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Final Project: Business Plan

This will be my last journal entry as I am completing my final course in the Entertainment Business Master’s degree program at Full Sail University. This month the course was Final Project: Business Plan, where we completed our business plans and financial statements for the businesses that we have been creating throughout the program. This has been a full month where we overviewed business plans, revisited material from previous courses, learned how to create an effective elevator pitch, along with a review of income statements and balance sheets. We then discussed cash flow, the various types of business taxes, and the all-important executive summary of our business plan. We overviewed business financing, sources of equity financing, as well as debt financing. Lastly, we looked at entrepreneurial leadership, business ethics, along with a final wrap up.

We started off week one with a discussion post where we had to answer investor questions. These questions were the following: Why should I give you the money? You have no proven track record. I can go out and find someone who has already done this and has proven that they can do it. How do I know you are not going to lose interest? What are you going to do when a competitor sees how successful you are and starts doing exactly the same thing? This made us really think about what we were offering as a business, and why should an investor invest in our business. We then conducted a response post to another classmate. We also recorded a one-minute elevator pitch of our business using keynote. The final assignment this week was to complete our financial statement spreadsheet that we started the previous month. Here we listed our projected finances for the first three years, along with startup costs, and staffing budgets.

The second week began with a discussion post on entrepreneurial websites. We looked at U.S Small Business Administration (sba.gov), Incorporated (inc.com), and the National Venture Capital Association (nvca.org). We then conducted a discussion post by answering the following questions: How might the information on these sites help you in obtaining financing for your business? What are some other types of information available on these sites that may be helpful? I found all of the links to be great resources and will be utilizing them into the future. We then responded to another classmates post on this subject. The main assignment for this week was to complete our final written business plan that we have been working on since the previous month.

For the third week of this course, our discussion post was on management styles. Here we were provided with a link regarding the three main leadership styles: The Authoritarian/Autocratic, where the leader tells their employees what to do and how to do it, without getting their advice. The Participative/Democratic, where the leader normally maintains the final decision-making authority, however includes one or more employees in the decision-making process. And lastly, the Delegative/Laissez-Fair (free-rein), where the leader is still responsible for the decisions that are made, however allows the employees to make the decisions. We then conducted a discussion post on the following question: Describe a situation with a hypothetical new company in the entertainment industry where each of the three styles might be the best approach. We followed this up with a response post to one of our classmates. The main assignment for this week was to create a business plan presentation using Keynote. This was to be 5-8 minutes in length, as we recorded ourselves discussing some key sections of our business plan using images for further explination.

The fourth and final week of this class, as well as in the program, our discussion post was on program reflections and future plans. Here we described some of our experiences in the program as well as our plans for the future after school. This was a good opportunity to reflect back on the past year and to highlight some things that we have learned and went through. It has been an incredible experience for me, where I not only grew academically, but personally as well. I have gained a new level of confidence that will be extremely valuable as I enter into my career running an audio/video (A/V) production company. We followed our discussion up by replying to another classmate post. The assignments this week were to complete our digital leadership portfolio, as well as to conduct this final mastery journal entry.

My wonderful instructor, Bill Thompson, who’s knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm regarding the subject matter allowed for a highly enjoyable learning experience. He is a man who wears many hats, and has inspired me to accomplish more than I believed I could before taking this course. He is one of those instructors that has such an impact on you that you never forget them.

This past year has been a paramount time in my life. I have learned so much in all areas of business regarding the entertainment industry, as well as having completed a business plan that I will be starting in October of 2018. Ømnicøhere Productions is an A/V production company that will be based out of Seattle, WA. This program has allowed for me to be leaving with everything I need to only secure finances and immediately launch it. It has been an absolute pleasure to experience this each month with my highly creative classmates, and to grow along with them. I am proud of all of us for completing this program, and wish us all great things moving forward.

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Business Plan Development

At this point in time, I am wrapping up my second to last class in the Entertainment Business Master’s Degree program at Full Sail University. This month I have been taking Business Plan Development Online. The main focus of this month was to create a business plan for the company that we are developing. We are breaking down sections of the business plan by doing different parts of it each week. The different sections included are as follows; Company Description and Strategic Position, Industry Analysis and Trend Requirements, Target Market, Competition, and Marketing and Sales Plan, Operations, and Technology and Management/ Organization. We also filled in a Financial Statements spreadsheet, which projects the first three years that we will be in business.

