Red Letter Marketing Blog

Let me start by saying that I wish I had been updating this blog more frequently. I’m a little embarrassed to say that I haven’t updated since early April of this year, and I think that definitely needs to change. Plenty has gone on for me during that time period, and I’d like to review some of that, incorporating my decision to return to UMass Dartmouth to get my MBA, and where I am now.

I graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing, with a minor in Finance, in May of this year (2010). Safe to say, this is one of my proudest moments of my life. I was blessed with support from my family, friends, and acquaintances along the way. One professor I certainly need to thank is Dr. D. Steven White, professor and chairperson of the Marketing department at UMass Dartmouth. Steve, young in spirit and who prefers to be addressed by his first name as a peer, has assisted me along my collegiate career from the time I became a marketing major in my sophomore year until the time I graduated, where he responded by giving me a handshake and one-armed hug, cheering “KT!”

I began to direct myself towards a career that incorporated interactive marketing, culminating in an Advertising class with Dr. White (MKT 421, which because the amount of credits I had, was not a requirement to graduate, yet I wanted to take it anyway), where I started utilizing social media as a channel for business-related activities, helping introduce to the class some aspects of social media that they had not yet discovered. I had the honour of being mentioned in a press release from the school as well (http://bit.ly/bVBPEj — thank you, Jackie).

The day before graduation, I found out I had been accepted in grad school at my soon-to-be alma mater. Oddly enough, before I had checked my email, I received a mention in a tweet from Dr. White congratulating me in my acceptance. I quickly responded by checking my email. Needless to say, I was quite excited about the news. The only issue was: did I want to return for grad school or did I want to find a full-time job. This dilemma bothered me a bit for the next month or two. It didn’t help that I hadn’t yet received housing, so there’s an added issue with returning. Talks with Dr. White, my family, and more than a few with one of my closest friends and colleague Matt Casartello (he himself now a graduate Psychology student at St. Michael’s college, Matt had already planned on attending grad school and was trying to convince me, with good reason of course, to do the same), helped lean me in the direction of returning to get my MBA.

I don’t believe that the state of the economy and the lack of full-time jobs had a large effect on my decision, though I can’t deny it didn’t play a part. Fewer jobs available means companies can raise the requirements of their job candidates, and being someone fresh out of college with little real-world experience didn’t give me too much of an advantage over others. I had spent the last five Summers at Six Flags New England, four of them in a leadership role, the last three as a seasonal operations supervisor. Even promotional opportunities in the company I worked was difficult to attain; only one marketing position had opened, and it was gone long before I had even graduated. I had gained plenty of managerial, customer service, and operational experience through Six Flags, but I had to make my exit from there if I wanted something more. My final decision came down to the fact that I didn’t want a short-term fix, I wanted to better prepare myself for a career, and to give myself any advantage I could. With housing and financial aid being settled, I had made my decision to return to Dartmouth in late July.

Less than two months in, the college experience is different this time around. Most of my friends at school had graduated with me in May and were not returning. I had to adjust to a schedule that was purely night classes only (four classes all 6:30p to 9:30p, not the “ideal” schedule). But I could manage. Concentrating fully on school, as stated I had left Six Flags, at the end of August. I had become accustomed to driving two hours home nearly every weekend to work a full 25-30 hours Friday through Sunday, but with the increased workload of grad school, I knew this would not be possible. Needing some sort of inflow of money, and not having to worry about driving home every weekend, I had sought out an internship. Opposed to a part-time job, I mainly wanted to gain more experience in my field; the more experience I acquired, the better.

After nearly a month at school, I had interviewed with and been offered an internship with the United Way of Greater New Bedford, a small-but-great nonprofit organization, part of the larger United Way family, as a Social Media Specialist. On top of maintaining a database of agencies and individuals along with another intern, I have my own separate responsibilities of running the majority of the social media communications of the organization. The organization having minimal experience in social media, this internship allowed me to utilize my previous experience with social media, as well a sort of “learn-by-doing”, as I had never actually been involved with any company’s social media campaign. As I become more hands-on and involved with this internship, I hope for my responsibilities to expand further.

