Author: sheniquejohnson

A Visit from Verizon Wireless

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Blog submitted by Kevin Bucki

 On Friday November 8th two representatives from Verizon Wireless, Mr. Jon Spencer and Ms. Cindy Carpenter visited Mr. Dudkowski’s 8 am Professional Sales class. They spoke about cell phone apps that can be used for school and work in addition to discussing and coaching students on how to respond to job interview questions. They also invited students to Verizon’s 1st annual Networking Event on Tuesday, November 19th from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Verizon Call Center at 133 Calkins Road, Rochester, NY.

 Jon and Cindy explained that most cell phone apps can be found at both the App store for Apple and on the Android market. Some of the apps are free or cost only one or two dollars. They said that some of the apps can store data on a cloud system. The best apps include: PenUltimate, PenSupremacy, NoteAbility, DictaDroid, Kno TextBooks, NCRT, Pages, KingSoft, KeyNote, iTunes Univesity, TED Talks, Power Point Open Office Remote, SimpleMind, Mind Canvas, PocketPoll and Anywhere Survey.

 Some of the different kinds of apps that were talked about would help with note-taking, recorder, online learning, document editing to name a few. Most note-taking apps let you draw diagrams that can help you with notes. Recorder apps let you play back lectures that can help you improve your notes and get more content. Document apps let you edit document and PDF files right on your mobile device. Brainstorming apps let you send your idea to other people and get feedback on what others think on your idea.

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Product of Opporunity

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Product of Opportunity

By Vincent J. Coons

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            Wednesday, November 6, 2013 BUS 201 had a special guest speaker, Ryan Boland. Mr. Boland studied at Malone University where he obtained a MBA(Masters of Business Administration) degree, although a lot of his success he credits to being a product of opportunity. Mr. Boland is currently the Director of AVI foods at GCC. AVI foods ranks #8 in relation to the top food service management companies in the United States of America. Mr. Boland has been the director here at GCC for about six months. In fact you just may have run into him at the GCC cafeteria.

            Mr. Boland spoke about the different personalities that people have. The four distinct personalities are, Dominant; Influential, Steady, and Conscientious (the personality in which I consider myself); which form the acronym DISC. In Professional Sales, Mr. Dudkowski has taught us that communication is the main ingredient to success. Mr. Boland stressed upon that idea and more so with the ideas of how to communicate with distinct personalities of salespeople or customers depending on their specific personality.

            For example Mr. Boland stated that a person with a Dominant personality is someone who wants to take authority, so telling a person with a dominant personality what to do, isn’t always the greatest of ideas. Mr. Boland said the more effective way to talk business with a dominant personality is to get to the point, don’t ramble, or engage in small talk, keep it business oriented if you are conducting business with this person. Mr. Boland also gave an example of how to communicate with a conscientious person. Conscientious people like dominant ones, want to get to the point, they want the information straight forward, and will analyze the information and devise a plan accordingly, where as the dominant person would respond with an answer quickly and decisively. Mr. Boland utilizes the skills of analyzing people’s personalities, and communicating with them accordingly on a daily basis, whether it be with a student, an employee, or potential business partner selling products to him.

            In Professional Sales, we’ve had a few guest speakers, ranging from salespeople, to marketing director, but this is the first time the class has gotten a glimpse into the side of the customer (from the side of business to business anyway). Mr. Boland deals with various companies including but not limited to; PepsiCo, Starbucks, and Tim Horton’s. Mr. Boland stated that these companies often come in and try to sell new products currently being promoted. It is his job to find out which promotional items can actually make him money or not. So conducting research on what the students at GCC really enjoy is an important element to his job. For those wondering (which for some, you may not need to wonder) the top selling item AVI foods sells at GCC are their chicken tenders (mmmmm chicken tenders *drool*).

            Mr. Boland was a very informative, and kind guest speaker, whom really showed insight on how things are handled on the business side of our very own cafeteria. Mr. Boland reiterated many lessons already taught by Mr. Dudkowski, and taught some of his own. I appreciate Mr. Boland for his sacrifice of time to speak with the class and for the free goodies he brought with him to make our morning just a little more delightful, and thank him tremendously on behalf of myself and the whole class.

Up Close with Donna Rae Sutherland

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Donna Rae Sutherland (Left) and Ellen (right)

Donna Rae Sutherland (Left) and Ellen (right)

On Wednesday October 30th, 2013 in the Profession Sales class taught by Mr. Dudkowski, we were introduced to our guest speaker Donna Rae Sutherland. You may have heard of her, because she produced ad campaigns for Genesee Community College here in Batavia, NY. She changed the whole dynamic of what Genesee Community College was about and brought it to the modern age.

Quick Facts about Donna Rae Sutherland:
• Graduated high school in 1978 and moved to San Francisco at the age of 17.
• Certified in Graphic Arts and went to Villa Maria College.
• Earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Syracuse University.
• She studied magazine journalism and had a minor in graphic arts as well.
• 30 years of experience in communications.
• She has never been unemployed.
• She has worked at Genesee Community College for 10 years.
• She is the Associate Director of Marketing at Genesee Community College (MarCom)
• She receives approximately 5 sales calls per day, making 25 calls per week totaling to 100 calls per month.

