GuideSpark

GuideSpark INTRODUCTIONMartin: Hi, today we are in Menlo Park in the GuideSpark office. Keith, who are you and what do you do?Keith: So I’m Keith Kitani and I’m the CEO and one of the co-founders of GuideSpark, a company that is really designed to help organizations communicate and connect with their employees better through video and mobile communications.Martin: And what did you do before? Because you‘ve had something like a really rollercoaster life over the last fifteen years or so.Keith: Exactly. It’s my second startup. I was originally, a long time ago an electrical engineer but went back to business school and changed my direction. But I started a company in the late nineties, it was a company called Presedia that we sold Macromedia that was then bought by Adobe and that was Adobe Connect so it was really in the eLearning and communication space and decided that while I loved Adobe and that company that I wanted to start over and so we started this company 2008.Martin: How did yo u come up with the idea for GuideSpark?Keith: Well, I’d like to tell you that I just came up with it one day and all of a sudden it was rocket ship but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. So we started this company in 2008 and originally around the idea of helping people with financial education and financial health but that was right before the recession and that was not a great time to sell wellness products. So that was a tough time for a couple of years.But what ended up happening is we started talking to customers and customers really pointed us in a direction about helping them communicate better with their employees, around things like benefits and compensation programs. And so the way we came up with the idea overnight is that we kept listening to customers over the years of time and finally realized we had a big huge market opportunity and really around 2012 the company really started to grow very fast.Martin: Especially yourstory’s very interesting because you did a big pivot of your business model. Can you elaborate on how the business model was looking before and after?Keith: So, we were in an area of financial health, of financial education and financial wellness and that’s a business actually we are back in but at the time it was not a great time for HR. So we were actually running out of cash so we had to really find a business that we could really have that would sell to customers. So we talked to a lot of prospects and customers and found that they had this need to communicate more effectively around benefits and compensation. So they spent a ton of money here in the US on benefits and it’s hard for employees to really understand the value of those programs and so we were able to create video and mobile education around it and it worked well.BUSINESS MODEL OF GUIDESPARKMartin: Let’s talk about your business model for GuideSpark. Basically and currently who are your customers and what type of value proposition are you doing to them? Keith: We have an interesting customer base that has been around different startups and companies. But our customer base â€" we have over 600 customers, they range in size from 100 employees all the way up to the large Fortune 10 companies. And in fact we’re now in 20 percent of the Fortune 500 so it doesn’t matter what size company you are.The other thing interesting about our business is that we have almost every industry; so we have city governments, we have high tech companies, we have trucking companies, we have mining companies, we have pretty much every industry. And so if you think about it, every company has employees, every company has to communicate to those employees and we’re really starting to hit all of those different people.Martin: Mainly in the US because of the different kinds of regulations for benefits?Keith: Yes, so we’re US-based but we’re supporting some of our multinationals internationally. But the real value proposition is if you think about how companies communicate today, it’s really the same way they’ve been doing it for the last ten, twenty, fifty years. It is employee manuals, it’s PowerPoint presentations, it is long text emails and if you think about how you connect and get information in your daily lives it’s probably video, mobile, interactive. And so what we’re doing is really helping companies transform their traditional communications into these new forms of communication that really are more effective in engaging employees.Martin: And do you see some kind of increase in conversion rates from showing employees that information and then to really sign up to a specific benefit program?Keith: Absolutely, that’s one of our key value propositions but there are a lot more value propositions around that. So increased participation in programs is one of them but also reduced call center time, reduced travel, there are a lot of different opportunities that have been incredibly valuable for corporate companies to utilize.Martin: After you pivoted the business, how was it like to acquire the first customers? How did you tackle them?Keith: The way we pivoted the business and it’s interesting when people say ‘pivoted’, it feels like it should be a sharp turn. And for me it took a while because for many years we were telling every investor, every employee, every customer how financial wellness is the greatest thing in the world, so it takes a little while. Because we were listening to customers it actually wasn’t that hard to actually get them to sell because they would tell us what they wanted and then like any small company would say, “Hey that’s great that’s what we do”, as we started to sell it and started really to refine that offering and that value proposition.Martin: Did you first focus only on the Bay area in terms of customers or did you say, “Okay, let’s sell it nationwide?”Keith: So what I would say is for the first year or so we focused on the Bay Area but very, very quickly we realized it didn’t matter where you are. You are a company, you need to communicate and so we quickly grew all across the country because we’re able to really access them through telephone.Martin: How are you currently managing the customer relationships and trying to re-nurture them? So are you doing something like conferences with them or monthly walk-ins or steady calls?Keith: We do a variety of things: we certainly have an annual customer conference. But we also have a customer success team and our customer success and account management team check in at least quarterly with our customers to really you start doing business reviews because our goal is to make sure that our solutions adding value to their business. We are subscription-based model and so if we’renot continuing adding value they’re going to cancel. So it’s very important for us to constantly be in contact with them to make sure that our system and our solution is adding value to that them and their business.Martin: So you said that you’re based on a subscription model, how did you decide how to price your model?Keith: That’s always the hardest question when in a new market. Generally, if you’re in a market that already exists you can start to price off other people. But what I would say is it was kind of iterative. We had an idea of what this might cost and then you start to test in the marketplace and try to get an understanding of our value. And so we’ve been able to arrive at a good place in terms of different prices for different company sizes and different sizes of library.Martin: So over the last 18 to 24 months you’ve been growing extremely fast, did you perceive any types of growing pains or some obstacles that you say, “Wow, that was really hard for us. And this is how we solved it.”Keith: Solving it, seems like we’re constantly growing so I’m not sure if we fully solved it. To give you an idea in the last three years we’ve grown fro m about 10 employees to three hundred and so you can imagine that there are growing pains every step of the way there and it’s systems and processes that break. The other thing that’s hard is also people. If you think about their skill sets, initial managers two years ago would have teams of two or three people, and now they could