Outside Activity - EA Sports: Jason Ostresh

            Jason Ostresh is the Project Manager for the Madden videogame series at EA Sports and Tiburon.  He came in to speak to a few Full Sail classes on May 18^th 2011 about project management specifically.  Obviously as a Logistics Coordinator who just finished my internship as a Project Manager, this event was of extreme interest to me.  Now that I have been a so-called “leader” of students, I have seen the good and the bad that comes with that position.  There are many things I have yet to learn, so any advice I am able to gain from experienced leaders in a similar industry is an opportunity I will jump at in a heartbeat.  Jason Ostresh was in fact a true professional and I would consider him a very effective leader based on hearing his presentation.  I probably asked more questions than anyone else in the room, trying to figure out how he handles disputes, keeps team morale high, deals with clients asking for too much, and the list goes on and on.  I also went up to Jason after the presentation as he was conveniently talking to a few of the students who work under me.  I was able to get his business card and ask if I would be able to shadow him one day at EA Sports to see how he manages his team and his duties on a regular day.

            What I enjoyed about Jason’s presentation was how he went through project management methods that work and don’t work, and then explained his reasoning.  He also gave detailed information as to how he keeps everything and everyone organized on big projects with quick turnarounds.  I learned a great deal from Jason in his hour-long speech and I look forward to connecting with him at some point in the near future to follow up on my request to shadow him for a day at work.  If there’s one way to become a better leader, it is to follow and learn from other great leaders.  Jason is considered one of the best at EA Sports.  His team is the hardest working in the company.  They work the longest hours and deal with the tightest deadlines.  Since his responsibilities are so similar to mine, I aspire to learn more about keeping my team’s morale as highly motivated as his.

Outside Activity - Project Management Intern

                       Back in November of 2010 of my EBMS program, I began an internship with Full Sail University’s creative department, Platinum Creative.  This internship was to be a Project Management Intern for Full Sail’s new sports sponsorship with the NBA’s Orlando Magic.  My job was to become the point of contact for the Orlando Magic and to manage a student production team, acting almost like an ad agency to produce content that co-brands the Magic and Full Sail.  Using my strength of people skills, I have managed more than twenty students in this internship, have created more than a dozen promotional videos, and exceeded everyone’s expectations for this position including my own.  The fact that I was an unpaid intern managing other unpaid students was very difficult for me at the beginning.  However, my positive attitude and vision for the payoff at the end of the road kept me going strong, often getting only two hours of sleep per night for weeks in a row trying to balance school and my internship responsibilities.  My weaknesses of influence, problem solving, and creating positive change, were all put to the test on a daily basis.

My personal confidence in my ability to lead others grew tremendously over this six-month period.  In fact, I grew so much as a person in this internship that it was not ended because the six months were up.  My internship ended with Platinum Creative creating a full time position out of thin air just to keep me around based on all the work I had accomplished while unpaid.  I am now the Logistics Coordinator for Full Sail’s sports initiative at Platinum Creative and look forward to restructuring my entire process of managing students now that I have been through the fire and know what works and what doesn’t.  I am extremely proud of myself for what I have been able to accomplish and the name I have created for myself amongst the Full Sail staff.  I feel that I am going to be able to grow at a rapid pace over the next few years in my position as Logistics Coordinator, fine tuning my skills along this never ending journey to becoming a great leader.

Outside Activity - Amvets Meal Deliveries

            On the morning of Thanksgiving back in Boston Massachusetts, my sister woke me up to ask if I wanted to go with her to deliver turkey dinners from our hometown V.F.W. to those who are struggling in this difficult economy.  Although the idea of gaining a few extra hours of beauty sleep seemed like an attractive choice at such an early hour, I knew it would have been very selfish of me to take the luxury of having a warm bed to sleep in for granted.  We made our way to the V.F.W. in Hudson Ma and stood in line with dozens of selfless givers who were eager to help those in need. 

