Batch 7: Thank you letter

To Eily, Cara, and Bobette,

Though I'm more on the Bob side of the unusual name spectrum, Thank you for trusting me to be an asset to the wonderful tight nit team you have put together. Working with all of you every day has been an amazing experience.
Eily, thanks for being the best work neighbor/ Crab Person (even though the one got eaten by the other two- it was traumatic for us all).  All the training you have given me has been invaluable.
Cara, your determination and commitment to detail is something we could not do without here! Though I don't want to work in sales (or work out at the gym) in the slightest, watching you work this semester has made me more determined than ever to try to work as hard everyday as you.
Bobette, thank you for being our fearless leader. It is so refreshing to work for someone who exemplifies leadership as well as being so connected to the inner workings of our team. I hope I am as superb of a leader as you when I get to that point.

You guys are the best!
Nicol

Batch 7: Most important things I've learned

I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to work with the wonderful people at INFLUENCE AT WORK this semester. It not only has been a wonderful learning environment, but it has given me a chance to reflect about where I'm going.
I think the most important thing I've learned this semester is in regards to where I see myself in the future and what I want out of my career.
As I may have mentioned in previous postings, I have spent the last 5 years in animal welfare and even chose my major based on my intentions to stay in that field forever. My plans changed when I had an extremely negative experience while working at a shelter here in the Valley. I landed at INFLUENCE AT WORK entirely by chance, and it has caused me to re evaluate what is really important (as far as my professional aspirations).
The biggest take aways in this aspect have been the huge differences a positive work environment can make in my overall happiness. For the past several years I was feeling overwhelmingly stressed and might as well have written the book Non- Profit burn out. I was miserable doing what I loved to do. The work I do with INFLUENCE AT WORK isn't as fulfilling as finding a loving home for an animal found half dead a month earlier, but I find myself immensely happier doing it. I genuinely like and trust every one I work with. I am doing the type of work I enjoy (administrative), and I genuinely see room for growth without having to fight a political leadership to get there.
Basically, the most important thing I have learned this semester is how I can love going into work everyday without sacrificing a secure financial status and stress to get there.

Batch 6 - Freewrite: Holidays!

The lineup...

One of Dr. Cialdini's 6 principles of influence is the idea of reciprocity. In the most basic of terms, the means doing a something nice for someone will make them more willing to do something nice for you. From a business as well as interpersonal perspective, this largely means simply being nice. Dr. Cialdni recommends simply telling other people what you like about them (if they wore a nice shirt, tell them so!) as well as buying them a T-Shirt if it has their favorite sports team on it.

One of the nice things about working in such close quarters with Dr. Cialdini and his wife is seeing them practice what they preach (in every aspect, even though we are focusing on the reciprocity one at the moment). During the holidays, there are about 50 people to get gifts for. The last 6 months of developing my spreadsheet and shipping skills have all come to this. 

They bought me a special gift wrapping hat!

Initially, I was given 3 lists of people to buy for and what was given to them last year: a personal list, a inter company list, and a client list. The first thing I had to do was combine them into one file (still three spreadsheets, but I combined the documents so I can flip through them rapidly) and match formatting. Some people call it "neurotic", I call it "organized". In the end, there were several columns: Name, Address (international limited what we gave), 2014 gift, interests, 2015 gift, and "done?". Two of us teamed up to Facebook stalk anyone we didn't know well and added our findings to the "interests" column. 

About 1/3 of the gifts going out for
delivery!

One of my low priority tasks throughout the year is browsing Amazon deals for things that would be good general holiday gifts as well as holding on to any promising catalogs. A few weeks ago, we got an ad in the mail for a website called "giftbasketsoverseas.com". Normally, even for a small item, shipping internationally is over $100, plus the cost of the gift. Though this website didn't have the best deals on the gift baskets themselves, the amount we save on shipping was well worth it. Needless to say, all our international recipients received something from this website. 

They never end!