have 15 and it’s a totally different job, totally different skill set. And so for us it’s really making sure that we’re examining each stage of our business what’s right at that stage. And it can be tough because you have processes that you just implemented and you sit back and go, “Well maybe that’s not the right one” or you have a system that breaks.I mean this funny story that I always talk about is we found out that our payroll vendor had a maximum capacity of a hundred and fifty paychecks and how did we find that out? We ran a hundred and fifty-two. But when I first started with that payroll company last thing I was thinking about is what’s your maximum and you just run some paper checks and then you can find a new system. So I think it’s been a lot of kind of learning along the way. But the key thing for us is to make sure you realize that that’s part of what your business is that you can’t be too locked in because of that growth rate you have to constantly realize that business is going to change, systems are going to change, processes going to change and people have to grow and evolve.Martin: You’re mainly based in the Bay Area but you have other offices, so how are you trying to solve the recruiting issues that you’re currently facing because in the Bay Area because the unemployment seems to be very low. What kind of measures are you taking to raise offers for extending your growth?Keith: We’ve been very successful in getting people to join here in the Bay Area but it’s incredibly competitive. And so what we’ve done is we’ve selectivelyadded some offices, so we have a Boston office and a New York office primarily for sales. That’s not only for us to attract great people but also a lot of customers on the East Coast and so it’s a great opportunity for us to grow there. And we just added Portland so we wanted to addâ€" one of the other types of roles we have today are for designers and writers and a lot of creative people and so we’re adding office up to Portland and planning a big presence there. So all of those will supplement the Bay Area, we think talent here is just great place for us but we also needed to realize that we have a huge growth targets and we’ve got to complement elsewhere.Martin: And are you also planning to enter international clients because from my understanding the benefit system or the offerings are very country or regional specific and so once you’d like to enter India or China or some other country, I would guess you would need to produce a new content?Keith: So we do support multinationals. So we have companies like Adobe, where w e support them internationally. So we have different content for each of their regions so somebody in Japan see something different than US, somebody in the UK see something different than in India. So we already have that model and we could translate content to about 15 different languages but realize that benefit programs are different, compensation programs are different but communication is still necessary no matter what language or what country you’re in.ADVICE TO ENTREPRENEURS FROM KEITH KITANI In Menlo Park (CA), we meet CEO and Co-Founder of GuideSpark, Keith Kitani. Keith talks about his story how he came up with the idea and founded GuideSpark, how the current business model works, as well as he provides some advice for young entrepreneurs.INTRODUCTIONMartin: Hi, today we are in Menlo Park in the GuideSpark office. Keith, who are you and what do you do?Keith: So I’m Keith Kitani and I’m the CEO and one of the co-founders of GuideSpark, a company that is really designed to help organizations communicate and connect with their employees better through video and mobile communications.Martin: And what did you do before? Because you‘ve had something like a really rollercoaster life over the last fifteen years or so.Keith: Exactly. It’s my second startup. I was originally, a long time ago an electrical engineer but went back to business school and changed my direction. But I started a company in the late nineties, it was a company called Presedia that we sold Macromed ia that was then bought by Adobe and that was Adobe Connect so it was really in the eLearning and communication space and decided that while I loved Adobe and that company that I wanted to start over and so we started this company 2008.Martin: How did you come up with the idea for GuideSpark?Keith: Well, I’d like to tell you that I just came up with it one day and all of a sudden it was rocket ship but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. So we started this company in 2008 and originally around the idea of helping people with financial education and financial health but that was right before the recession and that was not a great time to sell wellness products. So that was a tough time for a couple of years.But what ended up happening is we started talking to customers and customers really pointed us in a direction about helping them communicate better with their employees, around things like benefits and compensation programs. And so the way we came up with the idea overnight is that we kept listening to customers over the years of time and finally realized we had a big huge market opportunity and really around 2012 the company really started to grow very fast.Martin: Especially yourstory’s very interesting because you did a big pivot of your business model. Can you elaborate on how the business model was looking before and after?Keith: So, we were in an area of financial health, of financial education and financial wellness and that’s a business actually we are back in but at the time it was not a great time for HR. So we were actually running out of cash so we had to really find a business that we could really have that would sell to customers. So we talked to a lot of prospects and customers and found that they had this need to communicate more effectively around benefits and compensation. So they spent a ton of money here in the US on benefits and it’s hard for employees to really understand the value of those programs and so we were able to crea te video and mobile education around it and it worked well.BUSINESS MODEL OF GUIDESPARKMartin: Let’s talk about your business model for GuideSpark. Basically and currently who are your customers and what type of value proposition are you doing to them?Keith: We have an interesting customer base that has been around different startups and companies. But our customer base â€" we have over 600 customers, they range in size from 100 employees all the way up to the large Fortune 10 companies. And in fact we’re now in 20 percent of the Fortune 500 so it doesn’t matter what size company you are.The other thing interesting about our business is that we have almost every industry; so we have city governments, we have high tech companies, we have trucking companies, we have mining companies, we have pretty much every industry. And so if you think about it, every company has employees, every company has to communicate to those employees and we’re really starting to hit all of those dif ferent people.Martin: Mainly in the US because of the different kinds of regulations for benefits?Keith: Yes, so we’re US-based but we’re supporting some of our multinationals internationally. But the real value proposition is if you think about how companies communicate today, it’s really the same way they’ve been doing it for the last ten, twenty, fifty years. It is employee manuals, it’s PowerPoint presentations, it is long text emails and if you think about how you connect and get information in your daily lives it’s probably video, mobile, interactive. And so what we’re doing is really helping companies transform their traditional communications into these new forms of communication that really are more effective in engaging employees.Martin: And do you see some kind of increase in conversion rates from showing employees that information and then to really sign up to a specific benefit program?Keith: Absolutely, that’s one of our key value propositions but there are a lot more value propositions around that. So increased participation in programs is one of them but also reduced call center time, reduced travel, there are a lot of