Social Media in my Career Interest

Social Media is expanding into almost all aspects of our lives nowadays and seems to be more important than reality for some people. This relates to my career interest because Entrepreneurship is expanding in our world as well and becoming a bigger part in both the business and consulting markets. This is important because it creates new opportunities and jobs because of social media such as having a social media consultant for digital and marketing within the business. Also, companies have designated employees whose sole jobs are to be in charge of and monitor social media platforms for that company. Entrepreneurs are now taking advantage of more use of social media by creating businesses that solely depend on social media like facebook and twitter to gain customers and keep them satisfied by answering questions and requests. Food truck entrepreneurs are also now using social media to their advantage by finding and posting the best locations on any given night for their food trucks to gain more customers as well as letting them then suggest the best spots around town for a food truck. These are just a few examples of the opportunities social media offers due to society's increasing dependence on it.

Newsletters and Blogs Reach

As I dive farther into my research on social media use within the CMMA it becomes more and more clearer that a Newsletter or Blog would be the best way to enhance the website as well as bring in a younger crowd by giving a different perspective. I understand that an internal newsletter probably already exists, which could make creating an external one even easier because some of that info could be shared between the newsletters. To me, the best way to contribute to the website would be a blog that was done at least once or twice a month by either the board members together or switching between each member for each different weekly blog. That way if there was a special focus that member was looking at informing the public on they would have full freedom to do so however they planned. For example, lets say it was getting towards the end of the academic school year and that board member wanted to let potential interns and graduates know of alternatives to college than for that blog post they could focus on recruiting and educating students on different options offered by the CMMA for those that don't know the opportunities offered in manufacturing. I feel a newsletter is a little too impersonal but could still work if done correctly and the required effort was put in.

Morbark, Inc.

This past week we had the opportunity to go on a field visit to Morbark Incorporated to learn more about both their company and their association with the Central Michigan Manufacturers Association. We first started with a power point presentation by Mr. Schumaker which had some interesting aspects to it that the average person doesn't get access to but instead it seemed like we got a look into the boardroom and how business is actually conducted. I enjoyed the different parts of business discussed and how he explained to us as I now feel like I know more about the forestry, recycling, and bio-energy markets that Morbark is a part of. An interesting example was the one discussing the opportunities through bio-energy from chicken and turkey litter and how the farmers used to have to pay to have their litter removed and destroyed but with the technology available today they now are able to expand their business and even create renewable resources that they then sell electricity to their neighbors. I just found that so cool that they've changed their business practices based on technology available to both better the environment as well as their business. After the power point we took a tour of the 1 million square foot factory that included all different sorts of machinery and vehicles that traveled the shop floor to make it easier for employees to get around. Schumaker gave us a tour and bits of Morbarks history on the different aspects of the company and how it has changed over the years. Overall I thought it was a great experience that could benefit us later on in life while still being fun and getting us out of the classroom which is always nice every once in a while.