Friday Fragments

I am ripping off this idea from the wife's blog www.actingbalanced.com but as they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

A few fragments:

1. How come it is always the weeks that you hope will be quieter that all of a sudden start to go 100 miles an hour?
2. Congrats to Erik for reaching a nice milestone this week.  
3. It has been nice having my in-laws in town this week.  I am dismayed that I have had little time to spend with them but I am glad they are enjoying grandchildren time.
4. I keep thinking this week, 'boy do I have the best students ever!'  I can not believe how many students have come by this week with pre-done work for me to comment on.  Talk about some very diligent and savvy students.
5. One of my favorite days of the year happened this week.  The 2011 Gavalas-Kolanko Foundation Scholarships were given out this week.  "The Gavalas-Kolanko Foundation (GKF) is a public charity established to help students with disabilities reach their secondary educational goals. By awarding scholarship assistance to College of Charleston students each year, the GKF helps make "Education Within Reach" for South Carolina undergraduates pursuing a college education despite physical limitations.  Since 1999, the GKF has awarded 52 scholarships to students at College of Charleston and Charleston Southern University. "   If anyone is interested in supporting this charity, they have their annual James Island Connector Run on November 5th.  I am told it is one of the best runs in town (I happily volunteer and do surveys afterwards - it saves the parametric some CPR practice).

Well happy Friday to all...

Technology & Tourism Thursday - Google Wallet

Last week in my HTMT 210 class we discussed tourism and technology.  One of the topics that got everyone talking was the Google Wallet (see below):

Here is a demonstration:

One only has to think about the potential impacts that this technology would have on the Hospitality industry.  Imagine not having to exchange currency, being able to tap to pay for a taxi ride or knowing your balance as you vacation.  This technology has a world of potential but will it be adopted on a large scale?

Here are some potential issues to consider:

Will Visa, MasterCard and all of the other credit companies agree to use similar technology so that companies won't have to have multiple devices?

and

How will the security features work?  Will thieves be able to quickly have near field technology devices that steal your money by just walking by someone?  Thieves can out with card skimmers pretty quickly.  I am sure the criminal element are already working ion their solutions to this problem.

Overall, I think this is a great concept.  I will happily give up the 50 million loyalty cards in my wallet.  I also think the security on this device is better than cards themselves.  Further, I believe that being able to track ones bank balance with each spend will affect the way people handle money.  I think it would make us think twice about overspending.  This might be a good solution to an overspending nation.

Wordless Wednesday - Erik Exploring Bohicket Marina

You Tubing Tuesday - Top Three Parody Songs!

Today, lets do the top three parody songs!

#3 - Of course Weird Al has to make the list but which to choose?  In this case the parody is more popular than the original song!

#2 - This song just begged to be parodied.  I am glad that Fergie had such a great sense of humor about it.  Alanis, you may have once been bitter but now your just plain funny.

#1 - Disco was just begging to be parodied as a whole and boy did Rick Dees do that with this song!

Media Monday - University education no guarantee of earnings success

This week's Media Monday focus is an article by James Bradshaw entitled University education no guarantee of earnings success.  The premise of the article is that a large percentage of Canadian university students are not performing well income-wise post graduation.  This got me thinking; What do the most successful graduates do while in university to set themselves up for success?  Here are three commonalities I have noticed:

1. Successful graduates engage.  The students not only care about their classes but they also participate in clubs, attend guest lectures, volunteer, and either work part-time or have an internship (often both).  By the time they graduate that they have a well rounded resume and as a result also have a comprehensive education; 
2. Successful graduates spend four years networking.  These student introduce themselves to anyone and everyone.  These are people who at the end of a class with a guest speaker will come up to introduce themselves, ask a question and thank them for taking the time to speak to the class.  BTW, these are also the students who have business cards with a link to their online resume or Linkedin account on it.  These are also the young adults who send hand written thank you notes. 
3. Successful graduates also have life skills.  These students can manage a household budget.  They can cook and clean for themselves.  They have learned that if they have a deadline they can not go out even for just an hour.  They have developed time management skills and have learned to work both efficiently and effectively. 

I believe it is my job as a professor to provide opportunities for students to develop.  It is my job to bring  guest speakers onto campus, give assignments that develop life skills as well as academic knowledge and give support to on-campus clubs and events.   It is also my job to keep connected with industry and to work with them to get student internship and part time job opportunities.  The best graduates know that an education happens not just in the classroom but in the greater university community and take advantage of the opportunities that are presented to them within that environment.

The Challenge

A colleague of mine has challenged me to blog daily until the end of the year.  He does not believe I am disciplined enough to do it.  Though he is kind enough not to point it out - I would like to add that I believe I am not creative enough to do it either. I do however, believe that this is a challenge worth undertaking (perhaps this was the wrong choice of words).  So, to have a chance, I have to come up with a plan.  So here is mine:

Sunday - Family Friendly Day - Updates and family friendly content
Monday - Media Day - I will discuss what I think will be the story of the week.
Tuesday - YouTube Classics - I will pick out of top three list of music clips for y'alls enjoyment!
Wednesday - Worldless Wednesday
Thursday - Technology & Tourism Thursday - Discussion of Technology that will affect the Tourism industry or just my personal life.
Friday - Focus on Research and other fun topics...
Saturday -  Slippery Slope - a day with more flexibility for whatever the heck I want...

So, now this is out on record for all to see if I pass or fail.  We shall see...

Sunday at the Beach!

One of the best things about Charleston is Beach Walker Park followed by a 'linner' at Red's Ice House at the Bohicket Marina.  Here is a couple of clips of the kids playing at the beach... A perfect Sunday afternoon!

Happy Birthday Liam

My not so little man turns five today...a perfect time for a retrospective don't you think?

He was cute right from the start!

He is always swinging into action...

and is a little inquisitive as well.

Sometimes maybe a little too inquisitive...

He is growing...

He has his own personality...

He is everything a father would want his boy to be...

Happy birthday Liam!