One of the more frequent Amazon "Deals of the Day" is portable power packs. We have a closet full of solar chargers, cell phone chargers, and Car jump-starters (I got one of these about 6 months ago and am very pleased!). We gave the outdoorsy clients solar chargers to use while backpacking, and several of them got the car jump-starters.  We've also included a few makeup brushes and flame-less candles. 

This is a huge undertaking, and I'm looking forward to combining my love for spreadsheets with my love for the Holidays!

Batch 6 - Freewrite: Amazon

The Tip Card Mug

When you go onto Amazon, you may notice that some of the products are "Fulfilled
by Amazon". When a company does a significant amount of online sales, they may choose to become an Amazon Advantage customer.  Before I started at INFLUENCE AT WORK, they did all the grunt work to get our products on Amazon. Once every couple weeks, I need to send in a bulk order of a product directly to Amazon. Recently, we started doing more frequent orders of our Tip Card Mugs.  Though doing more business is always great, we had to send them directly from our office via FedEx. This was tedious for me (trying to package them so they do not break), and for the customer who had to pay a higher shipping and handling fee - especially if they were international.

What our UPC code looks like

We decided it was time to get them onto Amazon with our other two higher selling products. To do this, My first step was to get them a UPC code. This was exceptionally easy as we already had an account with the official distributor of the codes. Surprisingly the most difficult part of the whole process was getting the tiny image of the code onto labels that were fulfillment customized to that shape. I finally fit about 36 on a sheet of label paper and printed them out. I then had to package the mugs in our special order Styrofoam, stick the new UPC sticker on them and tape them shut - all very time consuming.
Moral of the story, we were able to send 100 cups to 3 different Amazon  warehouses and have already sold a couple!

Batch 6: Strengths, and Weaknesses

Everyone and everything has strengths and weaknesses. INFLUENCE AT WORK is no different. That being said, this is my first job outside the Animal Welfare industry and have a ton to learn in terms of my professional development as well as Dr. Cialdini's 40 years of research to catch up on. This learning curve has definitely allowed me to see the many strengths of the group rather than the weaknesses. 
One of my favorite thing about working at IAW is the environment. My last job was all backstabbing and drama. At IAW everybody gets along. It helps that there are only 4 of us in the office, but it is nice to work in such a relaxed welcoming environment. Further, they also do a good job of not over extending themselves. There is only 3 people in the office because they have streamlined their process, and minimized costs. They also have been doing this work for years and years, so they have perfected their art through trial and error. 
Like I said before, I think it is too soon for me to say one way or another how I would run the company differently. It is especially difficult as the purpose of the company is to assist Dr. Cialdini and market his research. That aspect is going to have to be left unanswered for now!

P.S, I apologize for the short, picture-less post! I have been so busy during work, and with other assignments in the evenings that I haven't had the chance to do much else!

Batch 5: Freewrite - Research

For the sake of Consistency (one of the principles in addition to handy verbiage), all of our trainers use the same power point presentation when conducting a workshop. Though we have made small changes over the years, many of the examples are a bit outdated.  With Dr. Cialdini's new book set to come out soon, we decided it was time for a modernization. 

Our Vice President has been working with a graphic designer to give the power point and matching workshop a total overhaul. This has been difficult as she has had to make the designer an expert in our content for him to be able to design what we need. 

We have also been on the prowl for new examples for the content. I have spent the last several days on the QVC, HSN and EVINE websites to try to find a video (or videos) that exemplify a specific concept. This has been difficult as the hosts of the shows often use several of the principles in one sentence rather than focusing on using one to sell the product.  Once I found a few videos that would suit our needs, we had to gain rights to them. I had to do some investigating to find the contact person for each of those websites, then email them asking for permission to use the videos. We had to include what, when, where, why, and inquire as to the cost. 

Overall, A lot of work went into legally showing a video as an example in a classroom setting. 