The first week of class we started off with a discussion post titled The Entrepreneurs. Here we read an article about numerous entrepreneurs starting businesses in Detroit, and were to write about which one resonated with us the most. This article was very inspiring in a way that Detroit has a failing economy, and these young entrepreneurs were starting these businesses knowing this, however only doing it to help the city. We then followed up responded to another classmate’s post with an insightful opinion. The main assignment for this week was to start working on the first few sections of our business plan, which were the Company Description and Strategic Position, as well as Industry Analysis and Trends Requirements.

For the second week of class, our discussion post was on Target Markets. We watch a video where we learned to understand the challenges of starting a company from scratch with no funds. We then followed up with a response post to one of our classmates take on the video. For our assignment in week 2, we continued working on our business plan. This week we added the sections on Target Market, Competition, and the Marketing and Sales Plan. We followed this up with a short assignment called the Differentiation Exercise. Here we outlined in detail how our company is different from our key competitors, and what sets us apart from our competition.

For the third week of class, our discussion post was to watch a video hosted by Tony Hsieh of Zappos, titled Delivering Happiness. This video and discussion were to help us in understanding the challenges of managing a culturally diverse company in a recession market. This was an extremely eye-opening video on how to create a culture within our company in a way that benefits all through professional growth, personal growth and happiness. We followed it up by responding to one of our classmates take on the video. For the assignment this week, we continued working on our business plan, adding Operations, Technology, and Management/ Organization. We also started on our Financial Statements spreadsheet, filling in the sections on Monthly Marketing and Sales Budget.

For our fourth and final week of class, our discussion post was on company culture. Here we watched a video on the highly successful motion graphics artists, and Full Sail University graduate Jayson Whitmore. Here we wrote on what we took from his inspiring words regarding Professionalism, Selling Yourself Through the Business Plan and Portfolio, and on Virtual Teams. We followed it up by responding to another classmates posting on the video. Our assignment was to complete our Financial Statements Spreadsheet by providing complete monthly staffing budgets for the first three years of the venture. We also had this Mastery Journal posting on our Tumblr accounts.

I have learned a great deal this month, and now have a completed business plan that is ready to be presented to industry professional, potential partners, and financial investors. I had a wonderful instructor that exuded nothing but excitement and interest in the importance of having a solid business plan. At this point in the program, I now only have one final four-week class until graduation. This has been a life changing experience for me that has help to set me up for future success in the entertainment industry.

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Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution

At this point in the Entertainment Business Master’s Degree Program at Full Sail University, I am completing the course Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution. This has been a wonderful month of information and productivity towards these topics, and I have learned a great deal. The instructor we had is extremely talented and wears many different hats. She has given me the inspiration to seek out and pursue multiple careers and to take my hobbies to their full potential. I will break down each week with the contents that were covered, discussed and researched by each assignment that was given.

In week one, we covered Agents and Publishers. For our discussion post, we were to select the creative content that we would be working with for the remainder of the course, as well as what applies to the industry that we are seeking to pursue. In this case, that would be music for me. We were to then discuss why is it necessary to have an agent, how can you find one, what is the correct type of agent for our content, and what recourses we should consult. We followed it up with a response post of a fellow classmate where we commented and made suggestions. Our assignment for this week was to compose a Query letter to an agent or agency. We had to research a potential agent and write them a letter stating who we were as artists, and why we think that they should represent us.

For the second week, we covered Licensing and Distribution. The discussion post was on researching the specific sales package that we would need for our content. In my case it is a press kit, or Electronic Press Kit (EPK). This was followed up with a response and suggestions to another classmate. The assignment this week was to create an actual EPK. I enjoyed this assignment very much and am proud of what I created. I learned a great deal, and now have a template to go by in the future.

The third weeks topic was on Self-Publishing. The discussion post was on aggregators and print-on-demand (POD’s). I chose Tunecore as my aggregator and discovered a great option for helping to get my music out to multiple platforms. This was followed up with a response post along with comments and suggestions on another classmate work. This was a heavy week for assignments, where we were responsible for submitting three. The first one being a Digital Leadership Portfolio. Here we were to select a piece of media content and either write a review or blog about it. I chose a controversial song to review. The second assignment was actually this Mastery Journal Post which I hope you are enjoying. And the third assignment, was a Case Study Analysis. Here we were presented with two scenarios in which we were to answer questions to an industry artist and writer regarding the content of what was covered in this course.

