19A

1. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?

Hello! My name is Gernise Gregoire and I am a fourth-year public relations major minoring in business management. I recently transferred to UF last year and I have a passion for being the voice of brands, public speaking and being an advocate for diversity and inclusion in the workplace and on campus. I have recently won two awards because of my efforts to improve diversity in the public relations field. I have lots of experience traveling and interacting with people from different cultures. I want to live by my experiences by providing a way from frequent travelers like myself, to save money and never miss a flight again. The new business idea I have plays a significant role in my life because as a voice for brands, I also want to be the voice for travelers. I want people to never have to worry about their next trip and know when to be patient when waiting.

What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs). 

I am offering individuals who are traveling for business, a product that helps them predict airport security wait time. Throughout the U.S., airport security wait times vary. People plan to leave towns, cities, and countries each day by plane without knowing how long their pre-flight process will take. My "FlyFrenzy" app is the most effective form of missed-flight prevention. 

The FlyFrenzy App will alert users who download the app after booking their flights. They will find out about it right after booking to receive a code with 25%. (That 25% profit will come back to us from our partnering airplane companies). Travelers will be alerted on how long security checkpoints will take four hours before their trip, on the way to their trip, and once they enter their designated airport. 

My product will also help boost the public image of all participating airports and plane company social responsibilities. Airport workers will be controlling the app so this will give users an advantage.

2. Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common? 
   I am offering it to one main group: individuals who love to travel. With this target audience, my range of people will include Generation Zers and Millenials who are either traveling for business-related purposes or traveling for fun. My audience must also travel by plane frequently. My other subsidiary group would be airport workers and airplane companies such as Delta Airlines, Frontier Airlines, American Airlines, Jet Blue, Southwest Airlines, and every airline that exist in the U.S. today. Since my product is an app, it will combine reporting from airport workers who will track security checkpoint times and report them, each airline will play a significant role in acting as partners to offer 25% off to all travelers who download, and travelers will feed off of these opportunities. 

3. Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe its valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service.  Customers will believe my service/product, the FlyFrenzy app, is valuable to them because it will serve as a platform to have a responsibility, save money and never miss a flight again. They will no longer have to embarrassingly sprint across an airport or feel scared at a security line because they have no clue of what will happen when they miss a flight. It will also serve as a platform to stay alerted and updated. As a generation zer, I like to know early on about an event or action prior to diving into it. The same thing goes for knowing how long an airport security line will take before hopping on a plane. 
4. What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has?  

• Currently, there are three competitors of apps that provide updates on airport security lines. To my best knowledge, these apps are reliable only for travelers themselves who update the app. I believe this is ineffective because travelers cant accurately predict line-hold ups when they are stipping their bags and removing items to go through security. With my app, we will be different and effective. Only workers who control the lines will be able to update the app so incoming travelers understand their accurate line times. I will also encourage workers to provide an in-airport time clock to keep track of each person. 
  
  
  FEEDBACK MEMO:
  After viewing full feedback from peers, I concluded that they love the idea of my product. One person said they can relate to my product tremendously and it would help them since they travel frequently. The other said it would be successful because people are always trying to save time in an increasingly digital and data-driven world. I tweaked my answers to center mainly on the fact that airport workers will be controlling the app so it will be real, and the fact that people will no longer have to sprint/run to make it to their next flight time. They will have the accurate time at hand.
  
  
  I also received feedback saying: there is no app in the market like this. While there is an app in the market like mine, it certainly won't amount to the features I have. I can agree with this feedback because as stated in competencies, my app will feature updates, predictions and can be used in real time. It will be powered by airport workers themselves who are in the TSA lines.

