Professional Contribution Assignments
Overview
To demonstrate your ability to contribute to professional dialogue through your use of reflective commentary, you will be required to comment on several assigned articles and/or videos that present marketing-related material. Your task is to use your previously gained experiences as well as knowledge acquired from your courses to add to the dialogue from the perspective of your industry, your organization, your position, and/or your personal/professional experiences in order to contribute to the discussion of various marketing yourself aspects of the presented material. You will do this via both an original Comment (6 points) and a Reply to someone else's comment or reply.
When writing your comments/replies, remember that you are representing your own personal/professional brand and, in essence, marketing yourself. Portray yourself as a professional in all interactions. Do NOT repeat the question prior to answering. Do NOT reference the course/class or refer to an "instructor" or "professor" because this may cause other readers to discount your expertise due to what will then be perceived as your "student" status. Remember that your brand is a professional one. All comments and replies should be of a positive nature and should be thoughtful, intelligent, and, when possible, incorporate concepts learned in the course. Disagreeing with the author/presenter is fine, but do so amiably and always on a professional level.
If you decide to share the article/video via social media (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc.) to showcase your expert commentary, it would be best to share the article/video immediately after you make your comment so that your particular comment(s) will be more accessible at the time of sharing (rather than buried below other comments). You also might decide to use your comment on the assigned article/video as a way to connect (professionally) with other individuals by making reference to their articles, videos, websites, etc. You can do this by mentioning their name or username (as a hyperlink in that platform) in hopes that they will be notified and thus see your comment, and/or you can simply copy and paste your comment into an email message and let them know directly that you mentioned them and felt compelled to promote their work. Previous students who have used this technique have been able to connect with top corporate executives, authors, popular speakers, and even some mid-level celebrities.
Your comments can be formal or casual, but use proper spelling and grammar as appropriate. Remember that you are representing your own personal/professional brand.
Article/Video Topics
You will have to comment (and reply to a comment) for each of the following five short articles and videos. You do not need to be an expert on any of the topics, but use your common sense and personal/professional experiences to add to the professional dialogue.
• For PCA-1, view "Perception vs. Reality" on YouTube.
• For PCA-2, view "Master the Art of Conversation: How to Disagree Respectfully" on YouTube.
• For PCA-3, read "Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg Says that You Don't Have a Personal Brand. Well, Do You?" on LinkedIn at https://bit.ly/NoBrand or view it on YouTube.
• For PCA-4, view "Using the Stages of Change (Transtheoretical) Model" on YouTube.
• For PCA-5, read "Customer Lifetime Value" on LinkedIn.
As you watch/read each video/article, consider how they could apply to your process of building and managing your professional brand.
Specific Instructions Part One: The Comment
For each of the videos/articles, use your YouTube account (for videos) or LinkedIn account (for articles) to provide professional commentary by writing two to four complete, compelling, grammatically correct sentences, using one of the questions below as a guide (do NOT use the question word-for-word, but only as a GUIDE). NOTE: for each video/article, you must use a different question as the guide for your comment.
1. Which part of the video/article resonated most with you (or you most connected with) and how could you use that information or concept in your professional life?
2. What concept or idea from the video/article have you experienced in the past and what was your experience?
3. Which point of the video/article did you agree with the most, and why?
4. What is a "hidden gem" or something that few would notice in the video/article and why?
5. What is an addition that you could offer to extend the concepts discussed in the video/article?
6. How does or could the material in this video/article (or some portion of it) apply to your particular industry or field or job position?
7. How could the material presented in this video/article inspire or influence you or someone else to change your approach to marketing, sales, personal branding, or behavioral change?
8. What is an aspect of this video/article that gives you a different perspective on some aspect of marketing, sales, personal branding, and/or behavioral change?
9. Which point(s) of this video/article have you not considered before, and how could it change your thinking about the topic?
Specific Instructions Part Two: The Reply
For each of the videos/articles, you also will be required to reply to another person's comment (or another person's reply to a comment) in a manner that furthers the professional contribution of the idea or thread portrayed in the comment/reply. Remember, your replies also should be of a positive nature and should be thoughtful, intelligent, and, when possible, incorporate concepts learned in the course and from your experiences. Your goal should be to add to the professional dialogue. After you have made your reply, be sure to take a legible screenshot of the entire reply for later submission in the Assignment Dropbox.
Specific Instructions Part Three: Submit in Assignment Dropbox
Complete the following in a document and then save it as a single PDF:
1. Student Name
2. YouTube User Name
3. LinkedIn User Name
4. For each of the five PCAs, include the following:
a. Which guide question did you use while formulating your comment for this article or video? (Write the number and the text of the question, not just the number please.)
b. Screenshot of the entire comment. Import/embed the screenshot of the comment as an image in the document. Be sure that you size the screenshot large enough that the comment can be read easily.
c. Screenshot of reply (note that reply screenshot also must include the referenced comment and/or reply for context in grading). Import/embed the screenshot of the reply as an image in the document. Be sure that you size the screenshot large enough that the reply can be read easily.
d. Save the final document as PCA-YourName and then upload it to the appropriate Assignment Dropbox link.
5. Be sure to subscribe to the YouTube channels and connect with or follow the LinkedIn authors so that you can follow any dialogue that is inspired by your comments and replies.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also Include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.