different opportunities that have been incredibly valuable for corporate companies to utilize.Martin: After you pivoted the business, how was it like to acquire the first customers? How did you tackle them?Keith: The way we pivoted the business and it’s interesting when people say ‘pivoted’, it feels like it should be a sharp turn. And for me it took a while because for many years we were telling every investor, every employee, every customer how financial wellness is the greatest thing in the world, so it takes a little while. Because we were listening to customers it actually wasn’t that hard to actually get them to sell because they would tell us what they wanted and then like any small company would say, “Hey that’s great that’s what we do”, as we started to sell it and started really to refine that offering and that value proposition.Martin: Did you first focus only on the Bay area in terms of customers or did you say, “Okay, let’s sell it nationwide?”Keith: So what I would say is for the first year or so we focused on the Bay Area but very, very quickly we realized it didn’t matter where you are. You are a company, you need to communicate and so we quickly grew all across the country because we’re able to really access them through telephone.Martin: How are you currently managing the customer relationships and trying to re-nurture them? So are you doing something like conferences with them or monthly walk-ins or steady calls?Keith: We do a variety of things: we certainly have an annual customer conference. But we also have a customer success team and our customer success and account management team check in at least quarterly with our customers to really you start doing business reviews because our goal is to make sure that our solutions adding value to their business. We are subscription-based model and so if we’renot continuing adding value they’re going to cancel. So it’s very important for us to constantly be in contact with them to make sure that our system and our solution is adding value to that them and their business.Martin: So you said that you’re based on a subscription model, how did you decide how to price your model?Keith: That’s always the hardest question when in a new market. Generally, if you’re in a market that already exists you can start to price off other people. But what I would say is it was kind of iterative. We had an idea of what this might cost and then you start to test in the marketplace and try to get an understanding of our value. And so we’ve been able to arrive at a good place in terms of different prices for different company sizes and different sizes of library.Martin: So over the last 18 to 24 months you’ve been growing extremely fast, did you perceive any types of growing pains or som e obstacles that you say, “Wow, that was really hard for us. And this is how we solved it.”Keith: Solving it, seems like we’re constantly growing so I’m not sure if we fully solved it. To give you an idea in the last three years we’ve grown from about 10 employees to three hundred and so you can imagine that there are growing pains every step of the way there and it’s systems and processes that break. The other thing that’s hard is also people. If you think about their skill sets, initial managers two years ago would have teams of two or three people, and now they could have 15 and it’s a totally different job, totally different skill set. And so for us it’s really making sure that we’re examining each stage of our business what’s right at that stage. And it can be tough because you have processes that you just implemented and you sit back and go, “Well maybe that’s not the right one” or you have a system that breaks.I mean this funny story that I always talk about is we found out that our payroll vendor had a maximum capacity of a hundred and fifty paychecks and how did we find that out? We ran a hundred and fifty-two. But when I first started with that payroll company last thing I was thinking about is what’s your maximum and you just run some paper checks and then you can find a new system. So I think it’s been a lot of kind of learning along the way. But the key thing for us is to make sure you realize that that’s part of what your business is that you can’t be too locked in because of that growth rate you have to constantly realize that business is going to change, systems are going to change, processes going to change and people have to grow and evolve.Martin: You’re mainly based in the Bay Area but you have other offices, so how are you trying to solve the recruiting issues that you’re currently facing because in the Bay Area because the unemployment seems to be very low. What kind of measures are you taking to ra ise offers for extending your growth?Keith: We’ve been very successful in getting people to join here in the Bay Area but it’s incredibly competitive. And so what we’ve done is we’ve selectivelyadded some offices, so we have a Boston office and a New York office primarily for sales. That’s not only for us to attract great people but also a lot of customers on the East Coast and so it’s a great opportunity for us to grow there. And we just added Portland so we wanted to addâ€" one of the other types of roles we have today are for designers and writers and a lot of creative people and so we’re adding office up to Portland and planning a big presence there. So all of those will supplement the Bay Area, we think talent here is just great place for us but we also needed to realize that we have a huge growth targets and we’ve got to complement elsewhere.Martin: And are you also planning to enter international clients because from my understanding the benefit system or the offerings are very country or regional specific and so once you’d like to enter India or China or some other country, I would guess you would need to produce a new content?Keith: So we do support multinationals. So we have companies like Adobe, where we support them internationally. So we have different content for each of their regions so somebody in Japan see something different than US, somebody in the UK see something different than in India. So we already have that model and we could translate content to about 15 different languages but realize that benefit programs are different, compensation programs are different but communication is still necessary no matter what language or what country you’re in.ADVICE TO ENTREPRENEURS FROM KEITH KITANIMartin: Keith, let’s talk about the learnings that you generated from your first two companies, maybe there were some other companies. What have been your major learnings?Keith: There’s a long list of learnings and mostly learned th e hard way. I touched on one of them already. I think the key is  to always be open to change. I think when you’re in business and business is growing and especially at the early stages you have to be very flexible. We had to pivot our business now at this chief growth stage we have to really make sure that our systems and processes are right and constantly re-look. I think one of the key things is to always be flexible.The other one for me is, you know,  you’ve got to be passionate about what you do  and you got to really realize it’s a long road. In GuideSpark here, the first four years we had almost no growth. I was telling you earlier we went from zero to four employees in the first three years. And it was like three to four employees and that’s all we had. And then all of a sudden, we took off. I think it’s about being passionate about what you want to go accomplish and sticking with it. Entrepreneurship can be hard at times.Martin: What do you like most about entrepr eneurship?Keith: I really like building, building products, building teams, building organizations. I think I’ve loved being at a larger companies like Adobe but I just get excited about building something new and that’s what I’m get to do here at GuideSpark. It’s fantastic, I love what I’m doing.Martin: Great. Keith, thank you so much for your time and sharing. It was a pleasure.Keith: Thank you.Martin: And next time if you’re thinking about what should you do next and you really enjoy entrepreneurship, just go out there and build a great company. Thank you.

