Qualities Of A Good Writer Essay Example for Free

Qualities Of A Good Writer Essay Whilewriterscomefromallwalksoflife,theysharecertainqualitiesthathelp themproducesatisfyingwork. Ifyouhavesomeofthesecharacteristics,youcould tryacareerincreativewriting. Alternatively,youcouldlookforcreativewriters withthesequalitiestoassistwithyourorganizationspublications. Creativewriters mightpublishpoetry,shortstoriesandnovels,buttheyalsoworkformanykindsof clients to earn their living. Creativewriterscraftnewworlds,producingdescriptionsofplacesandpeoplethat sendreadersontripsintheirminds. Theydothiswithnothingbuttheirbrainsand someformofwritingimplementbeitanold-schoolnotebookoramoremodern laptop. Whilenotwowritersplytheircraftintheexactsameway,some characteristics are common for many who are successful. Efficiency Creativewritersrarelyworkinoffices. Theymostcommonlyworkalone,makingit easyforthemtoslipofftaskandwhileawayadaythatshouldbefilledwith writing. Forsuccess,creativewritersmustbeefficientandfocused,sayswriter, editorandghostwriterMichaelJ. Dowling. Theymustbeabletoforcethemselves todowork,despitethedistractionsthatmayfilltheirworkspaces,whichareoften at home. Those lacking this quality will likely find their writing dreams fruitless. Research Abilities Thoughcreativewritersincludefictitiousdetailsintheyarnstheyspin,theymust  stillengageinresearchtomaketheirpiecesbelievable. Ifwritinghistoricalfiction, for instance, writers must research the time periods in which they set their stories to accuratelyportrayallofthedetails. Similarly,writersmustresearchthephysical placesinwhichtheysettheirtales,acquiringtheknowledgenecessarytopaintan authentic picture of that place in readers’ minds. Imagination Todreamupthestoriesthatmakecompellingcreativefiction,creativewritersmust havehighlydevelopedimaginations,accordingtoHelenaBlakemore,professorat theUniversityofEastLondon. Writerscanengageinexercisestobolstertheir imaginativeskills,butpossessingapre-existingabilitytoimagineandinventisa benefit to those beginning in this field. Confidence Producingacreativeproductisscary. AsJoeDunthorne,authorofâ€Å"Submarine,† statedinanarticlefortheBritishnewspapertheGuardian,nosafepathexistsfor writing. Tobesuccessful,writersmustbebraveandwillingtotakerisks. Ifthey lackthewillingnesstoputasidetheirworriesandforgeahead,theirwritingwill likely not be distinctive enough to be noteworthy. Ability to Focus Goodwritersunderstandtheparticularrequirementsofawritingproject. Itdoesnt matterwhethertheyreusingacreativeapproachforamarketingpublicationor  draftinganewchapterforanovel. Theyhaveanabilitytofocusonthewritingtask andcreateanoutlineordirectionforwhattheyllwrite. Focusedwritingiseasier forthereadertofollow. Unfocusedwritingfrustratesreadersandmayturnthemoff completely so they wont continue reading. Different Approaches Towritecreativeworks,writersneedareliableapproach. Somewritersbeginwith undisciplinedwritinganduseself-editingtotightentheirwritinginthenextstage. Otherwriterswillconsidermanydraftsofaparagraphintheirheadormakenotes onscrappaperandthenwritedownahighlyfocusedparagraph,whichusually requireslesseditingdowntheline. Somewritersareversatile,usingdifferent  approachestogettingideasonpaperbasedontheirmoodorthekindofwriting project theyre doing. Discipline Self-disciplineisessentialtowriterswhowanttosupportthemselvesthrough creativewriting. Withoutit,youllfinditdifficulttomaximizetheuseofyour writingtime. Ifyouhaveregularclientsoradeadlinetosubmitamanuscriptto youreditor,youmustdevoteadequatetimetowritingeachdayorweektoreach yourgoal. Disciplinemeansthatyoublockouttimeforwritingandproducea specificquantityoftextinthattimeblock. Ifyoudontachievethegoalfora writing session, you block another session in which to hit the mark. Because writing  deadlinesaretimedandspecific,youcantaffordtowastetimeinthecreative writing mode. Voice and Authenticity Allkindsofcreativewritingbecomemoreeffectivewhenreaderscanhearthe presenceoftheauthorsvoice. Insometypesofliterature,charactersalsohave differentvoicesthatcompeteforthereadersattention. Goodwritersfindtheir voice for a particular work or character and use it consistently for the entertainment ofthereader. Ifyouhaventfoundyourwritersvoice,usefeedbackfromreadersto guideyou. Ifyouwriteauthentically,yourvoicereachesthereader. Bycopying anotherauthorsvoice,yourvoiceisboundtofalter;itwontcomeacross consistently or genuinely to the reader.

