MEDIA INDUSTRIES ONE.

Personal reflection on research project.

When i first ventured into RMIT University, I thought to myself, "why did I take up a media course?" That was a question I ought to ask myself seven years ago when i opted for film school back in Singapore. The obvious answer is that I have always found the media industry fascinating. Things are ever changing, fast paced. People in the media industry are always at the forefront of current affairs, knowing what is popular and Being popular them selves. There is so much creativity in the air.

And so taking up a media degree for me, is to learn how to get a better footing within the media industry.

and well, On my first week of school, I was introduced this course "Media Industries 1" The name of this course itself seem to hold the key to whatever I seek to learn from the university. I pictured this course to be filled with cameras, and technicalities, to be abundant with learning the intricacies of how a media company works. but i came to realize that i was wrong as i learn more about this course, and of course, my role in the research project change.

ROLE

At the Beginning, god created the universe. This was highly frowned upon and was widely regarded as a bad move.(Douglas Adams, The hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy, penguin books, 1987 ,p1) this , is besides the point, much much later, at the beginning of this semester,  we were tasked to form groups to research into area of interest. Having a background in events management, and also running an events production company back in Singapore, I decided quite firmly that i should research into something that will greatly benefit both my school work and my career; Events was the way to go. but first, i got to find people who would research the same topic as i would, and that was not easy ; as i have to explain how "events" can fall under the media industry. and Thus, my first role was born. The 'hustler'. I had to go around the classroom, preying on aimless souls that look somewhat responsible, then i would pitch my idea to them. It all went well, i got 2 group mates   and went right into brainstorming for ideas. Having the most experience in the events sector among the three of us, My role evolved into a role of 'the leader'. Primary ideas of the research was made by me , when i guided the trio in the direction i envision our group to go to. Heaps of useful contributions were given and where we finally settled for our research questions. From then, our group grew bigger with the addition of llhoon , daniel and elyn, who did not have a group for various reasons and joined our group. Then, i encouraged Leonard, who have a neutral point of view on situations, to be the group leader. His responsible attitude and the keenness on the research proved that he can be a much better leader than me while i concentrate on the research topic. From there i evolved into the motivator of the group, where i would constantly share new findings and motivate others to contribute to the group research. As the project progressed, I seem to take on the role of the Group's Public Relations or Liaison personnel, Having to explain the fundamental ideas of our research at every meeting and every presentation. I wouldn't say that i'm eloquent but well, I’m the most outspoken member in the group. So, in the end I believe that I had led the group in this research journey with the help of Leonard who we all can't do without.

PROGRESS

When The research journey started, we didn't really know what we were going in for. All we knew was that we were researching on new ways to do events. Ideas were everywhere and we did not have a certain diction we were heading to. slowly, after initial research, we started to see some progress as we narrowed down the topic of research. We all came into agreement that we were going to research on something along the lines of "Events being held online" and "incorporating new media into events".  This was good and tasks were delegated to members that

have a specific ability in the task.  (much like the fantastic 4). Elyn, with her social powers and her relations with the Melbourne club scene, was sent to collect information and interviews of how local clubs run their events with the aid of Social media. IIHoon, with his extraordinary pebbling skills was tasked the same job and including attending festivals to find out more. Julian , with his extreme knowledge of the internet was tasked with creating and conducting an online survey to do a  quantitative  analysis  of what people think of our research. Leonard and I  , armed with our experience with events, set out on a journey to seek the answers behind virtual events and how to make money out of them. Daniel…. well, daniel was not around most of the time and he left the course shortly. so lets leave him out of the picture from now on.

    As we progress, we can see the strength and capabilities of each member blossom as we understand the topic more and more. Personally, I feel that it is a breeze to research this topic as it is something I’m truly interested in. and by doing so i have greatly benefited from it.

STRATEGIES

Ah, Strategies, the cornerstone of every successful research project. from the start, we had been cooking up a strategy that will be the most effective for our group. for our research, the strategy was to separate the work load equally amongst the members ;according to each individual's strengths. (as explained above). having broken up the workload, saves us time and energy and of course it can widen the horizons of our research. After gathering the information, we would then relay it to the members in the meetings and we will try to piece the information together, making them relate to one another. This is a collaborative strategy too, as though we were researching different things, we were collectively working towards the same primary objective ('primary question' in this case). Personally, my earning strategy is to search the internet. where else better to look for virtual events than in a virtual environment? I set my self a few keywords and i went ahead, looking from sites that have a history of holding a virtual event. I also asked my net savvy friends if they had heard of anything relating to my research and too learnt from them. I believe all our strategies worked well and did not come across much hiccups during the research.

PROBLEMS

once again, other than my chronic lateness, and Daniel’s problems and absence, our group faced little or no problems. Initially, Our group faced a little problem with communication, as our group was relatively large.  These problems had have been resolved by tightening communication lines between group members, setting up a communication platform where all members can access frequently (facebook).

CONNECTIONS & INTERSECTIONS

The research information i learnt from this course is useful. But the experience i gathered is priceless. I think the way this course is designed to teach students is very effective. Gone are the days where the teacher just teaches out of theory, and the students just absorb like robots. We have to learn how to be independent learners to better prepare ourselves for jobs that yet to exist, to solve problems that are not yet problems. as the saying goes, "instead of giving a man a fish, teach him how to fish." Now it's not enough to teach him how to fish. you got to teach him how to find out how to catch a fish that has yet to exist.

So, overall, I've learnt the importance of good communication, networking and people skills. Communication is so important now that things cannot be done without it. The need to stay connected, the need to relay a message properly to another, is so important; i cannot stress how important it is. Next, i've learnt that networking is paramount to the success of any venture or individual. It's not about what you can do, how good you are or what your qualifications are. It's all about the people you know. Having a good network of contacts ensures that you are at the forefront of information, and in this fast paced dog-eat-dog world, information is your best weapon. Having good contacts can open the doors to many wonderful opportunities that you won't even dream of, be it the media industry or any industry, networking is the key to success. And yup, in doing a group research too, if we knew no one, we would not have gotten a lot of information and interviews. Another thing is people skills. You can have the best contacts in the world through networking, but if you don't have the right people skills, it like having a body odor, no one will be around for you.

From what i have learnt in the research project, i can say that it will greatly benefit my personal research project for business opportunities for my Events Company back in Singapore. The research done can help me break into the Online market and also help me get a better understanding of the Melbourne events industry giving me a foot-in-the door to penetrate this immense and vibrant market. The research on the use of new media on traditional events is very relevant on my events project where I can learn effective ways of applying  social media networks, blogs, online advertising, instant messaging etc. to help promote future events.

In conclusion, this project Topic and research question is beneficial for me in both academic and business fields. The project workflow is now healthy with workload spreader efficiently among members and a great deal has been learnt through our current research. And also, the experience gathered from this research journey, the social skills, people skills, communication skills and networking, will greatly empower my ability to succeed in my venture and life. The research journey never ends as we learn more an more about the future of virtual events.