What a CLAMP!!

On a hectic Tuesday evening I went out to the car park at college to head home for work. To my surprise there was a clamp on my car. I immediately went to the window were my ticket was placed to find it had blown over in the wind when I shut the door. I angrily rang the company to come and remove the clamp, on doing so they stated that they would not remove the clamp until the fee of 60 euro was paid. I needed to go home so rang a friend to borrow the cash to do so. The man said I could appeal my case via email so I did so.

I got the following response...

Dear Ms Murphy

We acknowledge receipt of your correspondence regarding your vehicle being immobilised and these are our findings;

Whilst we sympathise with the circumstances surrounding the vehicle being immobilised our enforcement officers would be unaware of them and would carry out their instructions accordingly.

The Dundalk Institute of Technology car park is private property and we are contracted to enforce the parking regulations on this site.

Pay & display is in operation in this car park and all vehicles parked in this car park must display a valid ticket at all times whilst parked there.

A pay and display ticket is only valid when it is displayed visibly and clearly on the dashboard/windscreen of the vehicle. The ticket must be displayed in such a way that it can be read for verification purposes by our operatives on patrol.  The onus is on you the driver of the vehicle to ensure that your ticket is displayed correctly, before you leave your vehicle unattended.

Due to the vehicle being parked in contravention to the sites rules, we are unable to grant your appeal. If you would like to appeal our decision further please submit your 2nd appeal to the Independent Parking Appeals Services (IPAS) under The Second Appeal -Independent Process section available on www.webappeals.ie

Thank you for your correspondence and NCPS now consider this matter to be closed.
Yours sincerely
Appeals Officer

So my next mission this week is to respond with a second appeal. After four years of continually paying for parking they must understand that this was simply a gush of wind that resulted in a 60 fine. Damn you Mother Nature but fingers crossed all will be sorted.

My Media Exposure

Adults and teens will spend nearly five months (3,518 hours) next year watching television, surfing the Internet, reading daily newspapers and listening to personal music devices, according to the 2007 U.S. Census Bureau's Statistical Abstract of the United States. 

On reading this information, I questioned myself to see how much I actually expose myself to media on a daily basis.

The amount of media exposure on a personnel basis varies from weekdays to weekend.

On average I would say I watch approximately 2 hours of television on a daily basis, listen to the radio 2 hours and spend roughly about 2 hours online each day. I have constant access to the web via i-phone; which makes it hard to refrain from surfing the web. At the weekend I work Friday, Saturday and Sunday which takes me away from media; rarely using it at all.

From my waking moment until I sleep at night I am exposed to media. I feel in this day and age in order to keep with the times it is not possible not to have quite a quantity of media usage. It can become an addiction and take over your life. One of my friends in particular must spend 8 hours a day on social media; this could not be good for you. 

It makes you question, have they not got anything else to do? I can happily say I am not addicted but enjoy what I feel is a normal/healthy amount.

My experience at DKIT

I couldn’t get out of school quick enough!  After surprisingly doing quite well in my leaving cert I didn’t get what I wanted in the CAO offers. (Dental Nursing) I decided to proceed to do a PLC coarse in Art & design in Drogheda; hoping to build a art portfolio and attend Dunlerry college of fashion design the following year. I returned home from college one day to find a letter on the kitchen table addressed to me. It was a 3^rd round offer with the CAO for a course in DKIT. Unknowing what the course was I went online and entered the code to see what it was. Events Management!!

I’m a great believer in everything happens for a reason so I said I’d give it a shot. I’ll never forget my first day at DKIT. The class had already been formed for a couple of weeks. It was a scary experience but within a week I had formed friends & found someone in the same dilemma as myself a latecomer also Marloes Pots. :D

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been in college four years now. In a way I wish the experience would never end. I’ve learned so much here and met some wonderful people, who I know will always be a part of my life now.  The lecturers here have given great guidance which I know many fellow students in the country would envy.

Thank you to everyone who made my time here at DKIT so wonderful.

Should I stay or should I go?