            My attributes of high efficiency as stated when I began the EBMS program were attitude, vision, and people.  In terms of my attitude, I experienced a very drastic change from when I woke up to the time I was finished my last delivery.  I was not yet in spirit of the holidays until I realized how great it felt to give back when I have been so fortunate in my life.  You never know when you’ll be faced with a situation where you have to swallow your pride and ask for additional assistance in something so basic as needing a thanksgiving meal delivered to you.  My vision was not clear when I woke up in the morning.  I had never done this before and didn’t know what was going to be required of me.  When I arrived at the V.F.W. however, I noticed through various conversations that more than half the volunteers were repeat volunteers from previous years.  I realized that charitable work must become a more frequent and consistent aspect in my vision.  I will do my best to be a repeat next Thanksgiving, and will also begin a tradition of delivering meals on Christmas day now as well.  With people, this was probably the one of the most humbling experiences in my life.  Those who my sister and I delivered to were clearly all very nice people who simply had a bad hand dealt to them in these times.  To initially see the awkward faces of people accepting a charitable meal from complete strangers was somewhat disconcerting.  However, with a cheery approach wishing them a “Happy Thanksgiving”, “Happy Holidays” and so on, they seemed to forget it was charity and opened up with bright smiles, which was very rewarding to my sister and I.

            My attributes needing improvement as stated in my first month of the program were problem solving, creating positive change, and influence.  An example of where I was able to solve a problem when delivering Thanksgiving meals was when one of the people my sister and I delivered to asked if we had delivered to their neighbor who had submitted a request.  We did not have the neighbor on our list of deliveries, so I called the Amvets and made sure that the request was registered and that someone would be delivering their meal so that no one was forgotten on Thanksgiving.  I don’t know if I necessarily created positive changes or influenced anyone else by delivering these meals.  However, this experience absolutely influenced and created positive changes within my sister and I.  I am much more conscious of my duty to give back now.  Waking up early on Thanksgiving and Christmas to embrace the true meaning behind these holidays is truly humbling.  Losing a few hours of sleep is well worth putting a smile on someone’s face that you may one day need to assist you should fate reverse your roles.  

            Overall, delivering meals on the holidays or engaging in any charitable work in general has made me more grateful for all the opportunities and amenities that I have been fortunate enough to receive in my life.  I truly feel that the more you have been given, the bigger your duty is to give back.  Success, wealth and happiness are not to be hoarded and kept to yourself, because it isn’t until you are able to share this with others that you become truly successful, wealthy and happy.  I was able to get a taste of sharing this with others on Thanksgiving and I may now be hooked on this feeling for life.

Outside Activity - B.I.G. Summit

            On November 18^th, 2010 just a few days before Thanksgiving, I attended the Orlando B.I.G. Summit conference.  The event was full of entrepreneurial leaders willing to share a few tips of advice form their experience with success.  And there were even more budding entrepreneurs who were anxiously waiting to soak in every bit of information they could.  I was one of these fortunate attendees to pick the brains of some of today’s most influential leaders who have broken the mold of traditional business tactics and who hold the keys to the trends of tomorrow. 

            My attributes of high efficiency as I described when I began my EBMS program were attitude, vision and people.  An event made specifically for entrepreneurs clearly emulates my attribute of vision.  I was originally drawn to the B.I.G. Summit because I am always looking for ways to gain information with which I can use to better solidify my entrepreneurial visions.  As a result, my attitude was positive as usual.  Although I had to wake up extremely early for the Summit knowing I still had class afterwards, the anticipation of whom I could possibly meet, what I could learn, and the information I could gain for my own business purposes was extremely motivating and started me off with a great attitude.  Lastly, my comfort level of meeting and interacting with new entrepreneurs made it easy for me to make some very useful contacts. 

