Part 1 or 2

Well, I'm done with my 4th year of college.  I finished all of my finals last Tuesday and then I went on a Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) trip to Minneapolis, MN to compete in the national competition.  We ended up getting 2nd runner up in our league!  Which is a lot better than I thought we would do because some of those schools up in thousands of hours of work into their presentations.  It was a real bonding experience for all of us on the trip because we spent over 72 hours straight with each other (which for me is a big accomplishment :P).  We even has time to go to the Mall of America which is just like it sounds: HUGE!  It had 4 stories and its own amusement park.  It was crazy.  We only had about 3 hours to spend there so we didn't really get to do a lot but me and Janel found a second hand clothing shop where everything was $5.  Heaven!  So of course we bought some clothes.  Overall the trip was a really good experience and I got to know my management professor a lot better.  He now knows me by my first name (Jill, not Jillian haha).

I woke up this morning to dishes and pots and pans being moved around in the kitchen by my roommate (yes, the one who put soap in my vacuum cleaner).  So I thought she was just taking a really long time to make breakfast, but when I actually got up out of bed I saw that she was moving her stuff out :D  I immediately called my mom because this is fantastic news!  I'm not really going to go into it anymore for fear of exploding from anger on the page.  So I will just say that I am extremely pleased that I won't have to deal with her spoiled butt over the summer : )

Yesterday was quite an awful day.  Me and Kyler both started our new summer jobs.  So we planned to celebrate our new jobs, school being over and him getting a new apartment (yes! he moved into the same apartment complex as me, just one building over! now we'll both be here until the end of July and then we will both find new places).  We decided that we wanted to celebrate by going to Cici's pizza that night because he had a full punch card that gave him a free buffet ticket.  So when we both got out of work around 4, we took my moped out together to drive to Cici's.  We got a couple hundred feet out of our apartment complex and were stopped at a traffic light in the left hand turning lane.  The light turned green and Kyler was revving the engine to go, but it wouldn't go.  We looked down, and we had a flat back tire :/  Sadness.  So we pull the moped off to the side of the road and into a fast food place (Do you have Jack in the Box in NJ? Hmmm).  I call the moped place where I normally get Sasha's oil changed and stuff.  They say that they can fix the flat, but we'd have to get the moped there somehow.  So idk what we are going to do.  My mom suggested that I just take the tire off and bring that to the place to fix.  I don't know if I have tools for that (I'm such a girl lol) but I will see what Kyler has later.  He just got home from work so we're going to look at it in a bit.

So after we roll Sasha back to our apartment complex, we decide to ride bikes to Cici's, which was another fiasco in itself because Kyler couldn't find his keys to unlock his bike.  But we finally were able to get to Cici's, even though it may have taken us 2 hours.  Then the cashier at Cici's who rang us up definitely didn't know what she was doing because for both of us together she charged us $3.22.  So that kind of made up for our little incident.  Then we biked to Lowes to get copies of Kyler's new apartment keys made.

Hmm, Kyler wants help with his room. (to be continued...)

...Never Said it Would be Pretty

As of today, above anything else, I hope to never be classified as someone who is spoiled; this includes lack of consideration for other people, recurrent temper tantrums, an inability to handle the delay of gratification, demands for having one's own way, obstructiveness, and manipulation (from Wikipedia - yeah, I cite from Wikipedia :P and I don't care who knows it).  Now I don't want to get too personal here (the internet is a scary place!) but I've been having some roommate troubles lately.  And yeah, maybe I'm too chicken to face the problems head on and deal with them.  Most of the issues just have to do with her lifestyle and self-centeredness (yeah, I just made up that word).  This gets me thinking about how happy I am (now) to have grown up in a big family.  We were satisfied in every way and I think all of my siblings will grow up to be spectacular people, save for one detail: we all don't like to confront others.  As displayed, I would rather sit here and write on my computer about what I'm feeling than deal with the issue at hand.  The rational part of me says I do this because it's not worth it to me.  I don't have any intentions of being friends with this person after our lease is up.  But the emotional part of me just tells me that maybe I don't want to hear about the things she doesn't like about me.  But it's not like it's anything I don't already know:

• I'm messy
• I like my alone time
• I get in bad moods when I get bad grades
• I listen to music... very loudly

I mean, maybe I brought this situation on myself, because in the beginning when she first moved in, I tried to be really friendly and hang out with her... even though I know that I always end up being annoyed with roommates.  But what is it about me that makes this true every time?  Maybe I just don't like drama and the girls who come with it.  Meh.

What do you hope to never be classified as?

The Differences between Inbound and Outbound Marketing

The following is an article I wrote for my inbound marketing internship training:

In the past ten years, due to a dramatic increase in consumer technologies, VCR’s, busy signals and floppy disks have all been replaced with Tweeting, iPads and Wi-Fi.  Thanks to the concentrated internet age we live in, the last three words have concrete meaning, even to those who do not utilize them.  In turn, marketing companies have been slowly making the switch from time consuming, costly outbound marketing to effective, efficient inbound marketing.  This has allowed small businesses to get found by the customers who need them.

Outbound marketing takes the stance of getting your message “out” to the general public, whoever they may be.  This includes bombarding individuals with many different forms of advertising on a daily basis.  Television commercials are being done away with because there are many companies who now offer commercial free options (for a fee) through the use of TiVo and watching TV on the internet.  Radio commercials are infrequently effective as well because many people now pay for commercial free radio such as satellite radio or Pandora One.  These paying customers are not being reached by companies utilizing outbound marketing.

Billboards may attract buyers attention for a split second, but because there are hundreds of billboards that people see on a daily basis (think about your commute to work this morning), their effects have decreased.  Many people subscribe to online magazines these days, so magazine articles are being phased out as well.  Yes, make up ads are placed in teen girl/fashion/gossip magazines, but do girls in that target audience actually purchase the advertised products?  For years, this has been the way for businesses to do their marketing, but in this internet age it is time for a change.

Inbound marketing primarily allows your website to bring in current, present and future customers with the use of strategic website design, functionality and blogs.  When you want to find out information about a specific topic, where is the first place you are going to go?  Chances are it’s a search engine on the internet.  Then you will read the first few links and hopefully gain the exact information you are looking for.  Using this strategy, inbound marketing implies that companies should then improve their website, with the use of raw data, social media sites and blogging, to the point where they are one of the top links on that organic search. 

Inbound marketing allows companies to get found by the people who are looking for their specific service.  In order to increase the traffic of a website, a blog should be added.  When a search engine is used to look up your business, all it sees are a bunch of words on a site.  The more unique words you can add to the site, the more like that site will be found.  Update this blog at least two times per week because you don’t want to give your website a bad first impression by having your last blog post be from six months ago.

While outbound marketing was an effective tool in the business world ten years ago, times have changed and more business is now being conducted online.  Inbound marketing allows companies to take advantage of this economical entity since maintaining a website and blog is not only far less expensive than running a commercial in the super bowl, but it targets the exact consumers the company is looking for.  With the great speed that technology is progressing at, with new upgrades and version available every time you turn around, it is about time that small businesses utilize the unlimited techniques that inbound marketing as to offer.

2011... So Far

La la la, I'm really getting horrible at updating this thing!


I'm back at UNLV now for the spring semester.  I'm taking the following classes:

• IS 378: Project Management
• IS 383: Business Intelligence
• MGT 301: Principles of Management and Organizational Behavior
• MKT 301: Marketing Management
• MGT 303: Business Law and Society
• PHIL 102: Philosophy

Sounds like fun, eh?  I was recently admitted to UNLV's College of Business (yay!) which means I've got about 2 semesters left after this spring.  Depending on how the summer goes (which classes the college decides to hold then) I could graduate in December.  So clearly I'm crossing my fingers.

I had to take Sasha to the shop when I came back from winter break because her hydraulic brake was having issues.  I picked her up yesterday and they also changed the oil and did some other mechanic-y things.  Now she runs like a dream, and I can finally go grocery shopping!

On the job front, I'm currently in the interview process for an internship at a marketing firm in Town Square (right next to YogurtLand, yum!).  It is an unpaid internship so I'm looking at other places as well.  I'm also in the process of applying for the position of a ChaCha expediter.  Don't know what ChaCha is?  All you have to do is text 242-242 (that spells out ChaCha) any questions that you would like the answer to, all for free.  Now I'm going to simplify this, but it would basically be my job to provide customers with answers.  I would be able to work on any computer with an internet connection.  I had to take and pass a bunch of tests in order to take the final test.  If I pass that one, I get the opportunity to accept the job.  I took that yesterday and it takes up to 4 days to grade, so we'll see!

LTNB (Long Time No Blog)

Well, well, well... we meet again.  After 6 months of not posting anything...  So here's a little recap on my life:

On the school front, I finished CSN in the spring and took 4 summer classes at UNLV.  Now I'm on track in the Business Marketing degree at UNLV, currently taking Interpersonal Communications 102, Finance 301, Accounting 202, Business Writing 407A and French 113.  I just took two midterms today: accounting and french and I think they both went really well.

On the apartment front, I'm living with a new roommate Kendra.  She is from California, but transferred from a school in Colorado to play volleyball here at UNLV.  Because of that, she's not home a lot.  But we get along great.  We're living in a two-bedroom apartment right across the street from school.

On the work front, I've been working at the MGM Grand pool as a receptionist.  I sell and rent cabanas and tubes for the guests.  It's super fun (bleh).  Perks for working at a giant company are pretty awesome though.  During orientation I got two complimentary tickets for KA and then later I got two complimentary admissions to the MGM buffet.  So this Friday me and Kyler are having a little date night.  And how are we going to get there?

...I bought a moped!!  She's a brand new yellow 2010 scooter, bought her with 2 miles on her.  Hehe, and of course I named her after JD's scooter, Sasha.  I don't need a license or registration (or even legally a helmet). She can only go a max of 40mph.  It's a lot better than biking around to get places.  My poor bike looks so sad locked up to the stair rail every time I see her when I leave my apartment.  I should ride her every now and then, so she knows I still love her too, haha.

Somewhere Only We Know

“The Tao Te Ching says, When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. When I let go of what I have, I receive what I need. Have you ever struggled to find work or love, only to find them after you have given up? This is the paradox of letting go. Let go, in order to achieve.” – Mary Manin Morrissey


In my seemingly never ending insomnia these days, I've been quote searching for the past 20 minutes.  I stumbled across this one and it really resonated within me.  Proof can be seen when I'd been job searching since January and in March I became so incredibly frustrated.  Subconsciously I suppose I "gave up" for awhile, and as soon as I did, the job I have now came through.  Same thing with Kyler: back in December of last year (probably even before) I was outwardly frustrated with boys and decided to just concentrate on school and do me for a little bit.  And then he came along and completely rearranged my life for the better.  For the best!  I'm still trying to figure out how to apply this quote to schoolwork though... If I start letting homework assignments and papers "go," will I then get straight A's?  Somehow I think my logic is not completely accurate this late at night.

In light of recent events that have taken place with my roommate, I can truly say how much I appreciate my life and everyone in it.  After the numerous birthday wishes from friends and family I felt so loved.  I spent the entire morning and afternoon with Carly at Red Rock.  We went hiking and took some fantastic pictures, singing "Solo" the entire time.  We went out for a late lunch at Chili's where... dun dun dun... I had my FIRST drink.  It was a fruity margarita something-er-rather, so it tasted delicious.  But there wasn't enough alcohol for me to even feel anything.  Then we came home and we were both so pooped and I laid in my bed and took a little nap.  Then I met up with Kyler and we spent the rest of the day together, but didn't do any drinking.  In one way I think I'm glad that I didn't have a typical 21st and drink just for the sake of drinking.  That's just not me.  Maybe one day I'll be into the drinking scene, but not right now at this point in my life.  Ashley and Gordon got me a bottle of whiskey that is just sitting on my desk, unopened.  I think a part of me doesn't want to start drinking because then I will like it too much and will want to do it all the time, resulting in suffering grades and such.  I'm just so concentrated on finishing school on time that drinking doesn't even phase me I guess.  One day I'll jump on the wagon.

SHUUUSHI

I got a job! Yay!  Well it actually happened last week, but I'm finally getting around to posting this now.  So I've been applying to multiple ads on craigslist for random jobs.  I found one that wanted a videographer for a wedding chapel (and I had to re-learn how to spell that word this week).  The guy who wrote the ad, Mike (my current boss), responded to me and asked when I could come in.  I went in the next day and checked the place out.  Now whenever I would think about people "getting married in Vegas" I always retreat to the image portrayed in movies and on tv, with Elvis as the witness, souvenir t-shirts and drive-thru vows.  But this place is actually really nice.  I got the grand tour, meeting photographers, limo drivers, wedding planners and ministers.  Then this past Saturday I had my first official day of training.  I did two videos and got paid $10 for each.  At first I stand in front, next to the minister and capture the bride walking down the aisle, the vow and the candle ceremony.  Then I have to get around them and capture the couple walking out of the venue, so I have to walk backwards.  I have this plastic contraption that lets the camera rest on my shoulder.  So now all that "roll your feet!" from marching band has come back into play, so that the camera doesn't shake while I'm walking.  After the ceremony, I'm supposed to ask the couple to give a testimonial.  I haven't done this yet, but I will now because I'm done with training.  I basically have to have the couple tell who they are, where they're from and about their experience at our chapel.  Then, I get paid $5 for each testimonial.  Now that I'm done training, I get paid $25 for each video I capture, which lasts between 8 and 15 minutes each.  Only in Vegas I guess...!  So I don't get paid per hour, just for however many weddings I do per day... which is awesome!  There's a lot of down time, so I just read my book (currently The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks*) or work on homework.  It's definitely an interesting job, and business is currently pretty slow.  But wedding season is picking up in May.  Currently Mike is taking all the videos home and editing them, but we're getting in a new computer so that he can teach me how to edit the videos too.  I'm just so ecstatic that I finally got a job and that I don't have to work in retail or clean up throw up (knock on wood).

In other good news, my loan should finally be getting here this week or next.  It's been such a constant source of stress for me these past 3 months that I really hope that it comes sooner rather than later.

Well, my 21st is creeping up on me pretty fast here.  My roommate Carly is going to take me out during the day while Kyler is in class.  *We're going to see The Last Song, so I hope I finish the book before then.  We don't have any set alcohol plans, and I think I'm just going to see how I feel about it when the day comes.  Then I have plans to hang out with Kyler all night, and then go get all you can eat sushi with Chase, Tamara, Ashley and Gordon on Friday afternoon.  Because we <3 sushi!!  I'm very excited for the day all in all.  Just one more class to go tomorrow and I'm home free...