In second year of my course in DKIT I had to go on internship for six months. Classmates choose to go to local, national and international places. I choose to go to the states to gain a new experience and see how others operate in the world. I got my interview for the Baltimore Marriot Waterfront in late January 2010. The following day I received a call to say I had got the job. I was excited and could not believe a dream was actually turning into reality.

This is a 5 star property located in the heart of the city of Baltimore in Maryland (MD).  I worked mainly in the banquets sector alongside event managers helping organise events up to 1000 people. I worked a various events as a banquet server and bar tender also. Some of these events were umimaginable.

Myself & three classmates headed off to the states on March 24^th 2010. There is not one highlight of the experience I could choose over the other. It was brilliant from start to finish.

It was the best decision I’ve made in my life to date. I truly gained a great experience which I felt changed me as a person. I got the chance to travel the east coast of America. 

At the start I was a bit anxious about going with three strangers Audrey, Ruth & Sínead. We all worked, lived & socialised together.  Now, when I look back, this is one my strongest points. I never thought that I would develop such close friendships with these people and meet some wonderful people from all parts of the world; which I still keep in contact to this day.

Overview of Rebranding Newgrange CA

NEWGRANGE

As a combined CA for two modules integrated marketing & E-Tourism as a group we were asked to choose a company which we felt needed to be rebranded. Our group choose Newgrange.

Newgrange is one of the oldest heritage sites, over 5000 years old; it was built before the Egyptian Pyramids and Stonehenge in England. It was constructed during the Neolithic age by the farming community which thrived on the lands of Boyne Valley. The term ancient temple is used to describe Newgrange; it is a place of religious, spiritual and ceremonial importance. Newgrange is a large kidney shaped mound covering an area of over one acre, retained at the base by just under 100 highly ornate kerbstones, The inner passage leads to a cruciform chamber with a corbelled roof.

Newgrange is best known for the illumination of its passage and chamber by the winter solstice sun. Above the entrance to the passage at Newgrange there is an opening called a roof-box. Its purpose is to allow sunlight to penetrate the chamber on the shortest days of the year, around December 21, the roofbox allows sunlight to penetrate the chamber, illuminating the passage tomb. This is referred to as the winter solstice.

Facilities

•             Personalised Day Tours

•             Day Tours for Visitors

•             Winter Solstice Lottery

•             Newgrange coin Set

•             Visitor Centre

Situational Analysis

As a brand Newgrange has a limited level of brand awareness, they have not defined the brand or the target market. Their website is one of the only means of brand marketing and promotion and it is basic with information difficult to find.  At present they do not take part in any advertisement for the brand through radio, television, social-media or the internet. Although they are linked with Tourism Ireland, there is no brand reinforcement at present, they hold a non-competitive position in the cultural tourism market.

The unique selling point of Newgrange; the rarity of the product being offered has great potential to be the leading cultural tourism attraction in Ireland.

Key market focus:

•  To attract increased tourism to Newgrange, in line with the market growth in all markets and        continue  to develop against all competition
•  To win a larger share of the growing number of Europeans visiting Ireland
•  To secure American traffic from tourists using Irish heritage as the main attraction
•  To attract more domestic short-break tourism

Goal/Objectives:

•  Develop a new and improved website integrating Search Engine Optimisation resulting in better competitive positioning within the market. 
•   Create a new brand, logo and slogan for Newgrange that has international potential
• Create a one voice one look brand that can be effectively communicated to the identified target markets
•  Introduce more effective marketing strategies using online and offline methods of communication.
•  Link  suitable channels of communication with the defined target markets.
• Ensure the new brand creates Top of Mind Awareness (TOMA) across the identified target markets
• Position Newgrange as the main historical tourist attraction in Ireland, using the rarity of Winter Solstice experience.
• Capitalise on the potential of foreign tourism inflows from regions with an interest in Irish history.
• Identify suitable tools available to measure the success of online and offline methods of new brand communication

                                                           

New Logo

Newgrange does not currently posess its own unique logo; it is tied in with the local heritage group Bru na Boinne. This logo showcases the renowned hand carved spiral design from the entrance stone to the passage grave. This logo can be easily replicated for use on all promotional material for  Newgrange e.g. merchandise. It is a symbol that can provide customers with instant and powerful brand recognition of Newgrange.