            The B.I.G. Summit event certainly catered to the attributes I had listed as needing improvement.  The entrepreneurial leaders who spoke at the conference largely focused on the areas of problem solving, creating positive change, and influencing others.  Being a dreamer makes me no different from these successful speakers.  However, it is the execution of making these dreams a reality that is the difficult part.  Problem solving is was an often-discussed topic at the B.I.G. Summit.  As every entrepreneur knows, encountering problems is just another part of daily life.  I was able to gain some great insight on what kinds of problem-solving techniques are successful and which ones do not work.  The more one can learn to solve problems on the fly, the better off you and your Entrepreneurial venture will be.  Creating positive change is usually in the heart of today’s great entrepreneurs.  It was extremely interesting to see how in most of the successful businesses analyzed throughout the day had actually begun on the premise of creating a positive change and helping others.  For example INC. Magazine, which caters to entrepreneurs, was started because the CEO had struggled so much in his entrepreneurial pursuits that he felt he should start helping others in the same situation by creating a community that ties entrepreneurs together.  Lastly, Influencing others was obviously another B.I.G. Summit core concept, since it is known amongst entrepreneurs that running a business is great until you have to deal with the people in it.  I learned a great deal about why it is important to not only influence your customers to like your product, but why it is even more important to influence your employees.  Happy employees create happy customers. 

            I found the B.I.G. Summit to be very beneficial in being able to network with likeminded individuals.  The atmosphere was extremely positive and welcoming and you never knew whom you were standing next to.  There were entrepreneurs ranging from amateur to expert and from poor to rich.  However, everyone had something to offer and gain regardless of whom you were speaking to or what your background was.  I will certainly attempt to attend next year’s B.I.G. Summit meeting and may even look into additional networking conferences after realizing the potential for countless opportunities that can be created in one day’s work.

Outside Activity - Indie Summer Fest

            I volunteered to work at The Indie Summer event held on August 8, 2010 in The Audubon Park district at Park Ave CD’s and Stardust Video & Coffee in Winter Park, FL.  For the public, doors opened at 12pm noon and tickets were $8.  There were a total of 7 stages with 70 bands throughout the day.  Originally, when I had volunteered for this event, I was given the job of a “loader” for all the equipment needed for the 7 stages.  However, with my undergraduate degree of Recording Arts from Full Sail, I informed Mike (the event leader) that I was comfortable working with and around audio equipment, though my freelance experience was strictly studio work and not live sound.  Mike thanked me for letting him know and told me to arrive at 9:30am, though he did not give me any indication I may have another job other than loading. 

From the time I arrived at 9:30am to about 12-noon, I assisted in the setup of 2 stages until the sky turned gray and the clouds finally opened up in a torrential downpour.  For over an hour, the staff and myself included, drenched our only clothes we brought for the day, running around like headless chickens trying to protect and cover 7 stages worth of expensive audio equipment.  Rumors were passing along the radios and through the staff that the event might be cancelled all together.  So just as I was planning an early exit strategy to go home and chalk up the day as a loss, my site leader’s radio went off and was asking if there was a “Chris Matorch” around.  Somewhat confused, I asked if they meant Chris Majocha?  Sure enough, they were not only looking for me, but they were now placing me as the head Live Sound Engineer inside their “Big Daddy’s” stage location from 1pm-11pm, a job I only got a taste of in classes at school, but never actually did professionally in front of a large crowd and for over 10 different bands, all with completely different sounds.

            My attribute of high efficiency from month 1, were Vision, People, and Attitude.  My vision was shown through informing Mike that even though this was a volunteer effort for which I was not being compensated for; I possessed more talent and experience than simply being a loader of equipment.  If I was going to be there all day, I would like to get some experience assisting in some way with Live Sound.  However, I was completely beside myself when told I was in charge of one of the venues without prior experience.  The attribute of being good with people certainly paid off when I was given such a large responsibility.  Just from loading in the morning with the staff, I introduced myself, talked to many people and was finding out who was in charge of what.  With only 15-minute intermissions between each act on my stage, when bands needed equipment that I did not have at my site, I was quickly able to find whom I needed to talk to and whom could get things done for each problem that arose throughout the night.  Had I not networked earlier in the day, I would have been extremely inefficient.  I believe my most noticeable attribute was my attitude however, because even though I was only a volunteer, very nervous to publicly run Live Sound for the very first time and was expecting to leave early, I held myself accountable for the skills I had offered and said I could deliver on and I did my job with integrity.

