Social Capital
1) Domain expert in your industry.
Programmer - A friend of a friend who learned how to code and has been in the market for creating apps for a little over a year. This person is someone who understands the difficulty behind the app creating process. It takes creativity, skill, and patience. Also, a lot of money. He's created basic apps for fun and for assignments but has begun taking his talent to the next level.
As a friend of a friend, I was able to get in contact over social media. We messaged back and forth for a few days before I presented him with these interview type questions.
When I started asking him the questions to fill up this post, he told me he was looking into starting a new project, he gave me some tips on the best kinds of programming to use for an app like this, and a ballpark figure for how much it costs. The return expectation was for me to potentially include him if I choose to proceed with this project in the future.
I will be including this person in my network as a potential team member in any future endeavors, including this one.
2) An expert on your market.
UF Cicerone - Serving as a campus tour guide for the past year, this student knows all about giving directions and the newest students on campus. She loves UF, and can be labeled a "human gps" when it comes to getting anywhere on campus. As a student ambassador, she networks and connects with hundreds of students, potential and present.
I saw a tour on campus this week and thought, a tour guide would the perfect person. I was able to catch the attention of the tour guide and get her name and number.
We met up for coffee at the end of her tour and I asked her about what it was like to be a Cicerone and what her favorite part of the job was. Her favor to me was telling me about what it takes to join and be a UF student ambassador, the return expectation was for me to tell her about my life in Miami and whether applying to graduate school at UM would be worth the move.
I will include this person in my network as not only an expert on the student body, but as a connection to a very recognizable, impactful, and powerful organization on campus.
3) Important supplier of your industry.
Digital Convergence Application Architect - This person (or group of people, I spoke to a few) is one of the main creators of the Dadeschools Mobile App on iOS and Google Play for Miami-Dade County Public Schools. This team and its branches work on creating and updating apps to be used throughout the school system to improve the learning experience.
An old teacher of mine was able to put me in contact through e-mail with the team because she is one of six Digital Convergence Facilitators in the county.
I was able to convey my idea to them in a short summary, and using some of my previous posts. They were able to give me solid feedback about how difficult it would be to do something like this. Apparently, a similar idea has been pitched but shot down for the cost and timeliness of such a product. The return expectation was for me to go back to the drawing board, and maybe do more intimate research and eventually present the idea in a more formal manner.
Having this group in my network is almost a guaranteed interview/presentation for this project and a connection to the school board in the event of any other projects.
4) Reflect. This experience taught me to stop being afraid of just talking to people. I am often afraid that I will be bothersome or that I am not on the same playing field as some of these professionals or busy people. Everyone was happy to hear me out and field any questions I had. I found it was important to remind them that I could also be helpful to them, so that these could be mutually beneficial interactions.
Programmer - A friend of a friend who learned how to code and has been in the market for creating apps for a little over a year. This person is someone who understands the difficulty behind the app creating process. It takes creativity, skill, and patience. Also, a lot of money. He's created basic apps for fun and for assignments but has begun taking his talent to the next level.
As a friend of a friend, I was able to get in contact over social media. We messaged back and forth for a few days before I presented him with these interview type questions.
When I started asking him the questions to fill up this post, he told me he was looking into starting a new project, he gave me some tips on the best kinds of programming to use for an app like this, and a ballpark figure for how much it costs. The return expectation was for me to potentially include him if I choose to proceed with this project in the future.
I will be including this person in my network as a potential team member in any future endeavors, including this one.
2) An expert on your market.
UF Cicerone - Serving as a campus tour guide for the past year, this student knows all about giving directions and the newest students on campus. She loves UF, and can be labeled a "human gps" when it comes to getting anywhere on campus. As a student ambassador, she networks and connects with hundreds of students, potential and present.
I saw a tour on campus this week and thought, a tour guide would the perfect person. I was able to catch the attention of the tour guide and get her name and number.
We met up for coffee at the end of her tour and I asked her about what it was like to be a Cicerone and what her favorite part of the job was. Her favor to me was telling me about what it takes to join and be a UF student ambassador, the return expectation was for me to tell her about my life in Miami and whether applying to graduate school at UM would be worth the move.
I will include this person in my network as not only an expert on the student body, but as a connection to a very recognizable, impactful, and powerful organization on campus.
3) Important supplier of your industry.
Digital Convergence Application Architect - This person (or group of people, I spoke to a few) is one of the main creators of the Dadeschools Mobile App on iOS and Google Play for Miami-Dade County Public Schools. This team and its branches work on creating and updating apps to be used throughout the school system to improve the learning experience.
An old teacher of mine was able to put me in contact through e-mail with the team because she is one of six Digital Convergence Facilitators in the county.
I was able to convey my idea to them in a short summary, and using some of my previous posts. They were able to give me solid feedback about how difficult it would be to do something like this. Apparently, a similar idea has been pitched but shot down for the cost and timeliness of such a product. The return expectation was for me to go back to the drawing board, and maybe do more intimate research and eventually present the idea in a more formal manner.
Having this group in my network is almost a guaranteed interview/presentation for this project and a connection to the school board in the event of any other projects.
4) Reflect. This experience taught me to stop being afraid of just talking to people. I am often afraid that I will be bothersome or that I am not on the same playing field as some of these professionals or busy people. Everyone was happy to hear me out and field any questions I had. I found it was important to remind them that I could also be helpful to them, so that these could be mutually beneficial interactions.
Jessica,
ReplyDeleteThe people you chose were perfect for your indoor GPS. I especially think that the Digital convergence application architect will be especially helpful in the long run when you make your idea a reality. I can understand why they said that it’d be extremely complicated, but nothing is impossible! Great job with your choices in people to connect with, I enjoyed reading the feedback you received.
Hey Jessica,
ReplyDeleteI am really impressed with each of your experts. Adding in a UF Cicerone was a great idea! They know the campus and can give good insight as to whether or not they would have benefitted from your GPS app. I'm glad you had great interactions and felt as thought they were helpful in the development of your idea! It was also dope of you to want to create mutually beneficial relationships with those that you added to your network.