Effectiveness of Sports Sponsorship

Effectiveness of Sports Sponsorship Introduction â€Å"Few marketing platforms can match the brand building opportunities offered by sports sponsorships, with the guarantee of exposure in print, broadcast and new media. In the highly emotive world of sport, the audience sees sponsorship as support for something to which they feel great attachment. An average of more than 150 million viewers watched each football match in Euro 2004, with 273 million people tuning in for the final, and in the UK, the highest audience was 20.7 million.† (Margraff, 2005) However, advertising avoidance in the UK is now reaching terminal proportions. A recent study conducted by Continental Research found that 45% of UK adults agree with the statement â€Å"Given the chance I avoid TV ads as much as I can†.. (Evans, 2006) Despite this, and the fact that consumers are spending less and less time consuming traditional media, Evans (2006) reports that lazy marketers still siphon off the majority of their budget to TV and magazines. Smarter adve rtisers, however, are devising new ways to interact with their target audience. As a result the main feature of the course of the year will undoubtedly be in June, where the World Cup will break all sponsorship records, and will be the showcase for brands to interact with their consumers like never before. Brands will attempt to emulate Pringles, which partnered Yahoo! Sports coverage during Euro 2004 to build awareness around its ‘dream team’ concept. (Evans, 2006) For sponsors, such viewing figures underline why it is so important to be associated with football tournaments and indeed any sports tournaments of magnitude. As a result, Cornwell et al (2005) have concluded that sponsorship of sports tournaments has now become a mainstream marketing communications tool. However, whereas sponsorship involves a fee paid in advance for future potential communication values, advertising offers a more knowable and more controlled communication. Furthermore, whereas sponsorship requires leveraging: promotional spending in addition to the sponsorship fee to o btain the greatest value, advertising is often sponsorships most valuable leverage. Sponsorships may also be directed toward consumers, channel members, financial institutions, government, community, and employees. As a result, in order to gauge the full effectiveness of sports sponsorship on marketing and branding, this review will review several different academic journals with varying methodologies, from empirical studies to more pure theoretical approaches, in an attempt to judge the most successful approaches The methodologies of the journals will be examined in more detail at the end of the review, and the conclusion will attempt to uncover the most effective methods used, as well as commenting upon the true value of tournament sponsorship in the context of modern marketing. Whilst the main focus of the methodology analysis will be on the contrast between the empirical, practical, studies and the more abstract, theoretical models, there may be more important analysis contained within the articles which use marketing paradigms as their dominant approach. Within the context of tournament sponsorship, the paradigm approach focuses on examining the specific thought patterns, both of the marketers designing the campaigns, and the target audience experiencing them. As a result, paradigms offer a much greater insight into the effectiveness of the tournament sponsorship than pure practical or theoretical approaches. However, a multi paradigm approach provides even greater insight, as it looks at differing thought patterns within target segments, and between marketers in the same sector, or even the same firm. This degree of complexity means that multi paradigms have not often been used in the context of tournament sponsorship, but wherever they have been encount ered, they have been identified and analysed, using the four interacting paradigms defined by Burrell and Morgan’s (1979) work on multi paradigms Literature Review Sports Sponsorship Overview Grohs et al (2004) analysed recent surveys which found that, while managers tended to favour media coverage around ten years ago, now they rate sponsor awareness and image transfer from the sponsored event to the sponsor as the main reasons for engaging in sport sponsorship.. However, the evaluation of sponsorship has not kept up with this change in priorities, and companies often seem reluctant to evaluate sponsor and spectator awareness even though measurement is straightforward and not very costly. An important reason might be that previous studies showed the unsatisfying effects of â€Å"ambush marketing†, a form of marketing where other firms make consumers believe, incorrectly, that