History of Fashion

OVERVIEW The Ancient Middle East: 3500-600 B. C. Mens: Aprons worn as a separate item that cover the gential area and are worn over a skirt or some other garment, or over a loincloth and under a skirt. As being made of one or more pieces of cloth attached to a belt, sash, or band that fastens around the waist. 1470 – 11th century B. C. Womens: Tunic is any of several types of garment for the body, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the ankles.The earliest tunics seem to have been made out of linen and that in some areas tunics first appeared just after wool came into use. 2500 – 1000 B. C. The Etruria and Rome: 800 B. C. –A. D. 400 Mens: Paludamentum was generally crimson, scarlet, or purple in color or sometimes white. It was fastened at the shoulder with a clasp, putting on the paludamentum was a ceremonial act on setting out for war. C. 800-200 B. C. Modern Influences: Versace, etc. Womens: Himation was a type of clothing in ancient Greece. It was usually worn over a chiton, but was made of heavier drape and played the role of a cloak.The himation continued into the Byzantine era, especially as iconographic dress for Christ and other figures from Biblical times, although it appears still to have been worn in real life. C. 800-200 B. C. Modern influences: San Patrick, etc. Conclusion In turn of this project, I really enjoyed it because I choose two style of ancient clothing I love; Rome and Egypt. The tunic is the basic style of clothing that’s very versatile that can be made worn by men, women and children. I like that when Rome gave the tunic an extra edge by either added silk and meaning to wearing it in certain ways like for higher class to the poor and giving omen a certain look when they’re wedded. The paludamentum was my second favorite because I love the gladiator war style look that brings to the masculinity of the man. The modern influence of Versace grea tly brought that back when it was disappearing from the world. The two other pieces I choice were just stand by choices that I feel that can greatly complement each of the other garments. References Tunic, Apron, and Himation Definition: http://digitalbookshelf. artinstitutes. edu/#/books/978-1-60901-215-1 Paludamentum Definition: http://ancienthistory. about. com/od/clothing/g/011011-Paludamentum. htm Photos: http://symbolankh. evhub. com/img/upload/c-hm-thutmose-shadow. jpg http://www. fibre2fashion. com/industry-article/17/1615/contemporary-fashion-from-the-land-of-pharaohs3. asp http://www. versace. com/en/women-fashion-and-accessories/ss-13/fashion-show-collection http://www. weddinginspirasi. com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/2010_san_patrick_wedding. jpg http://www. fashion-era. com/images/100_bc_ALLancient_history/bwlotus. jpg http://karenswhimsy. com/public-domain-images/ancient-roman-army/images/ancient-roman-army-4. jpg http://www. shutterstock. com/pic-46840795/stock-photo- neo-classical-women-like-goddess-in-roman-clothing. html

Egypt and Mesopotamia Essay

Egypt and Mesopotamia have both similarities and differences, throughout both of these civilizations from back to 3,500 B.C. The political and social structures in these civilizations were different and the same in their own way. The political differences between Egypt and Mesopotamia included hierarchy power, land control, and centralized government. The similarities between both civilizations are social class, male patriarchy, and kings. Egypt and Mesopotamia both had differences of their political and social structures. Egypt had more of authorial government, where one head person was in charge which in this case was the pharaoh, which was the head on Egypt social class, as well as leader of his society. The Pharaoh was basically a king ruling for his people, while Mesopotamia, had city states, which was controlled by priest kings. Another difference is that in Egypt the Pharaoh had complete control over the land, while in Mesopotamia the kings were not so powerful, and the land was split with others such as priest kings. Lastly, Egypt had a centralized government, while Mesopotamia did not have this. Egypt was ruled under one leader and was together as a unity. Egypt had an overall leader such as the Pharaoh, which helped Egypt stay united as one government and civilization. Key similarities would be that they both had poly gods and many of their gods were very brutal. Both the lands were birthed in war and had much cultural strife for land. Mesopotamia had an all mighty ruler of gods and Egyptians really didn’t. Many people say Ra was the almighty sun god of Egyptian culture but really all of Egypt’s gods were about equal. The idea of what is beautiful and what is considered â€Å"manly† is still held upon Egyptian beliefs, not Mesopotamian beliefs. Very different cultures Egypt developed in relative isolation from the rest of the ancient Near East. Thus, cultural evolution resulted in a totally unique civilization, without influence from the outside. Mesopotamia was a multicultural society, with Sumer and Akkad, Elam and Babylon, Assyria, Mitanni, and others all vying for supremacy. Mesopotamia and Egypt were both in flood basins of major rivers. Mesopotamia was characterized by turmoil and tension and in contrast Egypt was characterized by stability and serenity. The Mesopotamian climate was harsh and since the Tigris and the Euphrates flooded irregularly, nature was not viewed as life enhancing but rather considered to be a threat. Mesopotamia was located on an open plain without protection from foreign intrusions; therefore they  were continually on alert. Differences between the religions is the idea of death and resurrection for all people, including common people, was possible in ancient Egypt, but not generally so in Mesopotamian religions. Early on in Egyptian history, only the king, or pharaoh, could resurrect from the dead and live forever. That is why the Egyptians mummified their dead. Later, even the common man wanted his body to be preserved as a home for the spirit, who would live on in the afterlife. This was not possible for the average Mesopotamian. Egyptian religion was less likely to be influenced by the outside world. Mesopotamia is at the crossroads of many different peoples and cultures. Changes in the Mesopotamian religions was much more likely, and more common, than in Egypt. Egypt and Mesopotamia have both similarities and differences, throughout both of these civilizations from back to 3,500 B.C. The political and social structures in these civilizations were different and the same in their own way. The political differences between Egypt and Mesopotamia included hierarchy power, land control, and centralized government. The similarities between both civilizations are social class, male patriarchy, and kings. Egypt and Mesopotamia both had differences of their political and social structures. Egypt and Mesopotamia believed in polytheistic, but the Mesopotamia they believed in many rulers such as ur-nammu and sargon ant ect but they Egyptians believed in the pharaoh he was the only person in charge over everything.

Analysis of the training criteria used to send staff for trainning Research Paper

Analysis of the training criteria used to send staff for trainning - Research Paper Example As commonly witnessed, in the process of training, the skills as well as knowledge possessed by an employee(s) are indented to be developed with the intention to attain organizational goals more comfortably (Drummond 4-8). Based on these aspects, it has been noted that training of the staff members will be quite crucial in General Organization for Youth and sport (GOYS), which is a renowned non-profit organization of Bahrain. The organization is known for providing requisite support to the youth of the country and facilitates them with major technologies as well as trainers required to pursue a career in sports. The organization is also involved in promoting and discovering talented youth and encouraging them to participate in sports representing the country in the global arena General Organization for Youth and Sports, â€Å"General Conditions†). PART 1: IDENTIFICATION AND JUSTIFICATION OF A STRATEGIC INVESTIGATIVE PROJECT 1.1. Topic of the investigation In the modern day bus iness context, staff members should necessarily possess all the latest skills that are required for the continuous development of the organizational operations to accomplish the determined objectives. However, owing to the persistence of gaps in the skills required and the skills possessed, staff members need to be provided with adequate training so as to mitigate such gaps and attain organizational objectives at large. In relation to this, the topic of the study for this research paper will investigate about the strategies through which GOYS of Bahrain has developed as its training criteria to provide its staff members with training facilities and mitigate gaps existing in their skills. Being a non-profit organization,

International Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 9

International Business - Essay Example Starbucks currently desired to expand its international operation to obtain 20,000 international stores worldwide in the near future (Annual Report: Starbucks, 2006). A company can obtain market penetration is hot market to expand its customer base or find a developing nation such as China to establish manufacturing operation or importing activities to obtain significant cost savings in materials and supplies needed to lower company expenses. India is a country that high levels of export of professional services in IT services and other administrative work (Country Insight, 2007). The entire country has a business community with a model based on exporting of professional services and a research and development platform that will bring greater innovation and research findings to achiever greater level of international business activity. One of the most powerful organizations that regulate the trade among nations is the World Trade Organization (WTO) which has 151 member countries (Wto , 2007). The world economy turn into an interlocked internation business driven system since the globalization movement started and it was further enhanced with information age, internet age and the current economic era the world is living in the convergence are. Greater communication systems allowed business unity and access to customers worldwide facilitated by high speed internet networks. The biggest players in the international business word are corporation doing business activities in G8 countries. The biggest fastest growing economy which is the epicenter of powerful business industries such as the apparel business in which obtain a 50% market share of the world’s apparel industry is China which is the epicenter for light manufacturing operations worldwide. The currency of a country is the monetary unit that supports the national economy and is utilized for interchanged and completer buyer / seller transaction as well as other financial function such as

Addiction is a brain disease Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Addiction is a brain disease - Research Paper Example Addiction has been considered a major society’s problem and it is because of this that some experts believe it as a brain disease at some point. This paper tries to explain that addiction is indeed a disease of the brain. Addiction defined Addiction is a specific behavioral problem that is usually manifested with lack of control of using and seeking something just like drugs, sex and gambling (Gamonet & Piazza, 2010; Goodman, 2008). It is also known as a syndrome in which there is a considerable focus on the impaired control over a behavior (West & Hardy, 2006). Addiction therefore is something that takes control over someone’s life. Someone who is addicted to something else is after of uncontrolled longing for self gratification. Although addiction may differ from what a habit is, the entire point is that its manifestation can always be observed from a behavioral point of view. However, addiction can also be explained from the biological context and this primarily invo lves the study of the brain and its other related fields. Brain disease defined From a biomedical model, disease is defined based on the context of four assumptions in which one of them states that it is a deviation from normal biological functioning (Mishler, 1981). From this assumption, a brain disease therefore is implied as the brain’s inability to function well based on what a normal one can potentially do. This is a generic point of view, but the entire argument in the above assumption is that a deviation from the norm especially when there is involved biological functioning is ground to be considered as a disease. Evidences about addiction is brain disease In order to consider addiction as a brain disease, it is important to trace the very nature of a normal brain and its potential functions in the human body. The normal human brain is said to have the capacity to take control over the entire body. However, aside from the biological stand point, the brain does not only control the whole activities of the body, but primarily thoughts and behavior (Feldman, 2003). This implies that a normal brain has the capacity to create normal thoughts and behavior. Since addiction is a behavioral problem, the brain therefore has specific problem by itself considering that it should have the capacity to create normal thoughts and behaviors in the first place. Furthermore, based on the assumption about normal biological functioning of the body, a normal brain therefore has to function well as expected resulting to create normal thoughts or behaviors. Doctor Alan Lesbner, director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse personally believes that addiction is a brain disease (Walsh, 1997). This is based on the idea that drug addiction is just a result of one’s brain inability to take control of a certain behavior. Doctor Lesbner argued that not all of those who abused drugs resulted to addiction because the brain has a certain capacity to control human behavi or. In fact, not all of those who tried prohibited drugs are addicted. Furthermore, not all of those who start gambling and having sex are addicted to such of these activities. However, the abuse of drugs for instance leads to some changes in the brain and to some extent they are harmful for its normal functioning (Heyman, 2009). Some recent findings showing addiction is a brain disease supported the idea of Doctor Lesbner. Recent findings suggest that addiction is associated with dysfunction of brain tissues resulting to the disruption of regions in the brain which are capable of controlling the normal process of motivation, reward and inhibitory control (Ries et al., 2009; Heyman & Brownsberger, 2001; Flores, 1997). The advent of technological breakthroughs makes this