For the fourth and final week, we are covering Marketing and Business Strategies. In this week we will have a discussion post and response on the said topic. For the assignment, we will write a formal business strategy in which to digitally self-publish, promote, distribute and merchandise our own music content.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this course and have obtained a great deal of knowledge in Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution. All of the topics discussed in this course are relevant and pertinent information to know going into the entertainment industry. Upon completing this class, I will have two more left to graduate. Next month will be Business Plan Development, and the last course will be my final project, which is my business plan.

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Advanced Entertainment Law

I am wrapping up my ninth month in the Entertainment Business Master’s Degree Program at Full Sail University, with the course Advanced Entertainment Law. I will admit that I was intimidated going into this class, however found it to be extremely interesting. What intimidated me the most was how important legalities are when running a business, and how little I thought I knew. It turned out that I actually was aware of more than I realized and enjoyed each of the topics that we covered every week. I believe that understanding the importance of this course going into it, allowed for my interest to be held throughout. I will leave having gained a tremendous amount of knowledge regarding Entertainment Law which will only help me as I move further into my career.

The first week we covered Intellectual Property (IP) Protection & Industry Risk. Through numerous videos and reading assignments, we discussed Copyright, Trademarks and Patent laws, as well as where to register them and how to protect our own. We conducted a discussion post after viewing an interview with Julie Milham, Chair Emeritus of the Entertainment, Art & Sports Law Section of the Florida Bar. Here we listed key concepts that we learned, and how we could apply them to our business that we are creating. We followed this up by replying to another classmate’s post on their take of the video. We had two assignments this week, with the first one being to create a list of four IP items that our company will create, how we will protect them, and which government office/registration method we would use for each. Our second assignment was to write a legal liabilities paper. We researched three separate legal cases that are relevant to our business, and how we could apply them to our business plan moving forward.

The second week we covered Case Research & Contract Review. For our discussion post and response this week, we read a proposed management agreement and analyzed three clauses that would be concerning if the artist signed the deal. There were definitely a few clauses that would have needed to be addressed before the artist would want to sign this agreement. For our main assignment, we were to research and analyze five court cases and to write a paper on why our business could be prone to each of these liabilities.

The third week we covered Business Protection & Expert Knowledge. Our discussion post was to read a “Proposed Competition Contest” that a radio station was putting on, and to identify the liabilities we found in it. We had two assignments this week, with the first one being a Leadership Portfolio. Here, we were to view a legal podcast from an established legal expert, and to summarize it with three key concepts that we took away from it. We were then to create a short video on what we learned from these key concepts. The second assignment was to compile all of the information as it regards to our business, and to complete a Business Registration Form.

For the fourth and final week, we discussed Case Application & Reflection. Our discussion board was to read a court opinion for Panavision v. Dennis Toeppen (9th Circuit Court of Appeals 1998) case. We then took the court opinion and applied it to our companies planning for our website. The assignment for this final week, we composed a lengthy paper by analyzing a decided, published opinion from an Appellate or Supreme Court. The opinion was to focus on a significant liability our final business project may face in the industry.

As I mentioned earlier, I was a bit nervous and intimidated going into this class, however I am coming out of it with the knowledge and confidence needed to have a good understanding of how Entertainment Law works. I have enjoyed it more than I thought that I would, and now have a clearer vision of how to approach my business regarding the legalities of it. I had a wonderful instructor whose knowledge, appreciation, and interest of Entertainment Law was easily visible and understood. At this point in this program, I have three classes remaining until graduation.

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Product and Artist Management

I am wrapping up my final week in Product and Artist-Management, in the Entertainment Business Master’s Degree program at Full Sail University. This has been an exciting month for me, full of a plethora of information regarding the course title. I had a wonderful instructor who exuded excitement in every video she conducted, which allowed for a never boring, high energy experience each week. I am taking away with me from this course, a much better understanding of what the Artist Manager, and Product Managers job entails, as well as much research on merchandising products. I have learned a great deal this month and will break down each week below.

In the first week, we discussed show business. We looked at all of the different types of leadership styles and were given a sheet containing numerous scenarios in which we would be the Artist Manager. We then went through and looked at the different leadership styles and chose which ones would be the most beneficial to our chosen scenario. I learned a lot regarding the difference of an entrepreneur and sidepreneur, and how the Film and Television industry is really comprised of close to 100,000 small business entrepreneurs. The sidepreneur is someone who is unable to be a full-time entrepreneur, and is doing that sort of work on the side of another job/s. We wrapped up the first week with an assignment where we provided a Reflection Essay, Show Business Review, and Artist Manger Case Study.

