20A: Growing Social Capital

Assignment 20A: Growing Social Capital

• Domain Expert
• 1) Who they are and what their background is.
• Robert works for Sensornation which is a company that sells sensor products for loss prevention solutions.
• 2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.
• Robert is considered a domain expert because he is engaged in selling sensor products to companies that want to limit the amount of theft in their stores just as I want to do.  
• 3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.
• I found Robert by looking up companies that are in the loss prevention business for companies by offering sensor technologies.  Once I found a company that is well known for their effective products, I found an email on the website and contacted it as I told them about my assignment and idea and would appreciate learning some insight about their experiences.  I then received an email back from Robert. 
• 4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 
• Robert provided me with great information as to what companies they sell most of their sensors to and what kind of sensors are the most effective in stores today.  He also explained to me the costs of manufacturing particular sensors and why it is so expensive for companies to buy.  I was pleasantly surprised as to how willing he was to provide me with great information.  
• 5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?
• By including Robert in my network, I have the experience of someone who has been working in the sensor business and knows exactly what it is that companies are looking for in loss prevention solutions as he also has experienced what has worked in the past and what has not worked.  
• Market Expert
• 1) Who they are and what their background is.
• Rebecca works for Sensor Tags, Inc. which is a company that offers retail security systems.  
• 2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.
• Rebecca is a market expert because although the company she works for may be appealing more towards clothing companies while my idea appeals more towards grocery stores, her company is still targeting the same/similar market with similar sensor detectors.  
• 3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.
• As it is very difficult to speak face to face with someone in this industry, I conducted research on Sensor Tags, Inc. and then found an email to write to.  I explained my product/service idea and asked for any insight or advice that could be offered from a company that sells sensor detectors.  Rebecca was the company's employee would responded to me.
• 4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 
• Rebecca offered me some insight as to how her company conducts research to most effectively target users of their products.  She did explain about how her company relies strongly upon demographics to decide their targeting methods but she did not go into great detail about what demographics worked the best for their company which left me wanting to learn more about that.  
• 5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?
• By including Rebecca in my network, I have the knowledge of someone who has played a great role in choosing what market areas are in need of the sensor products the most and of the most effective ways to attract the buyers to actually buy my product. 
• Industry Supplier
• 1) Who they are and what their background is.
• Jason is a representative in South Florida for Dade Paper Company which produces labels for grocery stores.  
• 2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.
• Jason is an industry supplier because the company he works for would also be selling a product to the industry that I would be selling my product to. 
• 3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.
• As my family is in the food business and we buy our labels from Dade Paper Company, I was able to contact our local representative (Jason) by email. 
• 4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 
• Jason was actually really helpful when I told him about my product idea and how I would be interested in working in conjunction with his company.  He thought my idea was great and that his company would definitely consider buying the ink from my company to print on their labels.  
• 5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?
• By having Jason and his company in my network, I will be enhancing the availability of my product because I can sell my magnetic ink to this company.  I would even be working in alignment with Dade Paper Company as my magnetic ink that acts as a sensor would be printed onto the labels that Dade Paper Company produces and distributes.  Therefore, the grocery stores that buy from labels from this company will not have to go out of their way to buy my product.
• Reflection:
• This assignment was definitely one of the hardest yet for me to complete.  At first it was very difficult to find people that would fit into each category and to contact them.  However, once I conducted research on different companies and was able to find how to contact them (such as through email) I felt more confident in learning how to create a network.  It was also a bit nerve-wracking at times when I would email the company email because I was not confident that I would receive an email back.  In fact, two of the original companies I researched and emailed never sent me an email back.  However, I did not let this deter me from continuing to create my own network.  For past assignments, I had an easier time finding people to interview and to offer insight.  In contrast, this assignment made me work harder to find new people who I had never met before.  This assignment definitely taught me to be persistent in the future in order to create a great network.