada. She gave me a job working as a travel consultant in a small office that she was running in Richmond Hill. It was an okay job with lots of freedom and I was learning a lot about the industry. I was the top seller in a month or two of being there and the company was very pleased. Then September 11th came and as you can imagine this event killed the travel industry. There were weeks that the phone didn’t ring, so I had to get out of the business. Talk about the wrong place at the wrong time.
Next I landed a job in the Food and Nutrition Department at Mount Sinai Hospital. I wanted to be involved with the catering end of the department, organizing and working the functions held at the hospital. First I had to spend some time at one of the busiest Second Cups in Canada. The place was a zoo and the shifts I had were all scheduled at The Cup. In a 6-month period I only worked two catering jobs and they were after the shift at the cup.
Two years before working at the hospital I got involved in Muay Thai also known as Thai boxing, the national sport and martial art of Thailand. I was hooked from the first class and was going 4 to 6 times a week. I loved it and lost 60 lbs doing it. After the motorcycle accident I stopped bodybuilding and spent my time working and living the high life. I put on a lot of weight and when I turned 25 I decided I needed a life change and Muay Thai was one of them. In fact, I was teaching at Siam #1 in North York and also taught a Muay Thai boxercise class. My class at Superfitness was the biggest class with 42 people partaking. I also got certified as a Personal Trainer. I decided to travel to Thailand. So in July 2002, I had my first amateur Thai boxing fight in Michigan and 10 days later left for Chiangmai Thailand.
In my one-year in the Far East I had many adventures. I did had a professional Muay Thai fight and taught English. My first gig was at a local high school teaching kids from kindergarten to grade 9 and later got job of teaching university graduates interested in working for Thai airways, business English, conversational English and interview skills classes. All in all this was a very rewarding and fabulous experience. I also spent 10 days in a Buddhist Temple doing a meditation course in Silence as well as embarked on a 7 day fast, no eating for 7 days.
I can certainly say that my life is not short of experiences and I have made many mistakes along the way. I believe that if you learn from all your experiences it’s not a mistake or a waste of time. I am now 28 years and I am still in search of my passion. Although there is pressure from family and all sorts of social pressures I truly believe one day it will all fall into place. I am a man that has fire inside me; I have a passion for life I just need the right place to put it. I believe I have good skills and I have developed and refined some of them in my travels. After being out East some of my ideas have changed but a love for life will always be with me. At times I feel like some of the fire burnt out but I know this about myself - if there is something that I love, if there is something I have passion for, no one can do it better. The search continues…
After my return in July from Thailand I was still unclear on what I wanted to do. An opportunity, (once again through my networking) to work for Bally total fitness came about and I, with the help of my brother prepared a proposal to give to Bally’s. And although things didn’t turn out exactly as planned I was hired by Bally’s and am presently teaching Muay Thai in 2 of the gyms. Being a Muay Thai Personal Trainer is a perfect fit for me. I book my own appointments, and for the most part take care of getting my own students (clients). What’s also nice is that I work in two gyms, which changes the scenery. So I must say that overall it’s a great stepping-stone for bigger and better things to come.
On September 3rd, 2003 I "tied the knot" as they say, to a very beautiful Thai woman, Aphinya Sasong (Tong). She arrived on August 22 the day before my best friend Gianni Magnante got married. Which was a wonderful thing as she had an opportunity to see a traditional Canadian, Italian wedding. Since Tong’s arrival things have been wonderful as she is adjusting to Canadian life.
Mel's
ePortfolio
Power
Point Slide Show about Mel
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Introduction
My father got my name, Ophilia,
from “Hamlet”, the famous tragic play by William Shakespeare. . I
am the youngest from a family of eight children, and the only one born
in Canada. My mother raised four of the eight children in a three
story low-income high-rise in an area called Regent Park. Regent
Park is known for its problems in panhandling, prostitution, robbery and
gun violence. We lived in Regent Park for fifteen years. I
never got involved in the violence of Regent Park. I attended Regent
Park public school for six years. In the beginning I found school
to be very difficult and meaningless, but when I started grade four my
teacher Miss Shaw introduced me to the stage of acting for the first time.
I was the main character of the play called, “Ladies First”. I enjoyed
the attention I received from the audience. From that moment on I
knew my calling had something to do with performing, but I wasn’t sure
if it was acting.