Am I afraid of the real world? I can’t deny that I am not at least a little bit intimidated by it. Given the opportunity, I like to think that I can learn and do well at any job I take. I have plenty of ambition and hope that I can succeed, and that can definitely help as a driving- and motivational-factor. When I’m done with grad school in December 2011, I plan on hitting the ground running. Where that’s actually going to take me, I’m not sure, and I’m okay with that. What I know is that in the meantime, I plan on doing all that I can to better myself and prepare myself for whatever is out there.

Look for me on Twitter as @UnitedWayofGNB (as well as my usual @kytaylor88). I’ll be updating with information on nonprofits along with fundraising, charity, and volunteering opportunities and events.

It’s time that I finally got started writing something on this blog. I’ve had it for a short while but haven’t done anything with it yet. I’ve recently become more involved with social media and personal branding, and it’s good to write about topics you enjoy, I personally feel it all sounds more genuine that way as well. My goal is that as this blog gets updated more regularly and tackles more subjects involving my interests and social media that my insight becomes more useful and my writing skills develop a bit more. In the meantime, let’s get this first blog post kicked off with a topic that I take relatively seriously.

Beer. The college student’s drink of choice. American consumers often see commercials Coors Light or Bud Light proclaiming to be refreshing. While the mass-marketed beers have excellent prices, the flavour falls far short of being of any value. I do not pretend to be an expert in the discussion of beer, though I’m confident enough in stating that the large breweries that can produce commercials for us to see multiple times a day just don’t cut it in terms satisfying my taste buds. Since turning 21, I have been able to peruse the liquor store for a more fulfilling beer, though how I got to this point is an interesting story.

Around Spring 2009, I began using Twitter. At first using Twitter purely to connect and chat with friends, I began to realize in the late fall of that year just how powerful an information-sharing tool it was. It was also around this time a friend of mine introduced me to BeerAdvocate. (An aside: If you’ve never heard of or visited the site before, I advise you do. It is a database that relies on consumer-generated response, and is an excellent resource in information regarding beer from around the world.) Through word-of-mouth, sugestions, and my research and preference, I began to use the site to try out new drinks.

Obviously, one does not need to drink beer solely for the intention of getting drunk. Occasionally, a nice drink with dinner can compliment a meal nicely. Where social media gets involved is that not only does BeerAdvocate actively update on Twitter, many microbrewers and craft brewers also use Twitter to connect with their customers. I began following BeerAdvocate as well as some of the microbreweries that I enjoyed after giving a few beers a taste test.

It’s excellent seeing these breweries interact with their customers on such a personal level, giving attention and direct response to so many followers on Twitter. My preferred brew of choice, Dogfish Head, has a very comprehensive website, complete with oft-updated blogs, user feedback, and accompanied by a Twitter that actively engages with users and is involved with events that bring people together — such as the 7th annual Extreme Beer Fest held in Boston, MA which, bringing everything full circle, was established by BeerAdvocate.

My increased usage in social media and involvement in consumer-generated response has, I believe, greatly improved my taste in beer. My decision making ability may not be taking the same road, as I enjoy discovering and trying out a new beer as much as I enjoy drinking one of my favourite drinks (in case you were wondering, it’s Dogfish Head’s 90 Minute IPA, a heavier IPA but full of flavour). I’d rather be someone who enjoys a local microbrew or craft beer every so often than a person who drinks excessively on some cheap macro far too often. The owners and employees of microbrews are doing what they’re passionate about for a living, which is ultimately the goal of all people, I could only hope to be so lucky. In the meantime though, I’m going to continue browsing BeerAdvocate for some new beers to try and connecting with breweries using social media websites. Here’s to trying something new.

Update! As of March 2011, I will be running a beer review site on my site titled The Rough Draught. The link to that blog is located in the header of this page, and will feature unique beer reviews from myself and some friends. I’m hoping to remain consistent with updates on both blogs. But after being involved with social media, I felt it was good to move forward with something I’m passionate about. I hope you all take a look if you’re interested.