Report on My Interviews

This blog post will serve as a recap of my interview and the interesting and important things I got from it.

1) Genres in Marketing Field

In my interviews, I learned a lot about research articles, social media posts and blog posts.

2) Differences In Genres

Research articles, social media posts, and blogging are all very different genres. Research articles are the most formal and provide a lot of scientific research and findings. They are more aimed at internal audiences and are mostly for people who are specifically interested in that subject and want to know data behind the claims. They are usually published in scholarly journals or online through specific sites so it is harder to find.

Social media posts and blogging are both more casual genres. Blog posts are usually longer than social media posts but both are found easily on the internet. Both genres are usually geared more towards external audiences and can be found easier, and are often more entertaining. Social media is a great way to reach almost everyone and appeal to younger audiences. Blogs also will appeal to younger audiences but their information might be more specific compared to a social media post.

3) What is Challenging in Writing in These Genres?

I think the biggest challenge is deciding what genre you must write in to appeal to your audience. It is important to know who you are writing for and what you want to relay onto those people. Another big challenge is perfecting communication so your information is well perceived and gets the point across.

When writing a research paper, data and scientific studies are critical. You must make good observations and put real studies in your article to be authentic. Also, a good research paper is judged on it's citations, and to get a lot of citations, you have to have real scientific studies backing up your claims.

4) What is Exciting about Writing in These Genres?

When writing a research paper, it is very rewarding when you see the citations your article gets and how your hard work and lengthy investigation has finally been paid off.

When using social media or blog posts, it is really awesome to see the reaction it gets from the people whoo subscribe to your pages. If you spark interests and ideas in people's heads, they will talk/post what you have to say and you can directly hear their feedback and thoughts on your posts.

5) Where in Mass Media can they be Found?

Research articles can be found in published monthly journals or on websites through hosts like Google Scholar, or EBSCO. They are academic and require a bit more searching, but they shouldn't be too hard to find.

Social media posts are extremely easy to find. There are many outlets like; Facebook, Twitter, Wordpress, Youtube, Imgur, Reddit and many more.

Blog posts rare found through popular and social medias. They are all on the internet and are normally easy to find. Also, with blogging becoming more and more popular, they are increasingly looked to for information and entertainment, making them readily available.

Zuñiga, Rebeca. "Blogging for English-language learners" 03/15/2015 via Flickr

Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic 

From Academia To Social Media

This blog post will go be focusing on researching one of the authors that wrote for the Journal of Marketing  and their presence on Social Media.

Menguc, Bulent. "Headshot on AMA" 02/26/2016 via AMA

1) Name and Social Media Presence

I decided to find Dr. Bulent Menguc from Nadir Has University. I found him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and AMA.

2)  Personality on Social Media

I would say that the author's social media presence is very bland. He doesn't have any presence on things like Twitter, Instagram or Tumblr, so I would say that he either doesn't have the time, or doesn't think social media is need for his career. LinkedIn is obviously business based, and Facebook is meant to be more relaxed and more personal, but Dr. Bulent's profile pictures are the same professional headshot in each social media. I don't think that he is the type of person who every wanted to be present on Social Media, so he doesn't update it very often.

3) Social Media Presence Compared to Journal Article

Dr. Bulent Menguc isn't very present on Social Media, he is very bland and doesn't attend to his pages very often. He doesn't have any personal posts on Facebook and LinkedIn and AMA are scholarly so he doesn't really have the chance to fully express himself on those websites.

His article is about how Customer Orientation matters for Frontline EMployee's Job Satisfaction and Performance. This article is a research paper and it is very professional and neatly written. Because it is such a scholarly journal and he has presence on the American Marketing Association website, I would think of him as a professional who is scientific and doesn't want/need social media which explains his lack of social media presence.

Academic Discourse & Genre

This blog post will be in reference to the same scholarly journal as the post before this. This blog will focus on what different types of genres are in the journal and how they are different.

LoCricchio, Jianna "Hard at Work"02/26/2016

1)  Types of Genres

In the January 2016 issue of Journal of Marketing, there are only two different genres throughout the issue. Technically, there is actually only one genre in this whole issue and that is of a research paper, but the first article is a research paper about reflections in publishing in the Journal of Marketing, so I decided it could be it's own genre. 

2) Descriptions of Genres

Every article in this issue of Journal of Marketing is that of a scientific research paper. However, the first on is a bit different than the rest so I will call it a reflection on a research paper. This other genre is basically setup as though it was a regular research paper, but the article is only written by one person and talks about his own experience with writing for this journal. It is more of a quick reference guide set up, and doesn't have many reference because it is about his own experience, but it is technically still a research paper. 

Every article, other than the first, follows the format of a research paper and it is very scientific looking. They all have abstracts, hypotheses, research background, data, graphs, methods, variable operationalization, results, tables explaining the results, discussion, conclusions and finally, references. 

3) Definitions of Genres

Research Paper: a Research Paper's purpose is to inform the reader of a topic with specific evidence and data that supports the claim. The Research Paper is made to provide scientific data to back up a claim and support it with evidence that ultimately comes to a conclusion on the topic.

Reflection on a Research Paper: a Reflection on a Research Paper serves to provide an audience of the feelings and experience of the author regarding something they previously wrote or explored, set up in a research paper format. 

Rhetorical Analysis Of Academic Journal

LoCricchio, Jianna. "Latest Edition of 'Journal of Marketing'" 02/26/2016

1)  Authors in Journal

For the January 2016 edition of Journal of Marketing, I found that there are 7 separate articles published in this edition. The first named author in each article are; V. Kumar, Ashish Kumar, Saurabh Mishra, Woojung Chang, Bulent Menguc, Johannes Habel, and Christopher R. Plouffe. 

In each new article, the author/authors are listed at the top of the page before the title of the article. This shows who wrote the article below, because some articles had multiple authors, I chose to only include the name if the first person listen for each article. 

In a small subset of the first page of each article, it lists the authors again and their credentials. For example, for the article written by Bulent Menguc, it states "Bulent Menguc is Professor of Marketing, Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences, Department of Business Administration, Nadir Has University (e-mail: bulent.menguc@khas.edu.tr). It then lists the rest of the other authors and their titles, Universities, and emails. 