these companies are the actual sponsors of an event. This phenomenon will be covered in more detail later in the review but, in the case of image transfer, evaluation seems to be difficult due to a lack of a compelling comprehensive and testable model Despite these concerns, corporate spending on sport sponsorship continues to escalate: up 3.7% from 2001 to 2002, with several companies reportedly spending over $100 million each year (Stotlar, 2004). Sport sponsorship has been shown in the literature to be a viable component contributing to market strategy, however of late, the downward movement in many corporate stocks through 2003, projected earnings shortfalls, and decreased company profitability has caused some shareholders to question sport sponsorship as an appropriate expenditure of funds because little empirical evidence of return on investment has been provided. However, this can be primarily viewed as being because many corporations have failed to assess sponsorships effectiveness in meeting their objectives. Perhaps the lack of assessment exists because the process for evaluation has not been solidified in theory or practice; thus an evaluation model for sport sponsorship based on the myriad of contributing factors is ne eded. Stakeholder Perspectives Cornwell et al (2001a) reports that sponsorship of sporting and other events has become an increasingly popular marketing communications vehicle. However, Cornwell et al (2001a) join the ranks of academics who claim that precious little research has investigated how sponsorship participation is beneficial to a firm and its brands. Thus their study explores how managers view the brand equity building capabilities of their sponsorship linked marketing programs over time and, in a two-phase survey, fifty managers reported on the value of sponsorships in building brand equity. Findings showed that leverage, the use of advertising and promotion to support the sponsorship, and active management involvement are significant predictors of both the perceived differentiation of the brand from its competitors and adding financial value to the brand. To put tournament sponsorship in perspective, the sponsorship of sports, causes, and events has become an established communications tool seen as useful in building brand awareness, brand image, and corporate image (Javalgi et al. 1994; McDonald 1991; Quester 1997; Turco 1995; Witcher et al. 1991). Brand awareness and image, in turn, are integral to the idea of brand equity, the set of value-adding assets linked to a brand (Aaker 1996). Both academic (Keller 1993; Park and Srinivasan 1994) and business writers confirm the role that sponsorship can play in building equity for the brand. Indeed, Keller (1993, p. 10), in his theoretical development of customer-based brand equity, notes that anything that causes the consumer to experience or be exposed to the brand has the potential to increase familiarity and awareness. Likewise, promotion industry analysts find sponsorship popular as a platform from which to build equity and gain affinity with target audiences (Smith 1996, p. 15). Empi rical work, however, concentrates on only a few brand equity elements, for example, brand awareness Sandler and Shani (1992), brand preference Nicholls and Roslow, (1994), corporate image Turco (1995), and adding financial value to the brand (Cornwell et al, 2001b). As a result, Cornwell and Maignan (1998) claim that no study has considered a broad range of equity elements, thus Cornwell et al (2001a) therefore explore the potential of sponsorship to build various aspects of brand equity, with their purpose being to develop an understanding of how managers view the brand equity building capabilities of their sponsorship-linked marketing programs. However, of concern to managers is that, whilst the sponsorship of football is a multi million pound industry, with many sponsors hoping that supporters enthusiasm for their team will translate into long term benefits for the sponsor, the intensity of team rivalry means that a sponsorship may also alienate opposing supporters. Davies et al (2006) examined the rival Glasgow clubs, Celtic and Rangers, who undertook a joint sponsorship arrangement with the communications company NTL, investigating how the benefits obtained compared to those that may have been expected from a single sponsorship. While the sponsorship was very effective in creating awareness for NTL and very profitable for the clubs; Davies et al (2006) found ambivalent attitudes towards the company, with the most committed supporters being the least accepting of the sponsorship, and the expected positive relationship between support for the club and brand preference for NTL was not found. Of course, the companies and participants are not the only