After she shared about herself and what she has accomplished she told the class great advice that can be taken by anyone in the world in the professional sales business. I made sure I wrote down key advice because it can become helpful in the future!

Helpful Tips from Donna Rae Sutherland:
• Do your homework.  When going to a job interview always do your homework on the company, what the company is about etc.
• You’re going to have to sell yourself at an interview. Selling yourself at an interview means making sure you can persuade the person interviewing you why they should hire you. You should also discuss what you can contribute to the company etc.
• You have 10 seconds to make your first impression. It’s a true fact. You have 10 seconds to make a good first impression to a potential employer.
• Dress for success and to impress. Dress appropriately going to a job interview. Nothing showing too much skin, as well as nothing that may offend someone. Ex: Do not sag your pants; do not show cleavage, if you have tattoos it’s best to cover them up if you can cover them up. You want to present a clean respectful image.
• Connect with people. If you can connect with your potential employer do so. Take a look around their office if you see something that you two may have in common, mention it. But keep it short.
• Most important thing to keep in mind is “How can you help them?” When in an interview always keep an answer of the question how can you help them if you get the job. You can say you can help increase sales; you have good communication skills with people and so forth.
• Develop people skills. Develop skills on communicating with a customer, an employer etc. Learn to be confident when approaching someone and if you get rejected always be respectful and don’t give up.
• Patience Pays Off. Always be patient even in the most difficult situations.
• Build Repeat Business. Always make sure you build repeat business with a customer. Keep in contact with the customer.

• Be Relevant! Be Creative! Be Fun!

She also talked about the whole process of changing of the Genesee Community College logo. She also discussed what it took to get the advertising strategies. For example, the TV campaigns Genesee Community College produces, what the “GCC’s Many Faces Going Places” means, and what each program a current student is taking means to them. Donna Rae Sutherland works in the Marketing Communications Department also known as MarCom which comes up with the graphics, photography, marketing materials, and social media initiatives for Genesee Community College. It was a great opportunity to meet her and hear what she does for the school and her story. She was a delightful guest speaker who can make an impact on a business major, or someone who is working in the sales field. So thank you Donna Rae Sutherland for coming to the Professional Sales class and speaking to us.

Ellen presenting a gift of appreciation to Donna Rae Sutherland

Ellen presenting a gift of appreciation to Donna Rae Sutherland

“Haute Dogs In High Heels” Genesee Community College DECA CLUB

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Genesee Community College’s DECA Club is an associated national organization for students who are interested and have the passion for going out and taking on the world pursuing careers in marketing, business, and or fashion retailing. This club gives the opportunity to expose students to a lot of different career skills through activities like field trips , public speakers luncheons, and the annual College Fashion Show. Such programs included in the DECA club are

  • Accounting
  • Business Adminstration
  • Supply Chain Management
  • Enterpernurship
  • E-Commerce
  • Fashion Business: Event Planning
  • Fashion Design
  • Fashion Merchandising Management
  • Sales and Customer Service
  • Tourism and Hospitality Management
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“Shenique’ Johnson (Right) & Candice Cooper (Left) The Haute Dogs In High Heels Servers”

Every year, GCC has a Club Fair, and gives students the opportunity to learn about clubs on campus and what they’re all about.

This year’s Club Fair theme was “Hot Dogs” for National Hot Dog Day, and all the clubs had to come up with something for their table surrounding the theme’s title. This year’s project managers and representatives for this table were myself as well as DECA members Candace and Alaina. Coming up with the theme for our table was hard, but it was fun deciding the final title especially using fashion words we learned throughout the business and fashion classes we’ve taken. As the preparation came into play, our light bulbs began to shine bright to an idea so the DECA club could stand out from the rest. The night before, we made five packs of hot dog wieners, designed a poster, and added a few touches of some flyers respresenting last springs fashion show “Fashion Foward” and what it was about.

"A Student Trying on the shoe bar heels, getting lessons on how to walk in heels "

“A Student Trying on the shoe bar heels, getting lessons on how to walk in heels “

Lastly, we had the idea to display various styles, shapes, colors, and designs of high heels, because as a fashion student everything can be fashionable; even a hot dog! The students and faculty loved the table, and were very inspired by the theme too. Everyone who passed was offered free hot dog wieners with condiments for the apperication of stopping by the table and finding out what the club has to offer. As a added bonus, we let some students pick out a pair of shoes to wear and get lessons from the DECA club project managers on how to properly walk in heels, and to have the appropriate attitude! At the end of it all, it was a very fun experience that I will remember for the rest of my life, and a great opportunity for the new students to know about the DECA club and what we offer as well as the different programs and majors involved in the club. We explained to students that the DECA club members help out the annual fashion show, as well as what goes on into the making of the fashion show, its history, and how successful last year’s event was.

Who says Hot Dogs can’t have style?

A Student and her children attending the Club Fair Posing next to Candice Cooper (Left) Alaina (Upper Right Hand Corner) Our High Heel Specialist. & Candice Cooper (lower Right) Posing with our "Haute Dog Wieners""

A Student and her children attending the Club Fair Posing next to Candice Cooper (Left)
Alaina (Upper Right Hand Corner) Our High Heel Specialist. & Candice Cooper (lower Right) Posing with our “Haute Dog Wieners””