Text Only Version
"The name of the class
may sound fairly dry- marketing research and analysis but the students
taking this class from Dr Harold Daniel are getting a taste of what its like
to work as a marketer using a real live company Union Trust bank based in
Ellsworth-that has a real world problem to solve. Sarah Brown: "Union Trust
was specifically interested in small business managers in Maine and how they
chose Banking institutions. We developed a questionnaire to collect the data
that we needed. Through that we were able to analyze small businesses and
pick up on the most important aspects that they thought were important in
choosing a banking institution." Dr. Harold Daniel: " They're getting a
chance to be involved in this business and the operation of this business in
ways that they would only be able to do if they were actually out practicing
marketing." After the surveys are done and the numbers are crunched comes
the hard part- coming up with solutions to the company’s problem and
presenting those ideas in front of the companies and their classmates. Sarah
Brown: " We were able to present to the CEO. That was a very positive
experience. It really gave us a good opportunity to work on presentation
skills. Peter Blyberg-Union Trust CEO: " The presentations that were made
were very valuable. They highlighted the need to develop a better awareness
in some of the newer markets that we're in and proposed some possible
solutions to the issue of how do you develop a better awareness in the
marketplace. The level of thought that went into these was equivalent to
what you would get from some of the companies that are already out there."
Peter Blyberg-Union Trust CEO: " The presentations that were made were very
valuable. They highlighted the need to develop a better awareness in some of
the newer markets that we're in and proposed some possible solutions to the
issue of how do you develop a better awareness in the marketplace. The level
of thought that went into these was equivalent to what you would get from
some of the companies that are already out there." Over the years, Dr.
Daniel’s class has worked with many area businesses. Several of these
companies have used the research to grow their companies and in the process,
these students are finding out they have the tools to succeed in the
business world. Sarah Brown: " It was definitely the hardest class that I've
taken here so far but it was also the most beneficial and positive
experience that I've had." Harold Daniel: " What employers are buying when
they hire one of our students is a solution. So having had these kinds of
experiences, the student should be able to come into a business and begin to
solve problems." Peter Blyberg: " You could see the level of preparation,
the level of thought that went into this. You picked it up very quickly
listening to those presentations. Some of those kids, they're people that
maybe somewhere down the road you'd like to hire them."
Sports Done Right Script
Robert Cobb, Dean of the college of Education and Human Development: "This
is an attempt on the part of a lot of interested people across Maine, in
trying to identify what's good about sports for youth, how does it
contribute to their well being, are there things that need to be improved
upon, are their things that need to be reaffirmed about their experience.
Many adults are believing its their child that is going to make that trip
from youth sports to the professional level. the realities are that 99 point
something percent aren't going to do that and yet we make decisions and
choices along the way that result in overspecialization- early
overspecialization which is not a good thing. Student-athletes are
expressing to us that they want to play for fun- that they're just high
school of middle school kids and that the pressure that they're feeling
today to win, to play and to specialize is something they're very
uncomfortable with. Our next steps in the implementation of this report,
involved inviting all the schools in Maine to apply to be pilot sites for
those who are ready to move on this. So we have gone through that process,
we've identified 12 pilot sites. We are now beginning to meet with those
school systems preparing them to work with their communities, their coaches
and their student-athletes, parents and others to adopt and if necessary
adapt these principles and create a compact. We're hearing people- they come
up to us and say ' Boy this report is overdue. We're so pleased that someone
has taken the initiative to bring this information all together because
we've been asking for years- what do the experts think about how sports
ought to be conducted.' No one has taken the time and made the effort to
show what sports- when they're really done properly- what they look like."