Batch 5: How my work demonstrates Public Service or Urban Governance

When I first considered jobs outside the public or non profit sector, I was pretty sure I would find something to teach me skills I could then apply to a public sector job after graduation. I ended up here at INFLUENCE AT WORK and I am very lucky to have landed here versus another private sector company.
One of the major focuses of the workshops and training we provide other private sector companies is ethics. We stress in every step of the process why ethical marketing tactics and large scale corporate

social responsibility is important. It is not only important to your bottom line (bringing in new customers, and influencing brand loyalty), but it is important to overall efficacy. We discuss how a company cannot be perceived by consumers to be an untrustworthy, sketchy company if they genuinely are not. For example, the Monsanto corporation has many questionable ethical business practices, so no amount of charitable donation and positive PR will help that. When you look at Costco, however, you see that ethical business practices go much farther.
Currently, our workshops and keynotes are very expensive and out of the range for most non profits and public organizations to be able to afford. We are currently working on plans to help reduce the cost to be able to bring valuable training to organizations that would benefit from them. Once this is achieved, we are also hoping to custom tailor workshops to fundraising, grant writing, working with public funding, etc, as to better help the organizations that do so much for the community.
Overall, when working for INFLUENCE AT WORK, I feel almost
as if I am working for a non profit.

Batch 5: Free write - Stretching!

I work in a very small office (there are four of us total here on a day to day basis), and all of us work on a computer all day, as most office people do. If you have ever worked in this kind of environment, you know the kind of aches and pains that come along with it: neck aches, stiffness, carpel tunnel, etc. As someone who has spent my entire working life at a job where I am on my feet and moving at least 50% of the day, this was new to me.
After working here for a couple of weeks, I was starting to feel some of the negative effects of having such a comfortable office chair. To focus better, I got up and did some basic stretches to loosen my muscles up. Our Director of Sales, Cara, noticed me doing this and loved the idea. after a bit of chatting about it, we decided to do 2 o'clock stretch breaks every day.
Luckily,  Cara takes several yoga classes a week and knows lots of stretches to keep things interesting. Several months later, we all still stop what we are doing at 2 o'clock to stretch together for 15 minutes.
We have found that it keeps us from feeling lazy after lunch, and gives us the boost (and mental break) we need to finish the day strong. It has gotten to the point where I feel stiff and sore if we skip it for the day.
Plus, even beyond making everyone feel better, it is something we can all do together to make our working relationships that much better, and thus the office a much nicer place to work everyday!

Batch 5: Free write - Five years from now

With 38 days left until graduation (I'm not counting or anything), I have been thinking a lot about where I want to be in the future, whether that be 2 months, 1 year, or five years from now.
I have always been a planner and always have some sort of a plan for my life. When I look at the last 5 years, however, I have always found myself fumbling to come up with a new plan as my life is drastically changed. I decided to move to Arizona within 3 months of considering the idea after never considering moving out of state for school. I thought I would work in animal welfare forever, until I found myself miserable at my job.
So when I'm asked "What do you want to do with your degree?" or "Where do you see yourself in 5 years" I have started giving the response "I don't know, in the best possible way.". Typically, I don't have to follow that statement with a lecture on the complexities of life keeping people from really knowing exactly what life will be like.
I do know what I want at the time being, though. If I keep on the path I'm projecting towards at the time being, In five years I see myself
1. Working at a job a care about
2. Working to benefit the community in some way
3. Making enough money to get by (an optimistic idea in public service)
4. and, lastly, still understanding that I don't have to feel like I am stuck in one job or place because it fits the "five year plan".

Batch 4: Interview

Though, for the most part, I am everyone's assistant, Eily the Director of Client Services is my manager for all rights and purposes. That, in combination with her unusual path to get where she is today is why I chose to interview her rather than someone else in the office or even someone in another field. 