Essay Totalitarian Agriculture - 1003 Words

Totalitarian Agriculture The idea of Totalitarian Agriculture is scary. Especially considering the fact that it is the exact type of agriculture that is being used in every civilization except for the remaining tribal peoples of the world. I will try to define Totalitarian Agriculture here: â€Å"According to an ethics, followed by every sort of creature within the community of life, sharks as well as sheep, killer bees as well as butterflies, you may compete to the full extent of your capabilities, but you may not hunt down your competitors or destroy their food or deny them access to food. In other words, you may compete, but you may not wage war. This ethics is violated at every point by practitioners of totalitarian†¦show more content†¦Why totalitarian agriculture? You got me. It is really hard to knock Totalitarian Agriculture since it is the foundation of our culture and the sustenance of our lives. If Totalitarian Agriculture were to disappear tomorrow, then our culture would be obliterated by starvation. This is not so for the remaining tribal peoples of the world. They are fully well capable of surviving on their own just the same as humans have been since there were humans. Thinking about this further made me think about the reasons for adopting this practice. Our culture practices working to grow and produce food, locking it up, and then forcing people to pay to get it. before the agricultural revolution 10,000 years ago, humans had been living successfully as hunter-gatherers for a hundred thousand years, so asked myself what was the reason for this sudden mind change to the practice of Totalitarian Agriculture? One answer is due to the vast amounts of food surpluses that are created with totalitarian agriculture. This is part of the answer to the next reason for totalitarian agriculture, which is power and expansion. The founders of totalitarian agriculture thought that their way to live was the one right way for all humans to live. These vast surpluses of food enabled this culture to expand into surrounding territories near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and use force to take the land from tribal peoples. So now, the first generations of our culture puttingShow MoreRelatedIshmael, By Ishmael And The Narrator1601 Words   |  7 Pageswhenever mankind yearned for it. This isn’t a surprise considering that in the wild, everyone could do what he or she needed to survive. Unfortunately, food now is under what the author calls a â€Å"totalitarian† system where food is being forced on the rest of the world. By disrupting the peace of agriculture and messing with the way that food was seen, the peace and harmony between food and the population is messed up. It’s for that same reason that Ishma el believes hunger exists. ReligionRead MoreThe Boom of Persuasive Totalitarianism in Europes Damaged Nations1747 Words   |  7 Pagesprivately-owned land, natural resources, and many industrial and commercials enterprises property of the state (document 85, page 392). Later on, Stalin, Lenin’s predecessor, established the Five-Year Plan, supporting a centralized economy in which agriculture, manufacturing, finance, and transportation were regulated by government officials. Stalin defined his plan as a â€Å"system which is free of the incurable diseases of capitalism, [such as crises, unemployment, waste, and poverty], and which is greatlyRead More Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael - Paradigms of Yesterday Essay1083 Words   |  5 Pagesgraciously placed in front of him. From that point on, the Caucasian race, full of vanity and pride for having seen so clearly what was good on the Earth and what was not, decided to subjugate the Earth to its will. During this turn of events, totalitaria n agriculture was born. And God just shook his head. Fortunately, there are creatures on the Earth still willing to teach Man about his roots, and at the same time save Man from his selfdestructive impulses. Enter Ishmael, a gorilla with a conscienceRead MoreExplain Why the Nep Was Unpopular with Many Communists in the 1920s Ussr667 Words   |  3 Pagesallowing them to gain their own profits through their private ownership. Another reason for the unpopularity of the NEP was the part it played in the agricultural sector of USSR. Agriculture was needed to boost the economy of the country and is one of the most important sources of income. The NEP rule does not allow agriculture being played to its potential. It does not provide sufficient support to transform USSR into an industrial powerhouse in Europe. 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Although the Qin government was condemned for its Totalitarian rule, the Han and later dynasties adopted many of the government institutions established by the Qin. The Imperial authority served as a bureaucracy, an administration of provinces and counties supervised by imperial inspectors and the separationRead MoreEurope During The Era Of Two World Wars872 Words   |  4 PagesWissenschaftszentrum, Berlin. His alma maters include the University of North Carolina and the University of London. Berghahn was born in 1938 and is of German-American descent. Berghahn promptly begins the book by talking about economy and society. Agriculture was replaced with a focus on industry in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Not only was industry rapidly expanding, but trade was as well. Up until World War I, and later the Great Depression, countries were very prosperous. Although it is not correctRead MoreDeveloping Country And The Development Of A Country923 Words   |  4 Pageselegant subways, railways with pristine commuter cars, extensive road paving, enormous statuesque monuments dedicated to their â€Å"Supreme Leader† Kim il Sung, totalitarian dictator of the DPRK at that time. At the same time that this big international event occurred in the DPRK with millions in expenditures on a lavish global display of totalitarian vanity, hundreds of thousands of citizens of the DPRK did not have adequate food, housing or healthcare. Thousands of DPRK citizens who did not tow-the-lineRead MoreWhen Margaret Atwood Published Her Novel, The Handmaid’S1338 Words   |  6 Pagespast and present aspects of our own society. Using these connections, I will analyze the plausibility of such a totalitarian government coming to power. Before analyzing key facets of Gileadean society, it is important to provide an overview of the society as a whole. The basic setting is the North Eastern United States, during a time when an extremist right wing, Christian, totalitarian regime has taken over the country, successfully wiping out most of the federal government. Renamed Gilead, AmericanRead MoreThe Boiling Frog Theory on Population6400 Words   |  26 PagesWhen did we become we? Where and when did the thing called us begin? Remember: East and West, twins of a common birth. Where? And when? Well, of course: in the Near East, about ten thousand years ago. Thats where our peculiar, defining form of agriculture was born, and we began to be we. That was our cultural birthplace. That was where and when we slipped into that beautifully pleasant water: the Near East, ten thousand years ago. As the water in the cauldron slowly heats, the frog feels nothing

Gender Stereotypes in Henrik Ibsens A Dolls House and...

