Full Sail "6th Annual Hall of Fame"

The annual "Hall of Fame" inductions are always an exciting time on the Full Sail campus. I was able to catch the last day of the "6th Annual Hall of Fame" this year and was re-energized by the great things going on at Full Sail.

The seminar I attended, "Successful Strategies for New Business", offered some great tips for early entrepreneurs who have a lot of business ideas in mind. On the panel were members of the Hispanic Business Initiative Fund as well as legal representatives and Full Sail grads now turned entrepreneur. 

A lesson that I learned from this seminar is that if you have a few ideas you want to pursue - focus. Narrow your ideas down and see if there is a need for the product or service you want to provide. It is also very important to separate emotions from business and never start a business that you're not willing to sell.

They say it takes an average of "three" business attempts to start a successful business - so no matter what, be willing to take risks and do not get discouraged early on. Make sure to be organized from the beginning and have a strong network of advisors and mentors as these are very important steps to starting a business.  

Later that evening was the induction ceremony. I got to catch some of the new faces on the red carpet that have graduated from Full Sail and gone on to pursue their dreams. There was also the smiling face of Orlando's own "Ambassador of Love", Donna Dowless, who has been extremely successful in the entertainment industry. Donna was walking arm-and-arm with renowned entertainment attorney at at law, Al Schlesinger. I also got to see Howie D from the Backstreet Boys which was really exciting since going to Backstreet Boys concerts growing up is what turned me on to the entertainment industry.

Full Sail "Hall of Fame" was a very inspiring and motivating event and I'm happy I was able to make it back!  

Music Weekend in Miami

Recently, I drove down from Orlando and spent a few days in South Florida where I was able to experience some behind the scenes things that go on in the music industry.  When I got to Miami on Wednesday night, I went straight to Circle House Studios where my friends Day 26 were in the middle of a recording session.  It was really cool to get a first hand look at them going through the process of recording a new album.

They were working on their current single, "Made Love Lately", which is also available on iTunes.  I also got to catch up with their manager, Screwface, and talk about different things going on with music these days.  The late night session ended in the early morning hours around 6:30am.  The next night I attended a VIP event at the Blue Martini in Boca Raton featuring recording artist, Mann. Mann was doing a club appearance with a short performance.

Friday it was back to Miami where I met with a producer who has done some work with the group Voicemail.  I am currently the social media manager for Voicemail, so it was a good opportunity to touch base and discuss some future possibilities for the group.  Later in the afternoon I attended the video shoot for Trina's song "Red Bottoms".  The video was shot by experienced director, Gil Green, and the official video can be seen here.


This was a really great experience because I got to see all of the things that go into a full days video shoot.  The trip exposed me to new things in the music industry and made me even more excited to pursue my interest to work in the industry.

ESPN College GameDay Video Shoot

On June 6, 2011 ESPN shot the opening credits for College GameDay at my school, Full Sail University. The video shoot featured multi-platinum country duo, Big & Rich, with their GameDay theme song - "Comin' To Your City" - which has been the theme song for 6 consecutive years. The video shoot also featured special guests Cowboy Troy and Two Foot Fred along with hundreds of enthusiastic extras.

When I heard about the awesome opportunity to be apart of this shoot, I was all in! I have always wanted to work behind the scenes in the entertainment industry so this was a really great chance to see how everything gets done and comes together.

Cheerleaders/Dancers flown in from around the country

I arrived at the shoot early, around 8am, fully equipped with my University of Michigan gear and posters to represent my Alma Mater. I was instantly in awe of all the components that went into the production. A friend of mine was a Production Assistant on set and let me shadow her for a bit to see what her job entailed. She was definitely busy, to say the least. From getting large crowds together to making everyone look good and ensuring that everyone was where they were supposed to be, she was always on the go. These are exactly the kinds of things that I look forward to doing while working in the industry as I love working with people and putting together large projects, like this.

Fan Fest

Full Sail University Fan Fest was a really great opportunity for me to get involved in sports related events outside of school. "Fan Fest" is when Full Sail sets up a tent outside of sporting events to spread the word of Full Sail to fans walking by. I participated in a Major League Baseball Spring Training Fan Fest on March 27, 2011 at Disney's World Wide of Sports. I also participated at a number of Fan Fest events prior to Orlando Magic games.

My duty at Fan Fest was to engage with fans and inform them about Full Sail. There was a "Spin to Win" opportunity for fans where each fan entered their information and spun a digital wheel. Each contestant was a winner and won a prize from Full Sail t-shirts to basketballs and baseball bats. After five Fan Fest events, we had collected more than 600 entries and gave away more than 1,000 Full Sail branded items and collateral pieces.