What are their main job responsibilities?
In almost everything she does in the Office, Eily is the middle man. When Cara, the director of sales, books a client, it is Eily's job to make sure the contract is signed and everything agreed upon in it is done. This usually includes, buying materials , flights, hotels, the time of the conference, when during the conference materials are handed out, etc. She is also the unofficial office manager. She orders supplies, contacts clients on behalf of Cara, Bobette, or Dr. Cialdini, found (and hired) me, Fixes things, calls It, and so much more. 

How did they choose this career?
Eily started working at INFLUENCE AT WORK when she was still at ASU perusing a degree in Archaeology. Her position was very similar to mine. After she graduated, she went on to work in Archaeology for several years before becoming dissatisfied. She called Bobette, who was happy to take her back, and hasn't looked back since. She often says that she could work in a higher up position or make more money elsewhere, but she is so happy working here that she would never leave. 

What type of education or training is needed for this position? 
Everybody in the office has a different degree and set of skills to the table. Though Eily's formal degree is in Archaeology, she calls on the general critial thinking and writing skills she learned while earning her degree. She uses those skills to enhance her natural leadership abilities and in the role she often takes as moderator. 

What advice would they give to someone interested in this field? 
Eily simply recommends doing everything you can to stay with this company and never burn bridges. 

Do they notice any new trends in the field? 
As with anything, being honest and ethical in business with return tenfold. At INFLUENCE AT WORK, everyone has always focused on ethical business practices, and has seen a return in clients because of it. 

Why would you be interested in this career or position?
My initial interest in staying with this company is the focus on ethical business and Dr. Cialdini's continued interest in political and community involvement. Often I handle working with Dr. Cialdini or his wife to make sure they can be the best citizens they can be. My secondary interest in staying with the company is the stress free, and drama-less environment. My last several jobs were high stress, political, and had very little satisfaction or appreciation. The rational behavior I see here still catches me off guard, and is definitely appreciated.  

Batch 4: Leadership

Working in a teeny four person office has given me the opportunity to really understand leadership in several different areas. Aside from me, everybody's title includes "Director of...".
Though I help out everyone in the office, I work most closely with Eily, The Director of Client Services. Her job is to take care of clients needs and coordinate between the Client and Dr. Cialdini or the CMCT's. As a result of this, almost everything goes through her. The most obvious way she exemplifies leadership is keeping problems from happening and quickly solving them when they do. For example, when there is a miscommunication about a specific piece of business in the office, Eily will jump in with a solution, while everyone else is focusing on the problem
I also work commonly with Cara, the Director of Sales. She takes care of contracting clients, working with them to decide what service would be best for them and helps them plan their event. Cara shows great leadership in that she always goes above and beyond to make sure the client gets the Keynote or meeting they are hoping to have. Also, she is an amazing networker. I would have no idea how to even begin some of the networking tactics she uses.

Lastly, Bobette is the Vice President and handles marketing. She is constantly calling around, going to events, and making friends wherever she goes. As I understand it, around the holidays, she has a Christmas list 300 people long of all potential clients to pass along to Cara. Beyond that, I think the most impressive thing about her leadership style in the office is her interpersonal abilities. I have never worked somewhere that the second most powerful person in the company knows the name of my dog, boyfriend, parents, likes and interests. She works very hard to not be a faceless corporate entity with everyone she works with.
Personally, whenever I start a new job, position, even take a new class; I like to take the role of student. I want to observe what everyone else does, ask questions about why they do it, and then apply it to my position. Everybody here is an expert at what they do, so for the most part, I am still asking for instructions


and waiting to be told to do things. That being said, I have several projects that I am "point person" on and look forward to showing off all the great leadership techniques I've learned so far!

Batch 4: Freewrite - Russia and working with international clientel

Recently, Dr. Cialdini was asked to speak to 3,000 students at the Synergy Business School in Moscow. Though international travel is common for him, this is the first international client I have been able to observe from start to finish. Lucky for me, Everything that could go wrong did so I was able to learn how to overcome problems on a deadline.
The number one problem we encountered was the language barrier. The woman organizing the event did not speak great English, and our office collectively speaks no Russian. Many of the back and forth emails were difficult to understand, and we had to clarify crucial information several times. Recently, I got a call from the organizer's assistant who attempted to speak to me in Russian, got frustrated when I did not understand, and hung up on me. When the organizer herself called back a few minutes later, she very loudly, asked for my manager. When I told her she was on the phone, and asked for a call back number, she said "Yes!" and hung up the phone.

