COM0014 Blog 6: Do People Know Your Story?

What is your favorite customer story?

There are a few stories I like to share as a recruiter for the Anishinabek Educational Institute (AEI) but the one that stands out to me is a true success story.

Jazmine, an ambitious young woman uncertain of her educational path enrolled into a General Arts program at Nipissing University in North Bay ON.  She felt lost in the crowd and found herself looking for a more supportive and personal educational environment.  She heard about the AEI’s Practical Nursing program and was attracted to the small class sizes and one on one time with the instructors.  According to Jazmine “I like that anyone can go there and anyone can work there, you don’t have to be Indigenous to apply”.  This felt like a good fit for Jazmine so she enrolled into the Practical Nursing Program. Jazmine excelled in this supportive and personal education environment. She enjoyed AEI’s encouraging environment and learning about her culture throughout all of her studies. As it turns out it was a good move because not only was she able to complete her program and graduate, she was able to secure a job in the health care field right out of school. She has since come back to AEI as a tutor, to instruct and now works full time as the coordinator of the program she graduated from.

This is one of many success stories, including my story; I like to share with potential students. Inspiring and encouraging others in their pursuit of education and career paths is truly rewarding.

Reference

www.aeipostsecondary.ca

 

COM0014 Blog 5 Personal Brand

My personal brand would be my story.  This is a story that I share while recruiting for the Anishinabek Educational Institute (AEI). I have personally struggled through the educational system and I like to encourage potential students to keep educating them self in things that they enjoy in life.  I have chosen educational paths in fields I enjoy but never knew what I was aiming for. I took recreational leadership program at Canadore College because I liked the fitness and through this I landed a placement with the elderly where I led an exercise class. I have a high energy level and enjoy keeping busy and through this placement I heard of the Personal Support Worker program (PSW) which I enrolled in.  I graduated and began to work as a PSW. Because of my positive attitude, always laughing, making others smile, and sense of humor with my clients, my job was very rewarding.  However it was physically challenging and I had to seek out new opportunities.

 

I have always been a creative and artistic person and decided to peruse a graphic arts diploma.  The education and skills I learned in this program combined with all of my previous experience I was able to land a job as a student recruiter for the AEI. Establishing a career late in life was challenging, rewarding and is my personal success story. I use my story, experience and education  to make others feel good, see the positive, and be inspired.  Telling my personal story to encourage others to believe in what they can achieve is my brand.

 

COM0014 Blog 4 B2C case Study

Business to Consumer (B2C)

First Nation Technical Institute (FNTI) is an Indigenous college level education institute that specializes in courses geared to careers in working with Indigenous people or in Indigenous communities. They offer a unique delivery in that they can set up courses in communities where there is enough interest allowing students to remain in their communities while studying in a post secondary program. FNTI uses Face Book, YouTube, Linked In, and twitter to communicate with students, potential students and graduates. They use these platforms to share information about their courses and services; however they also share information from other websites that may be of interest to their client base. For instance they provide links to other sites that post jobs, provide student funding, etc. Face book provides postings about the colleges activities with comments related to providing information to students but also includes personalized comments on student’s lives. Culture is integrated into their postings, sites, and activities that are posted. This would be appealing to potential Indigenous students. The platforms they used are intuitive and easy to navigate; while they integrate culture and have many links to other sites for added information their pages are not overly busy making them user friendly. I believe their approach to be working as they appear to be diversified in their platforms reaching more potential students and expanding their audience.

 

References

https://www.fnti.net/https://www.facebook.com/pages/FNTI/126713014019122https://mobile.twitter.com/fntinewshttps://www.youtube.com/user/FNTIhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/fnti-first-nations-technical-institute

COM0014-Blog 3 Target Audiences

Knowing my target audience is a vital part of my job as a Promotion and Recruitment Coordinator for the Anishinabek Educational Institute (AEI).  AEI is a unique post secondary institution which offers Indigenous content to the program.  According to the AEI website the delivery of the programs offered are “designed to reduce the high stress levels which develop when students are away from their family, community, and workplace responsibilities, but are also designed to enable students to retain their jobs while being trained”.  “The student would attend intensive two week in-class session twice per semester alternating with a five to six week return to their community while still maintaining a full-time program workload”.

 

Most of our students come from different Indigenous communities across Ontario.  AEI’s target audience ranges from; Indigenous, which includes First Nation, Métis and Inuit people; older adults; single parents; people working with Indigenous people or in Indigenous communities.