2) Intended Audience

The intended audience for this journal is Marketing majors and people who are interested in Marketing and data that comes from it. Secondary audiences may include economists because marketing affects how the economy flows especially when a new product hits the market and it is bought/not bought. 

"When Does (Mis)Fit in Customer Orientation Matter for Frontline Employees' Job Satisfaction and Performance?" is a title that would attract readers who wanted to know the research behind job satisfaction and performance of frontline employees in regards to MisFit customer orientation. 

3) Context

This article was published in January of 2016, to explain job satisfaction and performance of frontline employees in regards to MisFit customer orientation. This is written in a research paper format because there was research conducted to back up the article with scientific data. This is prevalent in today's marketing world because it shows job satisfaction in regards to customer orientation, which employers can use to help hire and keep their employees happy. 

4) Message

The overall message from this journal issue is about the Consumer in regards to marketing. This journal really focuses on different types of marketing, like how social media effects customer behavior, or the role of marketing capability. This article focuses on how marketing affects the people that are being marketed to and how differences in their sex, age or other factors affect how they perceive marketing. 

5) Purpose

This journal's purpose is to inform other people interested in marketing on how certain things like social medial or customer orientation effect marketing and their attractiveness to a product. This journal serves to show people why certain things affect people when they are being marketed to. 

My Field of Study

For this blog post, I will be going into my field of study and exploring what students learn and are expected to do with a marketing degree.

1) Students in Marketing 

Marketing majors learn a wide array of information when earning their degree. Marketing is in the business field and it is very important when selling a service or product. Marketing majors learn how to sell products or services to the people that the product/service is for. Marketing is all about trying to get people to buy things, so it is important for majors to be able to distinguish different markets and how those people would need what is being sold.

2) What to do with a Marketing Degree? 

After getting a marketing degree, the student will go to basically any company who sells a product or service. Marketing workers can then become assistants, consultants, coordinators, executive director, planner etc. Basically anything that requires reading people and finding target audiences for a certain product is related to marketing. You can also get into advertising, branding, digital or international marketing, social media marketing and many many others.

3) Why I am Interested in Marketing

Honestly, I went into the business field because I really had no idea what I wanted to do, I just knew that I wanted to make a lot of money and I know business is a really good way to get there.  I really want to focus on marketing because I think I'm really good at getting people to buy things and I'm good at reading people. I have great people skills and I really want to make my name in this world my being able to target audiences for products and then sell a lot of that product. I also know there is a lot of room in this major so I am not tied down to one specific job and that I don't have to work in a cubicle for my whole life. I also know it is a good way to brand yourself and move up in the business world. Business is about selling something, so if I can be one of the people who gets the thing sold, I think I'm in pretty good shape.

4) My Marketing Inspirations

  Philip Schiller  Senior Vice President of World Marketing for Apple is an amazing inspiration. I know that Apple and the iPhone are known all around the world and most people I know have iPhones and other Apple Products. For a product to be known around the world and for Apple to be the best company at making you regret your last Christmas present, I think that Mr. Schiller knows what he's doing and does a great job  increasing the sales of Apple.

Another inspiration is the company Geico, because everyone knows that 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. I think that their marketing plan really works well because everyone knows what they are, their logo and their slogan. I think they have really funny commercials, so people want to watch their advertisement and it peaks people's interest enough for them to be interested in maybe switching car insurance.

The last inspiration of marketing genius, is Budweiser. I don't drink beer, I don't like beer, but I wish I did because I would want to drink Budweiser. If you watch sports, then you watch the Super Bowl and you know that every year you will have your heart strings tugged on by a Budweiser commercial, and you'll want to drink a beer with your puppy and your horse.

Freekee. "The Full Hitch" 08/15/2009 via Wikipedia

Public Domain

5) Top Marketing Journals 

Journal of Marketing  published in the United States from the American Marketing Association
Journal of Supply Chain Management published in the United Kingdom
Journal of Marketing Research published in the United States from the American Marketing Association

My Interviewees on Social Media

This blog post will cover my interviewees and their presence on social media.

Linda Price

Social Media Presence: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube

What do they talk about on Social Media?: On Facebook, I didn't find many posts that she wrote, mostly she posted pictures of her and her friends. Her Twitter account was very professional and she posts links to other articles on politics and business. I didn't see many of her own tweets with opinions, only links to news articles. I learned that she mostly has social media accounts for business purposes, besides Facebook, her work life and social media life are intertwined.

How do they differ on Social Media as opposed to their Published Writings?: Linda Price's social media was mostly professional. Her Facebook was the most casual but everything else was about news, her work, or watching her talks. They were obviously less casual than a research paper or a book, but they were still scholarly.

Geralt. "Social Media Structure Tree"  10/28/2013 via Pixabay

CC0 Public Domain

Trish Winter-Hunt

Social Media Presence: Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+

What do they talk about on Social Media?: On social media like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, she posts what a normal person would put on those. She talks about her kids a lot and posts her opinions and just personal things that aren't tied really to school or work. On LinkedIn and Google+ however, they are much more professional and about her work life. I learned that she loves to talk about her kids and she likes to keep her personal life and work life separate. I also learned that she knows where to post her social life and where to post her professional life, which is a very important thing.

How do they differ on Social Media as opposed to their Published Writings?: Because I couldn't find and of her published writings online, I cannot compare them to her social media postings. However, because her social media is so relaxed, I could guess that would write more professional in published articles than social media.

My Interviewees as Professional Writers

This blog post is going to cover an overview of the types of professional writing that my interviewees have published and created.

Linda Price

1)
 According to Linda Price's page on the Eller website, it shows five different publications of hers. They are about designing solutions of customer identity goals, branding, marketing for young adults, and the differences in marketing in regards to sex and age. After doing some research, I found that she has many journal publications, books and book chapters, reviewing articles, and has spoken at many guest lectures

2)
  How Individuals' Cherished Possessions become Families' Inalienable Wealth is a professional research paper that follows all the elements of a research paper, with an abstract, data, hypothesis, etc.

Consumer Culture Theory is a book partly written and edited by Linda Price. A book differs from a research paper because it is longer, professional, but more relaxed than a research paper. It isn't as formally formatted but it still includes data and research.

