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.

Pure Motivation

Pure Motivation is an organization that is a part of the Professional Development Department at Full Sail University. Pure Motivation's mission statement says Pure Motivation is, "harnessing the power of Full Sail's creative compassion to positively impact our community." I am a strong believer in community service and think it is very important to give back to the community.  Pure Motivation was a group that I definitely wanted to get involved with because it allowed me to get involved and help the community outside of the classroom.

On April 17, 2010, as part of the Great American Clean-up, Pure Motivation volunteered with Keep Brevard Beautiful for their annual Trash Bash. At 6:30 AM myself and over 50 other volunteers went to Lori Wilson Park at Cocoa Beach where we filled the morning with hard work and bags of trash.

It was a very fulfilling feeling walking down the beach and hearing how grateful people were to us for cleaning up the beach. Barbara Venuto, Environmental Programs Coordinator, wrote in an email, "your efforts deserve high accolades. It is not every college student that would wake up extra early on a Saturday morning to be at the beach to do a cleanup." It is very uplifting to hear things like this and inspires me to continue to volunteer in community service events like this.

Entertainment Networking Society

The Entertainment Networking Society (ENS) is a club on campus that I have been very involved with since I started at Full Sail. ENS is a campus organization that provides students with effective networking tips and techniques in an effort to enhance their careers paths. Our classmates at Full Sail are one of our biggest assets when it comes to working our way into the industry.  ENS strives to bring all programs together to give students the opportunity to network with one another. ENS holds a number of workshops and hosts a variety of guest speakers to influence students and get them working with each other.  At the end of each meeting, students have the opportunity to broadcast their work during our "Plug Yourself" segment.  At this time students talk about things they are working on and reach out to those who are willing to help on projects.  This gets students from different degree programs working with one another to create great pieces of work.

In April 2010 I was elected as the Director of Membership for ENS. As Director of Membership I hold a number of responsibilities. I work closely with the Director of Public Relations to post flyers and promote ENS meetings around campus and on online. I am responsible for maintaining the current ENS membership information as well as collecting new membership information at meetings. Along with the other directors, I create and give presentations to the students on networking topics as well as attend SGA Summits to promote ENS. The other directors and I work closely to get relevant guest speakers and organize beneficial workshops.  Past workshops have included help with creating business cards, resume and cover letter writing.

Month 11 - Business Plan Development

My last month on campus was Business Plan Development with Mike Koch. This month we spent a great deal putting our business plans together, paying close attention to each part. Since the beginning of the program I have changed my business plan to J. Coney's, a Detroit-style Coney Island.

The Leadership Portfolio Assignment for this month was to examine and summarize the views and positions of two recognized business plan experts in the field. I researched the work of Omar Soliman and Guy Kawasaki, two people whom I believe have great experience writing business plans. This assignment taught me different approaches to writing a business plan and things that I might run into along the process.

Omar Soliman won a first place prize of $10,000 in a business plan writing competition.  The business plan that he submitted was the first plan he had ever written for his company "College Hunks Hauling Junk".  While some might not think of Omar as an expert at writing business plans, I admire him for taking an idea and executing it.  Soliman taught me that investors are looking for vision and enthusiasm so it is important to appear confident in your business plan when trying to sell it.

Guy Kawasaki is an entrepreneur and author, amongst other things.  A very important lesson that I learned from Kawasaki is that some people spend too much time on their business plan rather than executing it.  While I think a business plan is essential, I also think it is important to execute the plan as your are writing it.  This does not necessarily mean go out and start the business, but rather start talking to others about the idea to create a buzz.  A business plan is something that should be used as one of the many tools that are used when starting a business.

Month 10 - Mobile Marketing and Commerce

Mobile Marketing and Commerce with Bill Thompson was my Month 10 class. This month we learned a great deal about mobile devices with a strong focus on mobile phones. I am very intrigued by mobile marketing and its future. QR Codes, also known as Quick Response Codes, are something I believe are the next big thing in mobile marketing. Just recently I was walking around New York City at night after the stores had closed. I passed Brookstone and saw the image to the right in the window.

The image in the window read, "Brookstone is QR-enabled", and had codes next to each product in the window.  The small paragraph below the code talks about QR Codes and states that passerby's can scan a code in the window with their Smartphone to receive more information on a product.  I think it is amazing that with this type of advertising, companies can continue to provide information about products even after the store has closed.

Donna Dowless is a very successful woman from the entertainment industry who came to speak to our class. I found her stories and attitude to be extremely inspirational. Donna has a lot of experience in event planning and putting together major concerts, something that I would love to do. Donna also had such a positive attitude and exuded such love and energy when she spoke that she made me feel like I could go on to do anything. One of the biggest things Donna taught us was never be afraid to ask!  The worst someone can say is "no" and there is no such thing as a "stupid question", therefore you really have nothing to lose by just asking.  I appreciate Donna for coming to our class and hope to follow in her footsteps one day as I continue on my path.