Marketing Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Marketing Management - Essay Example One of the greatest differences between marketing to business and marketing to consumers is that B2B marketing is more dependent on relationship building, thus increasing the value of relationship and building brand identity on the basis of personal relationship. Another difference is that the target market is smaller and should be carefully identified. A marketing strategy for the business market should be developed taking into consideration multi-step buying process and longer sales cycle. In addition, while the goal of consumer marketing is to make a shopper a customer (emotional buying decisions can be made), the major aim of business marketing is to provide the business with business value – organizations, in most cases, make rather rational buying decisions. Therefore, multiple individuals within the target organization should be educated on the value of the product, because business procurement is a multi-step process. Historically, the auto industry is heavily affected by the 5 external environments (macro-level). For each of the five (social/cultural, political and legal, competitive, technological, and economic) discuss three aspects within each environment that would impact the marketing planning for the next couple of years.

Onboarding Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Onboarding Process - Essay Example ies, procedures, values, climate, and mission/vision statements; and (3) providing transition guidelines to assist the new employee in undertaking expected endeavors with greater efficiency and with the optimized use of the organization’s resources. Other strategies would be incorporated within the five stages of the onboarding process. The five stages of the onboarding process are: (1) preparation; (2) orientation; (3) integration; (4) engagement; and (5) follow-up (UNC Charlotte, n.d.). During the first stage, preparation, the new employee is expected to be acclimated on the â€Å"culture, team, work environment, and introduce to policies and procedures and online modules† (UNC Charlotte, n.d., p. 7). Therefore, the organization should design introductory modules that would apprise the new employee on the needed crucial overview information on the organization. The second stage, orientation, provides the new employee with additional modules designed to orient him or her towards enabling the undertaking of expected responsibilities. Orientation could be provided through lectures, online modules, an actual visit through the different departments, and introduction of relevant officers and personnel within the organizational hierarchy. employee’s attendance in HR staff development training† (UNC Charlotte, n.d., p. 7). This means that as a service personnel, the focus of integration is on the strategies towards performing one’s responsibilities in the most efficient and effective way. Likewise, any needed development training in the field of service and customer relationship would be undertaken. meeting performance expectations and contributing to the (organization’s) success† (UNC Charlotte, n.d., p. 7). As the word engagement means, the new employee is enjoined and encouraged to show commitment, dedication, and focus on the performance of his or her tasks; as well as in interacting with other stakeholders who would be instrumental in the performance

Development and System Pahology SHORT ESSAYS Essay

Development and System Pahology SHORT ESSAYS - Essay Example The changing pattern of bone quality which has been provided with the advance of technology includes hormone replacement theory for females after menopause, physiotherapy and exercises for the old along with calcium supplements and medications available to overcome the other conditions which lead to osteoporosis. These methods employ the body with better resources for repair and it makes the body function in a proper way. This is how the changing pattern of bone quality through life supports the disposable soma view of ageing. Answer: Gonadal disease can be caused by sexually transmitted diseases which include gonorrhoea and syphilis. It can be caused by genetic abnormalities which include Turner’s syndrome and gonadal dysgenesis. Autoimmunity against the ovaries and the testes can also be a cause of gonadal disease. Endocrine disorders also result in gonadal disease. These include the androgen resistance syndrome, pituitary tumors, hypothalamic tumors and excess secretion of androgens. Blood tests for the levels of hormones serve to act as biochemical markers in gonadal disease. Low or high levels of sex hormones can be indicative of this. In the case of sexually transmitted diseases the levels of antigens and antibodies can also serve as markers. Chromosomal karyotyping can also lead to diagnosis. Answer: During the embryonic and fetal development the Y chromosome in the male is responsible for the formation of testes whereas the XX genotype is responsible for the formation of the ovaries. The testes releases testosterone and the ovary release oestrogen. Testosterone causes the development of male sexual organs whereas oestrogen contributes to the formation of female sexual organs. In the case of androgen insensitivity syndrome the receptors for testosterone in a child with XY genotype do not respond to it. Hence an individual with XY will not develop the male characteristics

Textual Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Textual Analysis - Essay Example The first of these texts which will be analyzed is that of Dorothea Lasky’s â€Å"Black Life†. This particular poem, though brief, expounds a very nuanced and full-bodied meaning of just what seeming meaninglessness greets the newborn child upon entering life. Says Lasky, â€Å"You are born and it is to a black life/Full of abuse and strange things†¦You die and it is from a black life/That you die from/You leave this one and go into the next/Where nothingness surrounds and evaporates/With the ease of something/That has done this sort of thing before† (Lasky 1). By detailing the somewhat meaningless yet methodical pressures that move all humanity through its brief experience on earth, the author is able to detail some sense and methodology to what has otherwise been labeled as a form of madness and ultimate depression with regards to the transient nature of life and its ultimate meaning. Although such a definition is no more comforting than any other definiti on of life and the ultimate depression it espouses, the author goes on to define some rationality to the way in which this â€Å"black life† leaves the earth with little to no fanfare or care on the part of those around it. Says Lasky, â€Å"I leave and I am black life/I leave you cause you didn’t need me after all/And I want to/Be what you made me to be/But you never really made me/This life made me/This thing that I am† (Lasky 1). In admitting that the world is perhaps better off without this blight of a depressed human being, the author is able to underscore the meaninglessness that life entails as the world cares not whether this depressed person is gone. Moreover, the ultimate cause of the depression is related not to be something biological, not something that has been recognized due to the singular unfairness of life; rather, it is born out of the fact that they â€Å"never really

How Happy could Gay Men be in a Homophobic Society such as Ours Essay Example for Free

How Happy could Gay Men be in a Homophobic Society such as Ours Essay Homosexuality is no longer an undisclosed idea amongst us, and their existence in our society is no longer a question to be raised. As we know, they enter the same shops we visit every now and then; they ride the same buses and subways we catch; they walk the same streets we tread everyday; they breathe the same air we do, all for one apparent reason: they are no less human than any of us in this society could possibly be. Despite the common knowledge we all have about the existence of these people who suddenly came out from the box, it still raises different reactions from the crowd of the so called â€Å"normal people†Ã¢â‚¬â€as the society itself may refer to it. While others have learned to accept the given fact that there is a possibility of alteration to the socially set standard of normality, such as this one on the area of gender, there are still some who just couldn’t practice the act of coexistence with these so called â€Å"new breeds. There are still people who religiously believe that the defiance of the â€Å"norm† such as crossing from one gender to another is absolutely unacceptable. Given this reality, a lot of attempts have been made to somehow sway these people out of their enclosed bubbles. Even media, one of the most influential elements in our society, took a step further by recognizing the existence of gays and lesbians in their projects themed after differe nt slices of life—like the top notching series Will Grace, and the award-winning movie Philadelphia. With people’s warm embrace with the idea in moving pictures, it seemed no far from the possibility that they could, one way or another, welcome the idea in reality with open arms; the only question remaining is: how wide open could these people extend their arms based on what their televisions feed them? According to Marisa Conolly on her article entitled Homosexuality on Television: The Heterosexualization of Will Grace in Print Media, despite the television show Will Grace’s attempt to promote the â€Å"normality† of the existence of gay men in the society, the show wasn’t able to fully liberate the misunderstood bunch. Intentionally or not, certain limitations have been set by the said show, leaving unnecessary provisions among viewers which they could refer to in terms of classifying homosexuality unacceptable and acceptable for the public’s eyes. Generally, Will, one of the main characters of the said show who happens to play a part of a supposed homosexual, was somehow portrayed in a heterosexual manner; his mere association with Grace, a straight female character, shades the scene to a different color. Their supposed friendship was brought into a different heterosexual border of relationship, wherein platonic is brought into a twisted romantic angle—somehow portraying him caught in between the certainty of homosexuality and the tendency to lean on heterosexuality. Unfortunately, their possible interest to sell is totally negating the promotion of the other, thus making it more complicated for the viewers whether to absorb him as a subtle gay who simply seeks recognition, or as a male, in the middle of an identity crisis, still clinging on the idealism of heterosexuality through tricky dramatization of his relationship with a straight woman. The same idea was raised in the film Philadelphia by Jonathan Demme. On the said movie, instead weighing through the inconsistency of the perceived representation of character, the viewers are simply being caught in the middle of a life and death situation. Instead of making their viewers understand the real score within the extent of reality that the film itself is providing, they are subconsciously redefining pity as a substitute for this understanding. They have misused the forthcoming of death to the gay persona’s advantage by playing on it as if saying: â€Å"Hey, I am dying now of AIDS, and I am gay. Now that I will be leaving this mortal place soon, will you please have the compassion of accepting me for who I really am? † Personally, I don’t think that this is the proper way of educating the people because it is basically misleading. Though the two groups are closely knitted by its constant reception of seclusion from the society, it is unfair to define being gay no different from having AIDS. Being gay is not a deadly viral disease like AIDS; it is simply a way of life that is, more often than not, being misunderstood. Upon watching the film, I was left caught at the vagueness of Denzel Washington’s character. I thought at first that he will be the one responsible to set free Tom Hanks’ character, but by the end of the film, my hopes were dropped on the floor. His supposed homophobia, which I first thought will be the vital element he has as one of the lead character, somehow got lost in the latter part of the story. The issue tackled dealt mainly on Hanks’ viral illness and how most people generally react to it—giving the homosexuality issue, which is more widespread in reality, a weak standpoint. The common ground between the two different portrayals of gay men stated above is its tendency to seek for conditions before actually opening the idea of acceptance. For television sitcom Will Grace, they sought for a subtle way to conform with the â€Å"norms† by partially heterosexualizing the gay character, while for the movie Philadelphia, they played with emotions, most specifically guilt, by bringing into their attention that death is an uneventful future for the character. Basically, in their own particular ways, they are always looking for certain loop holes to pull off gayness acceptable—meaning gayness itself defines no reason to stand on its own. In this case, their uncritical viewers tend to get accustomed in looking for such passages before they actually accept certain circumstances, which unfortunately not every gay man has. In the end, publication of ideas and slices of life such as these only implies that as time passed by the society is still keeping its doors closed to the recognition of homosexuality’s existence. Again it only shows the greatest weakness that any society has: a fear of the â€Å"unordinary. † They are not exactly liberation but rather a form of deception in order to switch the attention of the critical public regarding their claim for ample recognition to homosexuals. None of these moving images placed a dot at the end of the statement â€Å"we accept homosexuality†; instead, they only made the issue more complex than ever by adding up the condition â€Å"if and only if† to the said declaration. If the shows themselves couldn’t accept the fact that gay men exist, how could their viewers do? I could give credit for the attempt pull out gays and lesbians from their malicious-satirical stereotype of simply being unpleasant, loud and mischievous, but still, that doesn’t make it enough for me. Compassion may be the best way to seek approval, but seeking proofs out of the ordinary and passing it off as the best solution is nothing but a substandard achievement. Homosexuality isn’t actually an issue seeking for a special treatment; that will be way too much for a goal now that it couldn’t even reach the approval of being lined up on the average level. All gays and lesbians need is the chance to be treated in a normal way—no more and no less than how people accept heterosexuals—where in they are not shoved away as if they are infectious beasts. Since media started this crooked representation of homosexuality on screen in the first place, I believe that they will be the only one who could correct this. Next time they produce best selling stories about homosexuals on their reels, they should try taking away those â€Å"special cases† that tend to sensationalize their stories—like exploring Will’s manly side as a gay man and Hanks’ incurable illness. If they want to represent gay men as part of the normal sector in our society, then they could probably represent them as simple as being another friendly neighbor from the block without a semi-romantic relationship with a straight female, but rather a nonchalant relationship with another man, or a successful lawyer who need not die at the end of the story just to gain recognition for his success as a lawyer; instead, he could just be another lawyer who saved the day—roles as simple as that, just like most heterosexuals portray. In that way, it will seem to be more realistic and fair for these people who usually live under the shadow of our judgmental society.