A research paper is completely different than a book. Both involve research and data, but a research paper is more for colleagues and a book is more for the general public. This plays a huge role because it shows that Linda Price does research for her colleges but also for the people. The formatting of the two sets them apart the most. A research paper is very formal and has a strict format, while a book has chapters and the formatting is pretty basic. In a research paper, there are many different subsets of information which are clearly labeled and spaced out so they are easy to find.

3)
For the two papers, the research paper and the book, I found the context to be completely different. The research paper focuses on keepsakes and how the affect people. The book, however, focuses on consumers and how they differ in regards to sex, age, and the different markets.


4)
For the first research paper, its abstract states "This article examines a special category of objects, things that people should not give or sell, but keep from generation to generation within the close confines of a group-inalienable wealth." This is talking about keepsakes and why people have them and what they mean to people.

For the book, when you click on the link to take you to where you can purchase it, next to it says "This latest volume of Research in Consumer Behavior: Consumer Culture theory contains a selection of edited best papers from the Eighth Consumer Culture Theory Conference held in Tucson, Arizona in June, 2013. These papers represent the latest ethnographic and qualitative research on consumption and consumer culture from scholars around the world."This talks about the consumption and consumer culture from people around the world and goes into depth of the research found in the conference here in Tucson.

5)
The purpose of the research paper is to inform people on the intentions behind having a keepsake and why they are meaningful and why they have personal value even though they could be worthless in the eyes of the economy.

The purpose of the book is to talk about and describe the newest research in consumer behavior. It serves to present what was found at the Eighth Consumer Culture Theory Conference, and how it shows the consumer culture from scholars around the world.
Trish Winter-Hunt

1)
Trish Winter-Hunt is a graduate from the University of Arizona and is working on her MBA while she works at Eller in the Marketing department. She is an Eller Marketing Manager to help promote each platform in specific target ranges.
Unfortunately, I could not find any of Trish Winter-Hunt's articles on the internet. I have asked her about this in emails and she said that she would explain her published works to me during the interview.

Stock Snap. "Writer Writing Notes" September 2015 via Pixabay

CC0 Public Domain

My Interview Subjects

This blog post is a quick overview of the two people I am interviewing for my project. This includes who they are, their credentials, and the interview questions I will be asking. 

Interview 1

Name : 

 Linda Price

Name of Organization and Job Title: 

Underwood Family Professor of Marketing for the Eller Department of Marketing

Education: 

1983 Ph.D in Business Administration University of Texas Austin
1976 M.B.A. (concentration in marketing and finance) University of Wyoming
1974 B.A. with Honors in International Studies University of Wyoming

Years in Profession:

Started teaching in 1976 at the university of Wyoming, then taught at University of Texas, University of Pittsburgh, University of Colorado, University of California, University of South Florida, Odense University, University of Nebraska, and finally the University of Arizona. She is now the Department Head, Professor of Marketing.

Photo:


Price, Linda. Department of Marketing.

Twitter @llpricearizona

Interview Details:

10:15 am. on Monday, February 29 in McClelland Hall room 320

Interview Questions:

How would you describe your job and your role in servicing marketing and branding?

How has your background prepared you for the kinds of writing you engage with in your profession?

What is the most common genre you write in?

How has the 21st century technologies changed the genres you write in?

What kind of role does Social Media play in your job, and do you think Social Media is important for you?

What kind of internal audiences do you find yourself writing for? (coworkers, people in marketing)

What kind of external audiences do you find yourself writing for? (people outside of field)

For branding, do you find it important to do more casual writing, and use Social Media?

Is there anything about professional communication - in general or in your particular position - that you think students or young people just starting out in the field should know?

Interview 2

Name : 

Trish Winter-Hunt

Name of Organization and Job Title:

University of Arizona Eller MBA Marketing Manager

Education:

2007 B.A. at the University of Arizona degree in Interdisciplinary Studies
2015-2016 M.B.A. at the University of Arizona with a Marketing Concentration

Years in Profession:

Marketing Manager at the University of Arizona Since 2014
Has been working various jobs in her field since 2006

Photo:

Trish Winter-Hunt University of Arizona

LinkedIn

Interview Details: Monday, February 29th at 11 am in Eller

Interview Questions:
How would you describe your job and your role in social media marketing and branding?

How has your background prepared you for the kinds of writing you engage with in your profession?

What is the most common genre you write in?

How has the growing up with 21st century technologies influenced the genres which you write in?

What kind of role does Social Media play in your job, and do you think Social Media is important for you?

What kind of internal audiences do you find yourself writing for? (coworkers, people in marketing)

What kind of external audiences do you find yourself writing for? (people outside of field)

What is your writing process in regards to planning, drafting, editing and publishing. Do you plan to publish anything?

Is there anything about professional communication - in general or in your particular position - that you think students or young people just starting out in the field should know?

Brutally Honest Self-Assessment

Now that my project has finally been completed and turned in, I'm going to review it on this blog to tell you how I feel about my final project.

1) Honestly, I think my project is pretty good. I think that it is unbiased, but it shows the reader that I have personal experience with the legalization of marijuana in Colorado because I am from there. I also think that my QRG provides a lot of easy to understand information, so people can see what the controversy was and what the pros and cons were to the legalization. However, I am kind of scared that it isn't what the professor wants, and I'm scared that I won't get the grade that I think I deserve because I didn't include something the way he wanted me to. Hopefully, he sees that I put in a lot of time and really wanted to explain this controversy because it really hits close to home.

2) I'm not sure if this is exactly weak, but I'm worried about how I formatted the stakeholders. I felt like listing and bullet pointing the effects that the legalization had on the stakeholders was enough because I included links that accurately describe why they are affected. However, I hope that this works for grading purposes and I don't get in trouble because I didn't make paragraphs and explain in great details.

3) I think that my layout and my pictures and graphs are my greatest strengths. I formatted my QRG so it is really easy to read and follow so it logically flows. I also think that all of my graphs are informative and are really necessary in helping the reader understand the controversy. I like the number of pictures and graphs that I used because they are interesting, factual and they keep the reader entertained which is really important in writing a QRG.