In the second week, we looked further into Artist Management. In our discussion, we started by shifting our focus from talking about ourselves in our Digital Leadership Portfolio and positioning our brand for our target audience. Here we showcased our talents and skills by refining our online professional identity. We ensured that our brand is relevant and of the interest to our site’s visitors by providing an asset of our own work. The assignment this week was to provide a Major Players Review. Here, we selected two major talent agencies, and provided in-depth research on each of them. We compared and contrasted our choices and created an infographic of our preferred agency. Here, we highlighted the most influential and key reasons why we would choose that agency to work with.

In the third week, we covered Product Management. The discussion was to visit the site nielsen.com, and to select a few articles from it that relate to the industry that we are seeking to pursue. Nielsen is a global measurement and data analytics company which provides the most trusted view and complete information of markets and consumers worldwide. I had never heard of it before and have found this to be a strong tool for me moving forward. The assignment this week was to become a product manager, and to create two unique merchandise items that would be added to a selected scenario provided. We did this with the main focus of the lifestyle and experience of the fan in selecting our products. We then researched what the target audience would be, their shopping behaviors, and the calculations of how many we would need for each different platform that they would be sold on. This was both a creative, and researched assignment.

In the fourth and final week of Product and Artist-Management, we covered Pricing and Sales. Our discussion was on a video taken from the 2015 Midem Music Conference in France. The main focus was on an artist named Ryan Leslie, and his unique approach to engaging his virtual/digital consumers. The panel included The VP of Branded Entertainment-Music, the head of Music Products for Facebook, the head of Business Development & Growth of Gumroad, as well as The VP of Digital Strategy & Business Development of The Music Business Association (USA). This was a real eye-opener, in which I have gained a new prospective of social media and connecting with an artist’s fans digitally. Here, we described the new strategies that we learned from the video, and the ideas that we may apply to our own brand and career. The final project for this course is a Best Practices Questionnaire. This is our opportunity to showcase our understanding and to tie principles together to paint a comprehensive picture of “Best Practices” in today’s marketplace. Here, we conducted research on our realistic reach and target market size, utilize the ‘sales funnel’ forecasting technique, planned proper inventory levels around our sales forecasts, used competitive, savvy pricing strategies, and showcased the best practices and how they apply to our future success and career.

I knew that I was going to enjoy this course before I started and have been looking forward to it for months. Each week was an exciting new challenge that dove into different areas of Product and Artist Management related topics. I have gained many new tools and ideas that will be channeled into all that I do moving forward with my career.

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Negotiation and Deal-Making

I am currently on the final week of taking Negotiation and Deal-Making Online in the Entertainment Business Master’s degree program at Full Sail University. This is the seventh course out of the twelve-course program, which leaves me with only five courses left to complete. Coming into this course, my goal was to learn how to understand negotiations, and how to become a better negotiator.  I have enjoyed this class very much and have acquired great knowledge that I will take with me throughout my career. This course was broken down into four weeks, each covering different areas of negotiation and deal-making.

In the first week, we examined some of the technical terms used in negotiations, and how to prepare for them. We looked at the difference between bargaining positions and underlying interests, and how to create a mutual benefit based upon the different parties underlying interests. We explored the world of contracts, and the ones specifically being used in our industry. We accomplished this week by providing a discussion post with a response to a board and completing a worksheet regarding the terms used in negotiations.

In the second week of this course, we dug a little deeper into what it takes to be a good negotiator. How having a good understanding, and relationship with the people in the negotiation is our goal.  How understanding the aspects that influence human interactions, and how perception influences negotiations. We also discussed in great detail the importance of clear communication and took a quiz to discover which of the four communication styles that we were. We completed this week by answering questions regarding a mock negotiation we took part in. We also selected someone that we admired in the industry, examined their negotiation style, and wrote three questions we would like to ask them in an interview setting.

For the third week in this course, we covered the different types of power, game theory, bias, and dealing with difficult people. I ingested a lot of information this week that will be very useful in the future. I found game theory, which is the study of strategy to be extremely interesting. We answered a few questions regarding these topics for a discussion board and completed a research case study on an important negotiation that had taken place in our industry. I chose Warner Music Groups negotiation with YouTube in 2009. I found this to be a powerful assignment and learned a lot.