Slogan

Newgrange- ‘The Irish Wonder of the World’

The existing brand for Newgrange had no slogan; having evaluated many alternatives the above slogan was developed.  It was felt that this was short and catchy, could be used for both online and offline promotional material and personified the Newgrange experience. It also has international appeal allowing Newgrange to be marketed overseas.

Website

We developed the following website mock-ups you can see the current website at by clicking here.

Communications Mix

Strategy

The new brand should create Top of Mind Awareness (TOMA) across the desired markets and initiate:

Attention-           Sparking the curiosity of the consumer in the new brand.

Interest-              Potential to create a desire for the new brand, more information is sought.

Desire-                 Stimulating action to buy, pros and cons have been considered and compared to market rivals, desire for brand can grow and may translate into purchase.

Action-                 Attention, Interest and desire for the product can trigger action; here the consumer will convert their desire into a sale.

The desired outcome of the marketing strategy is that the communications will be:

Relevant-            Possess a uniform purpose, to increase brand exposure.

Originality-          Stand out amongst competitors, attract attention from desired markets.

Impact-                Create a lasting impression and generate sales.

Tactics

·         Website

·         Viral Marketing

·         Social Media

·         Offline

Measuring success

Once the objectives of communicating the new brand have been determined and the strategies and tactics used to achieve the objectives have been implemented it is then necessary to measure the success of the communications mix. We did this using both online and offline

·         Where is brand interest coming from in terms of geographical area and market segments?

·         What communication channels are generating the greatest interest?

·         What are our markets saying about us?

·         How can communications be improved? Where are we going wrong?

·         Have we provided enough information to our markets?

·         What communication channels would be better suited to this audience?

Technology Fast

On the 28^th of March 2012 I was assigned the task of completing a technology fast. I had the option of abstaining from using the following

·         The Internet

·         Mobile Phone

·         Email

·         All 3 – Total Fast

I choose to do the task on Saturday last as due to coarse work in previous weeks I felt I would not have been able to abstain from any of the above.

The day began by switching off my phone; which enabled me to easy access to the internet usually. I continued to do my everyday duties and progressed to work. In work that day things were unusually hectic due to a storm the previous night all power had ceased by 2pm. Great!! I now had no access to television either. The power cut lasted for the remainder of the night until a low surge of power had returned enough electricity for the lights to come back. I worked a 15 hour shift that day which in a line of thought, I thought am I realistically doing this technology fast in the right circumstances??

My boss was away on business that day so I was left to run the whole show. I could not ring him which was my first instinct when all power got corrupted but I managed to go on and do what I thought was best. On his return that evening luckily he was glad of the way the situation was dealt with.

While I was on the technology fast I considered the following:

Has these technologies altered my life?

Yes, Definitely. In this modern age I feel as a young person it would not be possible to function otherwise. An older person’s opinion may differ as they have experienced life at my age without it.

Prime example:

A college student twenty years ago would not have been able to research online. They would not have had an online catalogue to show were the book was they needed. It was far more time consuming. I feel as a student now I couldn’t imagine going back to this stage. As a member of generation Y we want everything now.

Has my phone taken over control of my life?

I wouldn’t go to the extent to say it has taken over my life but I will say it has taken over certain elements of my life. I don’t wear a watch, posses an alarm clock, or own a diary/calendar; because it’s all on my phone.  I make call, txt & use the internet on my phone daily.

Could I run my life without technology?

Straight to the point NO! My boss contacts me about work frequently during the week via phone.  I use the internet everyday means it be checking emails, Facebook or shopping online. It just happens I take it for granted; it’s a normal part of life for me.

Have I been less/ more efficient during this period?

As I stated earlier, if i had of had access to a phone I would of rang my boss straight away to ask what I should do in that situation. I went on my own initiative which turned out to be right. So I would say I worked more efficiently.

Is there a future without communications technology?

NO! As stated in my mobile commerce blog I feel this is just the stepping stone to the development of this technology who knows what we will be able to do via this technology in ten years time.