4) When it comes to my time management I had my ups and downs. I really struggled with the blog posts because they were EXTREMELY time consuming and frustrating because I had the actual project to work on. I tried to do at least two blog posts a day to just get them out of the way. I realized that because I spent so much time working on the blog posts that I became really unmotivated to work some more on my actual project. I feel like if I didn't have as many blog posts to do, I could have put more effort into my project. I think my project is pretty good, but I know that if I had more time and motivation, I could have been able to add a lot more to my project. I think that I did fine with my time management, just the amount of work for the project got extremely tedious and frustrating so I don't feel as though I put in my maximum effort. I would like to say that I think my final project was good and I am proud of it, but I think that a lot of the blog posts were very unnecessary and took the fun out of making the project itself.

BUT I'M FINALLY DONE!!! SO YAY!!!

Unsplash. "Fireworks" 10/18/2015 via Pixabay

CC Public Domain 

Local Revision: Variety

This blog will look back on my draft of my controversy and go over and review my sentence variety and if they are very similar or they are different.

1) In my draft, I noticed that many of my sentences are "loose". They are mostly long because I try to provide a lot of detailed information in my sentences. For example, I said "Every night, the sun sets behind the mountains, causing the sky to turn into a cloud of color, the brightest oranges and florescent violets light up the sky in the most breath taking way possible." This is a loose sentence because it is long and has a lot of commas because I have a lot of description. I also have redundancies to add emphasis and to paint more of a picture when I could be more clear and concise. But, I think that that if I made my sentences more concise when describing setting or when the event took place, it would lose tone and my reader wouldn't feel as connected to me (the author) or be as interested in the story.

2) I think my my paragraph structures are good. My QRG flows logically, and each paragraph has a sort of subtitle so the reader knows exactly what they are going to learn more about.

3) For vocabulary, I think that I may have to amp it up some. I feel like my vocabulary is fine, but it could definitely be improved and made more sophisticated. I made my QRG simple to read and easy to follow, so anyone (even "pot heads") can read it and understand how the legalization of recreational marijuana has changed Colorado. I think that I could use better vocabulary in my post to make it more professional. However, I want my reader to be anyone who is interested in legalizing marijuana, so I think it is important that I don't make my vocabulary too complicated!

I'm finally seeing the light at the end of this seemingly infinite tunnel!!!!!!!!!!!

Vestman. "Light at the End of Tunnel" 04/19/2009 via Flickr

CC Attribution 2.0 Generic

Local Revision: Pronoun Usage

This blog I am looking back on my last blog post about pronouns and seeing if they are effective or if they should be changed because they aren't appropriate in the context.

1) After reviewing my list of pronouns, I realized that my usage of pronouns are informal and broad. I used a lot of "They" when referring to the people of Colorado, and I used "You" when referring to the reader. However I do think that my pronoun usage is affective because it was better than repeating "Coloradan" or "the reader"over and over again. When I wrote about the stakeholders, I chose to bullet point how they are affected, so I don't have any pronouns

2) When talking about the setting of Colorado, I used the pronouns of "I" and "you" because I was referring to myself and the reader. I did this because I am from Colorado so I wanted to give my personal thoughts and views of Colorado as a state and a setting. I would say things like "When I think of Colorado, I think of how beautiful it is, and how you can always see the Rocky Mountains with snow covered peaks." In this excerpt from my draft, I used "I" because I was coming from my own experience, and I used "you" because I really wanted to connect to the reader and paint them a picture that they could personally draw in their head. I think that it is very important for me to use personal pronouns and talk directly to the reader in these parts because it shows the reader my credibility and connects me to them.

Open Clip Art Vectors. "Thumbs up Smiley Face" 10/07/2013 via Pixabay

Creative Commons Public Domain

My Pronouns

This post I will be reading through my draft and writing down ever pronoun I have used. I will also put who it is referring to in parenthesis next to it.

Them (Coloradans)

They (Coloradans)

They (Coloradans)

They (Coloradans)

It (The ballots)

People (Coloradans)

They (Coloradans)

They (Coloradans)

Their (Coloradans)

People (Coloradans)

They (Coloradans)

They (Coloradans)

It (Colorado)

You're (the reader)

You (the reader)

I (Author)

I (Author)

You (people in general)

You (visitors of Colorado/Reader)

You (reader)

People (Coloradans)

You (reader)

You'll (reader)

You've (reader)

Your (reader)

You (reader)

You (reader)

Hollosi, Arno. "Pronouns"  2000 via Wikimedia Commons

GNU Free Documentation License

Local Revision: Passive and Active Voice

This blog post I will rearrange my verbs again but into the following categories; Active (specific), Active (general), and Passive.

Active (Specific)
firing
maintain
blew
melt
boosting
decriminalize
Active (General)
circling
waking
sending
talking
talking
wanted
came
looking
voted
started
come
passed
legalized
started
made
becoming
end
feel
took
were
able
grow
buy
were
change
bring
were
expected
brought
sales
used
fun
help
were
want
become
smell
went
made
became
was
come
purchase
was
born
gives
increases
smoke
purchase
grow
brings
changes
receives
creates
legalization
decriminalization
used
fund
used
going
brings
brings
provides
affects
use
accident
causes
increases
adventure
adventure
sets
causing
turn
light
watch
starts
warm
turns
wearing
wearing
feel
feel
breathed
taste
wake

go
watch
come
know
find
has
passed
signs
regulate
makes
opening
was
bring
funding
brings
smoking
see
brings
accident
Passive
*none*

McPhee, Nic. "Editing a Paper" 01/26/2008 via Flickr
Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0 Generic

1) After splitting up these verbs I found that I had no "passive" verbs, but a majority of my verbs were "active general". I learned that all of the verbs in my draft so far are very general, but I can use specific verbs to help the reader understand what is going on more than just using adverbs or adjectives. By using more specific verbs, I can make my writing more concise as well as giving the reader a better explanation, while making my QRG easier to read.

2) Based on the analysis above, I have decided that I really need to replace my general verbs with specific verbs to make my QRG more interesting and better over all. If I put more descriptive verbs in place, my writing will be more interesting and I won't have to write as much. Also, if a QRG is too boring or vague, the reader will want to cease reading and then I have failed my purpose for writing this QRG. I want to inform and entertain my audience so they can actually become interested in the legalization of marijuana in Colorado.

