Why Disney? ... Why!?

When I explain that I'm doing an internship at Disney this summer I usually get reactions like this...
"THAT'S GREAT! ... What does that have to do with advertising or the course your in right now?"
The Disney program is ONLY open to full-time St. Lawrence College students enrolled in either Business, Hospitality, or General Arts and Science. Advertising is a business course, therefore I am eligible to apply - I was accepted!

Most everyday people don't think of Disney as a business but simply an entertainer. The truth is they are one of thee most successful entertainment business in the world and have mastered it on a global scale. Who wouldn't want a chance to learn from them?

"Participants will take a complete course of study while participating in academic training related to their field of study. International students will take classes and earn academic credit from their U.S. host college or university while they gain real-world experience. In addition to classes taught by the U.S. college or university, students may have the opportunity to participate in academic classes or a seminar series hosted at the Walt Disney World Resort."

This program gives us a great opportunity to see prime business strategy at work. We get to study from the best at Florida State University about hospitality, tourism, leadership and communication. We get to understand what it is to be business professionals out in the real world and then put our skills to use at Disney World. How many people do you know can proudly say they have worked or studied at Disney?

PROGRAM BENEFITS
• Gain valuable work experience in a world-class organization.
• Discover why Disney’s high customer service standards and philosophy make it the greatest entertainment company in the world.
• Acquire personal and professional skills which could boost any career prospects.
• Experience at an American university.
• Work, live and socialize in a multicultural environment with participants of many different nationalities.
• Create lifelong relationships with other students from all over the world.

Disney is more than an entertainment business; they have succeeded in bring education and joy to children and adults across the world. Everyone knows their name and their prestigious reputation. To learn how they conduct their customer service and business strategies would be the biggest honour possible. Wouldn't you jump at the chance to work for Google? Or Coca-cola? To be the best you have to learn from the best!
Here's what some past participants have to say about the program...

Direct Marketing, Love it or Hate it?

We've all done it; picking up the weekly 'junk mail' browsing through it and recycling it after. (You ARE recycling it right?) There are studies claiming direct marketing (the junk mail in your mailbox, email inbox, the tear-away posters downtown, telemarketing, phone calls...etc.) is one of the most effective ways of advertising & there are others who think consumers are starting to become aware of the annoyance.

Basically direct marketing is simple:
an offer, the terms of the offer, the message, the action your needed to take in order to receive the offer (and an appealing theme that makes you resonate with the message such as humour or empathy.)

This semester we got to work with a real client to produce a campaign for her retail stores. We had a briefing meeting with her to find out her goals and the whole class was divided into teams and various objectives. The point of hte project was to start building a database of customers for our client. (That's why you get those targeted newslettersd and emails from the stores you subscribed to - you gave them permission!)

Our group wanted to promote our client's love and support for Cancer month (April) and her the Canadian Cancer Society. ALong with increasing customers to her store of course. We created posters, postcards, emails and a donation jar. In a way you could say our campaign succeeded in earning donations and word-of-mouth buzz for her store. But none of the donators wanted to give out their information and none of them wanted their coupon for completing the offer.

You can take a look at our Prezi presentation here:
Or go to my Portfolio at fb.com/Creative.Dunning

After all the hard work our group put in there were around 6 responses to our offer. I think if we wqere to ever redo this campaign I would have it so 'when customers filled out the ballot money would be donated for them.' I'm still very proud of all the work we did and I will certainly never under-appreciate 'Junk mail' again. I will give it the consideration it deserves (before realizing the offer still doesnt pertain to me and recycling it.)

Do you think with results like these that Direct Marketing is worth it for smaller businesses? I suppose it depends on the budget and experienced help you hire...???

The new 'Nuttier' Golden Rules?

If you haven't the time to read my article on Managing Allergies every day then Allergic Living has posted these 'Cardinal Rules' to live by when dealing with food based allergies. I have posted them below.

1. Never eat without your EpiPen auto-injector, period.

2. If you’re a child, never eat food that one of your parents hasn’t approved. If you’re an adult, don’t even think about that mystery food.

3. Read labels. Always. Know the ingredients of every food that enters your (or your child’s) mouth.

4. Learn to cook – well. No. 3 isn’t difficult if you do No. 4. And you’ll enjoy your food more knowing it’s safe.

5. Organize and Plan. Think through what’s to eat whenever you or your child will be eating away from home.

6. Always carry a safe snack. That way, you’re never stuck without anything to eat.

7. Speak up about your allergies. Always discuss menu items with waiters or chefs. Tell that guy you started dating that even a nutty kiss can have unintended consequences.

8. Parents: Teach your allergic children to manage their own allergies. Prepare them, but don’t scare them about peanut butter as a “loaded weapon”.

9. Don’t dwell upon what you can’t have; focus on what you can.

10. Manage food allergies, don’t allow them to run your life.

Managing Allergies 'all day, every day'

Growing up as a child with a food based allergy of any kind can be more than tough. It’s scary, confusing and stressful. You don’t feel like just another ‘average normal’ person in the world along with everyone else who can randomly call up dinner dates or take free samples in the mall. Not to mention the threat of cross-contamination and if the manufacturer’s leave out any crucial ingredients from their list.