Gender Stereotypes in Henrik Ibsens A Dolls House and Susan Glaspells Trifles In the plays A Dolls House, by Henrik Ibsen, and Trifles, by Susan Glaspell, the male characters propagate stereotypes and make assumptions concerning the female characters. These assumptions deal with the way in which the male characters see the female characters, on a purely stereotypical, gender-related level. The stereotypes and assumptions made in A Dolls House are manifest in the way Torvald Helmer treats his wife, Nora, and in the way Nora acts to please her husband. These include the beliefs that women are lesser people, childlike in their actions and in need of being controlled. Nora knows as long as she acts in accordance with the way she is†¦show more content†¦This position is one he would like Nora to continue to occupy. In line 257, Torvald refers to Nora as my richest treasure denoting his attitude toward her as his possession. This stereotypical male oppression serves the purpose of keeping women in their place and keeping men on the top of the social structu res of family and the world at large. One can easily read the character Nora as immature and childlike, this stereotype being propagated not only by Torvald, but by herself as well. One of the first examples of this immaturity and childishness can be found in the first few pages. Nora has come in from a day of shopping and in these excerpts we can see her child-like manner while interacting with Torvald: Nora: Oh yes, Torvald, we can squander a little now. Cant we? Just a tiny, wee bit. Now that youve got a big salary and are going to make piles and piles of money. (27-29) With this excerpt, we see a child-like attitude, not only in Noras manner of speaking with the statement Just a tiny, wee bit, but also in her attitude toward money and the unrealistic expectations of making piles and piles of money. The following example also shows Noras childish manner in her personal interactions with her husband. Her manner seems more like that of a favorite daughter, accustomed to getting her way, than that of a wife, also keeping with the stereotype concerning control by keeping oppression high: Nora: (Fumbling at his

Liesel Free Essays

Melange was a brave young girl who developed Into a kind, respected young woman. Elise will always be remembered as a determined woman. Lease’s life was t cough, but during those times, she discovered herself. We will write a custom essay sample on Liesel or any similar topic only for you Order Now Less lost her family at a young age. Her mother was unable to care for her, as a result Else was sent to foster parents, Hans and Ross a Hibernate, to care for her. Else grew up In a difficult time period, World War II, her foster parents aided her as much as they could and tried their best to raise her as their own. She grew up on Hi Mel Street in Mulching, Germany. She often played with the neighborhood children and they all enjoyed the game of soccer. The neighborhood games was where Elise met her best friend, Rudy Steiner. Rudy Steiner and Lies Engineer created a very special bond. Rudy deseed irately loved Lies, but Lies only cared for him as a friend. Lies and Rudy not only played Soc ere, but they also stole. The two were known to steal apples from farmers. Elise was a smart and talented girl. She was determined and if she set her mind on something, she would get it done. Lies was given no educational attention till she w as nearly ten years old, but she made a mission to learn to read and write. It took time but she soon was one of the best readers in her class. Less Melange faced many difficult times In her life. She lost many people In her life ND Less was once faced with bearing the secret that a Jew was living In her basemen NT(he later had to leave do to safety Issues). When Less was a young girl Germany was beginning Eng to be bombed by the Allies, during the bombings, Helmet Street was hit, all of Leases neigh hobos, friends. And even her foster parents were killed in the bombing, but Lies survived d u to the fact that she was in her basement sleeping after a long night of writing. After the bombing Lies lived with the mayor and his wife. Lies lived a long happy How to cite Liesel, Papers

Mass Society Theory an Example of the Topic Education and science by

Mass Society Theory by Expert Dr. SOLEMN Writer | 14 Dec 2016 Introduction Need essay sample on "Mass Society Theory" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed The Mass society theorem is a context which explains the power of mass media and action through the media. This involves using the mass media as a tool of explaining the purpose of the mass action as well as the key element of how the society is enlightened on these contexts which include informing the people and inspiring the people. University Students Often Tell EssayLab professionals: I'm not in the mood to write my essay now. I don't have the time Specialists recommend: Academic Papers For Students Help To Write An Essay Online College Papers Online Pay To Get Essays Written Buy Papers Online The effects of the mass society theory on the American society The effects of the mass society theory on the American society have been felt through change of societal objectives and values. The Mass society theory applications include the strength of the media as a trusted tool of keeping the people informed about their lives, dangers and actions they should take to stay put in life. The Mass society theory is based on the ideals and perceptions of the famous Frankfurt School which boasts of great thinkers like Adorno and Horkheimer. The arguments about the effects of the theory explain how the society through the media has assimilated various trends, traits and different perspectives on the social order and governance. Notable is an increase of free media and the inception of ethical standards in the media industry has been the most moving feature of the effects. Growth of the television to cable TV and now TiVo is also one of the greater effects. Besides the technological growth of the media, the information through the mass media has led to more computers and the internet connection being made compulsory domestic requirements so as to make the mass media available. The theory has forced a trend of high culture amongst Americans. Also it has made the society to be interlocked in power structures managed by inpiduals who run groups which are both above reproach and obscure, but run schemes and curtails that use and benefit from ills and business conduits in the society (Boyd-Barrett, 1995). The theory has also planted the seed of democracy and a sense of immense free state and people notion in the Americans society. The theory is associated with a social structure doctrine in American societal values wherein the context of human rights is highly valued. However, there are extremities of the theory that have led to the decay of social values plus a shift from the ways of proper parenting and a just society to a carefree society. The mass society theory is associated with the restructuring the ideologies of creating economic empowerment through the society as the economic base (Boyd-Barrett, 1995). These effects have been brought about by the extremity, strengths and the prowess of the media. Mass media has the potential to