              The attributes from month 1, where I said I needed improvement, were Problem Solving, Creating Positive Change, and Influence.  From the first band to the last band, problem solving was essential.  I switched out blown speakers (blown before I arrived) and broken microphones, acquired additional microphone stands, cables, extension cords and lighting, and that’s only to name only a few of the many issues I had to solve throughout the night.  Creating positive change resulted from my professional demeanor and efficiency while running Live Sound.  Especially after the washout thunderstorm, the day’s events were in chaos.  There was a lack of organization, direction, and qualified audio engineers.  At the end of the evening, I apologized to Mike for all the extra equipment I needed throughout the day to accommodate the needs of the different bands.  He replied rather by thanking me and telling me I had not reason to apologize, that I was simply doing my job with inadequate resources, and that my stage was hands down one of the smoothest running events all day for which he felt comfortable not having to constantly watch over.  In other words, in the midst of chaos, I had apparently reduced the stress level of the event leader, and positively changed the attitude of the event to a much calmer and more professional atmosphere.  I had not even considered my role as being influential until the last band was breaking down there set, when much to my surprise, a handful of members from the audience specifically approached me to let me know how good of a job I had done.  I was told that they were regulars and never heard music sound that good inside Big Daddy’s before, especially with having 10 different acts to deal with.  After humbly thanking them, I was also asked by one of the Big Daddy bartenders who I worked for, because he had been looking for a professional company with good training.  When I told him I didn’t work for anyone, he still gave me his card and told me he would love to work for me if I ever needed assistance.

            Through this event, I not only gained valuable experience in relation to my undergraduate degree, but I was humbled at my own efforts and attitude and how many compliments I received after my very first Live Sound experience.  I walked into an unfamiliar position nervously, and walked out appearing professionally experienced and with a heightened sense of confidence and ability.  Making it through uncharted territories, having achieved more success than ever thought possible is a feeling that gives one confidence to approach and conquer even more unfamiliar endeavors that lie ahead.

Outside Activity - Nick Vujicic

Nick Vujicic

            Nick Vujicic, a preacher and motivational speaker for his own non-profit Life Without Limbs, spoke at Full Sail University on August 3^rd, 2010.  Nick was born with a rare disorder, Tetra-Amelia, which most people have never heard of until they actually come across someone who has it, in which case its effects are blatantly obvious.  Tetra-Amelia prevented Nick from the commonly overlooked luxury of having arms or legs, a harsh reality that only someone suffering from this disability could truly conceive.  However, much to the contrary of how one would expect a person to react with the severity of the cards life has dealt him, Nick’s message was extremely motivational and focused on “having hope” and “ sharing love”.     

In the first month of my Masters program, I stated that my areas of high efficiency were in Attitude, People, and Vision.  Nick’s attitude is remarkably positive, selfless, and worriless, three attributes that are very unlikely for a person under his circumstances.  His connection with people was amazingly touching, not only described by the stories he told, but from the vibe of the room on that day and at that very moment.  By the end of his presentation, dozens of faculty members and students were wiping tears from their eyes and lining up for a chance to hug a limbless man they had only met two hours earlier.  Nick’s vision was clear from the start.  “Always have and hold on to hope no matter the situation or circumstances, and always love everybody.”  Nick’s goal is not to bring attention to disabilities or solely to preach on his beliefs on God, but rather to fill the hopeless with hope and the world with love.

Nick shared my attributes of high efficiency, and has actually embraced them to a much greater extend than I have accomplished myself up to this point.  However, it was his simultaneous mastery of the attributes I had labeled myself as needing improvement in that opened my eyes and gave me insight to how I may improve on them in my own work.  Problem Solving, Creating Positive Change, and Influence are attributes Nick Vujicic and his non-profit excel in. 