Local Revision: Tense Usage

For this post, I will be dividing up all of the verbs that I used in my controversy into the following categories; past tense, present tense, or future tense. This way I can see which tense I use the most and if it makes sense in my controversy.

Past Tense

wanted

came

voted

started-2

passed-2

legalized

blew

made-2
were-4

expected

brought
used-3

went

became

was-3

born

breathed

Present Tense 

circling

waking 

sending 

talking-2

looking
firing
becoming
took
able
maintain
want
smell
purchasing-2

gives

smoking

growing

changes

receives

creates

legalization

decriminalization
fund

going

brings-5

boosting

provides

affects

use

accident-2

causing-2

increases-2

turning

wearing-2

know
find
has
signs
regulates

makes

opening

funding

smoking

see

Future Tense

to end

going to feel

to grow

to buy
change

bring-2

help

become

come-2

adventure-2

sets

watch-2

melt

starts

warm

turns

feel-2

taste

wake

go

decriminalize 

come

1) I use present tense verbs the most because in my controversy, I am explaining how people are affected now. This controversy is still going on, so I think it is important to focus on the now.

2) Because I am mostly using present tense verbs, this causes people to realized how people are being affected now, I also use some past and future verbs to show what the people envisioned, and what they want in the future, but I focus on now because this controversy is still going.

3) I used all three tenses in my draft, and I think it makes sense and it works out. I use all three because I talk about what happened when the controversy first started, what people think of it now, and what people hope for in the future. I think that it flows logically and it is made clear that this is an on-going subject.

4) I use present tense verbs in my draft because the controversy is still going on today. 

MilbFr. "V is for Verb", 06/04/2012 via Creative Commons

Creative Commons Attribution-Share alike 3.0 Unreported

My Verbs

For this blog post, I'm going through my draft for Project 1 and recording all of the verbs I used and then listing them here to see how repetitive I am.

List of Verbs

circling

waking 

sending 

talking

talking 

wanted

came

looking

voted

started

come 

passed

legalized

blew

started 

firing 

made

becoming

end

feel

took

were

able

grow

buy

were

change

bring

were 

expected

brought

sales

used

fun

help

maintain

were

want

become

smell

went

made

became

was

come

purchase

was 

born 

gives

increases

smoke

purchase

grow

brings

changes

receives

creates

legalization

decriminalization

used

fund

used

going

brings

brings

boosting

provides

affects

use

accident

causes

increases

adventure

adventure

sets

causing

turn

light

watch

melt

starts

warm

turns

wearing 

wearing

feel

feel

breathed

taste

wake

go

watch

come

know

find

has

passed

signs

regulate

makes

opening

was

decriminalize

bring

funding

brings

smoking

see

brings

accident

Reused Verb Tally: 

Bring- 7

Brings- 5

Were-4 

Come- 3

Feel- 3

Used- 3

Fun- 3

Want-3

Was-3

Purchase-2

Increases-2

Fund- 2

Accident-2

Adventure -2

Turn-2

Watch-2

Wearing -2

Talking -2
Started -2
Passed-2
Made-2
Grow-2
Change- 2

MilbFr. "V is for Verb", 06/04/2012 via Creative Commons

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Local Revision: Wordiness

Now it's time to start locally revising my draft. Local revision involves really breaking down the draft and editing it for grammar and other simple errors. For this blog I am going to break down and revise my section that talks about where my controversy is going on. 

Screenshot from my blog. 

If you can't read the screenshot above, here is the excerpt from my blog:

Colorful Colorado is in apart of the midwest in the United States of America. Colorado is known for it's spectacular unique seasons and mountain life, if you're one to adventure, you must adventure there. When I think of Colorado, I think of how beautiful it is, and how you can always see the Rocky Mountains with snow covered peaks. From the suburban life to the mountain life, you are sure to never be disappointed. Every night, the sun sets behind the mountains, causing the sky to turn into a cloud of color, the brightest oranges and florescent violets light up the sky in the most breath taking way possible. On a spring morning, you can watch the frost melt off the grass as the sun starts to warm the grounds and turns a cold snowy morning into a warm spring afternoon, where people will start off wearing boots, and end the day in flip-flops. However, a true Coloradan will be wearing shorts and flip-flops even when there is snow on the ground during an afternoon spring. You can always feel the crispness of the air and in the mountains, you'll never feel like you've breathed fresher air in your entire life. You can taste the water in the air after a dusting of snow, or a twenty minute afternoon rain. You can even wake up in the summer and go to the pool and then watch it hail in the afternoon before blue skies come back for the evening sun set. Colorado is home to some of the best people in the world, from the people of LoDo, to the granolas of Boulder, you always know that you will find someone with a smile on their face, enjoying the beautiful views that Colorado has to offer.

Here is my revised version of the section above:

Colorful Colorado is located in the midwest of the United States of America. It is known for it'd dramatic seasons and epic mountain life. When I think of Colorado, I think of it's beauty and how you can always see the snow covered peaks of the Rocky Mountains. All over Colorado you are sure to never be disappointed. Every night, at sunset, the sky turns into the brightest oranges and purples you have ever seen. On a spring morning, you can watch the frost melt off the grass and the cold snowy morning turns into a warm, dry, spring afternoon. You can always feel the crispness of the air and in the mountains, you'll breath the freshest air that you have ever breathed. You can taste the water in the air after it snows, or a short, afternoon, summer rain. You can eve wake up in the summer and go to the pool and then watch the afternoon sky turn black, and run for cover as the hail shoots down from the sky. Colorado is home to some of the most interesting people in the world, from the people of LoDo, the the granolas of Boulder, you always know that you  will find someone with a smile on their face, enjoying the beautiful views that Colorado has to offer. 

From the minds of the reader, I would have to say that the longer, un-condensed version is better for this paragraph. I think that a lengthy, descriptive paragraph regarding the setting of the controversy. When understanding a problem, or telling story, setting is really important. For the reader to fully understand the story, and feel like it affected them, they must have a detailed explanation of the setting. I think that for my QRG, I will revise my setting paragraph, but I won't be cutting it down because I think it plays an important role in understanding Colorado and how the state is perceived by a local without mentioning marijuana. 