Fan Fest taught me a lot about networking and marketing. It was a great way to get out and talk to potential students about what Full Sail has to offer. I also used this as an opportunity to network with professionals who work at Amway Center and Disney's World Wide of Sports. The experience was beneficial because I was able to work with Admissions Representatives from Full Sail and make more of a connection with the faculty at Full Sail. These types of relationships can always help when job searching as you never know who could be the missing link to a greater connection. Fan Fest got me heavily involved and engaged in the community as I worked with others to provide a positive experience for the fans.

Green Room Event with Phil Wagner

While I was a student at Full Sail I was honored to be invited to a special Green Room Event. The Green Room offers an opportunity for a limited number of students to enjoy a rare meeting with true industry professionals. Students who are chosen to attend the event are identified, via their Global Professionalism Standard score, as being at the top of their class for outstanding professional behavior. On April 20, 2011 myself and approximately ten other students participated in an intimate question and answer session with industry professional, Phil Wagner.

Phil Wagner is the President of Focusrite Novation Inc. and has had a great deal of experience in live production. In his current position, Mr. Wagner is working on developing a strong American presence for the U.K. company, Focusrite Audio Engineering Ltd. I asked him what one of the biggest boundaries is working overseas and he said to always be aware of timezones! Sometimes people get too involved in what they are doing and forget that they are working on a project with someone that is five hours ahead of. It is important to stay on top of things like this because while they might seem small, those few hours can make all the difference.

One thing that Mr. Wagner taught us was to have a list of goals and make sure to write them down. He stressed that it is important not only to have long-term goals, but short-term goals that you can get accomplished sooner. I find this advice useful as I enter the professional world because it is important to have a visual of the things you are trying to accomplish. Mr. Wagner also stressed that people buy into enthusiasm, so whatever it is you do, be enthusiastic about it! I will continue to set goals and give 100% of my work in hopes that the goals will get accomplished and I will inspire others to do the same.

Amway Center Open House Tour

The sports industry is just one of the parts of the entertainment industry that I am very interested in. I was thrilled to hear about the Open House Tour of the new Amway Center that we were being offered as students at Full Sail. On January 25, 2011 myself and a group of classmates got a backstage tour of the new Amway Center. Michael Loulan, Client Services Coordinator at the Amway Center, lead us through the arena and gave us a great deal of information on everything from corporate sponsorships to the technical aspects of the arena. I found the tour to be so informative that I did another tour of the arena on April 21, 2011.

The detail that went into the new Amway Center is impeccable.  Everything in the arena has a purpose.  For example, the arena is divided into two colors - orange because we are a citrus state and green because Florida is such a green state.  Season ticket holders will have either green or orange on their ticket to assist them in finding their seats easier.  The new Amway Center focuses on customer experience and does everything to enhance that experience.

One of the things that I found very interesting on the tour were all of the different corporate sponsorships that are present in Amway Center. When you think about it, it is really like you are walking in one big advertisement with companies like Geico, AirTran and Disney.  Another interesting fact that I learned was that Amway Center is in fact owned by the city of Orlando. I always thought of venues like this as being the "home" to a sports team.  However, that team has to rent the venue out just like everyone else. This was apparent during the NBA Finals this year when the Chicago Bulls had to play a day early because Oprah Winfrey was taping one of her last shows at the United Center and had the space reserved before the NBA. I believe opportunities like this tour are things that should not be turned down because there is always the possibility of them opening the door to future opportunities.

The B.I.G. Summit

On November 18, 2010 I attended The B.I.G. (Business Innovation and Growth) Summit at The Peabody Orlando. This event attracted a number of entrepreneurs and business leaders from the Central Florida region as it is Orlando's premiere event for business, innovation and growth. Some of the speakers at the event included Nick Friedman, President and Co-Founder of College Hunks Hauling Junk, Leslie Hielema, President of Orlando, Inc., and Bert Jacobs, Chief Executive Optimist of The Life is Good Company.

Classmates and I attended the summit with our teacher, Kate Hartig. I learned a great deal about networking at this event, as there were a number of different businesses present. I spoke with these businesses to see the opportunities they had available as I was interested in potential jobs or volunteer positions.

After watching some of the speakers, we broke into "Innovation Workshops", which I found very helpful. I attended the "Mining for New Customers by Leveraging Technology" workshop. This workshop taught me a lot about social networking and how to use it to conduct market research.  We were exposed to a number of different techniques, such as using Facebook Ads to estimate your target reach based on customers location and interests.  Workshop panelists emphasized the importance and strength of social media. This workshop really opened up my eyes to start looking at social networking outside of personal use. Social networking is such a powerful tool and can be extremely effective when starting a business and looking for new customers.