The Leadership Portfolio Assignment for this class was to go out and interview at least five people on their behaviors with their mobile device. I asked individuals questions in regards to their service provider and how much time they spend on their mobile device. I also asked things pertaining to mobile marketing and how open they are to receiving marketing messages via text message on their mobile device.

I learned a number of things from this assignment and I was surprised by some of the answers that I got. Apple was the most popular answer when asked what two companies first come to mind when the words "mobile device" are mentioned. This did not surprise me due to the popularity of the iPhone. However, I find it interesting because Apple started as a computing company but now is very well known for their mobile phone.

I asked individuals if they were open to receiving marketing messages via text message and I learned that people are way more open to mobile marketing than I thought. However, people seem to only be open to the idea if they opt-in to getting messages via text message. Not everyone has unlimited text messaging, therefore e-mail was the most preferred way of receiving marketing messages from companies.  This assignment taught me the importance of conducting market research.  There is no better way to find out what people think than to ask them firsthand.

Month 9 - Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing was my Month 9 class with Kristen Lamm. This month we learned a great deal about social networking, blogging, search engine optimization and a number other things pertaining to the Internet.

The Leadership Portfolio for this class was to manage our online reputation. I outlined the professional profile I want to develop online through sites like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. I also organized my feeds on Google Reader so that I get information pertaining to things I am interested in.  The different subjects that I organized in my feeds were:

• Job Search
• Industry News
• Reputation

For each of these I set up a RSS feed on my Google Reader so that I am constantly getting updates on topics I search for. Some job titles that I monitor in my "Job Search" folder are public relations and marketing jobs in Orlando that come up on sites like Indeed.com.  I want to watch my reputation on the Internet, therefore I monitor when the name "Jenn Cocariu" comes up on sites like Twitter and SocialMention.  For my "Industry News" I track everything from sports news to television news on sites such as E! and Perez Hilton.  From this assignment I learned how beneficial tools like Google Reader are because they keep you up to date on things that you are interested in.  I learned how to keep things more organized and in turn stay more up to date with things going on in the industry.

I also wrote a professional article about myself.  In this article I discussed three values that are important to me - positivity, motivation and sociability.  All of these values are important to me right now as I enter the "real world".  It is important that I maintain a positive attitude and that I am sociable and network with people because these are the things that will keep me motivated on my path to success.

Month 8 - Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution

Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution with Kim Craft was my Month 8 class. This month we were to focus on a piece of work that we would want to publish and distribute in the future.  Since I did not have anything that I was currently working on, I took a different approach to this class. I played the role of a manager for my friend, Katelynn Smith, who is writing a book. I used her book idea, which focuses on her battle with Lyme Disease, as my platform for the class. Through different assignments I discussed the process and steps I would take to publish and market it as Katelynn's manager.

The Leadership Portfolio Assignment for this class was to write a formal business strategy in which I describe the process of how myself and Katelynn will self-publish, promote, distribute and merchandise this piece of print media. The name of the book is "Living The Lyme: America's Betrayal of Youth Suffering From Lyme Disease".  The business strategy included these sections:

• Mission Statement
• Executive Summary
• Company Description
• Production Description
• Manufacturing and Distribution
• Marketing and Promotion
• Conclusion

This assignment taught me a lot about self publishing and really opened my eyes to different aspects of the entertainment industry.  I have not always been the creative one but love what goes on behind the scenes; therefore artist management has always been a career interest of mine.  Before this assignment, I focused mostly on the sports and music parts of the industry.  However, this assignment opened my eyes up to different artists and their pieces of work that need managing.  After putting things down on paper and seeing the idea come to life it really inspired myself and Katelynn to start moving forward with this idea.  I learned more about playing the role of a manager and helping the talent put together their work.  The manager gives that extra push when it comes to putting the logistics of documents like this together.

Month 7 - Advanced Entertainment Law

Month 7 was Advanced Entertainment Law with Cassie Willard. Our Leadership Portfolio Assignment for this class was to interview an entertainment attorney in the industry. In November 2010 I was watching an episode of "American Greed" featuring the infamous Lou Pearlman who is from the Orlando area. I saw a clip featuring the Prosecuting Attorney, Clay Townsend, who represented the Backstreet Boys versus Lou Pearlman and Google'd his name. I found out that his office was located here in Downtown Orlando, so I e-mailed Mr. Townsend to set up an interview.

I interviewed Mr. Townsend back in December 2010 in a large conference room located in his office building Downtown.  I asked him a number of questions about his past experience in the industry and various things pertaining to law.