This brings us to our fourth and final week of this course. This week we are covering trust, multiculturalism and conflict, as well as mediation, which is a third party that helps disputants develop a solution to their problems in a negotiation. For the discussion board, we further examined a personal negotiation that took place in the past, and explained different aspects of it. Our final assignment is to write an APA formatted research paper on how alternative dispute resolution is used in the entertainment industry.

This has been a wonderful month, and one of my favorite courses yet. Going into this class, I had a minimal understanding of what negotiating was, as well as deal-making. What I have learned is that there is a science or art behind the preparation of going into them, as well as understanding the best way to navigate through them. By understanding the different communication styles, research, emotions, power, positions and interests, game theory, perception, culture, etc. that needs to be understood when going into negotiations, will only provide for a better outcome coming out of them. By learning and understanding all of this, I am certain that I have improved upon my negotiation skills moving into the future.

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Digital Marketing

I am currently half way through the class Digital Marketing, in the Entertainment Business Master’s Degree Program at Full Sail University. We are learning how to market ourselves, as well as our individual company that we are building. The main focus in this course is using the digital formats that are now available such as social media, which has become a part of our everyday life. It can be used for many things, including reconnecting with people from our past, connecting with new people that have come into our lives, as well as allowing for us to follow our favorite celebrities in all fields of industry. When approaching social media from a business standpoint, it can be seen as an extremely useful tool to advertise and connect with our customers and cliental.

My original goal to take from this course, is to gain a better understanding in how to market myself, as well as my company in the most successful way. There are many ways to do so in today’s market. One things I took away from watching the Lynda video Course: Social Media Marketing: Social CRM with Megan Adams, is to humanize your conversations. Let the customer know that they are talking to a real person when engaging in a comment or question. It lets them know that they are not talking to a robot, but a human. This can be done through social customer relationship management, or (CRM). CRM is a new more social way of marketing, which helps to combine all information pulled from social media and all other conversational platforms. It adds in the social data points, so we can better track and measure our audience’s behavior online. Another thing I took away from the video is Segmentation. Segmentation is a process of understanding why people buy products and services, and which of those people you should market to. An example of this is the keeping track of peoples likes and dislikes, purchase history, recent activities, replied to emails as well as opened emails, and of course social media activity. The last pearl of wisdom that I took away from the video, is identifying your influencers. Influencers are active people on social media and blogs, which have the potential to bring thousands of followers to your brand. They have many followers that consistently remain loyal to them. Once you have their attention, they may repost something off one of your pages, tag you or your brand on theirs, or even just by liking something you posted can be beneficial. This allows for all of their followers to see you, or something that you have done. This can be a huge plus when trying to get your name or product out into the market.

I plan to apply the material that I have learned so far in this class, as well as what I took away from the Lynda video both in my personal and professional life. I have a much better understanding that not all people on social media are equal, and there are tools and methods of how you use it that can significantly allow for you to gain more attention. Digital marketing and social media have completely changed the game of advertising, and be one of the greatest tools out there to help someone grow their brand or identity. We now have the ability to reach far more people all over the world in ways that have never been possible in the past. Also, by doing so faster than ever.

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Entertainment Business Finance

Entertainment Business Finance is the fifth course in my Entertainment Business master’s degree program, at Full Sail University. I am currently on my final week, and while it has been a challenging course, it was also extremely insightful. I entered this course with minimal knowledge of financial understanding at this level, however am leaving with many acquired tools. I am taking away a better understanding and knowledge of how the financial industry works and functions. I also have a better understanding of how much it will cost to open and operate my new company, for at least the first year.

In the first week of the course, we covered financial statements and annual reports. This week we chose a company on Yahoo Finance, and listed everything that we were seeing off of the reports. Basically, we familiarized ourselves with navigating around the pages of our chosen company, and reported what we were finding. We also had an assignment regarding financial statements. Here, we provided background information about our chosen company. Also, using the four categories: Liquidity, Efficiency, Leverage, & Probability, we selected 2 rations within each to calculate the pervious and current year’s numbers to analyze.

For the second week, we focused on the time value of money. Here, using our personal companies that we are creating, we provided a brief description of our company, along with creating a list of expenses and assets that will be needed. This allowed for us to research and dig deeper into the understanding of what will be needed to bring our businesses to life. Also, using the time value of money tables, we were provided with numerous questions where we were asked to calculate totals for. This provided a strong lesson on projecting business scenarios that will be helpful in future planning.  

On the third week, we discussed breaking even and investing. We discussed the importance of opportunity cost, which is basically having to give up something in order to gain another thing. This really puts things into perspective and makes you think. We also were given numerous mathematical equations to work out. This helped us in understanding the full concept of what it takes to break even and come ahead in our business.

For the fourth week, we discussed cost structure, and revenue streams. Here, we revisited our ongoing Business Model Canvas, and added to our cost structure and revenue stream. At this point in the course, we are better versed to complete these sections more accurately. The final project for this course, was to fill out a Pro Forma Financial Statement. This was provided in an Excel document, along with a Word document of questions to be answered. Both really encouraged us to provide extensive research on our businesses, and the numbers that will be necessary for pre-planning of the first year of our business. I have significantly grown from this course, and will incorporate these tools into my production company that I plan to launch prior to my graduation from this program.

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Business Storytelling & Brand Ddevelopment

At the current time, I am wrapping up my last week for the fourth month of my Entertainment Business Master’s Program – online at Full Sail University. The class that I am in is Business Storytelling & Brand Development, which is a four-week course. The main areas that we covered this month, were Personal Branding & Brand Foundations, Market Research & Influencers, Entertainment Brand Strategy, and Brand Storytelling. This class started with us focusing on our personal brand, being the CEO of brand “you.” We discussed the brand foundations, and created a digital portfolio that showed an accurate representation of ourselves, focusing in on our online presence through the creation of a website. This was a great way for us to update our biography, resume, and all social media accounts which were linked from our site.

In the second week, we covered market research and influencers. This week consists of in-depth research on the industry that we are entering into, which for me is the music industry. Here we discovered the power of influence and who it is that really influences us on a personal level, as well as professional, for the company that we are working on to create. Our main assignment for this week was to write an APA format research paper that outlined specific areas in our chosen industry. Included were what trends are impacting our industry, who are the main competitors, and who would our target audience be for our company. We also reviewed the PEST Analysis, which looks at the political, economic, social, and technological nature of our industry. I found this to be such a paramount research study on the past, present, and future changes that are taking place in the music industry.

The third week highlighted the steps of creation for the branding of our company. We discussed the brand identity prism, business model canvas, differentiating our brand, and brand identity foundations. Here we filled in the 9 sections of the business model canvas which helps you map out your business model so that you can get feedback and innovate easily to have a concrete model of what your services are, who your customer is, how you will be unique, how you will make money, as well as other areas. We focused a lot of attention on what our value proposition would be, which is a summary of why a customer should buy your product or use your service.

In our 4th and final week we focused on the development of our brand including all of the previous weeks information, our logo, tagline, color scheme, etc. We also reviewed how to tell our brands story. We compiled it all into a pdf version of a brand strategy for our entertainment business. This included us defining our unique brand identity, a creative brief, research of our creative strategy, specific brand identity including logo concepts, our Brand Identity Prism, corporate culture, mission/mantra, and tagline. I found that compiling all of this information into one document was extremely beneficial for me to obtain a clear vision moving forward.

Coming into this class, I was hoping to gain a more in-depth understanding of how to create my personal brand, as well as the details needed for creating my company. The information that was given more than met my expectations. I feel that I have obtained the knowledge and confidence to move forward into the next phase of both of these areas. I now have a strong foundation to work from, and a clear direction to proceed in.

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Project and Team Management

I just wrapped up my third month into my Entertainment Business Master’s Program online, by completing Project and Team Management. Assignments were given each week for four weeks, that covered different areas of being in charge of a team to complete a project of our choosing. The project that I chose was to produce my own album, and to organize the entire process through Excel spreadsheets. I have not always been a fan of Excel; however, I feel that it was extremely useful for these assignments. I also now am more comfortable using the software, and will continue to do so moving forward.

In week 1, we covered project definition. This is where we brainstormed on the project, listing the objective, stakeholders’ profiles, project constraints, assumptions & dependencies, deliverables and success criteria to name a few topics. In week 2, we created a work breakdown structure. This is where we listed all of the tasks that are needed, and assigned each one to our team members. This assignment included the start and finish dates, along with the planned duration of each task. In week 3, we created the budget spreadsheet. This is where we listed all of the items needed to be purchased or rented, and who was assigned to take care of each item. This also included the timeframe, description and payment schedule. On week 4, we covered team and quality management. On this spreadsheet, we listed each team member, their position, what personality type they are, along with their strengths and weakness to name a few.

This month has been challenging. There was a lot of detailed work involved, however it really pushed me to think and plan how to manage a team to produce my own album. It has given me a huge start on what to know, about how much it will cost, and how to organize it all. This is something that I do plan on doing in the future, and the bulk of the legwork is now already done. I have gained a great deal of confidence in myself, along with this now getting me closer to making it a reality. The instructor Lester Frederick, did a wonderful job with his explanation and instruction for each assignment, and armed us with an extensive amount of information to be able to complete each task. Overall, it was a great month of learning.

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Leadership Mastery Journal Post

I am currently on my second month into my Entertainment Business Master’s Program at Full Sail University. This month in Executive Leadership, we have been given two books to read; Robert Green’s, The 48 Laws of Power, & John C. Maxwell’s, Developing the Leader Within You. Both books serve in developing leadership qualities, however both have polar opposite views on the approach. Satan vs. Jesus if you will, or good vs. evil. Greene’s book lays out a much darker sense focusing more on power, whereas Maxwell talks more on positive change through personal integrity and self-discipline. I feel they both make a strong statement when referring to leadership qualities, practices, and examples.

In this post, I am listing which of the two style’s that I most resonate with. I am a Libra, which to find truth in all things personally, is something to be aware of and to be understood. I can find relevance in both authors almost equally to be honest. Also, I do believe that both are relevant to all situations, and should be considered when being in a leadership position. That being said, I do lean towards Maxwell’s views the most. I do live by an ethical, civil, integrity that Greene sometimes steps outside of according to my beliefs.

We are in our 3rd week into the month, and have covered numerous laws & chapters from each book. One example of my withdrawal from Greene comes from Greene’s Law #7, “Get Others to do the Work For you, But Always Take the Credit”. In no way do I see this to be an ethical decision of leadership that I would consider. Regardless of the situation, I will figure out what I need to execute. Greene Law #28, Enter Action with Boldness. Now this sounds innocent enough, however he elaborates by saying “the bolder the lie the better, and boldness strikes fear; fear creates authority” (Greene pp. 228). I do not think that way, nor would practice this in a leadership position.

Maxwell on the other hand titles chapter 3, The Most Important Ingredient of Leadership: Integrity. He follows with saying “sadly, integrity is a vanishing commodity today” (Maxwell pp. 35). I hold integrity as being one of the top qualities within myself that I live by. Chapter 4 is titled, The Ultimate Test of Leadership: Creating Positive Change. Creating an atmosphere and preparation to move forward in a positive manner is exactly the way that I think. I highly recommend reading both books if you are in a leadership position or working towards one, and decide for yourself which traits of the two authors that you can relate to the most. Whether you practice Greene’s Laws or not, it is most valuable to understand them, for there are many people in this world that do.

References:

Green, R. (1999). The 48 Laws of Power (pp. 228). New York, NY: Penguin Books. Retrieved from

https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781101042458/cfi/6/2!/4/4/2@0.00:0

Maxwell, J. C. (1993). Developing the Leader Within You (pp. 35). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc.

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This is my Mastery Journey Timeline, which is my final project for my first class Mastery: Personal Development and Leadership. I have included on this video, a page with each course I am taking for the Entertainment Business Master’s Program. Each course has included 3 goals to achieve, and a tactic on how I plan to achieve that goal.

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Inspirational Post:

This is 30 Seconds to Mars live in concert. I have seen them three times, in Atlanta, GA, Jacksonville, FL, and at the Gorge Amphitheater in WA. I have grown up listening to their music, as well as following Jared Leto’s film career. They resonate deep within me, holding many memories that I associate with their music. I find them to be extremely inspiring, and consider myself a true fan.

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Inspirational Post:

I am very excited about this new show “Planet of the Apps,” that can be viewed  on Apple Music. Each entrepreneurial contestant has 60 seconds to pitch their idea for a new app to an all-star panel of judges to see if they can get at least one of them interested in their idea. Each judge selects a teams to mentor for a final pitch to one of the hottest venture capital firms on the planet, Lightspeed Venture Partners. They will back the winner, and feature their product on the app store. Each week the contestants will be meeting with leaders such as Yelp, Musically, & Uber for advise and advocacy. I feel that this show will be very inspirational, as well as educational as it unfolds.  

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My LinkedIn page.

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My LinkedIn page : https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-merrill-6b619766/

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My logo.