RIM and the iPhone

The first case study we did for our Marketing Class involved doing a case study of how Research in Motion should position their new BlackBerry in response to the iPhone.  My part of the analysis was to perform a SWOT (Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats) of RIM to determine what they should do to position the new BlackBerry based on their standing in the market.  A link to my SWOT analysis is below.

SWOT Analysis

MKTG Presentation

This picture is from my team’s Marketing Presentation we did last Thursday.  It was based on finding a pricing point for the product of a fictitious company.  We had to perform a breakeven and a cost analysis of  wall coverings, and then suggest a retail price based upon our findings.  The presentation I felt came together rather well.  Below is a link to the whole presentation.

Team Liabilities Canty Presentation

My first blog!

If this e-portfoilio looks in any way professional (or at least not terrible), part of the reason has got to be that I have had the opportunity to do this before for my BSYS 1000 course. Another assignment I’ve done for BSYS was to create a blog on how to do some feature in Microsoft Office. Mine was on using callouts in PowerPoint, and can be found here.

An Introduction to Facebook

Another assignment we had to do for BSYS 1000 was to create a text in Microsoft Word on a subject which was web-based. Our team chose to do ours on an introduction to Facebook. It can be found at lulu.com, and can be yours if you’re willing to part with $1! The link is here.

This assignment was quite fun.  I learned how to create a text from title page to index and back again.

BSYS special lecture event

On October 2nd, I was lucky enough to attend a guest lecture at BCIT featuring four guest speakers (Jeff Balin, Rebecca Bowlitt, John Chow and Ivan Surijanovic). The speakers came from diverse backgrounds but there was a common theme of how someone differentiates themselves in the current business climate. Themes ranged from productivity and motivation to how to protect and market your image online, and from using WordPress to blog to using other online tools like GoogleDocs. It was an extremely informative (and dare I say fun, even though I had to get up early) forum, and I really hope BCIT does more of these type of guest lectures in the future.

(PS: Clicking on a speaker’s name will link you to their website!)

Why choose BCIT?

This was the very first project my team and I worked on for our BSYS 1000 course, a commercial on the benefits of choosing BCIT. None of us had any PowerPoint experience, but I think it came together OK and it was really fun to do.

(PS I’m the fellow in the red shirt at the end)

My time at UBC

This is officially my second go-round at post-secondary education.  When I went to UBC (1997-2002) the University was in a state of flux in more ways than one and when I was younger I appreciated that state of change.  My educational choices also reflected the aspirations of youth; I majored in English and minored in Philosophy.  To think that I would one day be studying Economics and Accounting like I am now! I must say UBC is a gorgeous school and I loved my time there, but now I am ready for the new academic challenges BCIT provides.

Click on the picture above to be directed to the UBC website

Arsenal Football Club

It would be remiss of me to not mention anywhere that I am a fanatical supporter of Arsenal Football Club, who play in London. I flew to Paris in 2006 to see the Gunners play Barcelona in the Champions League Final only to see us lose in heartbreaking fashion. The team’s motto is Victoria Concordia Crescit, which roughly translated means Victory Through Harmony; not a bad credo for life in my opinion. Clicking on the logo will bring you to the team’s official website.

Team Charters and getting started

Above is an example of the BARS (Behaviourally-anchored Rating Scale) my team had to come up with when we first drafted our team charter for my Organizational Behaviour class (click to open in a new page).  BARS help in establishing strong teams norms and establishing team values.  Our other BARS were based professionalism, quality, teamwork and quantity of input.  They provide a guide for my team to follow. I must admit, I have never had to do an assignment like this one in my life.  I like the idea that the goals my team aims to achieve and the standards we set were of our own making.

Hello!

Hello, my name is Colin Jones and currently I am studying in first year in the Financial Management Program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT).  Contained within will be a little bit about me and a little bit about the projects I’ve got to work on so far at BCIT, both by myself and in teams.

Originally my post secondary education was at UBC (where I obtained a BA in English in 2002) and I was leaning towards going into law.  By chance, while prepping for the LSAT I decided to start to take a class at BCIT part time to help me work on my analytical and reasoning skills.  I found I was enjoying my accounting studies more than my law studies and decided to shift my focus, enrolling in BCIT full-time.  I may come back to law someday, but for now I am really enjoying my time at BCIT and working with my team. Go Liabilities!

If you wish to contact me, please click on Contact in the top right hand corner of the page and fill in the form there.