Peer Review 2

I am on the second round of peer reviewing and this is what I've done.

I first reviewed Kathryn Russell's QRG which you can see here. Then I reviewed Nicholas Hoover's video essay which can be seen here. 

1. From looking at this project in the genre of a video essay, I learned that it was actually really easy to make a video about a controversy. I thought that someone would have more of their own pictures and footage because it seemed hard to use someone else's footage. I also learned that this project must involve a very specific controversy because it is hard to explain the whole story if you don't have specific characters or a specific location. 

2. For my draft, my top three issues would probably have to be; lack of good formatting, lack of pictures, and vague information. For my draft I just made it a basic skeletal outline, but I definitely need to revise it and add a lot more. I really need to put in more pictures, graphs and polls concerning the legalization of marijuana in Colorado. I also need to format it better so it is more appealing and it flows logically. Finally I need to expand on my thoughts, I need to add more information that explains why things are good and why they are bad and I really need to go into more depth so it is more well rounded. 

3. I think that so far I have a pretty logical flow to my draft, I think that it is really important because it introduces the story before going into the details. I noticed that a lot of other QRG's weren't very organized and it was hard to follow their controversy. I also think that I have a good list of stakeholders and why they are stakeholders. I will expand on them a bit, but I think that it is pretty good the way it is now. I also think that I really explained the where and the when pretty well. This is a huge strength because it really helps the reader understand the setting of the controversy and without an explanatory setting, it is hard to understand the controversy itself. 

McPhee, Nic. "Editing a Paper" 01/26/2008 via Flickr

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Peer Review 1

For my first peer review, I went over James Parisi's blog, and scored his QRG draft using this rubric.  I found that I really needed to step up my draft because James' blows mine out of the water. I definitely need to make it into a Google doc, so it's not just on my blog, and from there I can format it better and start to add my photos and graphs. I also know that I need to go into more detail on my draft so it starts coming together as a final project. However, I do think that my stakeholders and their interests are filled out in my draft and are pretty well put together. In James Parisi's draft, I noticed that he didn't really have a when or a who. He kinda expanded on who, but I know that he can find more stakeholders and really expand on the two he already has. He also needs to put in more of a time frame to understand the when because it isn't really clear when this controversy started or the events that made it truly controversial. However, I really liked how he formatted it on his blog, I didn't really get very creative with mine and I need to work on that. I also liked how he used pictures and a lot of hyperlinks because it showed his credibility and made it interesting. I know that I need to add some more pictures and I need to format my QRG better. Overall, he did a great job and I really enjoyed reading his post.

LoCricchio, Jianna "Screenshot of James Parisi's Blog" 02/09/16

Draft of Project 1

PEER REVIEWERS: Hi, I chose to make a QRG and I would love if you could focus on telling me how the format is, what subheads you think are appropriate and what needs to be added. I would also love if you could comment to say if I am objective or not. Also note that this is a ROUGH draft and I will go into details more, but this is just a skeletal outline. Please tell me what you would like more explanation on, and what what you think I need more/less of. All feedback is welcome! Thank you for reading and I hope I inform you about how the legalization of marijuana has affected the state of Colorado.

LoCricchio, Jianna. "Running with Colorado" 02/07/2016

Amendment 64: The affects of the legalization of recreational marijuana on Colorado

What started it?

On the cold Tuesday morning of November 6, 2012, a buzz was circling through the air of Colorado, waking people up and sending them to the voting booths. People weren’t talking about who they wanted to be president, they were talking about how they wanted to vote on Amendment 64. As the ballots came in, it was looking pretty close but as more and more voted the yes's started to outnumber the no's. The final votes had come in and the Amendment had passed with 55% of the vote. THE RECREATIONAL USE OF MARIJUANA WAS LEGALIZED. The news outlets blew up and starting firing out posts and papers all over the world. Colorado had made history by becoming the first state to end the prohibition of marijuana. For some, you could feel the excitement in the air, and a faint scent of pot took to the normally crisp Colorado air. People we're excited that they were now finally able to grow and buy marijuana (under regulations of course) and they were excited about the change it would bring to their state. Millions of dollars were expected to be brought in as tax revenue off the sales of marijuana to be used to fund the public school system and to help maintain the infrastructure of the state. However people were scared for their children because they didn't want marijuana to become more accessible to minors, and they didn't want to smell the stench of weed everywhere they went. November 6th of 2012 made history. It became the day where Colorado was really put on the map and became a huge tourist destination so people from all over the country, even all over the world, could come to Colorful Colorado and legally purchase marijuana. The 'Pot State' was officially born. 

Who is affected?

Coloradans

• Gives Colorado a new reputation
• increases tourism
• legal to smoke, purchase, and grow marijuana (with strict regulations)
• Brings money and tourism to state
• Changes civil structure (more people, more traffic)

Politicians/Government

• Receives revenue
• Creates rules and regulations
• Has to deal with federal laws
• With legalization comes decriminalization

Schools

• Tax revenue used to fund public education
• "Pot for kids" a slogan used by people who don't like the money going to schools
• Not morally right

Businesses

• Brings money to the state
• Brings tourism, boosting the economy
• Provides jobs
• Affects jails

Medical Facilities

• People use 'medical marijuana' over other medicines
• Marijuana related vehicular accidents send more people to hospital
• Injuries involving marijuana causes problems for users, but increases business for the hospital.

Where is this?

Colorful Colorado is in apart of the midwest in the United States of America. Colorado is known for it's spectacular unique seasons and mountain life, if you're one to adventure, you must adventure there. When I think of Colorado, I think of how beautiful it is, and how you can always see the Rocky Mountains with snow covered peaks. From the suburban life to the mountain life, you are sure to never be disappointed. Every night, the sun sets behind the mountains, causing the sky to turn into a cloud of color, the brightest oranges and florescent violets light up the sky in the most breath taking way possible. On a spring morning, you can watch the frost melt off the grass as the sun starts to warm the grounds and turns a cold snowy morning into a warm spring afternoon, where people will start off wearing boots, and end the day in flip-flops. However, a true Coloradan will be wearing shorts and flip-flops even when there is snow on the ground during an afternoon spring. You can always feel the crispness of the air and in the mountains, you'll never feel like you've breathed fresher air in your entire life. You can taste the water in the air after a dusting of snow, or a twenty minute afternoon rain. You can even wake up in the summer and go to the pool and then watch it hail in the afternoon before blue skies come back for the evening sun set. Colorado is home to some of the best people in the world, from the people of LoDo, to the granolas of Boulder, you always know that you will find someone with a smile on their face, enjoying the beautiful views that Colorado has to offer.