Problem solving is something Nick has had to do his whole life.  Seemingly impossible struggles for him, such as standing his body upright after falling, are things the average person takes for granted daily.  However, it was the message behind this struggle that made it so powerful.  “You don’t know you would fail if you never tried, and if you tried and failed, all that means is that you need to try a new method, not that it’s impossible.”  He used himself physically falling on stage and getting back up by use of his head and hipbones as an example, however his message can be applied to any problem one encounters in life. 

For Nick, creating positive change is achieved every time he steps on a stage to give his presentations.  I imagine the reaction of the audience on August 3^rd is a typical reaction shared by attendees for the majority of his events.  The crowd dispersed to their cars, appearing to continue about their daily lives.  However, on this evening, and whether they openly admit it or not, most drove home with a much heavier, introspective, and reflective heart than usual.  I believe everyone took something personal with them from Nick’s speech.  All those I spoke with that night and the next day in regards to his presentation, agreed that we all felt a heightened sense of obligation to create positive change in ourselves or in someone else’s life.  Therefore, Nick not only creates positive change, but he spreads it exponentially at each event.   

One of Nick’s most obvious attributes, especially seen by the long line of hugs following his presentation, is his influence.  Many people can go on stage and preach hope to the hopeless, love to the unloving, and positivity to the negative.  However, there is usually a large disconnect between speaker and audience because of the difference in personal circumstances.  If an audience feels a speaker has not been through what they have been through or has not experienced worse situations than they have, the speaker automatically and immediately loses his credibility.  When Nick Vujicic is on stage however, a man without limbs, his credibility is instantly recognized and received.  Nick may not nor does not claim to know the difficulties in the lives of his audience.  He does not compare his struggles to theirs to say whose is worse.  Nick’s struggles are obvious to the naked eye; thus he does not need to precede his presentations with disclaimers or credentials.  He simply tells his story and influences his audience as he talks about overcoming struggle.  And if a man with no arms and no legs can do the things Nick has done and help the amount of people he has helped on the values of hope and love, than anyone with arms and legs is usually inspired to overcome their obstacles and tell their stories with the values of hope and love.  Nick’s masterful execution of the attributes in the areas I feel I need improvement was a great example for me to see how I can use his methods to solve problems, create positive changes, and influence others in my own life and line of work.          

Business Plan Development

            In month eleven, our course was Business Plan Development.  This course was designed to finalize the business plans we started out with when we began the Entertainment Business Masters program.  Our Leadership Portfolio assignment was to research two business plan “gurus” if you will.  We would then use this research to decide if we could use any of their advice in our own business plans or not.  Naturally, since this was the first business plan I had ever written, there was a lot of very useful information out there for me.  I chose to do my assignment on two notable business plan gurus who were actually coming from very different schools of thought, which made the assignment much more interesting.  Guy Kawasaki is from the new school of thought.  He believes that if you can get your message across effectively in a fifteen to twenty page business plan, there’s no reason to add extra fluff for the sake of filling a specified page count.  William A. Cohen, Ph. D is certainly from the old school background.  He believes that business plans should be between fifty to one hundred pages long and stated that he would never go below thirty pages because you can’t possibly get an effective message across in less.  This comparison is just one of the many interesting contrasting views from these two men who are both very successful in what they do.

            What I was able to take from this assignment is that there can be many approaches to the same problem.  I’m sure that both Guy Kawasaki and William A. Cohen, Ph. D are experts in their methodologies for creating business plans.  However, they probably would be unwilling to accept the other’s theory because they have already found success with their own approach and there’s no reason to fix something that isn’t broken.  I was very lucky to find two successful business plan gurus with such contrasting views, because I was able to see the whole picture and clearly understand that there is no right or wrong way to write a business plan.  With this information, I was then able to pick and choose which aspects of both theories I felt would be most effective for my business plan.  I used Guy Kawasaki’s “less is more” approach with page numbers and the “let the facts speak for themselves” approach of William A. Cohen, Ph. D to make sure I was being realistic in my assumptions and not only pitching the best case scenario to investors.   

William A. Cohen Ph. D