From this interview I learned a great deal about contracts and how beneficial it is to broaden my knowledge of law. Mr. Townsend suggested that I talk to various attorneys or law students so I can ask questions and be more knowledgable on various law subjects. Another great piece of advice was to read past cases so that I can be exposed to different outcomes and understand how different laws apply. Along with past cases, I plan to read contracts so that I am more familiar with the language and can draft my own contracts up in the future.

Mr. Townsend has past experience in the venue and restaurant industry, therefore he also had some great advice for my business plan.  He warned me that I need to be ready to have a lot of management and be willing to work very long hours.  He also stressed the importance of a good team as they will hopefully help my business run more smoothly.

I was very happy with this Leadership Portfolio Assignment as it inspired me and helped me connect with a great industry contact.  I hope to stay in touch with Mr. Townsend as he and his stories were very motivational and has had some great experience in the industry.

Month 6 - Product and Artist Management

Month 6 was Product and Artist Management with Kate Hartig.  I was very excited for this month because artist management is a career path that has always been of interest to me.

This month we had a guest speaker, Annie Kidwell, an actor from the area come in and speak to us. Annie spoke to us about her career and different experiences she has had as an actor. Annie also gave us advice about the business end of the industry and how it is important to have a good relationship with your management so that the talent has the best opportunities presented to them. FAB - Florida Actors/Models Book - is a talent reference guidebook that Annie has compiled including resources for everything from Photographers to Voiceover and Print Agents.

For the Leadership Portfolio Assignment we were to go out into the community and interview an artist manager in the industry. I interviewed Joseph "Screwface" Charles (pictured on right) who has managed acts like Teddy Riley, Blu Cantrell and Day 26. I found this interview to be very beneficial since artist management is one of the career paths that I hope to take.

I have known Screwface for a few years now but have never taken the time to actually ask him about what it is he does. From this assignment I learned how important it is to ask people open ended questions because it gives you so much detail on what it is you are inquiring about. I found that people are so open to talking about what it is they do and are more willing to help when they see your enthusiasm on the issue. I learned a great deal not only about artist management but about the entertainment industry as a whole. Screwface taught me a lot about artist management and will continue to be a mentor for me on my path to success.

Month 5 - Negotiation and Deal Making

Negotiation and Deal Making with Suzann Bain was our Month 5 class. During this class we did a number of different negotiation exercises with classmates, playing different roles like Manager/Artist and TV Producer/Reality TV Star.  Michael Morman was a guest speaker who came and spoke to our class, pictured on the right.  He was very motivational as he told stories of his past and was also inspirational through his various messages.  One of the things he taught us was to never be too afraid because everyone has a fear.  When one nervously goes into a job interview, there is a good chance the person sitting at the opposite side of the table has a sense of nervousness as well.  Mr. Morman taught us to be aware of our emotions (and others) and to try and understand them so that we can use them to benefit us when going into a negotiation.

The Leadership Portfolio Assignment for this month required us to go out into the community and either conduct a negotiation or interview someone in the industry who has a lot of experience in negotiations. I interviewed a friend of mine, Nick Brown (pictured on the left), who was on MTV's reality television show - "The Real World". Since then he has had to negotiate a number of deals and contracts, therefore he had a lot of good advice when it came to negotiations.

I interviewed Nick on negotiation techniques he employs and asked for examples of negotiations that have been successful or unsuccessful and why. From this assignment and interview I learned that it is important to be prepared when going into a negotiation and always try to compromise with the other person. There is a good chance the other person is going to do their research as well so it is important to make a good name for yourself and have a strong reputation in the industry. One of the most important things that I learned was how important it is to know your worth. While you never want to turn down an opportunity, one needs to know their own worth so that you do not get taken advantage of.

Month 4 - Entertainment Business Finance

My Month 4 class was Entertainment Business Finance with Ron Cook. I was definitely a little nervous going into this class because I did not have any previous classes or experience in accounting, finance or economics during my undergraduate studies. The Leadership Portfolio Assignment for this month asked us to go out and interview a professional in the industry about various things pertaining to finance.

I interviewed Amanda L. Thomas, a personal banker at Comerica Bank in Downtown Orlando. More specifically, this location is a Wealth and Institutional Management Branch of Comerica Banks, meaning that they deal with a number of businesses and high-end clients.

I learned a great deal about personal and business banking from this interview.  I always wondered why there was only one Comerica Bank location in Orlando and why it looked a little different than most banks I was used to seeing.  This is when Amanda explained to me the difference between retail bank locations and wealth management locations. This bank specializes in Wealth and Institutional Management, paying more attention to private lending and high net worth banking.  Amanda also clarified a number of basic questions I had about banking in regards to different accounts and ways to store ones money.

Month 3 - Business Storytelling and Brand Development

Month 3 was Business Storytelling and Brand Development with Ken DeGilio. This was one of my favorite classes for two reasons. A) I have a strong interest in marketing and branding, and B) the class shares the same acronym as my favorite singing group the Backtreet Boys - BSB.