When did this take place?

November 6 2012- Amendment passed

May 28 2013- Governor Hickenlooper signs bills to regulate recreational marijuana

September 2013- The Colorado Department of Revenue makes final regulations for businesses with      the Colorado Retail Medical Code

January 1 2014- Opening of the first retail recreational marijuana stores. 

The original plan?

The goal was to decriminalize marijuana and to bring more funding into the state of Colorado

The Pros

One year later 

Brings in millions in revenue

Marijuana related crimes have fallen
More effective criminal justice and law enforcement

The Cons

One year later

Not morally right

More people smoking weed

Changes how people see the state of Colorado

Brings in many homeless people 

Marijuana related car accidents

The Time Period

For this blog, I'm going to be going over the time period in which I want to focus on in reference to the legalization of marijuana in Colorado. The Amendment was passed in 2012, but I really want to focus on when the retail stores were opened, and how it has affected Colorado around a year after the laws actually changed. The first two links are to local news stores, the second two are for national news stories, and the last two are global news stories about the legalization of marijuana in Colorado.

Local Stories

Report looks at impact of legal marijuana 9 News Denver.

Colorado pot sales top $1B in 2015  The Denver Post

Both of these stories have to do with the impact of legalization of marijuana on the state of Colorado. The first article, from 9 News is from 2015, a year after the retail or recreational marijuana began. It also explains how many more marijuana-related traffic deaths have happened since it was legalized and how the legalization wasn't very good for the state. The second article from the Denver Post was posted in 2016 and explains how the sales of marijuana in Colorado had topped one billion dollars in 2015. It really focuses on how the sales were increasing through the year of 2015. 

National Stories

The Conflict Between Federal and State Marijuana Laws Claims a Victim  Newsweek 

State vs. Federal Law: Who Really Holds the Trump Card? Huffington Post

In the first article written by Newsweek in 2015 is an opinion piece on the conflicts between the federal and state governments when it comes to the legalization of marijuana. It points out, that no matter how many states legalize pot, it is still illegal on a federal level and the federal government can take over basically at any time. It is important because it limits the exportation and expansion of retail pot sales. The second story from the Huffington Post written in 2014 is before the time period  that I really want to focus on in my QRG. However, it is important to read because it also explains who has the upper hand when it comes to legalization of marijuana. Even though many more states are trying to legalize it, the Federal government is mostly in charge. This article also explains that if a federal and state law contradict, when you are in the state, you can follow the state law, but the feds can stop you at any point. 

Global Stories 

Marijuana Decriminalization: High Times in Amsterdam and Boulder  The Economist

Irish Government to Decriminalize Heroine, Cocaine, and Marijuana  The Think Progress

I picked these two stories because they really focus on what is going on around the world since Colorado legalized recreational marijuana. When this happened, it was a big deal because it was technically the first place in the world to legalize pot. Even though you can buy pot in Amsterdam, it is still illegal to grow it and manufacture it...which is actually very confusing, but the government just turns a blind eye to the problem because of all the money it brings in. The first article explains how Colorado has more of a system and stricter but clearer guidelines than Amsterdam does. The second article was written in 2015 and talks about how Ireland wants to decriminalize drugs. They want to make them legal so you don't have to go to jail for taking drugs. They are doing this because other countries, like the US, are really trying to decriminalize drugs as well and I think that Colorado was the first domino to fall. 

After the legalization of pot in Colorado, the world has looked to the United States for answers and guidance regarding the decriminalization of drugs. Colorado was the first place to actually legalize marijuana for recreational use, and after many other states started to follow. But what is more interesting is the fact that not only state in the US are starting to legalize marijuana, but countries around the world are looking to legalize their drugs and decriminalize them. The UN even actually attempted to decriminalize drugs, but it has't quite worked out yet. However, Ireland is looking to decriminalize not only marijuana, but heroine and cocaine as well so they can be supervised in order to reduce addiction. All of these stories greatly affect my controversy. Because not only did other states follow Colorado, the whole nation and other countries around the world are looking to do so as well.

Bachrach44. "Amsterdam Rainbow Coffeeshop" 04/01/2007 via Wikimedia 

Public Domain

The Setting

The setting of a story is very important. My controversy is concerning Amendment 64 which was passed in the great state of Colorado. This amendment affected the whole state, so understanding what Colorado looks like is very important.

Colorful Colorado is in apart of the midwest in the United States of America. Colorado is known for it's spectacular unique seasons and mountain life, if you're one to adventure, you must adventure there. When I think of Colorado, I think of how beautiful it is, and how you can always see the Rocky Mountains with snow covered peaks. From the suburban life to the mountain life, you are sure to never be disappointed. Every night, the sun sets behind the mountains, causing the sky to turn into a cloud of color, the brightest oranges and florescent violets light up the sky in the most breath taking way possible. On a spring morning, you can watch the frost melt off the grass as the sun starts to warm the grounds and turns a cold snowy morning into a warm spring afternoon, where people will start off wearing boots, and end the day in flip-flops. However, a true Coloradan will be wearing shorts and flip-flops even when there is snow on the ground during an afternoon spring. You can always feel the crispness of the air and in the mountains, you'll never feel like you've breathed fresher air in your entire life. You can taste the water in the air after a dusting of snow, or a twenty minute afternoon rain. You can even wake up in the summer and go to the pool and then watch it hail in the afternoon before blue skies come back for the evening sun set. Colorado is home to some of the best people in the world, from the people of LoDo, to the granolas of Boulder, you always know that you will find someone with a smile on their face, enjoying the beautiful views that Colorado has to offer.