Branding in the Automotive Industry

Branding in the Automotive Industry Marketing Branding Consumers Abstract This paper discusses what branding is; the key elements of branding; and the importance of branding in the automobile industry. As we all know, automobiles for some consumers are not just a mode of transport, but luxury status symbols. This paper considers the needs of consumers that must be taken into account while branding a brand. I have explored how branding if not done properly results in the failure of the brand and have discussed several failures of branding which helps in analyzing the mistakes committed by companies during branding. Along with this, I have also examined several success stories of automobile branding. Re-branding is another important issue in branding which I have considered in light of the automobile industry. This paper talks about re-branding and its importance in branding and in helping companies gain profit and increase their sales. Introduction Definition (quote from book) There is no concept as vital in the world of marketing and advertising today as â€Å"Branding†. Everyone uses the word in every conversation, there are countless self-proclaimed experts on the subject, executives want it, account managers plan it, strategies are formulated, money is spent, and advertising is done (Kapferer, 2000). However, in reality, very few people actually know and understand the meaning and context of the term â€Å"Branding†. The word brand, when used as a noun, can refer to a company name, a product name, or a unique identifier such as a logo or trademark. The concept of branding developed through the practices of craftsmen who wanted to place a mark or identifier on their work without detracting from the beauty of the piece. These craftsmen used their initials, a symbol, or another unique mark to identify their work and they usually put these marks in a low visibility place on the product. Not too long afterwards, high quality cattle and art became identifiable in consumers’ minds by particular symbols and marks (Aaker Joachimsthalaer, 2000). Consumers would actually seek out certain marks because they had associated those marks in their minds with tastier beef, higher quality pottery or furniture, sophisticated artwork, and overall better products. If the producer differentiated their product as superior in the mind of the consumer, then that producers mark or brand came to represent a superior product. The modern concept of branding grew out of the consumer packaged goods industry and today the process of branding has come t o include much more than just creating a way to identify a product or company. Branding today is used to create an emotional attachment on the part of the consumer to products and companies. Branding is the often subliminal process by which a business employs marketing strategies to get people to easily remember their products and services over competitors (DeChernatony, 1999). More so, it is applied psychology. Branding efforts create a feeling of involvement, a sense of higher quality, and an aura of intangible qualities that surround the brand name, mark, or symbol. Therefore a business, a product or any other service aimed at attracting customers can be successful if and only if it is branded properly; thus branding is an essential component of a business. A brand name holds a lot of importance for the consumers. Consumers purchase products by considering the brand name, quality associated with the brand as well as other brand affiliated perks. Branding is a process that is used by businesses to utilize marketing strategies to enhance their product or service image so that it is more readily recollected by the customer. Branding helps the product or service to make a favorable impact on the target customer while the branding concepts help in outlining the guidelines that should be followed during the branding process. Branding of any product and service should follow some constants that help in establishing a brand in the long run (Abratt, 1989). Branding helps an organization in attracting consumers and thereby increases its market share and hold. An organization should therefore, implement branding very carefully. Many a time organizations do not concentrate much on branding. In such cases, the brand can either become a success or fail miserably; but the probability of the brand being a failure is much higher. This success and failure of the brand depends on how the product is branded and how well the process is taken care of. Marketers engaged in brandi ng seek to develop or align the expectations behind the brand experience, creating the impression that a brand associated with a product or service has certain qualities or characteristics that make it special or unique. The importance of Branding in Marketing is discussed in the following sections. Branding Brands result directly from the market strategy as a consequence: segmentation and product differentiation (Kapferer, 2000). A brand should have its own specific point of view on the product category. Branding is a complex process which deals with the creation and development of a specific identity for a company, product, commodity, group, or person. It is carefully designed to present qualities that its creators believe will be attractive to the public, and it is meant to be developed and perpetuated for the long haul. An advertising campaign launches a product. Branding, when it’s done right, creates an institution. Branding brings about so many benefits (Balmer Gray, 2002). A brand is an end result. Branding is the process by which a brand comes into existence. A brand is many, many things, but it is never an accident. Brands can act as assets in times of recession or reduced business and profits. Such assets have in the past sustained companies in adversity; and all the e vidence suggests that, if they are managed properly and efficiently, they can continue to do so, now and in the future. Branding helps in making a brand name for organizations. If Branding is the creation and development of a personality—an identity— for a product or company, it is the result of work by a number of different professionals, all aiming at the same goal. While the roles of advertising and marketing have been well documented, the third prong within the Branding process, public relations, has largely been overlooked. For the most part, Branding requires the following three key components for proper execution (Pilch, 2007): Advertising:It’s a wonderful thing to create a unique, user-friendly brand that the public is sure to embrace. However, if the public doesn’t find out about the brand—and much of the public will find out through advertising—all that effort, time, and money will go to waste. The look and attitude of the advertising also help define the brand in the public’s mind. Marketing: In devising the personality of the brand and determining how it will be presented to the public, marketing, which is usually done in-house and through consultants, helps to create the entity that the brand will become. To sell a product, an organization needs to be clear in what it wants to sell. For example, a person owns the recipe for Oreo cookies, but if that person decided to sell the recipe and not the cookies, he or she would be making a very large marketing mistake (Johansson Hirano, 1999). Marketing is not just selling; it is to know what exactly to sell and how to sell it as part of a larger well thought and well formed plan. Public-relations: If advertising is the juggernaut of public attention, public-relations is the stealth bomber. Public-Relations generates publicity for the brand, helps solidify the public’s opinion of the brand, and defines the brand—all without being perceived by the public. Advertising is obvious, marketing is invisible, but public-relations is the most difficult of all things to be: subtle. It is also arguably the most valuable, indispensable part of the Branding process. Without public relations, it would be impossible to create a truly world-class brand, no matter what the budget or how exciting the product. Public-relations is absolutely essential to Branding. For a new brand to be successful, all three of the Branding components must be firing on all cylinders. They must be working in tandem, but they also have to succeed individually. Advertising In today’s business climate, even the most secure brands need to advertise. For example, McDonald’s sells billions and billions of hamburgers. However, McDonald’s does not cut back on its advertisements. In fact McDonald’s increases the number of advertisements every year. Nike is a well known company which sells sports wear. It is known for spending millions on celebrity endorsements for advertising. Its advertisements are legendary, and its logo is well known the world over, with people recognizing the brand instantly from seeing the Nike logo. A good advertising account executive will be involved in the birth of a brand, even if others have already decided on a good portion of the brand identity. How to present that identity is advertising’s job, in conjunction with public relations. The look of a television or print advertisement is as important as the message being delivered in print or dialogue. Quick edits, bright colors, extreme close-ups, a nd changing landscapes may appeal more to younger viewers, and will convey a different personality than golden sunsets, slow camera pans, and traditional storytelling (Keller, 1999). Loud music might be fine for a soft drink ad, but won’t work for a feminine hygiene product. If the product is intended to have a feminine attitude, a female singer will more likely achieve the goal than a male singer. But advertising isn’t just about creating TV commercials. Advertisements are about delivering the message to the public which has to be attracted to buy the product. The medium is the message. The programs during which the ad can be seen will make a statement about the personality of the product, as will the choice of publications in which print advertisements will run. If a product is supposed to be irreverent, young, up-to-date, and unconventional, ad buyers will probably be more successful in advertising during the commercial breaks of T.V. series such as Friends rather t han during news programs or documentaries.Each media outlet has as clearly defined a personality as its advertisers. In fact, the advertising often helps define the media outlet’s personality, and vice versa. The advertisements are purchased with a very careful eye on which programs appeal to the target audience. When a brand is new, it’s important the target audience be able to identify the brand, and identify withthe brand, very quickly. So after it’s decided what kind of brand identity is being introduced, and the target audience to which the brand is being marketed, creative advertising executives begin deciding what message to convey and how to convey it. Advertising doesn’t create the identity, but it does choose how to present the identity, and it certainly helps define the identity of the product, and, by extension, its users (McEnally DeChernatony, 1999). With a clever choice like that made for the Mentos advertisements, it expresses the adverti ser’s message very well. Advertisements however cannot do the job alone and they cannot determine what the image should be. All advertisements can do is to show the target audience what product they should buy and why they should buy it. The part of the process where the target audience is helped in determining the image of the product is accomplished through marketing. Marketing Before there can be a brand, there has to be a product. The bridge between product and recognizable brand is marketing. It is sometimes difficult for people outside the business to understand marketing, because they confuse it with advertising even though the two are totally different processes. Their goals are not the same, and their methods are totally different. They are performed by separate groups of specialists, and can often be at odds with one another until a compromise or alternative solution can be reached that satisfies both disciplines. If advertising is the way the public usually discovers a product, marketing determines what the public will discover. If the look and sound of advertising are important, the decisions made by marketing executives will determine the tone of the advertisements (Aaker, 1996). In other words, a product is assigned its personality mostly because of marketing. Based on the target audience for the product, marketing will determine which traits th at segment of the population are likely to find appealing, and will do its best to ascribe them to the product being marketed. For example, when Apple Computers were experiencing some sales difficulties a number of years ago, and co-founder Steve Jobs returned to guide the company, the iMac computer was the first product to be released by the â€Å"new† company. The personality of the product was very important. Not only did it have to remind loyal Apple users why they liked the computer to begin with, but it had to convince new users to try something that required a large amount of money and was going to look different to anything they had seen before. In fact, the future of the entire company hinged on the acceptance of the iMac, and if it was seen as too similar to IBM based PCs, it would be rejected by the loyal Apple following. If it came across as too different or too strange, the product would fail to expand Apple’s market share—which was dwindling at the time—and the company would be in very dire straits indeed. What the company did was to analyze the strong points of Apple and the iMac. It marketed the iMac as something new, something fun, and something that younger users who were only just beginning to use the internet would appreciate. Marketing executives made sure the iMac was presented as a young, innovative, smart, and easy way to enter the online world, something that American consumers were just beginning to do in large numbers at the time. So, before the product came out, there was already great anticipation. But once the iMac, considered a wildly revolutionary design at its inception, was unveiled, the focus was all on the product. It helped that the iMac looked different: Its colorful, all-in-one bulbous design was certainly a change from the beige boxes that had dominated the computer industry for years. Certainly, the iMac turned the fortunes of Apple Computers around. Apple increased its market share and sold millions of iMacs, and a company that appeared to be on the brink of extinction not long before was assured a solid foothold, if not a dominant position, in the home computer market. If the computer hadn’t worked well, if it hadn’t delivered on its promises, no marketing campaign would have been able to achieve the success of the iMac. What marketing does is to determine the proper audience for a product, and then deliver to that audience what it wants. The target demographic can be as narrow as 15-year-old boys living in the suburbs, or it can be literally anybody (Riley DeChernatony, 1998). That will depend on the product. But once the demographic is identified, marketing professionals analyze it, make sure the characteristics of that demographic are compatible with the product, and then emphasize the strengths of the product. Through focus groups, surveys, and other tools, market research helps determine what people want. Marketing is more the art of taking what al ready exists and making it more attractive to the public through positioning and branding techniques. It is a natural and easy mistake to confuse marketing with advertising. Advertising is what happens when marketing has already been done. The next area under discussion is public relations which also works with what