The Leadership Portfolio Assignment for BSB was to make a video narrative talking about some of the things that took place in our lives and how we got to where we are today. In the video we were supposed to act as CEO of our company in order to demonstrate effective brand identity.

In my video I believe I do a good job talking about myself and how I ended up in Florida and at Full Sail. However, I needed to demonstrate more effective brand identity for my business plan, which was a concert venue at the time. From this assignment I learned that it is important to have a clear vision because it helps when trying to tell a story about your brand. Also, I learned how great of a tool iMovie can be when doing a project like this.  I plan to use iMovie a lot more in the future when making short videos similar to this one so that I can have professional videos to show people.  In the end I learned that if you know your brand well, you will have an easier time telling the story about it to others.

Month 2 - Project and Team Management

Our second class was Project and Team Management with Annie Roun. Project and Team Management taught me a lot about working in teams and some important steps to take when working on a large project. The Leadership Portfolio Assignment asked us to work in teams to organize an event. We worked as a group of three (3) to organize a celebrity golf tournament featuring Tiger Woods. I was the Project Manager for our Leadership Portfolio Assignment, therefore it was my responsibility to make sure everyone in the group was doing their part. It was also my duty to make sure that everything was on track with the project and in line for our due date.

I learned a great deal from this project and realized how important communication is when working in teams.  Our team was in constant contact with one another, updating each other on each of our parts of the project.  Since we kept each other informed, it helped in the end when bringing the final project together.  I also found out how difficult it can be to coordinate meetings, as each team members schedule is different.  As a result, I learned to meet and communicate with my group in ways other than just meeting in person, such as by using resources like Skype and iChat.

Celebrity Golf Tournament

View more presentations from jcocariu.

Month 1 - Exploring the Leader Within

I started the Entertainment Business Masters Program at Full Sail University on March 28, 2010. My first class at Full Sail was Executive Leadership with Dr. Steve Adkins. Executive Leadership taught us necessary leadership skills that are effective in today's entertainment business field.

We learned through various readings, lectures and discussions as well as by analyzing clips of business oriented shows like "Shark Tank". The reading materials that we had for this class were The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene and Developing the Leader Within You by John C. Maxwell. These two books took very different approaches to leadership and I found them very useful to lead us into the program.

The Leadership Portfolio Assignment for Month 1 asked us to assess our current leadership skills. We talked about things that we were good at as well as things that we could improve on -

The Leadership Skills Assessment allowed me to evaluate my strengths and weaknesses as a leader. The assessment opened my eyes to which areas of leadership I am effective in and in which areas I need improvement:

Highly Effective:
• Attitude
• Creating Positive Change
• Integrity

Needs Improvement:
• Self-Discipline
• Priorities
• Vision

The skill that I believe I am most effective in is attitude. It is extremely important to have a good attitude in all situations, as it has a very large effect on people and outcomes. In most situations I am able to keep a positive attitude and use that positive attitude to help others, and myself. Having a positive attitude has also allowed me to be good at problem solving, since it is hard to solve a problem with a negative attitude.

I also discussed potential leadership activities I would partake in over the year -

My goal for the leadership portfolio is to get involved in different groups that both help the community and can give me experience on my career path. Two groups that I am interested in are the Music and Entertainment Industry Student Association, MEISA, and the Entertainment Networking Society, ENS. Participating in groups like these will give me a greater insight to the field I want to work in, and help me develop leadership skills that are important to possess. Some leadership skills these groups will help me with are people, because I will meet a lot of new people and learn to network effectively.

I also want to get involved in the community. Pure Motivation is an organization that volunteers to better the community. I have already participated in a Pure Motivation event, a beach clean up at Cocoa Beach. A weakness of mine has always been public speaking. Toastmasters is a group that focuses on improving public speaking skills, so getting involved with this group would help me a great deal. These groups will also help improve my self-discipline and priority skills because I will have to put these meetings ahead of things that might not be as important.

This assignment helped me see early in the program which areas of leadership I am strong in and where I need to improve. The assignment also prepared me for the Leadership Portfolio since it got me thinking of future activities I would do throughout the year. One organization that I have not yet joined, but plan to still get involved with is Toastmasters. I enjoy putting together presentations, therefore Toastmasters will help with the oral aspect of giving the presentations. I will continue to use what I learned about leadership in Month 1 as I plan my future career path.

This month we also chose a Business Plan that we would focus on throughout the program. I had never really thought of starting my own business in the beginning of the program, so I picked something that was of great interest to me. I have always loved going to concerts so my business plan was "In The Round", a concert venue that had a 360-degree rotating stage in the center of the venue.  Since then my plan has changed, however I still have "In The Round" in the back of my head as a possible project in the future.