 

Since AEI has unique delivery methods, the majority of our target audience are older adults returning to school while raising children.  Also with our small class sizes and the ability to set up in remote communities, AEI can target the shy students who may not be comfortable in large mainstream colleges.  This gives us the opportunity to guide and tutor those who may have challenges in the larger communities.

 

Effective ways to communicate would be to know their culture, set up Information sessions, advertising in Aboriginal magazines and papers etc.  Understanding, relating, being available, non judgmental, helpful and providing success stories would be an asset to effective communication.

 

 

AEI Website quotes and Testimonial link http://aeipostsecondary.ca/

 

 

COM0014-blog2 Communication Styles

Blah blah blah blah blogging with no creativity.

In learning about blogging I read about the 10 Different writing styles for blog posts that will engage readers . Each style serves a different purpose and audience. Styles range from investigative to instructional or listing to personal narrative; then there’s confessional, rebuttal or open letter. A writer might use an investigative style to tell a factual story where an interviewer would use another person to tell their story.

As writers and in professional fields we need to understand our own style, so we can effectively engage our audience and maintain their interest long enough to provide them with the information we want them to have. It is important to use the different styles at different times as some styles will not suit or be the best approach in what you are trying to achieve. For instance, people who are looking for a do it yourself project are not always interested in hearing about your journey in making something; they simply want the instructions on how to do it. Or someone interested in a news story may not want to hear, necessarily, about other people’s opinions. Or people on a travel blog may want information listed for them but also hearing others opinions on vacations, destinations etc. Blah blah blah blog…is the reason writers need to know more about communication styles. In order to keep your audience’s attention you need to be creative vs. the boring blah.

Through learning of the different styles, the ones that resonate with me and would best suit my audience would be personal narrative, listicle and pictorial.    The reason I am saying this is because as a student recruiter and events coordinator my audience is often looking for information on courses or is interested in extracurricular activities that I could share through visual picture posts. My comments along with visual posts can help to tell a story in a fun and engaging way.

There may be times when I will have to blend styles in order to keep the attention of my audience.  Making the content more appealing through blending styles will encourage readers to come back and inspire more to join in.  I really don’t want to be just another plain blah blah blah blah blogger.

10 Different writing styles for blog posts that will engage readers 

http://maineblogs.bangordailynews.com/2016/03/05/tips/10-different-writing-styles-for-blog-posts-that-will-engage-readers/

 

COM0014 – Blog 1 Our Christmas Vacation with Palmiichi

Photo credit Kelly McLeod

While deciding what we should do over our Christmas break, my sister Donna and I planned a trip to Cuba.  Donna and I are two years apart in age and live together.  We get along so well that we do pretty much everything together, hence our Christmas Vacation.

My sister set up and booked what was going to be one of the most memorable trips I have ever been on.  We landed in Cayo Coco Cuba  “the night before Christmas” and stayed at the all inclusive beautiful five star Melia Jardines Del Rey resort with amazing scenery, beaches, and staff.

One of the most memorable parts of our Christmas vacation, and there were many, was when Donna met Palmiichi.  Palmiichi is the resort Donkey who was roaming around out in the field and periodically his owner would bring him for walks on the beach.  She just had to meet him and she fell in love with him immediately.   She would save fresh fruit and bread from the buffet and feed Palmiichi each day. It was safe to say, Palmiichi got to know Donna and would get very excited each time he saw her.  One beautiful day while we where sunning on the beach, Palmiichi’s owner decided to take him for stroll on the beach.  Palmiichi saw Donna and came strolling over right away.  Donna started to pet his nose and talk to Palmiichi when his owner piped up and said “Wow now, be careful not to get Palmiichi excited”.   We all laughed and thought nothing of it until he started to walk away…and what to our wondering eyes should appear but twelve inches of excitement dangling down there.  The donkey was hung by the oceans fresh air, but started to shrink as he walked away without care. Screams of shock and laughter echoed the beach as she turned fifty shades of red and shouted…Merry Christmas to all and to all…I still got it!”

It was truly an amazing vacation and I would highly recommend this resort to family and friends.  The resort staff are very friendly and a lot of fun which brings me to another story….oh well…next time! https://www.melia.com/en/hotels/cuba/cayo-coco/melia-jardines-del-rey/index.html