LoCricchio, Jianna. "A Day in The Life" 06/12/2015

Stakeholder #3

The 3rd stakeholder that I think it is really important to focus on is the people of Colorado. They are the ones who voted in the Amendment, but they are also the ones who have really seen the effects of the legalization of marijuana.

1.
Coloradan: a person from the state of Colorado who knows the true meaning of "bipolar weather" and who walks around in flip flops even when there is snow on the ground. A true Coloradan loves the outdoors and will take any adventure. If you used to think of Colorado, you once thought of beautiful hiking and breath taking mountain adventures, now if you think of Colorado, you think of marijuana. The people have colorado have certainly seen a change since the legalization of recreational marijuana in 2012, and with the opening of retail pot shops in 2014.

2.
In February, a Quinnipiac poll found that 58 percent of state voters supported marijuana legalization, although 51 percent said that legalization was "bad" for the state's wholesome reputation.
When looking at a forum to ask people to say how they felt about weed, an anonymous person said am in favor of legalization " The economic impact is too large to ignore and the current punishment for possession does not fit the crime. I think as a nation we have been hypocritical long enough and its time to look at the facts of what it truly is. Out of all illegal substances it is the mildest. It is even milder than alcohol which is legal. Out of all overdoses in the US it doesn't even make the list. I don't see any justification on it remaining illegal. For what?"
According to a Quinnipiac poll conducted in early 2014 "Slightly more than half of Coloradans say they've smoked marijuana at some time in their life, but only 10 percent admit to taking a legal toke since January 1," said Tim Malloy (assistant director of Quinnipiac).

3.
Because the claims were polls of the people of Colorado and conducted by highly esteemed Quinnipiac polling institution, I would have to say they are a pretty accurate representation of Coloradans views. However, because they aren't views of individual people, it is hard to get a sense of where they actually stand. I know that a huge problem that the people of Colorado have with the legalization is the new reputation that it has given Colorado. I think for the most part, people like how much money it is bringing into the state, but it is very hard to have everyone know your state as 'the pot state' because it doesn't sound very good.

4.
These claims are very similar to those of the government's because they enjoy the money that it has brought in but they don't like the reputation it has created. They are also very similar to those of the schools because the people of Colorado want the money to be raised to fix the school systems for their children. Some people who are very against the legalization of pot have more similarities with medical facilities views on the legalization because they they think it is dangerous and it will now be easily available to minors. However, the people who are for the legalization share very similar views with businesses, schools, and government because they know how much money it is bringing in. The people of Colorado who smokes weed are very happy that they can now buy weed legally, and that their taxes are funding the public school system.

Fowler, John. "Red Mountain Reflected in Crystal Lake" 07/11/2012 via Wikimedia Commons

Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License

Stakeholder #2

Another primary stakeholder when it comes to the legalization of marijuana is businesses. Primarily, the main business that is a stakeholder in this controversy are marijuana dispensaries. Dispensaries are where a person goes to buy recreational marijuana. They have obviously benefited from the legalization, but they are also under strict regulations that really control their sales.

1.
I like to classify dispensaries as the 'middle man' between the government and the people. These dispensaries are where the weed is sold and the money is made. In the state capital of Denver, there are around 100 pot shops in the area, I couldn't find an exact number of how many shops state wide but it's in the hundreds. A law was passed saying that you could only have one dispensary per block, but if you're walking around downtown Denver, you will see a pot shop on every single block. Once you find a store you can go in and purchase weed. You must be at least 21 years of age to purchase marijuana, and if you live in Colorado you are legally allowed to purchase one ounce, if you are from out of state, you can only purchase 1/4 ounce. Technically, a Colorado resident can possess up to four ounces, so they could go get one ounce of pot from four stores in 1 day before reaching their limit.

Dispensaries really become a stakeholder when you start to focus on taxes. The sales of marijuana bring in twice as much tax revenue than the sales of alcohol. As of last year, the sales of recreational marijuana has brought in $100 million in tax revenue. Each dispensary has their own location that you can visit if you are over the age of 21, some also have websites that you can visit if you say you are over 21. Anyone from around the world can look up retail marijuana shops, and then click on them to see their website which shows what type of weed they sell.

2.
Because this stakeholder are businesses and not specific people, there aren't any quotes that are specifically stated, they also don't have any real advertisements because recreational marijuana is still federally illegal. Denver had created the first ad for recreational marijuana, but it was pulled off TV because it isn't legal on the federal level, however you can still watch the commercial here. I could only find two dispensary owner's that did an interview that was posted on the internet.

"We’ve been through a whole year, and if you go ask the police chief down in Silverthorne how many problems he’s had with cannabis since legalization on Jan. 1, he will tell you zero, and that’s amazing to me. I thought we were moving too fast, I hoped people would respect it, and they really have. I think we’ve proven that after a year’s time, and that’s a giant step for this whole movement" - Nick Brown (Dispensary Owner) Found here.

"We have to do this right because we are under the microscope for the entire world – not just the entire United States, but the entire world. If we go and screw this up, if dispensary owners operate the wrong way, they could ruin it for everybody in the entire world." - Philip Wolf (founder of Cultivating Spirits) Found here.

3.
Because dispensaries want to bring money, they are only going to say positive things. They understand that the whole world is looking at anything they say, so they are going to make their work sound extremely important and only talk about all the money they can bring in. The two people who I quoted are dispensary chain owners so they know what they are talking about. However, they know that it is very important to keep up their image so they can keep their sales high (pun intended). Nick Brown reaches out to say that the police chief will tell you that they have had no problems with the legalization. This isn't proven so you can't really take that statement as a fact. Also, Philip Wolf really plays on the readers emotions by saying that they have to really get the legalization right because everyone is depending on them.

4.
The stakeholder that the dispensary business has the most in common with is the government. They are both all about bringing in money for the state and for their company. They are very similar because they have the same goals in raising money, and the government is who regulates the businesses. I think that the dispensaries are least like the Medical stakeholder because medical facilities don't see the medical potential of smoking marijuana. They also see it as being dangerous and that makes the medical facilities very different from the dispensaries.

Brown, Elliott. "Hotel Gautier du Poet" 05/26/2011 via Flickr

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