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Meet and greet Michigan Innovators newest blogger

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Welcome to the meet and greet for Michigan Innovators newest blogger, Colin Loomis. I am excited to join the team and provide you with more insight into innovation around Michigan throughout the summer. Currently, I am a student at Eastern Michigan and study International Business and Computer Information Systems. With only 3 semesters remaining in my studies, I am excited to apply what I have learned to real world applications in preparation for whatever comes next.

I was 16 when I traveled abroad for the first time and I haven't gone a year without traveling somewhere since then. After living in Germany for 5 months and visiting over 10 countries from 3 different continents, my appetite to learn more about different cultures only continues to grow. Working with Michigan Innovators will give me my first real chance to connect my international interests with business and computing interests. I am excited to see what Michigan companies are doing to keep up with the expanding global market.

 I look forward to spending this summer connecting with local businesses and sharing the innovative ways they have been able to use globalization to their advantage. I am always interested in hearing what you the reader has to say, whether you agree with me or not! Leave me some feedback and I will do my best to address your interests.

Signing off for the first of many times,

Colin

New to the Bullpen, I introduce myself and my blogging goals.

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Hello all,

My name is Brian G. Barkley and I am halfway though my undergraduate studies in Math and French at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I will be a regular contributor to the Bullpen until the end of August when I will study abroad at the Superior School of Economics in Clermont-Ferrand, France.

I worked as an Engineer and I&T Intern at Soliant Energy, a Pasadena, California start-up solar panel company last summer. I am very interested in renewable energy and I hope to continue my research in the field. I think that our Big Three automakers have the opportunity to spark the economy for renewable energy of all types across the country, and I would like to find out what possibilites there are in Michigan for growth in those fields.

I am very excited about the opportunity that I have with michiganinnovators.org, as it is a site with a new spin and a purpose. I am equally as eager to start working with Bud, Tina, Nathan, Colin and Marcell as they have made me feel welcome and a important member of the team.

A new blogger at Michigan Innovators introduces herself and what she wants to focus on for research and blogs.

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My name is Tina Traitses and I am finishing up my education in Industrial Distribution with my internship this summer at a non-profit organization. I took a couple of Dr. Gibson’s classes and he has created some new ways of teaching, and has a lot of great ideas up his sleeve. I am done with my classes, but I want to continue learning, and writing blogs is a great way to learn by seeking out important information and writing about it.

As a proud Michigander, I am preparing to enter Michigan's workforce at a time when Michigan's economy is enduring some hardships. Blogging for Michigan Innovators is one step that I am taking to distinguish myself in a competitive job market.

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Greetings and Salutations.

My name is Marcell Morris and I am going to be one of the new "cub reporters" for the Michigan Innovators Bullpen.  I am currently a student at Eastern Michigan University, majoring in Computer Information Systems.  As a proud Michigander, I am preparing to enter Michigan's workforce at a time when Michigan's economy is enduring some hardships.  Blogging for Michigan Innovators is one step that I am taking to distinguish myself in a competitive job market.  This assignment will be a great opportunity to learn about the current workforce and allow me to network with the many Michigan entrepreneurs participating in the Michigan Innovators project.  

Like my fellow reporter Nathan Zander, I am very interested in search engine optimization and pay per click advertising.  I have recently completed a Web Development class taught by Dr. Bud Gibson.  Part of my class project was to develop a Google Adwords account for a local non-profit organization.  This hands-on learning experience had a great impact on my future career aspirations.  As I was learning new concepts like keywords, quality score,  and click-through-rate, I was also seeing the great impact that a few small internet ads were having on my non-profit organization's internet marketing return on investment.  I found my experience with online advertising to be fun, challenging, and rewarding.  As a self-proclaimed internet addict, I soon realized that online marketing was a perfect fit for me. 

For the next few months I will be sharing some of my experiences with you as I head down this path to becoming an online marketing diva.   I hope you will stay tuned in as I throw some pitches in the bullpen.  This next few months should be very exciting.  

Since I am a new face to the site I though that I would give you some background information about myself so everyone could better understand what I am doing here and who I am.

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Hello to all,

My name is Nathan Zander and I will be one of the active members in the bull pen for the next few months. I am excited to be here and see this as and oppertunity to learn in grow in the innovative online industry of michigan.

So, now lets get into a little about myself. I am a junior at Eastern Michigan University studing marketing and have just recently discovered the online advertising and marketing aspect of Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising and am incredibly intrigued by it. I have spent the last few months overseeing a google adwords account for a non-profit in Detroit, Michigan called BlightBusters and have plans to continue with them this summer and also add to my portfolio as well.

This is the presentation I gave at Google two weeks ago showing my progress with Google Adwords. BBGoogle_Presentation.ppt 

I am excited to be involved with Michigan Innovators and I believe that this is a great opportunity for all involved from the students in the bullpen, Michigan Innovators organization themselves, to the businesses giving us their time and help. I have so many ideas and I just cannot wait to get the ball rolling!

 More from me soon.......

It struck me that we could all better leverage our resources by putting students directly in touch with opportunity and then having them report on it.

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The bullpen is a place where student volunteers contribute directly to Michigan Innovators.

I started Michigan Innovators a little less than a year ago. In the time since, it has become clear to me that the site deals with three constituencies:

• The innovative business people who power the site's interviews content.
• Academics who use the interviews as a teaching resource.  Right now, there are just Diana Wong and myself in this category.
• Students in my classes who seem to have two motivations:
  • Finding a job (80%)
  • Starting their own business or freelancing (20%)

In considering this latter group, students, some of them showed considerable interest in the site content and were always coming to me for contacts, etc. It struck me that we could all better leverage our resources by putting students directly in touch with opportunity and then having them report on it. The benefits I see:

• Students gain direct experience pursuing leads and presenting themselves.
• Through student efforts, Michigan Innovators increases its reach withiin the practicing innovation community.

The student experience is structured around determining the type of company they eventually want to join or form and then determining how to do it. I expect we will learn a lot from their accounts of their experiences.