marketing professionals have already done, but does different, less obvious things with it. Public Relations Many clients do not understand the difference between branding, public relations, advertising and marketing. In order to understand the role of public relations in branding, first we have to understand how public relations works. It is a business unlike any other, and its rules are very specific. Public relations can help create a brand, establish it, promote it, develop it, and keep it healthy, all without being detected by the general public. Most Executives prefer public relations to advertising mainly for the reason that a lot of branding programs of the organizations are usually based on third-party endorsement. It is much more credible and fast-acting than when you pay for advertisements. People often confuse public relations with publicity and the reason could be pretty simple. Public relations in actual fact refers to the craft of attracting publicity, and not publicity itself (Dolak, 2003). What public relations does is attract attention to the product through different medi ums of the media giving the product a wider audience and generating more publicity than a person working in public relations could reach individually. One problem, however, is that some businesses are wary of the press overall, and do not fully appreciate the boost and recognition that public relations can provide. The role of public relations is to combine what marketing and advertising do, and then use the information in different ways. Marketing determines the personality, or brand identity, being publicized (Gelder, 2002). Public relations professionals are given that information and are asked to find an appropriate media outlet to relay the message. For example, in the case of the iMac, Apple made sure (quite often by donation) that school systems around the country had iMac computers as soon as they were available. This helped familiarize very young computer users—possibly those who had never used a computer before—with Apple’s product first. This brillian t public relations move demonstrated that Apple had strong interests in education and a history of helping children. This gave consumers a very positive image of Apple. The move into schools also made sure that iMacs were perceived as unusual and innovative. Brand identity is the most vital part of the branding concept. With the wrong identity, even a perfect product can fail to become a brand. With the proper identity, one that has been crafted carefully and thoughtfully, a product can launch a brand and eventually become what every branding practitioner hopes for—a household name. Word of mouth, local newspapers, radio programs, and television news programs are the targets at the very beginning of the quest of a person working in public relations.Generally the most widely viewed television channels, most read newspapers, magazines and journals, not just nationally but world over, are the target of public relations. Before news of the new product, service, or personality can reach the media however, the public relations professional has to analyze the brand identity. Public relations professionals do make things up about these products; they find the newsworthy aspect or unique selling proposition of a company and its products and try to attract attention to that. In other words, Public-Relations is the art of telling the truth in the most positive light possible. It is as central a component of Branding as any other, and its importance is immeasurable. Branding in Automobiles Designing an automobile is an extremely difficult task. Automobiles are built and manufactured after much market research and field work about the product being designed and manufactured, the region in which the product has to be released, and many other factors which go into determining the successful launch of the product and the success of the product (Bouchenoire, 2003). Branding plays a very important role in the automobile industry. Branding an automobile is essential in order to make the product a success. Brands become icons due to successful Branding. Customers value certain products which they recognize and feel help to define them as a person for whatever reason. It may be because the brand symbolizes wealth and a high status and the person wishes to align themselves with a brand with such appeal. Customers would generally like to resemble any product they purchase with themselves (Kavounis, 2002). In the automobile industry, the executives and the designers have to be car eful with the design of the product with respect to the needs of the customers. Thorough research has to be carried out as to what customers want from the automobile and what customers need from the automobile and these factors are then taken into account when designing the automobile. Customers may have different needs depending on the region where the product has to be launched. In some regions consumers might like to have a smooth and luxurious automobile whereas in a different location, speed might be given preference over luxury. Marketing has to be done carefully so that all these factors are taken into account. The organization should target prospective buyers with a strategy that turns them into loyal customers. Loyalty plays a huge role in the success of the brand. For example, the Harley-Davidson Company which manufactures motor-bikes has a strong and loyal pool of customers which makes it a very strong brand. The fact that the company manufactures what can be argued to be some of the best motor-bikes available could be one of the main reasons for the success of the brand. However, there are many other companies which produce good and perhaps even better motor-bikes than Harley-Davidson, but it is the fact that Harley-Davidson was successful in creating such a strong brand name that demanded loyalty from its customers that enabled it to create a large pool of returning customers. In August 2003, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (United States of America), celebrated the hundredth birthday of Harley-Davidson (Gunelius, 2007). The whole city was converted into a biker-party zone for three consecutive days. Over one hundred thousand people attended the party riding their Harley-Davidson bikes. Also Harle y-Davidson aficionados from over forty-seven different companies attended the party. This reflects the strength of the brand and goes on to point out how important it is to attract the loyalty of the customers in order to make a brand successful. It is widely known that brands have a remarkable ability to impact the way customers perceive a product. Customers and ordinary people do not just look at the product; they interconnect the brand and the product together. The way the customers perceive the product is totally shaped and determined by the brand itself. Therefore, it is a necessity that the brand projects itself in a way to attract consumers. The presence of a well recognized brand determines the way the target audience view the product. Here is a hypothetical example of Mercedes deciding to release a car: Since Mercedes is a highly recognized brand, the car being released will almost certainly automatically be viewed as a high quality, exclusive and expensive product. In order to make a brand, branding is compulsory. Many people unfamiliar with the long process of good branding may consider it to be easy however, for every successful brand, there are dozens of brands which have either come close to being a success or h ave been total failures. Brands such as Mercedes, General Motors (GM) and Toyota have been huge successes however; several big names like Daewoo Motors and ValuJet have failed in some areas or have disappeared altogether. Daewoo Motors, once a leading brand in the automobile industry, could not retain its customer base and customer loyalty as it had implemented some bad branding strategies which made it lose its brand value. As a result, Daewoo Motors had to close down several of its factories and offices due to the losses it sustained. Essentials of Branding Branding does not just involve identifying the needs of customers, but also certain factors which are useful in attracting customers. These essential factors are: Name: The name of the company can play an important role. A great name is like extra octane in a brand. A bad, boring, or sound-alike name will not necessarily kill a brands chances for success however in most cases it â€Å"dramatically dilutes the brand equity and potency† (Aaker, 1996). The naming of a brand also depends on the customers’ taste and liking as well as the region in which the product is going to be released along with the people living in that particular region. Naming can also be done by taking potential global consumers into consideration. Logo: The Logo of a company plays a huge role in determining the strength of the brand. Any customer relates a product to a brand through its logo. The logo creates a big impact on the way the products are perceived. When a customer sees the â€Å"four circles† of the Audi, the â€Å"horse† of the Ferrari, the â€Å"checkered flag† of the BMW, he or she associates the values of that brand with the logo. Logos along with the names, contribute largely in determining the strength of the brand. Branding Successes A critical element of predictive loyalty metrics is their ability to measure the direction and velocity of consumer values 12-18 months in advance (Stephan, 1997). With that in mind, here are the key trends that determine the difference between the success and failure of brands. An emphasis on â€Å"engagement†: Inserting itself between traditional marketing activities and an increasing demand for return on investment assessments, engagement is the Holy Grail for marketers and advertisers (Assael, 1995). Defined as the outcome of advertising and marketing activities that substantively increases a brands strength in the eyes of the consumers (and actually predicts sales and profitability), engagement is used more and more to allocate marketing budgets. The joint task forces from the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF), the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA), and the American Marketing Association (AMA) provide some degree of engagement meaning and metrics. Using technology to better meet consumer expectations: Consumer expectations in all categories will continue to grow if technology is used properly to attract the attention of the customers (King, 1989). Expectations have increased more than twenty six percent in the past five years while brands have kept up with these expectations by only eight percent. Marketers in general rely upon websites and high-tech capabilities to accommodate these values and differentiate themselves from the competition. More branded entertainment: Popular culture, with its rabid consumption of music and technology, has to be the main viewpoint of the brand leaders as a method for customizing entertainment and selling products. For instance, music-related paraphernalia such as T-shirts, posters, and artist-related merchandise infringe more on the dominance of bricks-and mortar retail. Harley-Davidson The iconic American motorcycle sustains a proud history, enduring product quality and a high price point. In the face of increased competition in 1987, Harley sent a management team to Japan to learn about superior production techniques. This is a branding technique used by the Harley-Davidson team to produce a super-quality bike which could appeal to a large number of customers across the world. Though today’s median customer is fifty five years old, many people recognize the brand and think it personifies the outlaw sensibilities, the romance of the open road, and the American Dream of unbridled freedom. However, numerous brand extensions and licenses, many of them down market, i.e. cigarettes and clocks, have kept Harley in the middle levels of the luxury category. Even though Harley is treated as a mid-luxury bike, many consumers rich or poor align the bike’s related attributes with their own character. Harley-Davidson was able to attract the custome rs in that aspect and hence, it went on to become one of the most renowned brand names in the history of motor-bike companies. Another such vehicle is the Hummer: a multi-terrain vehicle which gained popularity within a very short space of time. Hummer is a classic instance of brand hijacking, where consumers attach attributes to a product that its manufacturer never intended. The Humvee originated as a government contract vehicle, designed for the military. Survivalists, conservatives, and yuppies adopted it as their signature icon vehicle, with some cachet attached to its million dollar price tag. It has since become the car of choice for gangster rappers and generally a very popular status symbol. After unexpected market demand, Hummer – an Indiana-based division of GM- recently introduced two low-cost, downsized models in the hundred thousand dollars range, thus moving the brand below its prior designation as premium luxury. This led it to become a huge hit amongst youngsters. For a brand to be successful, it requires branding to be done in an effective manner. Initial surveys must be carried out to find how a product can be advertised. Surveys consist of finding out the expectations of the target market. The design requirements of the vehicle, with respect to the customers must be analysed thoroughly (Fourner Yao, 1977). Branding also requires an organization to learn from previous mistakes; mistakes of not just that organization, but also of the other organizations. Branding Failures Several brands have failed due to the implementation of improper branding strategies for certain automobiles. These strategies intended to improve the image held by customers of the brand failed despite many of the vehicles being arguably better than those of some of the most prominent brands. Cadillac Motors, which later became a division of General Motors, dates from the early days of mass-produced automobiles (Wreden, 2003). It is the oldest surviving American luxury car brand. Once a synonym for the highest quality in vehicles, by the 1950s the brand had become the favorite of Texan oil millionaires, Arab potentates and Elvis Presley, who habitually gave them away by the dozens to his entourage. Cadillac began to lose market share in the seventies with increased competition from Ford’s Lincoln division, and the introduction of other luxury vehicles –primarily of Japanese manufacture who marketed to a younger, newly-affluent demographic. Cadillac unsuccessfully respo nded by releasing a downsized model, the Cimarron, 1982-88, driving brand perception lower. Today, Cadillac is perceived as a retiree’s car, while it retains some small segment of the limousine business. The branding technique they adopted was to reduce the size of the vehicles. However, the price and the basic design did not change. Due to this, most people never opted for this kind of vehicle; the younger demographic especially never bought this type of a car. Many new vehicles had been released by other brands which were more stylish in design and looks thereby attracting more customers to buy their brands whereas Cadillac never concentrated on the marketing and branding strategies and continued with their traditional car designs. Even reducing the price ranges did not bring about any change in the fortunes of Cadillac. Therefore, Cadillac became the retiree’s brand. Branding Failures can occur from brand extensions. Extending a brand refers to adding the brand to o ther products. If an organization manufacturing cars starts selling T-Shirts and other stuff under its brand name, the organization is extending its brand (Broniarczyk Joseph, 1994). Extensions might involve changing the design structure, adding n