At the age of fifteen I attended a six-week program called Margo Lane Acting School. I had Saturday morning class for four hours. Once the program was complete I found it very difficult to find acting jobs in Toronto. While I was in High School I still tried to audition for roles, but couldn’t find any work at school. I started to concentrate on plan “B”. Whatever my career choice is it had to be in Entertainment. I started to take business classes and found an interest in Marketing. I felt that Marketing would allow me to continue my creative skills.
In 1993 I applied to Seneca College, I was accepted in the Marketing Administration program for 3 years. That year I did not attend the program, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to take the course. My heart was still fixed on acting. The next following year I applied to the course again, but I was still in limbo, and for the second time I did not accept enrollment. At this point, I was working for The Body Shop. I still felt that something was missing from my life and in that year, I decided to enroll into Seneca’s Marketing program for the third and final time. In the summer of ’95, I accepted enrollment. I left the Body Shop at the end of the summer.
Marketing
Diploma 1998, Seneca College
In the fall of 1995, I was
enrolled in the Marketing Program at Seneca College for three years.
The course was very intense but and I learned a great deal about computers,
business economics and advertising. The course enables students to
apply business and marketing related concepts to computer models using
freelance graphics, PowerPoint and HTML. In the beginning I was afraid
of the computer, I had no idea how to turn on the modem or hard-drive nor
did I understand the component tools used for each program (word and excel).
My previous employer (The Body Shop) did not allow me the opportunity to
use the computer and throughout my time of study I worked part-time for
a retail sports company called Sportcheck. It was difficult to have
school full-time and work part-time but in the end it was worth it, and
in the summer of 1998 I graduated with Honours.
I had the opportunity to design presentation templates and publishing demos. Later that year I did less work with PowerPoint and more work with Access. This program would assist the company with video orders, inventory management and store locations. I had to take two Access classes - beginners and intermediate. I left this position in April 2000 to pursue an opportunity with YTV.
On
to YTV (Cable Television)
I was offered a position
with YTV as an Executive Assistant in the finance department. However,
my skills in PowerPoint were not used. I acted more as an administrative
assistant and learned the use of Excel. My main responsibilities were filing
and booking appointments. To maintain my creative abilities I did
some volunteer work for two committees - the social and newsletter committee.
Each committee I worked for was in a team setting environment, but in April
2001, I was laid-off from YTV…I needed to take a break. I decided
to visit a family friend in Bridgeport, Connecticut for two months.
While I was visiting Connecticut in the summer of 2001, I felt I needed to find a job before coming back to Toronto (in August). I contacted my old supervisor in Guest Services from The SkyDome. She told me about a 1-year contract position with the Event Sales department, the department needed an Event Sales Assistant. I sent my résumé by via e-mailed. She then passed it on to the Human Resources Manager. The HR Manager felt that my background experience was a great fit. I was given a phone interview with both the HR Manager and the Director of Event Sales, and upon my arrival to Toronto I had another interview, I was hired on the spot. The Event Sales Director told me she was impressed by my professionalism and portfolio (I was the only person who brought in a portfolio).
Later that year, the President of SkyDome had a meeting with the Directors and Managers of each department. He wanted them to prepare a presentation outlining passed improvements and future department goals. My Director asked me to design a PowerPoint presentation. This gave me the opportunity to re-invent my creative skills. The presentation I designed had a variety of flow charts, graphs and some great pictures of upcoming events (i.e. pictures of Wrestlemania, the Circus and music concerts).
Special
Project: Hoops Unlimited
Once my contract was complete
in September of 2002, I was able to do some contract work for a close friend
of mine, Shawn Gray. He needed me to design a PowerPoint presentation
for his new company, Hoops Unlimited. Hoops Unlimited is a non-profit
Christian based organization formed to provide youths in the Etobicoke
community with organized team recreations, exposure to positive Christian
life values and the opportunity to become good citizens. This was
a short-term project.
In conclusion, I feel I’ve been able to accomplish quite a bit of work based on my past experience, but I feel that I need to take it to another level, and I know I will. Time is everything and so is patience, I will continue to explore my purpose which will help me to define my future.
Ophilia's
ePortfolio
Power
Point Slide show for Ophilia