reach and instill the society with faculties of their rights, actions and destiny. This is through the direct impact of the medias message through news broadcasts and commentaries on the society which Boyd-Barrett describes as magic bullets. How Senator Joe McCarthy used mass media to scare people regarding Communism. Senator Joe McCarthy was the pioneer of principle renowned McCarthyism. This was a cynical doctrine which exposed people sympathetic to communism. McCarthy was a crusader of anti communism. He attacked government officials who seemed sympathetic to communism. Using the mass society theory concepts, McCarthy aggressively campaigned to scare people through impeaching government institution like the VOA; a government institution which he said was bureaucratic. Subsequently he forced out pro-communist literature which he said was in the State Department's abroad information library. McCarthy was deemed untrustworthy and this made him not completely in favor even with the president. This was well known through the media and made him too vocal and well supported by the public to be forced to be silent by the government and its officials. This made him more of a weapon against pro-communism policies and communism in the United States. He used evasiveness to create a social position to support his allegations. He used this to be in favor with the society and force his allegations through. Through the numerous committees he was in charge of, he dispensed the values which the society deemed necessary for the well being of the state. McCarthyism forced numbers of suspected communist sympathizers and those against his policies to resign from various positions and committees running state affairs. He used too much of the bullet attacks strategies to sink his accusations. He once said he had evidence while he had none. He was a public image with truths without evidence. Conclusively, we can ascertain that Senator McCarthy used the mass society theory through the following methodologies. He created mass media hype to enlighten the society about things certain people were doing and how these things were bad for the masses. McCarthy ethically played the politics of the mass society theory. Ways the Mass Society Theory affected the United States in the past The theory has led to an increase in American nation population. This is due to immigrants belief that America is a persified and democratic Nation. perse ethnic groups have come to the United States leading to what the theory refers to as unfinished ethnic inclines. The emigrants have sought after using the mass belief so as to create their own institutions. These institutions include ethnic mass media which is associated with the context of ethnicity and functional conflict perspective. The society dwells on the media hypothesis to act on issues. The media role in reporting the persity of the societys rights, creation of press to inform, enlighten these cultures and ethnic alignments on their situation, rights and needs is an effect. The assumptions of the Mass society theory The context of the Mass-Society Theory examines the structure of social movements. The theory seeks to establish and ascertain how these structures are run by inpiduals with an aim of planting a stand alone principle to attach their perceptions back on the society they are detached from (Schulze, 1960) Social movements are the structures which can and have been providing social-economic empowerment, (Kornhauser 1959). The principles of mass society and the collective responsibility of the society is a vital element in the creation of a niche that constructively can progress. Social detachment by members of the society leads to conflict of the social perceptions about their role and rights in the various levels of their representation, which lead to conception of social movements. The theory also believes in direct elite-non-elite relationships. This is due to lack of the intermediate groups (Kornhauser 1959). The theory explains and substantiates that a ritual process of communication exists. This means that one is not artificially porceable from a particular historical and social context (Miller, 2005). The theory believes that the society can be able to mobilize itself through mass action to acquire various distinctive levels of economic growth. This, the theory deems as the resource mobilization context which the society through mass action can always achieve. Besides, the theorys contentment to societal abilities projects the concepts of structural alignment of the society to achieve both economic and political change through mass action. Sources Boyd-Barrett, O (1995), 'Early theories in media research', in O Boyd-Barrett & C Newbold (eds.), Approaches to Media, Arnold, London. Kornhauser, William (1959). The Politics of Mass Society. Glencoe III: The Free Press. K. Viswanath 56 Miller, K (2005). Communication Theories: Perspectives, processes, and contexts: Second edition. New York: McGraw-Hill. Rorert O. Schulze: (1960). The Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science Vol. 26, No. 4, pp. 644-646

Animal Testing Essay

Animal Testing Essay Animal Testing Essay Animal testing has been going on for far too long. Whether it is to test a new cosmetic or develop another medication, scientists have used animals as a way of testing out new drugs and products before they are used on humans. Each year animals are blinded, force-fed, genetically altered, injured and more. They are kept in tiny, uncomfortable cages just to test something new. These innocent animals are hurt for science and the results might not even hold true for humans. While some may think that animals are not as developed as humans and use that argument to justify these experiments; Jeremy Bentham, a British philosopher, once said, â€Å"The question is not, ‘Can they reason?’ nor, ‘Can they talk?’ but rather, ‘can they suffer?’† Animals have been through too much suffering to sometimes benefit the lives of humans. Their deaths should not be considered acceptable simply because an occasional experiments has led to medical advancements. There are other options that we need to investigate. Testing on animals is unethical and should not be practiced under any circumstances. Some argue that animal testing has produced some benefits in the medical field. There have been numerous drugs proven though animal testing that have improved the lives of humans all over the world. From treatments for cancer to antibiotics for infection, without animal research, many of the medicines we use today would not exist. During animals testing, scientists are given a living laboratory in which to test their substance. For example, monkeys are often used in experiments because their bodies are so closely related to those of humans. Given that some believe we derived from monkeys, they are an obvious choice for testing. When monkeys are used to test a new pain medication, scientists observe the actions of the monkey before and after they have received the medication. Scientists cannot only see if the pain medication is working, but see if there are any side effects experienced by the monkey as well. From the responses, scientists are able to determine whether or not the medication would be suitable for a human being. By testing the medicine or product on an animal first, we ultimately save numerous human lives. This is not to say that animal’s lives are disregarded. Animal testing has certain rules to follow and regulations that protect the animal. The Animal Welfare Act became law in 1966 to regulate the treatment of animals in all conditions (â€Å"Animal Welfare Act†). Several groups and professionals such as the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service enforce the act so that animals are protected during these experiments. Still, the benefits of animals testing do not outweigh the horrible tests being done on animals. The benefits of animal testing are often overstated and not well understood. PETA, a well-known organization for animal rights, corrects the misperception, â€Å"It’s bad sc ience. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reports that 92 out of every 100 drugs that pass animal tests fail in humans† (PETA). These appalling tests being done on innocent animals are not even producing accurate conclusions. In 1993 the FDA approved a drug called Propulsid (Pippin, and Sullivan). It was used to treat gastric reflex in children. After numerous tests on different animals such as mice and rabbits with no problems, the drug was released to the public (Pippin, and Sullivan). By 1995 people started noticing heart rhythm disturbances associated with the new drug. Many children and babies under one year of age were dying of heart disruptions (Pippin, and Sullivan). After 300 deaths, the drug was withdrawn from the medical market in 2000 (Pippin, and Sullivan). Vioxx is another drug that passed animals testing but was found lethal to humans. Vioxx was discovered as a pain medication for arthritis. It was tested on African green monkeys, mice, and rats and there we re no problems found (Gartner). However, when introduced to humans, the drug was found to

Every AP English Language and Composition Practice Exam

Every AP English Language and Composition Practice Exam SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips With the AP English Language and Composition exam coming up, it’s important to find the best practice resources, and that includes practice tests!The AP Language and Composition exam has two sections: a multiple-choice section with 52-55 multiple questions, and a free-response section with three essay questions- one synthesis prompt, one analysis prompt, and one argument prompt. But not all AP Lang practice tests are like the real exam, and they aren’t all of equal quality. In this guide, I’ll break down where you can find official College Board AP Language and Composition practice test resources, other free resources out there, and paid practice tests and questions. I’ll also break down which resources are high-quality and how to best incorporate AP English practice tests into your exam preparation. Official Practice Resources The best practice test resources come from the College Board. This is because they are the ones who create and administer all AP exams, including AP Lang and Comp, so their materials are the closest to the real, actual questions you will be seeing on test day! If you practice with material that’s close to the actual exam, you’ll feel more comfortable when you are actually taking the test. Therefore, when possible, it’s best to use College Board materials. However, it’s worth noting that official resources for AP Language and Composition are a little bit sparse, especially when compared to the AP Literature exam. There are, in general, three resources that the College Board offers for any given AP exam: complete released exams, released free-response questions from previous years, and sample questions from the â€Å"AP Course and Exam Description.† Complete Released Exams Unfortunately, the College Board doesn’t appear to have released any official complete AP English Language and Composition practice exams, so I have nothing to link to here. However, you can probably find at least one entire past exam by Googling â€Å"AP Language complete released exam† or similar variations on that. Make sure any AP Language and Composition released exams you get this way have answer keys, though! You might also ask your AP teacher if she has any copies of old AP exams you can use for practice. AP teachers can purchase past exams from the College Board that students don’t have access to. Shemay not be able to let you take them home, but even then you could be allowed to use them in a supervised setting. Released Free-Response Questions The College Board has posted years and years worth of past AP Language and Composition free-response questions that are at your disposal for practice purposes. However, only the tests from 2007-onward include the same three question types that are on the test currently. Earlier tests include two rhetorical analysis questions instead of a synthesis question. Sample Questions From the â€Å"AP Course and Exam Description† The AP Course and Exam description for AP Language and composition includes 50 multiple-choice questions (so, just two questions short of a complete multiple-choice section) and three free-response prompts: one synthesis prompt, one analysis prompt, and one argument prompt. This means that the sample questions from the Course and Exam Description are just two multiple-choice questions shy of being a complete AP English Language and Composition practice exam, so if you want to use it as one you definitely can. In fact, if you can’t find any official tests either from Google or your teacher, I advise it. Otherwise, you can add these College-Board approved questions to your practice bank! Put them in the bank! Free Unofficial Resources Outside of the College Board, there are lots of sites offering free practice questions for the AP Language and Comp exam. But which ones will actually help you? Since anyone can slap together a few questions and call it an â€Å"AP Language and Composition Practice Test,† how do you sort the wheat from the chaff? I’ve combed through tons of free resources so you don’t have to! Presented in order of quality, from best to worst, here’s my list of all the free AP Language practice tests and quizzes I could find out there. College Countdown Complete AP Language Practice Test College Countdown offers a complete unofficial practice test, essays and all. While the exact wording of the multiple-choice questions isn’t exactly the same as on a real AP exam, the tasks are very similar and the passages are well-selected. The essays are solid examples of the AP essay prompt style, although you could also substitute the unofficial free-response section for an official past free-response question if you wanted to make the experience even closer to a real AP. Also, there are robust answer explanations. This is an especially good resource given that there isn’t an official College Board-released exam for this test. McGraw-Hill AP Practice Quiz The academic publisher McGraw-Hill offers a 25-question multiple-choice diagnostic quiz for the AP English Language exam. The quiz is nominally 25 questions, but you might actually be able to get more than 25 questions’ worth of practice out of it because every time you open a new test window you get a subset of questions that are randomly selected from a question pool. This quiz has pretty difficult, well-written multiple-choice