Media Violence Essay -- essays research papers

Does entertainment influence society's attitude towards violent behavior? In order to fully answer this question we must first understand what violence is. Violence is the use of one's powers to inflict mental or physical injury upon another; examples of this would be rape or murder. Violence in entertainment reaches the public by way of television, movies, plays, music, and novels. Through the course of this essay it will be proven that violence in entertainment is a major factor in the escalation of violence in society, once this is proven we will take all of the evidence that has been shown throughout this paper and come to a conclusion as to whether or not violence in entertainment is justified and whether or not it should be censored.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Television with its far reaching influence spreads across the globe. Its most important role is that of reporting the news and maintaining communication between people around the world. Television's most influential, yet most serious aspect is its shows for entertainment. Violent children's shows like Mighty Morphing Power Rangers and adult shows like NYPD Blue and Homicide almost always fail to show human beings being able to resolve their differences in a non-violent manner; instead they show a reckless attitude that promotes violent action first with reflection on the consequences later. Contemporary television creates a seemingly insatiable appetite for amusement of all kinds without regard for social or moral benefits (Schultze 41). Findings over the past twenty years by three Surgeon Generals, the Attorney General's Task Force on Family Violence, the American Medical Association, the National Institute of Mental Health, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and other medical authorities indicate that televised violence is harmful to all of us, but particularly to the mental health of children (Medved 70-71).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1989 the results of a five year study by the American Psychological Association indicated that the average child has witnessed 8,000 murders and 100,000 other acts of violence on television by the time he or she has completed sixth grade. In further studies it was determined that by the time that same child graduates from high school he or she will have spent 22,000 hours w... ...p;  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If the government ever did censor violent entertainment who knows where they would stop, or even if they would. Perhaps they would try to censor violent speech or try to censor the speech of those who disagreed with the actions of the government. The simple message is don't promote censorship, because it could easily get out of hand, and as the old saying goes â€Å"the road to hell is paved with good intentions†. There are then only two ways to get rid of the violent entertainment in our lives: we could shame those who make the violent movies, television shows, books, and plays, into having a social conscience, making them be less prone to creating violent entertainment; or we could simply solve the problem ourselves, with a push of a button, or the turn of a page. Work Cited ~ American Rifleman (1993). TV Violence: Does it Cause Real-Life Mayhem? Lamson, Susan R, 19-23, 30-50, 100-109 ~ Greenhaven Press, (1992). Youth Violence. Leone, Bruno, 32-48. ~ www.nccev.org/violence/statistics/statistics-media.html ~ www.columbia.edu/cu/21stC/issue-1.2/Media.html ~ www.health.org/govpubs/ms714.html ~ www.pbs.org/newshour/forum/ september99/media_violence.html

A Humourous Ritual :: miscellaneous

A Humourous Ritual Have you ever witnessed a humorous ritual that was really funny? I witness one everyday and it makes me wonder. This ritual is the one that many people that you and I both know participate in. this ritual is going to school. Everybody does it nowadays. The reason why it is funny is that we get up early everyday to learn stuff we don’t need to, we eat horrible food and even pay for it, and when we try to be an individual we get in trouble for doing so. Everyone says â€Å"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.† well that is very, very true statement, even though my name isn’t Jack. Millions of students worldwide get up at early hours of the day to get to school to learn a lot of stuff that we don’t need to know, such as information about Puritans. Not only that, we must endure the torture of worrying about our grades; that if we don’t work hard then we get bad grades, and that makes it much harder to get into Harvard Law School. Everyday, students must worry about their grades and they must do their work, and it isn’t fun. During the school day, one must eat. We get in trouble if we choose to eat in a classroom or quench our thirst by drinking an ice cold beverage during class. So we are forced to either bring a lunch, which is trouble in itself, or eat the school food from the cafeteria. Everyday when I make my journey across campus and past the cafeteria, I wonder what the intoxicating smell is coming from the building. The fries are not nutritious and are very greasy and salty, the chicken burgers are not cooked thoroughly, and the cheeseburgers are tasteless. The only thing I think is edible in the school is a Coca-Cola. The water in the fountains taste really bad. Yet everyday, hundreds of students flock to the cafeteria to poison their bodies, in a sense. Why cant we all just be happy and eat Subway everyday? That would make more sense, no? I was raised to express myself and be an individual. I was taught to not follow the pack and create my own trend. So, I try to do just that. I dress different than most, I act the way I want to act, I get piercings, and hopefully soon I will be getting some tattoos.

A Different Foreigner :: essays research papers fc

A Different Foreigner   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  We have talked about the typical foreigner: Someone living in a country other than their own, having a different culture and different beliefs than everyone else around them. But can one be a foreigner in their own country, their own city, or their own town? If one has different beliefs than those of his/her friends and/or family, can we call that person a ‘foreigner’ if they are going through the same things that Julia Kristeva describes in her book? In today’s culture, the same aspects that apply to foreigners, such as loneliness, separation, and the need to fit in, apply to many teenagers, whether they grow up in a town they have lived in all their lives, or if they move to a foreign place.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Strangers to Ourselves, Kristeva writes, â€Å"Who is a foreigner? The one who does not belong to the group, who is not â€Å"one of them,† the other† (Kristeva, 95). If I were to discuss beliefs with my parents, such a s political or moral beliefs, and agreed with everything my parents said, what happens when all of my friends at school believe in completely different things? To them, my beliefs would be very different, almost foreign. To them, I would be the other.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If, over time, I were to change my beliefs to mirror the beliefs of my friends, one day I would come home and realize how different I was from my family. My beliefs would be the opposite of theirs. Like many foreigners living in a country different than the one they were born in, going home would not be the same as it was when I was still the same as my family. If a typical teenager goes through the same scenario that I have described above, how different is it if a teenager becomes a foreign exchange student. One immediately thinks of the obvious†¦the teenager is, of course, in a foreign country, away from home. But, that particular teen is still trying to fit in, and is growing in ways that are changing the person that he/she used to be.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the transition from believing what my family believes to what my friends believe in, there would be a time in which I would fit in neither world. My views would have changed enough for me to be different from my parents, but not enough for me to be the same as my friends.

