More on Who Owns the Future

Chapter 2 of Who Owns the Future brings up key points that are often overlooked in our society because of our dependence on technology. Almost everything in our lives nowadays has something to do with an aspect of technology whether its saving data to the Cloud service or updating your latest status on Facebook. The Aristotle quote involving enslaving people to get things done is necessary even though it isn't always fair, someone has to do each job and this really relates to our society. In our times people are encouraged to do what they enjoy and get a career, not a job. However, this strategy can't be for everyone as there are jobs out are necessary to keeping things running smoothly. They also bring up a good point about musicians and how their roles have changed from just trying to make a living off of their music to becoming symbols of a culture or a counterculture that fans really support and get behind.

CMMA Social Organization

I believe there are plenty of opportunities in social media for the Central Michigan Manufacturers Association to take advantage of in order to bring in interested high school graduates as well as reaching a college age group that wants to learn more about manufacturing. The social media plan we are trying to develop with them involves getting high schools and more specifically counselors and teachers motivated to basically scout students that may not go to college but would be a good fit for a manufacturing internship. To me, the easiest way for this to happen is to build a better digital presence for the CMMA on both their own website and other social media tools such as Facebook and LinkedIn. Creating page groups on these social medias for different high schools would make it easier to linkup with students interested in an internship. Each couple of page groups should have a leader or Manufacturing Executive in the CMMA available for any questions or concerns students or parents would have. They have to understand that there are other options out there for those who college might not be the best option, and the CMMA is one of those. With a little bit more exposure in the digital world, the CMMA could really benefit and spread their message at the same time.

Education in Entrepreneurship

My education in Entrepreneurship can be adapted to fit the new social media saturated environment by creating new forms of business such as social media consultants or an employee being in charge of  a social media plan for a company. Through this class I have learned different social media techniques to keep customers returning satisfied such as being open and engaging with them to make sure any issues are corrected or at least acknowledged. Another technique is to make sure there is dedication towards the social media plan and the content is quality and relate able for those customers. These techniques would help a company sustain a social media life but then it is up to that user how much work they put into running that businesses social media campaign. To me, the easiest way social media plans fail is because the company loses interest after the first couple weeks and they no longer have the motivation to stay connected with their customers. The main thing is commitment and dedication to sticking with that social media plan.

Selected Readings

The beginning of chapter 3 in Who Owns The Future begins with a very interesting point on money and how even in ancient times it was necessary to create some sort of concrete counter or storage asset. Nowadays money takes on a different use or purpose, especially with no need to carry it around anymore with plastic credit cards or cell phone apps that can make payments through banks. This is why it is possible for banks to fall apart when people don't pay their mortgages back. Banks are selling assets that are partially made of the future intents of borrowers. When borrowers do something other than promised, those assets no longer exist. The problem with this is that it affects a lot more people than those borrowers think by not paying back loans. I really enjoyed the economy cosmology comparison and how an expanding market is just like an expanding universe. The author notes that growth is necessary in any healthy market and that it doesn't have to come at the expense of the environment.

Mobile Device's Effects

I believe mobile devices align with the CMMA's purpose by allowing easy access to social media no matter where that user is and letting them gain info on the association and their purpose. With an expanded social media plan put into action by the CMMA, this would allow those who don't have a general understanding of a manufacturing association to gain knowledge. They still haven't technically adapted to this generation of technology and social media and that is why we are working with them at this point. It can adapt in the future by sharing the different opportunities with a younger generation that manufacturing can offer. They can be able to do this by having a strong social media platform on many different sites as to reach all interested in manufacturing and any possible opportunities or apprenticeships available. I believe they can accomplish this as well as reach a younger crowd if they stay dedicated to a plan and show commitment on their end of it.

Ch. 3 The New Digital Age

This chapter focused more on the internet and how everything revolves around it. How different countries censor or filter content so those under their service provider can be controlled. To me this doesn't seem right as the Internet isn't being used to its full potential when you censor different parts of the country so they are enclosed in their own digital world. The whole idea of massive collaboration is to have all willing contributors contributing content, which isn't possible from those in a censoring area such as they do in China. Even though there are ways around these censorship walls, it still hurts the chances of full cooperation and collaboration between users online. This chapter focuses more on the future of our digital age and I hope it involves less censorship from dictator like countries to allow any and all collaboration when possible no matter what part of the world you live in.

Social Organization Ch. 7 & 8

This chapter really focused on community and how to involve them in different aspects of the business such as how to get them involved and to participate. They suggest doing this by determining what participants want and value so that it is meaningful to them and they will actually want to contribute for their own benefit. It's a sad truth but nowadays we live in a "what do i get out of this" mindset that keeps people to themselves and doesn't really allow group collaborations. The main idea is to find these meaningful aspects and then define the core participants actions needed to help them realize that meaning. I enjoyed the example the authors used from the Acosta firm and how they decided to change their in-store buying experience for the customers. Becoming more social media based allows customers to personalize their choices and feel more informed from the business on what choices they offer.