No, this is not Dr. Cialdini's passport. 

Our second major hurtle was trying to get a Visa. To travel to Russia on Business, one must have a formal letter of invitation from the hiring Russian company and you can't apply until 25 days before your tip, AND you have to send in your passport for processing. In our case, Dr. Cialdini was traveling in the Netherlands until 15 days before he needed to travel to Russia, so we could not start the process on his Visa until he returned with his passport. Once we were able to start the request process, we discovered that our formal letter of invitation from Synergy Business School had been denied by the visa office. Luckily, we made a contact at the office who pushed it through.
Our last hurtle is the wait- that we are still in. The Russian embassy said they would send the passport and visa documentation back on the 16th, to be received on the 19th for his flight on the 21st. At this point we have done all we can and just hope that nothing goes wrong: The documents will arrive in time, they are correct, and Dr. Cialdini will not get stuck at customs for too long.

Batch 4: Freewrite - Flier Making!

Before...

Though we didn't hand out fliers for this POP, I updated an old flier for use in the future. If we are being totally honest, I had some free time and wanted to hone my skills in this area. We only had one physical copy of the old flier, and it was so old, that any remnant of it on the computer was long gone. So I started from scratch.

All of the verbiage on this flier was taken from the old flier - I just changed the design. My first step was going through Microsoft Word Templates until I found what I needed: a Template that was already built and I could modify to my needs in less than two hours. 

What a difference! After considering my options, I decided my first steps should be changing the colors and the picture. I wanted to do this first as I have a history of loosing a lot of work because the text doesn't work with formatting. Our logo colors are red, grey, and white, I focused on those colors instead of the cute pink and green. Once I didn't break the formatting by changing this, I replaced the cute (but unrelated) photo of the little girls and their ice cream with two photos of Dr. Cialdini Speaking. Miraculously, all the formatting was still stable so I moved on to the next step.

I added in the pertinent information, like when, where, what and who we are. When everything still looked ok, I saved the document and started playing with additional formatting and style changes. I was able to change some font and add text over the photos. The finished product turned out well for my fist try, if I do say so myself! Take a look:

After...

Batch 3: Freewrite- Shipping!

My day to day number one priority is handling all of the outgoing shipping. There are several reasons I may need to ship something out, and typically send out 4 or 5 packages every day.

From left: CDs, DVDs, Audio Books. We keep overflow all
over the place, but I always have the most common things
where I can reach them quickly. 

Most commonly, I handle shipping from orders placed on our website. As soon as an order is paid, I get an email from the processing program (ECWID) with a link to start processing. I print out a packing slip, package up the item and use FedEx to print a label for it. I always try to hand write a "Thank you" to include in the package.

We also sell our merchandise through Amazon Advantage. This means, we send our merchandise to Amazon and they process orders directly for us. When they are running low on the product, we get an email to send them more. 

Organized, as always!

Lastly, the Vice President and the Director of Sales like to send stuff out to their clients, or potential clients. They will usually leave a note with instructions on my desk to package up whatever gift they want to send to them. 

The most difficult aspect of this is international shipping. Every country has slightly different laws regarding
the correct way to get things into the country. We have a worldwide presence, so it is not uncommon for me to spend 20 minutes making sure I can get a book into the Netherlands, Hong Kong, or even Toronto.
At my last job, I managed a small pet boutique inside the shelter. Learning how to manage the virtual ways we get our merchandise out there has been an interesting change. I had never considered selling Boutique products online as I assumed the cost (all the work that would go into it) would not be worth the sales. Doing this through IAW has given me a much different perspective!