Context of Indigenous health Essay

Historical context and social determinants of Indigenous health There is a clear relationship between the social disadvantages experienced by Indigenous people and their current health status [1]. These social disadvantages, directly related to dispossession and characterised by poverty and powerlessness, are reflected in measures of education, employment, and income. Before presenting the key indicators of Indigenous health status, it is important, therefore, to provide a brief summary of the context within which these indicators should be considered. The historical context of Indigenous health Indigenous peoples generally enjoyed better health in 1788 than most people living in Europe [2][3][4][5][6]. They did not suffer from smallpox, measles, influenza, tuberculosis, scarlet fever, venereal syphilis and gonorrhoea, diseases that were common in 18th century Europe. Indigenous people probably suffered from hepatitis B, some bacterial infections (including a non-venereal form of syphilis and yaws) and some intestinal parasites. Trauma is likely to have been a major cause of death, and anaemia, arthritis, periodontal disease, and tooth attrition are known to have occurred. The impact of these diseases at a population level was relatively small compared with the effects of the diseases that affected 18th century Europe. All of this changed after 1788 with the arrival of introduced illness, initially smallpox and sexually transmissible infections (gonorrhoea and venereal syphilis), and later tuberculosis, influenza, measles, scarlet fever, and whooping cough [3][4][7][8]. These diseases, particularly smallpox, caused considerable loss of life among Indigenous populations, but the impacts were not restricted to the immediate victims. The epidemic also affected the fabric of Indigenous societies through depopulation and social disruption. The impact of introduced diseases was almost certainly the major cause of death for Indigenous people, but direct conflict and occupation of Indigenous homelands also contributed substantially to Indigenous mortality [7][9][10]. The initial responses of Indigenous people to the arrival of the First Fleet were apparently quite peaceful. It didn’t take long, however, before conflict started to occur – initially over access to fish stocks and then over access to other resources as non-Indigenous people started to plant crops and introduce livestock. This pattern of conflict was almost certainly widespread as non-Indigenous people spread across the country. Conflict escalated in many places, in some instances resulting in overt massacres of Indigenous people. The 1838 massacre at Myall Creek (near Inverell, NSW) is the most infamous [11], but less well-known massacres occurred across Australia [10]. As Bruce Elder notes, as ‘painful and shameful as they are’, the massacres ‘should be as much a part of Australian history as the First Fleet, the explorers, the gold rushes and the bushrangers’ ([10], p. vi). Prior to 1788, Indigenous people were able to define their own sense of being through control over all aspects of their lives, including ceremonies, spiritual practices, medicine, social relationships, management of land, law, and economic activities [12][13][14]. In addition to the impacts of introduced diseases and conflict, the spread of non-Indigenous peoples undermined the ability of Indigenous people to lead healthy lives by devaluing their culture, destroying their traditional food base, separating families, and dispossessing whole communities [3][4][7]. This loss of autonomy undermined social vitality, which, in turn, affected the capacity to meet challenges, including health challenges; a cycle of dispossession, demoralisation, and poor health was established. These impacts on Indigenous populations eventually forced colonial authorities to try to ‘protect’ remaining Indigenous peoples. This pressure led to the establishment of Aboriginal ‘protection’ boards, the first established in Vic by the Aboriginal Protection Act of 1869 [15]. A similar Act established the NSW Aborigines Protection Board in 1883, with the other colonies also enacting legislation to ‘protect’ Indigenous populations within their boundaries. The ‘protection’ provided under the provisions of the various Acts imposed enormous restrictions on the lives of many Indigenous people. These restrictions meant that, as late as 1961, in eastern Australia ‘nearly one-third of all Australians recorded as being of Aboriginal descent lived in settlements’ ([16], p. 4). The provisions of the Acts were also used to justify the forced separation of Indigenous children from their families ‘by compulsion, duress or undue influence’ ([15], p. 2). The National Inquiry into the separation of the children concluded that ‘between one-in-three and one-in-ten Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families and communities in the period from approximately 1910 until 1970’ ([15], p. 31). It was the 1960s, at the earliest, when the various ‘protection’ Acts were either repealed or became inoperative. The importance of contemporary social determinants and cultural concepts of Indigenous health The health disadvantages experienced by Indigenous people can be considered historical in origin [14], but perpetuation of the disadvantages owes much to contemporary structural and social factors, embodied in what have been termed the ‘social determinants’ of health [1][17][18]. In broad terms, economic opportunity, physical infrastructure, and social conditions influence the health of individuals, communities, and societies as a whole. These factors are specifically manifest in measures such as education, employment, income, housing, access to services, social networks, connection with land, racism, and incarceration. On all these measures, Indigenous people suffer substantial disadvantage. For many Indigenous people, the ongoing effects of ‘protection’ and the forced separation of children from their families compound other social disadvantages. It is also important in considering Indigenous health to understand how Indigenous people themselves conceptualise health. There was no separate term in Indigenous languages for health as it is understood in western society [19]. The traditional Indigenous perspective of health is holistic. It encompasses everything important in a person’s life, including land, environment, physical body, community, relationships, and law. Health is the social, emotional, and cultural wellbeing of the whole community and the concept is therefore linked to the sense of being Indigenous. This conceptualisation of health has much in common with the social determinants model and has crucial implications for the simple application of biomedically-derived concepts as a means of improving Indigenous health. The reductionist, biomedical approach is undoubtedly useful in identifying and reducing disease in individuals, but its limitations in addressing population-wide health disadvantages, such as those experienced by Indigenous people, must be recognised. Indicators of Indigenous social disadvantage. The key measures in these areas for Indigenous people nationally include: Education According to 2011 Australian Census [20]: 92% of 5 year-old Indigenous children were attending an educational institution 1. 6% of the Indigenous population had not attended school compared with 0. 9% of the non-Indigenous population 29% of Indigenous people reported year 10 as their highest year of school completion; 25% had completed year 12, compared with 52% of non-Indigenous people 26% of Indigenous people reported having a post-school qualification, compared with 49% of non-Indigenous people 4. 6% of Indigenous people had attained a bachelor degree or higher, compared with 20% of non-Indigenous people. An ABS school report [21] revealed, in 2011: the apparent retention rate for Indigenous students from year 7/8 to year 10 was 99%, from year 7/8 to year 12 it was 49% for non-Indigenous students, the apparent retention rate from year 7/8 to year 10 was 101%; and from year 7/8 to year 12 it was 81%. The 2011 national report on schooling in Australia [22] showed: 76% of Indigenous students in year 3 and 66% in year 5 were at or above the national minimum standard for reading, compared with 95% and 93% respectively of all Australian students 80% of year 3 Indigenous students and 69% of year 5 Indigenous students were at or above the national minimum standard for persuasive writing, compared with 96% of all year 3 students and 94% of all year 5 students 72% of year 3 Indigenous students and 69% of year 5. Indigenous students were at or above the national minimum standard for spelling, compared with 94% of all year 3 students and 93% of all year 5 students 71% of year 3 Indigenous students and 65% of year 5 Indigenous students were at or above the national minimum standard for grammar and punctuation, compared with 94% of all year 3 students and 94% of all year 5 students 84% of Indigenous students in year 3 and 75% in year 5 were at or above the national minimum standard for numeracy, compared with 96% and 96% respectively of all Australian students. Employment According to the 2011 Australian Census [20]: 42% of Indigenous people aged 15 years or older were employed and 17% were unemployed. In comparison, 61% of non-Indigenous people aged 15 years or older were employed and 5% were unemployed the most common occupation classification of employed Indigenous people was ‘labourer’ (18%) followed by ‘community and personal service workers’ (17%). The most common occupation classification of employed non-Indigenous people was ‘professional’ (22%). Income According to the 2011 Australian Census [20]: the mean equivalised gross household income for Indigenous persons was around $475 per week – approximately 59% of that for non-Indigenous persons (around $800). Indigenous population Based on information collected as a part of the 2011 Census of Population and Housing, the ABS has estimated the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population at 669,736 people at 30 June 2011 [23]. The estimated population for NSW was the highest (208,364 Indigenous people), followed by Qld (188,892), WA (88,277), and the NT (68,901) (Table 1). The NT has the highest proportion of Indigenous people among its population (29. 8%) and Vic the lowest (0. 9%). Table 1: Estimated Indigenous population, by jurisdiction, Australia, 30 June 2011 JurisdictionIndigenous population (number)Proportion of Australian Indigenous population (%)Proportion of jurisdiction population (%) Source: ABS, 2012 [23] Notes: Preliminary estimates are subject to revision; population projections are expected to be finalised by 2014 Australian population includes Jervis Bay Territory, the Cocos (Keeling). Islands, and Christmas Island Proportions of jurisdiction population have used total population figures estimated from demographic information for June 2011 NSW208,36431. 12. 9 Vic47,3277. 10. 9 Qld188,89228. 24. 2 WA88,27713. 23. 8 SA37,3925. 62. 3 Tas24,1553. 64. 7 ACT6,1670. 91. 7 NT68,90110. 329. 8. Australia669,736100. 03. 0 There was a 21% increase in the number of Indigenous people counted in the 2011 Census compared with the 2006 Census2 [24]. The largest increases were in the ACT (34%), Vic (26%), NSW (25%) and Qld (22%). For all jurisdictions, the 55 years and over age-group showed the largest relative increase. There are two ‘structural’ reasons contributing to the growth of the Indigenous population: the slightly higher fertility rates of Indigenous women compared with the rates of other Australian women (see ‘Births and pregnancy outcome’); and the significant numbers of Indigenous babies born to Indigenous fathers and non-Indigenous mothers. Two other factors are considered likely to have contributed to the increase in people identifying as Indigenous: changes in enumeration processes (i. e. more Indigenous people are being captured during the census process); and changes in identification (i. e. people who did not previously identify as Indigenous in the census have changed their response). Based on the 2011 Census, around 33% of Indigenous people lived in a capital city [25]. Detailed information about the geographic distribution of the Indigenous population for 2011 is not yet available, but figures from the 2006 Census indicated that the majority of Indigenous people lived in cities and towns [26]. Slightly more than one-half of the Indigenous population lived in areas classified as ‘major cities’ or ‘inner regional’ areas, compared with almost nine-tenths of the non-Indigenous population. (As well as these two classifications of ‘remoteness’ in terms of access to goods and services and opportunities for social interaction, the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) has four other categories: ‘outer regional’, ‘remote’, ‘very remote’, and ‘migratory’ [27]. ) Almost one-quarter of Indigenous people lived in areas classified as ‘remote’ or ‘very remote’ in relation to having ‘very little access to goods, services and opportunities for social interaction’ ([28], p. 3). Less than 2% of non-Indigenous people lived in ‘remote’ or ‘very remote’ areas [26]. In terms of specific geographical areas, more than one-half (53%) of all Indigenous people counted in the 2011 Census lived in nine of the 57 Indigenous regions (based largely on the former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) regions) [25]. The three largest regions were in eastern Australia (Brisbane, NSW Central and the North Coast, and Sydney-Wollongong), which accounted for 29% of the total Indigenous population. According to the 2011 Census, around 90% of Indigenous people are Aboriginal, 6% are Torres Strait Islanders, and 4% people identified as being of both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent [25]. Around 63% of Torres Strait Islander people3 lived in Qld; NSW was the only other state with a large number of Torres Strait Islander people. The Indigenous population is much younger overall than the non-Indigenous population (Figure 1) [23]. According to estimates from the 2011 Census, at June 2011 about 36% Indigenous people were aged less than 15 years, compared with 18% of non-Indigenous people. About 3. 4% of Indigenous people were aged 65 years or over, compared with 14% of non-Indigenous people. Figure 1. Population pyramid of Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations, 30 June 2011 Population pyramid of indigenous and non-indigenous populations, 2011 Source: ABS, 2012 [23] References Carson B, Dunbar T, Chenhall RD, Bailie R, eds. (2007) Social determinants of Indigenous health. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen and Unwin Jackson LR, Ward JE (1999) Aboriginal health: why is reconciliation necessary?. Medical Journal of Australia; 170(9): 437-440 Butlin NG (1993) Economics and the dreamtime : a hypothetical history. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press Campbell J (2002) Invisible invaders: smallpox and other diseases in Aboriginal Australia 1780-1880. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press Webb S (2009) Palaeopathology of Aboriginal Australians: health and disease across a hunter-gatherer continent. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Anderson W (2007). The colonial medicine of settler states: comparing histories of Indigenous health. Health and History; 9(2): 144-154 Butlin NG (1983) Our original aggression : Aboriginal populations of southeastern Australia, 1788-1850. Sydney: Allen & Unwin Thomson N (1991) Tuberculosis among Aborigines. In: Proust AJ, ed. History of tuberculosis in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. Canberra, ACT: Brolga Press: 61-67 Reynolds H (1982) The other side of the frontier: Aboriginal resistance to the European invasion of Australia. Ringwood, Victoria: Penguin Books Elder B (2003) Blood on the wattle: massacres and maltreatment of Aboriginal Australians since 1788. 3rd ed. Frenchs Forest, N. S. W: New Holland Harrison B (1978) The Myall Creek massacre. In: McBryde I, ed. Records of times past : ethnohistorical essays on the culture and ecology of the New England tribes. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies: 17-51 Howitt R (2001) Rethinking resource management : justice, sustainability and Indigenous peoples. London: Routledge Hunter E (1993) Aboriginal health and history: power and prejudice in remote Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Saggers S, Gray D (1991) Aboriginal health and society: the traditional and contemporary Aboriginal struggle for better health. North Sydney: Allen and Unwin National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families (1997) Bringing them home: report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families. Retrieved 17 November 2011 from http://www. humanrights. gov. au/pdf/social_justice/bringing_them_home_report. pdf Long JPM (1970) Aboriginal settlements: a survey of institutional communities in eastern Australia. Canberra: Australian National University Press Marmot M (2004) The status syndrome: how social standing affects our health and longevity. New York: Holt Paperbacks Wilkinson R, Marmot M (2003) Social determinants of health: the solid facts. Denmark: World Health Organization National Aboriginal Health Strategy Working Party (1989) A national Aboriginal health strategy. Canberra: Department of Aboriginal Affairs Australian Bureau of Statistics (2012) Census of population and housing: characteristics of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2011. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics Australian Bureau of Statistics (2011) Schools, Australia, 2010. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (2011) National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy: achievement in reading, persuasive writing, language conventions and numeracy: national report for 2011. Sydney: Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority Australian Bureau of Statistics (2012) Australian demographic statistics, March quarter 2012. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics Yap M, Biddle N (2012) Indigenous fertility and family formation: CAEPR Indigenous population project: 2011 census papers. Canberra: Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research Australian Bureau of Statistics (2012) Census of population and housing – counts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2011. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics Australian Bureau of Statistics (2010) Population characteristics.

