Domain Expert- Thomas Rodgers is my domain expert. Mr. Rodgers is the lead IT developer at a company called the New England Packaging company. Rodgers was responsible for creating the company's online customer platform used for ordering products and services. Mr. Rodgers and I met at a networking event before Career Showcase at UF and we had a few different conversations over the course of the week. I emailed him about my business idea and he told me that he saw the growth potential in it. He directed me to which programming languages and online databases I could most effectively use for my platform. By having a technical expert I can contact whenever I have questions regarding the platform development will greatly help me design a very efficient and user-friendly online service.
Market Expert- Aaron Brady is my market expert. Mr. Brady works at the UF Survey Research Center which conducts research for the university and outside contractors like Texas Medicaid, Florida Department of Health, and the state government. Part of Brady's research is focused solely on university students, which makes him an expert in my target segment. I met Mr. Brady at the UFSRC when I used to work there as a survey interviewer. The biggest benefit I see to having Mr. Brady in my network is that whenever I would like feedback or additional input regarding my platform, I know I can rely on Brady for the research necessary for it.
Supplier- Drew Manning is my supplier. He is a textbook sales representative for McGraw-Hill textbooks, one of the biggest textbook manufacturers in the country. I met him at a sales convention this past summer that I attended with my father. I believe Manning will be useful because I can turn to him for information regarding book pricing which I could use when I am creating my payment options for my platform.
This experience did not differ from any previous networking experiences I have had because two of the three people were met through traditionally networking methods, which I am familiar with. However, this exercise gave me a real example of why networking is so important which has made me realize I need to expand my network as much as I can.
Hi Ajay, I found it interesting how all of the people that you needed to network with were readily available. My experience was different because I had to speak to people I did't know at all. So reaching to them on platforms from just calling, emailing, and social media was quite the experience.
ReplyDeleteHi Ajay, Great post you did. That is cool that you were able to link up and network with such knowledgable people in the field you are trying to do your product in. I loved this exercise because it challenged me. It made me really think about who I was going to pick as my three experts. I can not wait to learn so much more in this class.
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