Enterprise Week

The name of one of the events that I attended during Enterprise Week was "Transmitting Information is easier than creating understanding". The date of the event was 17/11/2009. The duration of the event was 1 hour 30 minutes (2.00pm - 3.30pm) but the event went slightly over the time scheduled by approximately 5 minutes. The location of the event was GLT (Gateway Lecture Theatre). The description of the event from the Enterprise Festival leaflet is "Advertising and Marketing Communications Industry Panel Discussion and debate on: Post credit crunch: the same or different?". The event involved a panel of six experts from various different advertising organisations discussing and debating on the subject of Marketing and Advertising during the current recession and in the future. It was therefore a verbal driven event. Students from the audience asked several different questions regarding the topic and the experts answered and debated amongst themselves on what each of them personally felt the answer to each question was. Some of the questions that were asked and answered in the event were:

What is the definition of 'Advertising'?

What is a brand?

What makes the brand of a business?

Who makes the brand of a business?

How do consumers consume advertising?

What do consumers think advertising should be?

What do advertisers want?

What challenges does the industry face?

The event was interesting because for most of the questions asked, the experts had different answers. As a result, the event consisted more of subjective opinions than objective opinions. This made the event more fascinating because the panellists weren't simply stating and explaining facts and figures but trying to make the audience think and understand that their are many different answers to a particular question and many of them may be just as valid as another if explained correctly.

The event has influenced my career aspirations because it has made me understand the importance of Advertising and Marketing in the world of Business. Since Accounting and Finance is a degree which has close links with Business, it has made me realise that if I ever work in the Marketing department of an organisation, the advertising and promotion of a product and service need to be extremely effective in attracting customers to buy a certain product or service. This is especially true at the moment with the recession as consumers have less disposable income to spend money on products that may not be necessary because a lot of people are currently unemployed.

In addition, the event has influenced my career aspirations because it has made me more aware of just how imperative being able to communicate effectively is in the world of work. Despite the fact that communication wasn't the topic of the event, I noticed how well each of the panellists were communicating with the audience during the event. This is something that has influenced my career aspirations because it has made me realise that being able to communicate well can be the difference between a good employee and a great employee in certain job roles bearing in mind that Accounting and Finance has strong links with Business. As a result, the event has motivated me into learning how to communicate effectively.

Furthermore, the event has influenced my career aspirations because the panellists have encouraged me into learning how to answer questions on the spot. This is because during the event, people from the audience were asking random questions relating to the topic which the panellists answered on the spot. This has encouraged my career aspirations because it has improved my ability to concentrate and focus on a certain topic which will improve my work performance in the future when dealing with spontaneous tasks.

Reference list:

Panellist image - http://www.moodiereport.com/images/IIAC_panellists_2008.jpg, [Accessed 17 November 2009].