Of Personal Development, Critical Thinking and Enhanced Quality of Care Essay

In this reflection paper, I would like to relate some unforeseen events during the course as well as my experience of being assessed. The medical practitioner assigned to me was a consultant of medicine for geriatric patients. The fact that he is not a physiotherapist may be considered an unforeseen occurrence. I did not really expect him to come from a different field. The similarity in language and way of thinking of practitioners from the same field would have facilitated the process. At first, similar to my feelings in collaborating with my nurse classmates, I had the same feeling of hesitation in associating with my DMP. However, as the course progressed, I realized that he could be a very good mentor. He patiently guided me throughout all the pertinent tasks that I had to carry out. I attended the clinic with him at Saint Pancrase Hospital for the morning Clinic, which finished at twelve o’clock, then the Ward round from two o’clock at Saint Pancrase hospital for two hours. I then went to University College London Hospital for My OSCE after four o’clock at the T10 ward. For the last fifteen years I have been working in a community, this is my first time to examine a patient thoroughly in a hospital, not only to examine the patient but also to perform my Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). Since he wanted to examine me on COPD patient with some complications, he was right that it was hard on me. Yet I did it and enjoyed the experience despite the situation under pressure. It was very long observation from my DMP, which again for long time I did not observe, was indeed a complicated but a true learning experience. I am grateful to my DMP and the way he taught me. I enjoyed his teaching, his approach, and his skills as a consultant were excellent. I will miss his teaching. My experience with him made me see the value of having a competent mentor regardless of the field that one is interested in. The presence of a coach and mentor made learning easier because it made me confident that I can rely on someone who is an expert and possesses a learning attitude, as well as one who is willing to help me out in the process. Admittedly, there were some difficulties in relating with him at the beginning because we were from different fields of study. But again, this experience is a test of flexibility in adjusting to the demands of the situation. I my best to work with him and follow the guidelines and advice which he gave me. In the course of our interaction, I have learned to become more comfortable in dealing with him. There is value in having a good working relationship with one’s superiors and colleagues; it makes the learning journey so much easier. I also feel that I should further develop a mentoring relationship with an expert in this field to be able to reach my full my potential. Empirical research from both educational and industrial settings suggests that students and employees both have increased probability of success if they have had a mentor. While mentors are effective for everyone, sometimes organisations implement mentoring programs to support particular parts of their populations, often newer employees. And while mentoring programs are always established with the best of intentions, their results are often mixed (Werner, 2004). To make the most of my clinical exposure, I hope to establish a strong mentoring relationship with a doctor or a medical allied professional who will be able to coach me on increasing competence in my clinical practice. I have realised that coaching and mentoring are very effective ways of developing my leadership potential because it does not only develop me in terms of technical expertise, but it will also allow me to actually experience how these experts undergo the coaching and mentoring exercise. I have also realised that a novice in any medical allied field acquires clinical judgment and skill over time. Knowledge is refined through actual clinical experience; this moves her from a rule-based, context-free stage to a more analytical, logical and intentional pattern of thinking (Benner, Tanner, & Chelsea, 1996). To effectively provide a conducive learning environment, these medical professionals need venues for examining and developing their problem solving and reasoning skills towards making clinical judgments (Miller, 1992). I realised that such venues transpire through numerous learning experiences. In particular, I am contemplating about being able to practice in a large hospital to permit such comprehensive clinical exposure. I have also realised that participating in varied learning experiences offers the chance to apply classroom theory in the clinical setting. This was a point that was shared with me by my DMP. Clinical experiences enable the formation of meaningful related information on the basis of what the nurse has learned in the classroom. There is an expectation that with more experience, this novice can move from the level of advanced beginner to the level of competence by program completion. Clinical judgment is defined as nursing decisions about which areas to assess, analyzing health data, prioritizing which task to do, and who should carry it out (Carnaveli & Thomas, 1993). For clinical judgment to be assessed as sound, it should be arrived at using critical thinking and logical reasoning, that will enable the deduction of valid conclusions, and the decisions that may be borne from these. I am thankful for this experience as they have given me profound insight on the areas that I could further develop to become a more competent professional in this field.