17A: Pitch 2

1: PITCH

https://youtu.be/q_5ccPxQ8pA

Imagine booking your flight, packing your bags, and facing an emergency the day of your trip. You could have payed for flight insurance but you didn't. Why? Because it's too expensive. Today I have the ultimate solution to never missing your flight again. My name is Gernise Gregoire and I am the CEO of FlyFrenzy, the free app. In the market today, we have the most effective form of missed-flight prevention right through your cell phone. Just last year, Forbes reported that one out of every seven travelers has missed their flights due to long airport security lines.  Let Flight Frenzy help you fly easy & never miss a flight again BUSINESS PEOPLE. So how does it work? Our FlyFrenzy App will alert you. Just download it after you book your flight. What's in it for you? You'll know how long security checkpoints will take four hours before your trip, on your way to your trip, and once you enter your designated airport. Our inclusivity agreement with your favorite airlines will give you 25% off just for downloading! That 25% profit comes back to us. So the next time you book your flight, know your security checkpoint time too and never miss a flight again!  Book the flight and download it now for this exclusive offer! Thank you. 

Reflection of feedback:

Based on the feedback, I realized I did not dressed as appropriately as I could have. In this pitch, I changed that. I was also told to keep up with high energy, enunciate words and push the fact that the FlyFrenzy app is geared towards business people. I personally want it to be geared towards both business and young people who travel often. Based on research, Generation Zers traveling rates have spiked up over the years.

What I changed, based of feedback:

I changed how I enunciated words, dressed more appropriately, and looked much more comfortable when speaking. I also mentioned that fact that my service is for business people. That can mean it is for executives, middle managers and even young entrepreneurs and people who love to travel. My energy was much more lively and effective in my opinion!

18A- Create Customer Avatar

My service is aimed to be focused on providing more simple trips for frequent travelers ranging from ages 24 and above. Based on the research I've done, Generation Zers are the newest generation of people born between 1995 and 2015 and represent the fastest-growing sectors in tourism. They make up 32% of the global population and 79% of Generation Zers first traveled overseas before the age of 15. In this case, my prototypical customer (shown below) lives in New York City, the city that never sleeps where people are constantly traveling in and out from. She attends NYU and is a 21 year old Asian-African student. She lives with three clean and intelligent roommates and majors in communications. 

She is very extroverted, loves going on trips with friends, was born and raised in New Jersey and raised by two parents who work in the medical field as registered nurses. She is an only child and knows the value of considering other's perspectives. At college as a senior, she has been involved in the Communications Association of America where she serves as the president of her chapter.

She loves to write, public speak, create graphics and develop websites on her free time. Her experience in many internships with places including Bank of America and Google, has made her stand out as a president and soon graduate. As president, outside organizations contact her often to attend conferences and be part of panel discussions. She gets to school by walking because of NYC's wild traffic and she devotes her like to both her organization, hobbies and loves to go see Broadway shows with her boyfriend on the weekends. 

She is a fan of the show Shameless on Netflix which embodies the story of a poor family in Chicago on the search for financial freedom. Her boyfriend would describe her as funny, patient, kind, beautiful, loving and intelligent as a leader. Her friends would describe her as an overachiever who attends conferences and builds endless connections with people worldwide.

What do I have in common with her? I am currently also at a top college in the nation and enjoy watching Netflix shows, being as creative as possible and staying involved with organizations on campus. Many people describe me as an overachiever since I am always traveling free of charge because of the endless opportunities I find and get offered.

I don’t think this is a coincidence. I came up with this idea because I believe even if there are everyday workers who travel often because of their jobs, there are also students like myself who get to travel because of the roles I play in college.

16A

Five ways in which I think I have Human Capital:

1. Creative: Since middle school and growing up, I've always had the passion to create new things. I am skilled in photography, graphic designing, public speaking and videography. I have also won countless awards because of my skills.
2. Empowering & Inspiring: I love being able to tell people my testimony and story from how I was raised by two Haitian immigrants and ended up at the top 7 university in the nation. I also inspire people though talking about my leadership experience and ways to make the negative aspects of life become positive.
   
   
3. Humble: I find it vital for people to be humble. I remain humble not only because of my religious beliefs, but because life is not predictable. People who are not humble can come off as very unthankful and non-empathetic. I am humble because I am blessed, I have food to eat each day,
   I have a mouth to speak and a brain that works very well.
4. Understanding: I am very understanding because learning the perspectives of others is important as a daughter, sister and leader in the world today. I believe all people should be understanding, listen to others and work to come to a common ground no matter what situation they are in.
   
   
5. Hilarious: I never fail to turn frowns upside down. I was raised by mostly men who joked around alot so many statements that I say come off as comedy to other people. People love to be around me because I am one to think of a joke on the spot.

3) In conclusion, I realized that my interviewees see me as a leader and someone who perserveres.  I am currently the president for the nation's second black public relations student society. I never imagined having to take on such a huge role, but the people who I've interviewed  know me as someone who has served as a leader since middle school. I am also surprised many people called me super intelligent cause I don't describe myself as such. I do like to think outside the box but I sometimes doubt myself.

15A

In each interview, I learned that the service I plan to provide is desirable. All of the feedback I got has helped me get a better understanding of my product's relative attractiveness.

My first interview with a student named Berton, told me he believes not only is there a need for being alerted prior to flights, but there can be additional perks. He suggested having a kid-friendly version of the "FlyFrenzy" app. He mentioned that since we do live in a digital world, kids who are part of the generation Z community most likely have iPads or even iPhones that their parents have given them as a form of entertainment. These devices they have are usually used during traveling. A kids version of the app would help parents be notified by their children on how long itll take to board their flight exactly.

The second interviewee, Vanessa, told me it would be useful to promote this service to people by using lots of advertisements and face-to-face tactics. In doing so she suggested having a partnership with the major airlines who will provide a discount for all downloaders and she suggested having posters in airports and terminals to draw the attention of people. If she were to purchase it, discounts with airlines, commercials, and posters in the airport would help her immediately download and notify people around her.

My third interviewer believes my service would be the best if I notified downloaders about timeclocks within airports. He thinks timeclocks should be located at the gates of each airline and at security line entrances. The app would tell each person where to check while they are within the airport. He also suggested maybe having a timeclock outside of airport entrances.

All these interviews opening my eyes in a wider sense and helped me realize the importance of more accessibility. People have habits when it comes to traveling so my service, and the recommended features will help me cater to their habits. Having a kids version with alerts, time clocks, and messaging tactics will all be useful and hopefully effective.

14A

1) To keep up with the requirements for this course I have had to be persistent. Although I work and run an organization on campus, I've realized that life is all about time management and what you make a priority. With the simple use of my smartphone calendar, I am able to keep up with all the requirements. I make sure to schedule when assignments are due and I separately schedule out time each day to complete them early!

2) One moment that I have felt like giving up is now.  I am the co-founder and president of the nation's second Black Public Relations Student Society.  I have such a huge responsibility of carrying this organization similar to overseeing a business. I have to designate an executive board, give duties to my board, craft meeting plans for about 30 members and control a budget of over $3,000. Being a leader is not easy because you must consider the perspectives of others, understand that people won't always think similar to you and won't always be available, remain kind, and also remain stern with planned expectations. What is pulling me through is the people I surround myself with. I have about three advisors who are my former professors here at UF. Whenever I need help or feel frustrated, I am able to count on them to help me express my thoughts and remain calm. So far I have developed a tenacious attitude by not giving up and being as organized as possible. 

3) Three tips. 

- Don't always depend on your own understanding. 

After my three years in college, I had to come to the realization that I am still growing as a student and I need to here wise words and advice from a person who can relate to me. As mentioned, I have mentors who I can count on to speak to and get advice from. These mentors help me shape a different perspective, think innovatively and remain calm in times of self-doubt or anger. It's important to surround yourself with people who want to see you be great, are successful and help you think outside of the box when it comes to dealing with everyday life. 

- Never give up and stay organized 

As mentioned, I stay organized by using a calendar and scheduling everything. Even when I want to go out to dinner with friends, or read a book, or do an assignment, I make sure it's written down so 1. I don't forget it and 2. I build every skill I will need throughout my life. Every opportunity in life is a learning opportunity! Never give up and remain positive through the storm of classwork, work-life balance and keeping up with your health. It's important to understand that we only have ONE life. Don't mess it up and work on yourself each day to be the person you see yourself as. 

- Schedule off-time for yourself 

Having down time is healthy. Being consumed by homework, studying and loud environments can often be frustrating and take a toll on your mental stability. It's important to sometimes take a break, breath, relax and practice your religion if you have one! 

13A

For this assignment, I read the interesting novel, "Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson. This story focused on the life of Steve Jobs including how his upbringing influenced his technology which is still relevant to this day. 

1) About the Entrepreneur 

• What surprised me the most was the fact the Steve, the main entrepreneur was someone extremely difficult to work with. Because of his upbringing and attitude, he was kicked off the brand that he had created from scratch with a parter. I'm surprised because a leader should always control his/her temper especially if they own a business. 
• I mostly admired Jobs' dedication and passion. As a young boy who was adopted by a high school drop out, he grew up knowing the meaning of artistic perfection. Many entrepreneurs do not possess this quality. He understands that customers are the top priority. 
• I least admired how he always seemed to always lash out when things did not go his way. In my opinion, I found those actions to be very childish when working in a professional environment with a team of other engineers. Although he ended up being successful and getting back on his team, he could have avoided facing negative impacts by simply controlling his anger or seeking help to do so.
• Jobs certainly encountered failure and adversity like with his initial product, the Lisa. He also encountered this when looking for the right glass for his products and finally finding it (Corning Glass) in New York. Although he had an attitude, he overcame his failures by trying again and reflecting on his mistakes. He never let a mere failure hold him back from being one of the richest men in the world. 

2) One competency I noticed that the entrepreneur exhibited was in leadership. Although his leadership style was far from democratic, he eventually exhibited it in DreamWorks. He was the reason why that company thrived. 

3) One part of the reading that confused me was when Jobs attended college, dropped out and went to India. I find it confusing because it brings me to question why would someone leave their American life to go to a foreign country, become vegan and barely shower. The Buddhist religion, in general, confuses me but I see how much of an impact it had on Jobs' company. He learned the true meaning of simplicity, reality distortion and adaptation. 

4) I would ask Jobs why he chose to seek out the Buddhist religion and no others and I would ask him also if he regrets the way he handled his cancer. Although he was against undergoing chemotherapy it would be interesting to know if he would go back and do it despite his beliefs. 

5) Steve Job’s opinion of hard work was put together in these simple words: No Excuses. He knew the value of working hard and did not expect anything less. Although he was inferior and had a bad temper, he made it clear with his team how non-negotiable he was. I truly believe he not only learned this from going to India, but through his stepfather who motivated him to feel chosen and develop a passion for perfection during the technology and cultural movement.

12A

Choosing a segment: 

For this assignment, I chose a segment of young digital-driven minds. All three of my interviews were with people who have considered creating their own helpful traveling apps. One is Tamarra who studies public relations and looking to launch an app after she graduates which caters to the elderly working with a travel agent by a simple download. The other is Kerena, a fourth-year advertising major looking to create a platform to provide travel services for all. The last person, Tim, is a local Gainesville resident, working to learn how to create apps.

What I learned: 

I learned that the demand for individuals to buy this product is high. Many of the people I interviewed mentioned they travel quite often and believe that as Generation Zers, we live in a digital age where people want fact-paced, secure and more efficient ways to access traveling plans. They all agreed that partnering airlines would be looked up to and seen to have a great reputation if they decide to provide discounts for the download of my efficient app. In general, I've learned that this is really a need for frequent travelers.

How I would describe this segment: 

I think that there are a lot of people who have thought about being late for flights. This segment serves as a huge opportunity. As stated previously, I am offering this to one main group: individuals who love to travel. With this target audience, my range of people will include Generation Zers and Millenials who are either traveling for business-related purposes or traveling for fun. My audience must also travel by plane frequently. My other subsidiary group would be airport workers and airplane companies such as Delta Airlines, Frontier Airlines, American Airlines, Jet Blue, Southwest Airlines, and every airline that exist in the U.S. today. Since my product is an app, it will combine reporting from airport workers who will track security checkpoint times and report them, each airline will play a significant role in acting as partners to offer 25% off to all travelers who download, and travelers will feed off of these opportunities.