questions that actually resemble real AP questions, so it’s a particularly good resource. The passages do open in another window, though, which is a small annoyance. Albert iO AP English Language Practice Albert offers a huge number of mini-quizzes on analyzing the rhetoric of various notable nonfiction passages. The questions don’t exactly sound like genuine AP questions- the style is a little more informal and to the point- but they are decent practice for answering questions about rhetorical techniques as applied in a given passage. You can’t access the most difficult questions if you don’t pay, but all of the other question levels are free. High School Test Prep AP Language Practice Tests High School Test Prep offers four short practice tests, each offering questions about a given nonfiction passage. The question style is definitely different from that of true AP questions; like the Albert questions, they are written in a more stylistically simplistic way. Additionally, the ratio of questions about the passage overall versus specific moments in the passage is weighted much more heavily towards overall passage questions than the real AP exam. However, these are still decent rhetorical analysis practice questions, and this resource isan especially good choice if you find yourself struggling with identifying the major themes and arguments of passages overall. Varsity Tutors AP English Practice Tests Varsity Tutors offers very short, skill-specific quizzes. The questions don’t sound all that much like AP questions, and every question asks about a different short passage, which is a little bit bizarre and inefficient. Additionally, not all of the specific skills they offer quizzes in are super-relevant to AP Language (e.g. â€Å"Motives and goals of characters†). However, if you feel like there are very specific rhetorical techniques you are confused about, taking some of the quizzes here could be a good study strategy.If you want to track your scores, you can make a free account with Varsity Tutors, but it’s not necessary to be able to access the quizzes. 4tests.com AP English Language Exam This site offers a 35-question AP English Language and Composition practice exam. The questions are somewhat overly basic and passages are not particularly similar in style or content to actual AP Language passages, though. Additionally, the interface is a little bit clunky. I would only use these if you desperately need some additional, very basic rhetorical analysis practice. Clunky like a retro calculator. Paid Unofficial Resources If you need even more practice, there are also paid unofficial practice test resources available. Review Books Review books usually contain one or more complete practice tests and are a great resource when you run out of free resources. Not all review books are equally high-quality, though- be sure to look at reviews (and check out the questions by flipping through the book at the bookstore if you can, to see how similar they are to actual AP questions). As a starting place, Barron’s and the Princeton Review both generally offer high-quality AP review books. Shmoop - Paid Subscription Shmoop is a test prep subscription service that offers material for a variety of standardized tests, including AP Language and Composition. I can’t advise as to the quality of the material or the questions, though, because the service has an access cost of a dollar a day. Peterson’s AP Practice Tests A bundle of two AP Lang and Comp practice tests from this site costs twenty dollars. I couldn’t find much information or reviews as to the quality of the material, though, so this is a bit of a gamble. You’d likely be better off buying a well-reviewed review book with practice tests. How to Use Practice Resources in Your Exam Prep How to best use practice resources as you study depends a lot on what kind of practice material you are using. I’ll review how to make the most of different types of resources here. Complete Practice Exams (Official and Maybe Unofficial) The best way to use complete practice tests is to do full timed practice-runs for exam day. Bring a clock, a timer, and a hefty supply of pencils into a quiet room and have at it! A practice-run will help you to feel more comfortable when it’s time to take the exam for real in May. If you have access to multiple practice tests, you can even take complete tests at different times in the studying process to see how you’ve improved and what you still need to work on. When you do take practice tests, it can be helpful to get someone else to help grade your free-response essays based on the rubric. You should aim to take your first full-length practice test around the beginning of your second semester. Normally I advise to only use official College Board practice tests for this, but since easily accessible complete official exams for the AP Language and Composition exam are sparse, you may want to supplement with the practice test from College Countdown linked to above. Official College Board Practice Free-Response and Sample Questions Released free-response questions from past years are best for practicing specifically for the free-response section in a targeted way. You can work on the prompt types that you find the most difficult or practice outlining essays in a certain amount of time, or writing all three essays in 120 minutes. If you don’t use the Course and Exam Description as a practice test, the multiple choice questions are great targeted practice for the first section of the text. It will help you get familiar with the College Board’s question style and work on your rhetorical close-reading. Unofficial Practice Quizzes and Questions Unofficial practice quizzes and questions just aren’t going to be as much like the real AP exam as College Board materials. However, while they aren’t as helpful for prepping for the exam format or question styles, they are still good practice for building your rhetorical analysis skills, which is critical for the exam. High-quality unofficial resources are definitely worth your time. Building rhetorical analysis skills: more complicated than building with blocks. Key Takeaways Practice tests are a key AP prep resource. The best resources come from the College Board, but unfortunately, official College Board resources for AP Language and Composition are a little bit sparse as compared to some other AP exams.However, there are also tons of unofficial resources, and some are high-quality. Most are free, but a few are paid. Once you have your resources assembled, you might not be sure how to use them. Complete practice tests are best for mimicking the experience of the actual exam, sample Official questions are best for targeted section practice, and unofficial practice tests are best for rhetorical analysis skill-building. You’re ready to practice your way to AP success! What's Next? We also have complete practice test lists for AP Literature,AP US History, AP Chemistry, AP Biology, AP Psychology, and AP World History. Or see our guide to finding the best AP practice tests for any exam. Taking the AP Literature exam? See our ultimate guide to AP Literature. Wondering if you should be trying for an AP test perfect score? Or maybe you just need more guidance on how to study for AP exams. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: