Gettin' Down to Business

David R.

July 19, 2010 - 6:07 PM

It is turning into crunch time for my summer class. The class is almost over yet I still have a midterm, a final and two essays that need to be turned in. I am cramming to get a lot of work done at the beginning of the week because I will be occupied with visiting family during the latter portion of the week. It will be a great time when they are here, but I know that I probably won't be getting too much work done. I just took the last of twelve quizzes for the class, now I can focus on the tests and the essays.

Summer classes are always difficult, at least for me personally, because I don't feel like I should be in school. School is never fun, but it is made easier during the school year when everyone else around you is also struggling through classes. During the summer, that's not the case, and it is frustrating when my friends are going to the pool and I have to sit at home and take a quiz or write a paper.

On the other hand, I feel like I would rather have a little inconvenience now and be better off in the future. Because I am taking this class in the summer, I can take a light load for the winter and spring term of my senior year, and graduate in four years (thank God). Not only will this give me more time to focus on my internship, but it will allow me to start looking for jobs and enter the real world before some of my friends. Some of them, who decided to take a summer free of school will find themselves in school for four and a half or five years. What is definitely a pain now will only help me in the future.

Today at KSE I had my first experience with Scarbrough. Scarbrough is an intense, highly detailed (and potentially very frustrating) survey system that can be used for many cities including the Denver metro area. We use it when creating proposals for various companies showing them why it would be beneficial for them to get involved with sport sponsorship. For example, one of the account executives was getting ready to make a proposal for Jack In The Box, but he needed some Scarbrough information that he could include in the report. I went into the program and found that 72% of people who have attended a Colorado Avalanche game in a given time period have also eaten at a similar fast food restaurant (Jack In The Box wasn't in the database) at least once during a relevant time period. This is good information to include in a proposal because in this instance, it shows Jack In The Box that many people who are fans of the Colorado Avalanche also enjoy eating at restaurants like Jack in the Box (it's delicious if I can throw in my opinion). Consequently, if Jack In The Box were to become a sponsor, it would increase its awareness to an audience that is already fond of that type of food. It is a very intricate system but is also highly beneficial for this type of business.

Tomorrow we will dive into the actual proposal and hopefully gain a new sponsor by the time is it all said and done.