Batch 3: Free Write: Organization

All five books in English in the cabinet, and all the translations
individually labeled up top.

One of my major responsibilities is organizing the office. Along with general office and shipping supplies, we have books, merchandise, and workbooks to store in our tiny office. I've spent a huge amount of time organizing and purging.

Adding to the signed book storage
Sticky reads: "Bob, Please sign,
Thanks, N".

Not to brag, but I do
have phenomenal gift
wrapping skills.

One of Dr. Cialdini's 6 principles is Liking. A component of this is giving unexpected and thoughtful gifts. Building relationships with people is made easier when you remember to do small things like give them a gift on their birthday, or send a thank you card for simple things. Because we want to exemplify our teachings, we have cupboards full of gifts to send to people should the need arise. If someone mentions the recent birth of a baby, or an upcoming award, we have something we can send right after the phone call. Before I started working here, these cupboards were thrown together, and it was impossible to find what you were looking for. Now, the cupboards are still over stuffed, but you know where to look.

5 Shelves means 5 labels

Further, Dr. Cialdini has written five books, all of which have been translated into other languages, transferred to audio book, DVD, and CD format. Though you can buy the book in most large book stores, we typically are the cheapest place to buy from online. That means keeping and organizing a stock here in the office. Our biggest seller is Influence: Science and Practice, his second book. All the other books are organized in cabinets, and the translations are organized by language on top. Until recently, we had lost track of what language was what. I spent two days using google translate to figure out the difference between the Chinese copy of Influence, versus the Korean version of The Small BIG. All the books are now organized and labeled.
Lastly, Dr. Cialdini has had a part in several textbooks, a graphic novel version of his books, has early release copies of them all, and we keep around 10 signed copies of each book on hand at any given time.  I keep all of these in a cupboard just slightly out of my reach, as I don't use them too often. That being said, I'm 5'3, so slightly out of my reach is just a regular height cabinet.

Batch 3 Career Services

This week, I attended the "How to build a professional portfolio" Career Services webinar. I had no idea how beneficial a portfolio could be to a career. Below are my notes from the webinar:

• portfolios illustrate experience whereas resumes highlight them
• gives examples
• extension of a resume, soft skills, communication, team work.
• could include research
• surprise: you can use it within a job for a request for a promotion
• as well as for interviews
• Include:
• see pic
• present relevant information before or during an interview/ discussion
• don't include copy write or something with errors, if something is crumpled or damaged
• photographs can be included if it is relevant
• nothing from a long time ago
• what you want to learn
• 
  
• Name should be big
• address, phone and email current. 
• a process to make
• will have to collect and store most relevant things to include over time
• look over it all to see what to include to the specific situation
• evaluate and organize presentation
• will never be 100% complete- changes as you grow
• make a master copy of all items
• but the rest in a protected binder
• table of contents
• use sheet protectors
• 5-10 pages
• electronic portfolios
• use web-folio
• packaged to send via email along with resume. 
• be aware of potential technical issues
• LINKED IN!
• should have both, one to link to and one hard copy to bring in just in case management isn't tech savvy.
• ASU E- Portfolios
• can include link in cover letter. 
• can give the opportunity to show off websites you've made
• Students
• include classes, clubs, good essays etc. 
• Don't
• Put a picture of yourself (like a typical profile pic- unless linked in)
• nothing difficult to load

Batch 3- Freewrite: POP Workshop

One of the main things INFLUENCE AT WORK focuses on is translating Dr. Cialdini's work into real world, applicable solutions. Twice a year, we put on the Principles of Persuasion (POP) workshop. This workshop is open to the public and focuses on ethical marketing and skill development. Though I have read the book, and am familiar with the material, I was taking notes like crazy the whole time! The workshop is a two day event with lecture for all of the first day (as well as a special lecture From Dr. Cialdini about his latest research) and Half day lecture with role play and skill application on the second day. Participants are encouraged to come into the workshop with a specific issue they would like assistance with, and work on it for the entire workshop. Participants also have a chance to brefily discuss questions and applications with both Dr. Cialdini and Dr. Neidert (Dr. Cialdini's college and facilitator of the workshop).  

