A Nice Motto to Pass Everyday at the Internship

The mosaic on the building next to Colab, which is where Nuanced Media is located.

UPS: A case study

If you read my last blog post I elaborated on what exactly big data is and its applications in our everyday life. I wanted to go even further and provide you guys with a concrete example. That example is UPS. Although UPS is not a marketing/advertising company, and it is not the type of firm that I am specifically focusing on, I thought that how they collect and apply data is interesting and highly relevant to this project. 

This video will also touch on different ways companies can utilize analysis of big data sets to become more efficient and better cater to their customers, and will give real life scenarios where big data is being collected and applied to make a business model more efficient and effective.

BIG Data

What exactly is Big Data? It's something that we all participate in, but do we even know exactly what it is. Well, if you don't know what the term big data refers to you are not alone. In the initial stage of my SRP when I was trying to determine what subject I wanted to do my project on, I had no idea what big data was and no idea how it is such an integral part of my daily life, but as I performed initial research for my project it became evident that big data is something we should all be educated on.

Big data is the term that refers to extremely large data sets that can be analyzed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and associations. Big data is collected in all parts of our daily life and is then analyzed to better comprehend human behavior and interactions. What happens with the data after it has been analyzed is what my project is focused on. I am looking at what ways companies utilize this intel provided by big data. For the most part, companies actually use this infomration to improve their service, to become more efficient at what they do, and to better cater to all potential customers, but this collection and application of data can produce numerous social consequences that are not so present to the everyday observer. These consequences need to be noted in order to fairly evaluate the value of the collection and application of big data in our society and also needs to be taken into account when weighing the pros and cons of a modernized society.

For further information on this subject, I have attached a video below that provides more information on big data, and hopefully gives you a better understanding of the whole picture. Feel free to ask any questions as I know it can be a pretty hard subject to wrap your head around, but it is definitely something we should all be well aware of.

Computers and Modern Advertising are a Must

One of the first questions I was asked when I arrived in the office last Monday to start my internship was "do you have a laptop with you?". It was at that moment I thanked myself for having packed my computer in my bag the previous night. In the new age of advertising everything is online. We live in a world where we have so much access to information from online resources and incorporating this aspect into the workplace is an important adjustment businesses need to make to evolve with the rest of society.

I have already learned of so many new age applications that can be used to make a business operate more efficiently and to produce a more cohesive team and common goal. Further, I want to share these applications with you to educate you on ways that a business can utilize the internet to update and immerse itself in the wonderful world of modern technology.

The Apps:

Slack: Slack is an application that allows for real-time messaging, archiving and search for modern teams. Its a messaging application that allows for continuous communication between parties. Its function allows employees to constantly share ideas and improvements on different projects instead of wasting time scheduling and holding meetings and can promote smoother completion of a project.

Teamwork: Teamwork is an office application used to manage tasks. It allows for members of a company to set timelines for different tasks, assign them to specific employees or groups of employees, and determine when a task has been completed. With this application everyone in the office knows what goals need to be accomplished by who and by when. It allows for strong communication between coworkers and for efficiency when working through different aspects of a larger project.

Last Pass: Last Pass is a program that stores and remembers your passwords for you. This application is very useful in a work setting because it allows co-workers to share passwords to an endless number of accounts. It allows for efficient and secure management of numerous accounts and is invaluable to a collaborative work-space.

What in the world is an SRP?

Considering I will be using the terminology quite often, I thought it important to define the term SRP. First off, the acronym SRP really stands for senior research project. A senior research project is a unique opportunity my high school offers to seniors their third trimester in which the student creates his or her own independent research project and figures out a plan of action to execute proposed research. This process includes the events of deciding on what one wants to study, finding an internship where one can conduct research, and producing an appropriate final product to convey the significance of the research to members of the Tucson and BASIS community.

I chose to do an SRP because I love the idea of being to study whatever I desire, and I also figured it would be good practice if I want to participate in research in college. I am going to major in engineering next year, so the question arises why chose a project that seems so out of my comfort zone and realm of interests? Well, when deciding what project I wanted to devote all my energy and time to, I settled on trying something that I knew I would never have the chance to dabble in again. Advertising is certainly something that is overwhelmingly present in the world we live in today, so why not educate myself on something I interact with on a daily basis? I am ecstatic to have this opportunity to experience the world of modern-day marketing and to educate myself on how to target a capitalist consumer. Feel free to ask me questions about my experience.

An Introduction to the Blogger and the Project

Hello everyone!

Firstly I would like to thank you for taking the time out of your day to stop by my blog. If you don't already know me, my name is Erica Tevere and I am a senior at BASIS Tucson North a charter school located in Tucson, Arizona. I am currently in the process of beginning work on my senior research project. A senior research project is a unique opportunity seniors at my school can choose to pursue their last trimester of the year. For my senior research project I am working at a local advertising company to observe the ways in which the collection and application of Big Data are affecting the way in which we interact in society. The company I will be working for is Nuanced Media; their website is as follows: http://nuancedmedia.com/. At my internship I will be specifically researching how Big Data is affecting the medical field in respect to patient privacy and patient care, but I also hope to gain a better understanding of how Big Data is used to produce advertisements that target consumers. I am also interested in observing the social implications of a world where Big Data is such a large and integrated part of how we function, and seeing how as a population we can learn to recognize when our own information is what is making a product appealing to us. I am super excited to begin this journey and I hope that through the course of this project you as an audience can also learn a lot about Big Data and advertising and can become better educated consumers of a capitalist society.