Event Industry Suppliers and Event Organisational Structures

Event Industry Suppliers and Event Organisational Structures Since the beginning of time human beings had the need of having special events. First, they were made for cultural and celebration purposes, but their area increased continuously. Today, the events vary from personal celebrations to mega events, from voluntary events to private musical events, form cultural to sporting events.Shone and parry classify special events by purpose and these are: leisure events (sport, recreation, and leisure), personal events (weddings, anniversaries, and birthdays), cultural events (Sacred, ceremonial, folklore, art, and heritage) and organizational events (commercial, political, charitable, sales). According to their size and scale, events are categorized in the following way, from the smallest to the biggest: local/community events, hallmark events, major events and mega events. Bowdin, 2006, p. 15) As Bowdin (23, 24) says further in his book, because of the complexity and volume of events in dustry today, a large range of event suppliers had been developed, which may work only for this industry, like catering, staging, lightning, fireworks, entertainment, but as Tassiopoulos (2005, p. 46) states, few suppliers are dedicated exclusively to the events, they just interfere with them as transportation, communication and security do.Events are organized by professionals working in a specific organizational structure, according to the size and complexity of the event. This could be simple, functional or a network one or a matrix type if the event is held at various venues. The network type consists in having an event manager or a small team as organizer(s) and hiring suppliers for what the event needs. So even if the organising team is not big enough to produce all the resources for an event, it can hire other organizations that supplies them with what else they need for materializing the event concept.This process is called by Bowdin as creating â€Å"virtual organisationsà ¢â‚¬  that lasts during the event then they disintegrate and each party can find other such organisations to join for future events. This kind of structure has the advantage of quick decision making, because the people who are making decisions are few in numbers, or only the event manager, others just being hired to do specific services. The activities of the events are usually categorised into distribution, production, venues and ancillary services. Shone and Parry (2010, p. 3 ) offer a list of organisations categorised by the type of services they are offering. The organisations who are working in the production area are: event management companies, party planners, production companies, event catering companies, exhibition and theatrical contractors and designers, technical services companies or individuals, professional party/conference oganisers, multimedia support companies voluntary bodies and education and training. ) Distribution organisations could be individual events and venues, event and conference agencies, trade madeia, hotel booking agencies.Visitior and convention bureau, incentive travel agencies, exhibition organisers, ticketing agencies, trade exhibitions and national and local tourist bodies. Some organisations that could supply the events with venues or services for venues are event room/hall/grounds hire, catering and kitchen facilities, accommodation, food and drink suppliers, business support services, medical and creche services, information and customer services, technical support, waste disposal and grounds clearance, toilets washrooms and public facilities, parking security and set designers.Also, still according to shone and parry, the organisations who offer anciliary services are: accommodation providers, photographers and video makers Transport and guiding services, music and entertainment providers, travel companies, costume hire service, marquee hire services, printer, floral contractor, database support service, fireworks di splay operator, professional and trade bodies, national and local government services. Event management companies, according to Bowdin (2006, p. 3), are organisations that are offering to organize events, usually large, for potential clients on contract basis. The gigantic corporations existing nowadays often contact these companies and usually generate long relationships with them, states Bowdin. Production companies are very similar to the event management ones, but they are restricted to the production, while the others may offer additional services without hiring external organisations. Party planners and professional event organisers do the same work as the event production companies, but they are individuals, nstead of teams or functional organisations. PCO, professional conference organisers, can organise conference and meetings for small groups or big conferences such as a political party meeting. Some venues serve their own food and beverage, but when an event is held at a venue without such services or in natural spaces, and the organisers want to provide to the customers, they will need to hire event catering companies, if they don’t have the resources themselves.These companies offer food and beverages from the simplest to very sophisticated types for events. The modern clients of events acquired taste and desire for quality and innovative dishes, so the catering services adapted their needs. These suppliers may have their own kitchen, the venue may provide them with one or the organisers will have to improvise a place where the food will be prepared.The organisers will have to consider other important factors when hiring these companies, such as waste management, asking the guests their preferences if it is a controlled event or researching the potential customers if it is an uncontrolled one, informing the catering company about the theme and the key moments of the event, such as speeches or surprise shows and assuring they will have enoug h food and beverages for the customers.Hotel booking agencies, incentive travel agencies, national, local tourist bodies, travel companies and accommodation companies play an important role in events if the customers are tourists or if they are coming from other localities and have to stay overnight. These organisations could provide some events with customers and offer them additional services such as accommodation and guiding. The event organisers could make contracts with these companies or buy their services for the customers in order to obtain them cheaper, instead of letting the clients buying by themselves.Ticketing agencies could be contacted to advertise the event, if the organisers are not specialised or don’t have time for this. If an event is theme based, then theme designers, costume hire services, floral contractors and other such companies can be hired to set a professional theme, buying the right supplies from retailers or producers of decoration or themed pro ducts for events. Photographers and video makers offer professional recording of events and they should be hired especially at cultural and personal events, because people like to memorise them over the years.Music and entertainment providers supply the events with the main component for the customer for the leisure events or they could just help for the ambiance at events that have other principal purposes. There are many available venues today that can and even ask to be hired for organising events. Many venue owners organise events by themselves, but also allows other professionals to hold events in their venues on a contract basis. The event manager should know how to negotiate with these venue owners and how to establish relationships.Government bodies also play an important role in events, because of the laws for preparation and sale of beverages, food, waste management and removal. External regulatory bodies As noted, contemporary events take place in an increasingly regulate d and complex environment. A series of local government and statutory bodies are responsible for overseeing the conduct and safe staging of events, and these bodies have an integral relationship with the industry.Councils often oversee the application of laws governing the preparation and sale of food, street closures, waste management and removal. In addition, events organizers have a legal responsibiliy to provide a safe workplace and to obey all laws and statutes relating to employment, contracts, taxation and so on. The professional event manager needs to be familiar with the regulations governing events and to maintain contact with the public authorities that have a vested interest in the industry. Bowdin 23 Events are held in many different locations from established venues to open spaces * The nature of your event will help dictate the type of venue you select * The event site or venue should be an effective space that suits the type of event being staged * Ultimately, the ve nue MUST be able to meet the needs of the event and its audience * â€Å"The number of new venues, and types of venues, opening their doors to conference delegates appears to be escalating, and there are increasing signs that demand for these facilities is not increasing at the same rate.Venues are not only changing in quantity but also in their quality. † * Davidson and Rogers (2006, p. 69) Top 5 Most Important Factors When Choosing a Venue as Identified by a Number of American Event Organisers 1. Size of the venue 2. Potential audience draw 3. Location 4. Number of meeting rooms 5. Price 6. Mike Lyon, Director, Write Style Communications, 7. The National Venue Show, (Sept. 2007) The choice of a venue is a crucial decision that will ultimately determine many of the elements of staging. Figure 13. 2 lists the major factors in the choice of a venue.The venue may be an obvious part of the theme of the event. A corporate party that takes place in a zoo is using the venue as part of the event experience. However, many events take place within ‘four walls and a roof’, the venue being chosen for other factors. It can be regarded an empty canvas on which the event is painted. Events can be staged in a range of unusual spaces, from unused factories, parkland, car parks or shopping centres, to floating stages on water or using flat-back trailers from articulated lorries in a supermarket car park.The event manager can exploit the surroundings and characteristics of the venue to enhance the event experience. In these situations, the traditional roles of stage manager and event manager become blurred. When the audience and the performers mix together and where they and the venue become the entertainment package, the delineation between stage and auditorium is no longer appropriate. An event that uses a purpose-built venue, for example, an arena or exhibition centre, will find that much of the infrastructure will be in place.Two documents _ Location _ M atching the venue with the theme of the event _ Matching the size of the venue to the size of the event _ Venue configuration, including sight lines and seating configuration _ History of events at that venue, including the venue’s reputation _ Availability _ What the venue can provide _ Transport to, from and around the venue; parking _ Access for audience, equipment, performers, VIPs, staff and the disabled _ Toilets and other facilities _ Catering equipment and preferred caterers Power (amount available and outlets) and lights _ Communication, including telephone _ Climate, including microclimate and ventilation _ Emergency plans and exits Figure 13. 2 The factors in venue selection 388 Events Management that are a good starting point for making an informed choice about the venue are the venue plan and the list of facilities. However, because there are so many factors in an event that are dependent on the venue or site, an inspection is absolutely necessary.For music event s, HSE (1999) suggest that main considerations for the site visit are available space for the audience, temporary structures, backstage facilities, parking, camping and rendezvous points, together with some idea of proposed capacity, concept for the entertainment and rough calculations of space requirements. For conference events, Shone (1998) identifies that location will be the key consideration, with the venue needing to be close to a main motorway and within an hour’s travelling time of a major city and airport (if international delegates are expected).Further, Owen and Holliday (1993) recommend that the event manager makes a preliminary unannounced visit to the venue to check the ambience and courtesy of staff before making arrangements. Lyon (2004, p. 2) notes that a site inspection or familiarization (Fam) trip provides you with the opportunity to sample the destination or potential venue, with the aim of you being able to sell this back to your organization and recapt ure the experience for your delegates. He provides a useful handbook to assist this process.Rogers (1998) suggests that there are a number of points to consider when shortlisting conference venues. These include: . the type of venue (hotel, conference centre, university, football stadia or stately homes) . the conference rooms and facilities available (including combination of room sizes and style of seating for the requirements of the event) . accommodation and leisure options (depending on residential requirements and opportunities for social activities) . an identifiable point of contact. As with many aspects of supplier selection, the Internet has had a significant effect on venue choice.Using a search engine is often the first action in the investigation of a suitable venue. Some websites display a choice of venues once certain information (such as size of audience, approximate location and type of event) has been entered. The major hotels, conventions and exhibition centres, u niversities and purpose-built venues have websites to enable the matching of event requirements to venue characteristics. However, this method has the same limitations as those of using photos and brochures to assess a venue. The websites are a tool for selling the venue, not a technical description.In addition, many suitable venues may not have an Internet presence. An Internet search will show only venues that expect to host events. If the event is truly special, the event venue may be part of that theme. A car park or a rainforest, for example, will not appear in a search for event venues. The final consideration when choosing an event is whether it requires a physical location at all. With the ongoing development of videoconferencing, and the extensive developments in the Internet, events can take place in ‘cyberspace’. With some events, e. g. usic concerts, the event takes place live in venue in the traditional manner, however, with the introduction of webcasting, a worldwide audience can view or experience the event simultaneously. In this instance, access to technological support and facilities, for example, a large bandwidth telephone line, will be a consideration. In other areas, for example, exhibitions and conferences, technology has been deployed in such a way that it may support the live event experience, through the website hosting supporting materials for visitors to view and in some cases interact with.Relatively recent advances in Internet technology, together with faster telecommunication infrastructure, have enabled conferences to take place solely on Staging events 389 line, with delegates interacting, either visually through videoconferencing or through text with instant messaging. Exhibitions can take place in virtual exhibition venues, which can either be modelled on the live exhibition venue as a means of supporting the event experience or can take place solely in the virtual world without the boundaries of traditional venu es and limited only by imagination and the available technology.The value of such developments is only just beginning to be realized, with some commentators predicting the death of live events, whilst other, more enlightened observers view these developments as a further medium to support or enhance the live event experience. The venue contract will have specialist clauses, including indemnifying the venue against damages, personnel requirements and provision of security staff. The contract can also contain the following elements: Security deposit: an amount, generally a percentage of the hiring fee, to be used for any additional work such as cleaning and repairs that result from the event. . Cancellation: outlining the penalty for cancellation of the event and whether the hirer will receive a refund if the venue is rehired at that time. . Access: including the timing of the opening and closing of the doors, and actual use of the entrances with controls to ensure only access to auth orized areas. . Late conclusion: the penalty for the event going overtime. . House seats: this is the reserved free tickets for the venue management. Additions or alterations: the event may require some changes to the internal structures of the venue. . Signage: this covers the signs of any sponsors and other advertising. Venue management approval may be required for all promotional material. 336 Events Management When hiring a venue, it is important to ascertain exactly what is included in the fee. For example, just because there were chairs and tables in the photo of the venue does not mean that they are included in the hiring cost. Negotiation: 500 words, Strong 4, identifying suppliers, special events 175 Conclusion