My role in this was mostly supportive. I gathered materials, checked things off the to do list and set up the meeting room.  Basically, someone else planned the thing, and I executed the plan and, was an extra set of hands (and brain for problem solving or helping out where necessary) and jumped in to solve hiccups as they occurred. The director of client services (who typically does all the "behind the scenes" work) got sick the night before and was not able to come to the workshop, leaving all her duties up to me. Luckily, since she was so well prepared, and I was very attentive to her instructions before hand, things went incredibly smoothly, and I got to learn in a much more direct way than I had counted on. 

Beyond getting a better understanding of Dr. Cialdini's work, this workshop gave me hugely valuable insights into meeting planning and event management. I also had the opportunity to network with a wide variety of business people. We had one attendee from Singapore, one from a university in California, one from a Foundation in South Carolina, and a Business owner from Australia. By the end of the day, my brain was buzzing with ideas on how to apply the principles to fundraising, public initiatives, professional relationships, and where non profits can benefit from this kind of marketing. 

Overall, I am so lucky to have had to opportunity to participate, and can't wait until the next one!

Batch 2- A Typical day at IAW.

I typically arrive at the office at 10 AM. When I first walk in, I log into my computer and wait for it to boot up. As this usually takes a few minutes, I drop off my lunch in the break room and grab something to drink. When I get back to my desk I check my emails. I usually have one or two new articles referencing Dr. Cialdini to read and at least one new order to process.
I'll then process the merchandise order.* This means finding an appropriate sized box, bubble wrap and creating a shipment on FedEx.  We also have trainers who order workbooks for seminars that are not local. In this case, I get an email with the number of participants and which workshop they are hosting (1 or 2 day). I'll then package up workbooks, a copy of Dr. Cialdini's book, and a summary card.
Since our semi annual local workshop is coming up soon, I have been slowly gathering and organizing the necessary items and taking inventory. I tell my manager if we are missing any documents, any AV equipment is broken, or anything else that may need attention. Today, I made "welcome packets" to be delivered to each participant's hotel room.  We included a letter from Dr. Cialdini, an agenda for the workshop, and an Arizona magazine *as many participants are not local (one is even flying in from India!).
After this is done, I'll usually have one or two low priority projects to work on. Dr. Caildini has a new book coming out soon, so I have been working on an excel spreadsheet with potential contacts for media, early review copies, or just a gift for the support over the years. I have also been recording statistics on all workshop evaluations turned in by participants. I record the number of the top two most common request and intend on comparing them all to see what large scale changes could be made.
And lastly, before heading home for the day, I'll check on our office hermit crabs. I refill the water, food and will clean their cage when necessary.
That's all for now!


*Link to our merchandise page: https://www.influenceatwork.com/store/

Batch 2- Free Write: My desk

For my first free write, I would like to introduce you to my desk! I spend about half my day poking around cabinets, filing, or running errands, but I do love my home base. Up out of frame, I have some pictures of my friends, family, and a "My Pitbull is Family" sticker. You will also notice the giant calendar in the middle. I use that to note my to do list for the day, and like to check it off as I finish or make arrows to make sure I finish it the next day. I also always keep packing tape near by, since packaging merchandise, books and information is such a huge part of my day to day activity.  I also have a box on the left near the printer for the other necessity: snacks, though right now, I'm running pretty low.  I like to tack up things I need to handle in the future on the right so I don't forget about them.  

Unlike everyone else in the office, I am always up and moving around. Because of this, I tend to have mini work spaces set up all over the office. You are likely to find pens, work books, and name tags  in the break room.  

On my last trip to mexico, I brought back
little skulls for everyone!

We love birthdays!

Batch 2- Freewrite: Introducing: Me!

