We began the week with a collective group survey, critiquing everyone involved in the LABB program. By the end of our 5th week participating in the LABB program, I learned how critical thinking skills and open-mindedness is necessary for business and many other parts of life. My pledge brother called the LABB program a “practical application of our liberal arts education”. The critical thinking, research, public speaking skills and ability to work alone and in groups, are all developed here at Wabash College. Producing business plans, consulting on projects and the other assignments and case studies we’ve done in the 5 weeks of our internship will further help us improve as we continue past Wabash and go into our post-graduate school/ career.
During the week, I was given the opportunity to visit Just Marketing International (JMI) in Zionsville, IN. JMI is one of the biggest motorsports marketing firms in the world. At JMI, we learned how closely guarded some information is. The legal restrictions, and level of accountability held by everyone in the racing motorsports from the drivers to secretaries of the lawyers who negotiate deals with their sponsors. Internationally he told us how data that was kept on a server in the different country was put in jeopardy. He and the JMI team had several assistants collecting survey data on iPads. When these iPads were left unattended, they were stolen. The first thing he said he did was call his attorney and then the data collection service to ensure the data was backed up on their servers. In this scenario, the individual iPads themselves was less important than the data that was collected. This segued into a way that we could make our apps more profitable. By tracking data, collecting demographic information, and tracking purchase history we can make our app usage unique for every user. Plus, businesses that want to reach our target market would potentially pay for the data that we collect so they can improve their marketing strategies accordingly. This week was another chance to witness all of the achievements that the Wabash Mafia has created. This week allowed me to get a glimpse at more successful Wabash Alumni while also motivating me to push myself and my peers towards greater success. I would like to thank the Lily Endowment for granting me this opportunity to broaden my horizons in the world of business.