Allergic Living wrote an article about Managing Peanut Allergies and said this…
“The only current treatment for this allergy is to avoid all traces of peanuts and peanut butter or other peanut-containing products. If your allergic child (or you) eats peanut with a known allergy, the drug epinephrine (adrenaline) will be needed to halt the reaction. But using the epinephrine auto-injector (EpiPen) is an emergency situation only, it’s not a treatment. This is why “avoidance” is the operative word for managing a peanut allergy.”

Here is my own variation of this list to help other children, parents and friends realize that even if we have a smile on our face it’s really hard dealing with allergies internally and socially.

1-Hand Sanitizer:

The safest way to keep germs and bacteria from your system is to stay clean. This means washing your hands and sanitizing any public surface you share with others.
It’s easy to mask this by politely offering sanitizer to your friends – but don’t let them touch the bottle; pour some into their hands for them. Even if they have momentarily forgotten about your allergy they will still see the act as courteous and you will have risked coming into contact with any transferred allergens.

2-Avoid Cross-contamination:

If you are having a get together or party where friends encouraged bringing food or ingredients to make a big meal together request fresh ingredients. This means they do not scoop a glob of the family’s butter and bring it. Someone may have put a peanut butter covered knife in that butter and they are now bringing it for you to cook with.
Make it a contest; give your party a ‘chef’s challenge’ theme and see who can buy the freshest ingredients. That way no one is bringing the family’s used products and you can read all of the packaging before it’s opened when guests arrive.

3-The fear of Label Reading:

If you feel uncomfortable reading labels in front of your friends, its natural – I still do. But there are ways around it; pretend you have never heard of the product or manufacturer before so while your friend explains to you how they ‘swear by it’ read the ingredients list BOTTOM TO TOP then again TOP TO BOTTOM. If you’re engaged in conversation your friends are too busy talking to fully pay attention to where your eyes are looking.
If you have a trusted friend who has always looked out for you and your allergy make it their job to keep your friends distracted while you read over everything. You’re the host after all so suggest that your guests start the party and you will tend to the food out of courtesy. Anything that may contain an allergen you then set to the side to put back in the fridge and when questioned remind them of your allergy and say that there was way too much food for the small table space anyways – so that they don’t feel too horrible for forgetting.

4-Make sure the ‘Higher-up’s’ know:

It may seem horrible awkward but your supervisors, bosses and teachers are here to help you and look after you. Even if it through an email or phone call make sure they know about your allergy.
Each new semester of college I remind my teachers of my allergy and it does help. When classes have parties they look after the food so that you can enjoy yourself.
When one of my classmates had peanut butter (I didn’t even notice at the time-hadn’t had my coffee yet) the teacher asked them to put their food away and move seats using the excuse they were too tall to sit at the front and that today we couldn’t be distracted by food.
If you can somehow let everyone around you know without that awkwardness it helps. My personal brand in the business world is now ‘the nutty marketer’ and my logo is a “no nuts” symbol. There is now no way that anyone who knows me or will meet me in the future will forget about my allergy or at least whenever they see my business card or websites they will be reminded or ask about it. It’s my own clever way to get the conversation started because not everyone can hold out their hand and say “Hi I’m Jessica nice to meet you, I have a nut allergy so please be careful.”

5-Going out for dinner:

With any food based allergy you may never want to step out of your house other than to buy your own groceries. But going out for dinner with friends is possible. For me I’m thankful for Facebook because you can remind friends of your allergy online without having to see their reactions or listen to them apologise for forgetting or ridicule you and ask if it’s really that big of a deal.
If you do have friends that don’t try to understand your allergy then they aren’t very great friends to begin with and you should stick to hanging out with them in public areas or parks and never at their house or restaurants. True friends will be patient enough to include you in their plans and figure out a place where you can all go together.
Get your friends excited and see if you can coax out of them the options they are thinking of. This way you can call ahead and ask about the oils and products they use. If its unsafe or the chefs aren’t sure then communicate back to your friends so that reservations don’t get made and cancelled. This saves the embarrassment of asking once you’ve sat down and then you have to leave.
Again you could play the ‘courtesy card’ and offer to make the arrangements for them since they are such good friends. This way you can pick from your own handful of trusted restaurants without much worry.

6- The EpiPen, Medic Alert & Knowledge:

Children these days are cursed with growing up too fast at young ages. It’s considered normal to have a small purse in grade 3-4 because you’re mimicking your mother or favourite TV character. Take advantage of this and put your EpiPen inside the purse or backpack. That way it’s hidden from stealing/tampering hands and your child can still feel fashionable and safe.
NEVER GO ANYWHERE if you don’t have your EpiPen with you. Again this is not a treatment but it could give you the extra time you need to make it to the hospital if anything should happen. I keep one in my school backpack, purse, laptop back and of course one at home.

Medic Alert jewelry is a great way to notify people of your allergy if you are still embarrassed or shy. Most conversations I have start with someone noticing my bracelet which gives me a chance to explain the situation to them. This jewelry lets paramedics and strangers know that you have a severe allergy. Sometimes when my friends forget about my allergy and are being insistent that I try something all I have to do is shove my hand out and when they notice the bracelet they apologise and back off. As a child it can seem irritating to have these things around but Medic Alert does a great job of having fashionable subtle jewelry that over time just becomes a part of your daily routine of clothing.