Zooey was pretty sure I needed a million kisses. 

Always a little tempting
to stay in Mexico

Happy Wednesday!
Since this is another free write day, I thought I would introduce myself (in a less professional context)!  I grew up in Long Beach, California (Downey, if you know the area). When the colleges lost a large part of their funding making admission difficult, I decided to head to ASU without ever setting foot in Arizona. Since then, I have made Phoenix my home. Other than missing my friends, family and (of Course) the beach, I love where I live and am hesitant to relocate.

Phoenix Brewing Co. and Sonoran
Brewing Co. share a space and
have a great Happy Hour!

I absolutely love the outdoors and road trips. Not only does phoenix have a great location for this (Sedona, Grand Canyon, Mexico in addition to all the great local hiking), but the rent prices in the area make it affordable to travel all I want!

Luna making sure outside is not happening
before getting Friday night cozy.

Other than Travel, I love food and craft beer. I spend most of my free time (and cash) visiting all the local breweries and trying a little bit of everything. If the brewery has a kitchen, all bets are off!
Lastly, when I'm not eating, drinking or hiking, you can find me at home with my wonderful 11 year old pit bull, Luna. Luna's favorite things are giving kisses and laying in the dirt.

Until next time!

Batch 2- Where do I go everyday?

Hello Again,
I am currently working/ Interning with a small company called INFLUENCE AT WORK. 90% of my interview for the job was trying to communicate exactly what they do.
Generally, IAW is the office of Dr. Robert Cialdini, a Reagent's Professor Emeritus at ASU Business school. He has spent his career researching influence and persuasion in a scientific setting. He has written several books and has been published multiple times in several scientific journals. Further, all his works focus on the ethical applications of the findings.
The core of the research is built on 6 principles: Reciprocation (do onto others as you would have them do onto you), Scarcity (typical economist perspective), Authority (showing what you know), Consistency (keeping up with commitments), Liking (making friends), and Consensus (people do what everyone else is doing).
Though this is wonderful critical thinking information, there is a limit to what an academic can do with it on their own. That's where IAW comes in. IAW hosts seminars to teach the research to corporations, the government and Non Profits.  Depending on the need of the participants, the workshop is tailored to their needs. For example, a large corporation will likely get a seminar focusing on applying the knowledge in an ethical manner to increase sales, whereas a non profit will get one focused on how they can apply the research to increase fundraising and marketing efforts.
The office is near ASU in Tempe. We are a small office of 4 people (including myself) with around 20 people worldwide.
My job title is Administrative Assistant. Mostly, that means I keep everyone else from getting too overwhelmed with their own job duties. I organize the office (no one else knows where to find anything), monitor book sales and ship them out, take inventory of merchandise and books, make fun lists on excel (my favorite part), take trips to our storage unit,  and really anything else that they need.

Hello! Batch 1

Hello! I'm Nicol. I am in my last semester at ASU as a Public Service and Public Policy major. I am focusing in Non Profit Leadership and Management and getting a certificate in Public Administration and Public Management.  The short of it is, I am a Public Admin major and I hope to do something positive with my time after graduation, whether that be in the private, public, or non profit sector.
I spent the majority of the last five years working almost every job in animal welfare. I was a Vet Tech, Kennel Attendant, Adoption Counselor and Administrator. I found myself pretty miserable doing what I had intended to do for the rest of my life. Since then, I've taken what I loved in the past and applied it to other industries to figure out where to go from here. 
I am currently interning at INFLUENCE AT WORK as an Administrative Assistant. Though this is my first private sector job (since I was a Funnel Cake Girl at Knotts Berry Farm as a kid), I've found a place to apply my Public and Non Profit sense of ethics to a for profit company - But more on that will come in later posts. 
Other than my passion for furry friends, I love food, travel and history. I moved to phoenix from LA, and I am of the unpopular opinion that Phoenix is a much more enjoyable place to live. 
Until then,