stakeholders in a sponsorship deal, especially for major events. One example of this is in tobacco sponsorship of sporting events, where the opinions of government, health activists, and sport organizers towards the concept have been widely discussed and debated. This paper Danyichuk (2000) contributes a new perspective to the debate by providing input from spectators at a major sporting event obtaining four hundred spectator respondents to a paper and pencil survey at a Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) event that had a tobacco company as its title sponsor. The questions elicited demographic information in addition to spectator smoking habits, awareness of title sponsor, awareness of current tobacco legislation, opinion concerning tobacco sponsorship, and suggestions for alternative sponsorship. The final results actually indicated that 73% supported tobacco sponsorship; 11 % opposed it; and the remaining 16% had n o opinion. Those opposed to tobacco sponsorship cited health implications of tobacco use, negative influence on young people, and negative aspects of tobacco promotion in general, and some spectators provided specific examples of alternative sponsors whilst the majority of others indicated that the willingness and financial interest of a potential sponsor were key elements of the sponsorship arrangement. The final interpretation of this was that, whilst it would be better to have found another sponsor, it was better to have a tobacco company than no sponsor at all. Given that events would always prefer to have a sponsor, where possible, Westerbeek (2000) tested the hypothesis that â€Å"revenue maximization of the tenants of sports facilities is dependent on the geographical location of the facility, or the ‘location of distribution’†. To test this hypothesis, revenue maximization was operationalised pertaining to sponsorship, and a survey instrument was sent to all sponsors of a Melbourne based football club. The sponsors were grouped as location dependent and location independent based on the location of their head office and financial turnover achieved in the area around the sports facility. The survey thus collected information on three different steps in the sports consumption process including ‘coming to the sports facility’, ‘being in and around the sports facility’ and ‘being serviced in the sports facility, and found that revenue was geographically dependent when the sponsor was simil arly location dependent. Finally, Payne (1998) conducted a study into the practice of â€Å"ambush marketing†, and its effect on stakeholder, using the example of The Olympic Games which, as the world’s largest and most prestigious sports event, has been a major target for ambush marketing activity. The position of the International Olympic Committee is that the practice of ambush marketing represents a deliberate attempt to mislead consumers into believing that the companies involved are supporters of the Olympic Games. However, it was found that the effects were most marked on the other stakeholders: the activities of ambushers were found to erode the integrity of major events and lessen the benefits to official sponsors, who are the real supporters of such events. Ambush marketing has been criticised heavily as it breaches one of the fundamental tenets of business activity, namely, truth in advertising and business communications. As a result, the IOC, as custodian of the Olympic Games, succ essfully adopts a twofold strategy of protection and prevention to counter the threat of ambush marketing. Integrating the marketing approach Statistics show that sponsorship of sports and other events is one of the fastest growing areas of promotion, despite the fact that the importance of this persuasion strategy is not reflected in the amount of attention it has received in the marketing literature. Although some research has been done in this area, the majority of work has not employed the same theoretical and methodological rigor given other areas of consumer behaviour. Some scholars, such as McDaniel (1999) have suggested that sponsorship functions like celebrity endorsement advertising, where the perceived match, or mismatch, of brand attributes with the endorsers attributes influences consumer response to such marketing communications, and the marketing mix as a whole. However, one of the most difficult challenges for marketers remains the large, diverse means of communication and communication options that are available to support their brands: TV, print, and interactive advertising; trade and consumer promotions; arts, sports, and cause sponsorships; etc. Consequently, marketers must understand what various marketing communication options have to offer and how they should be combined to optimize their marketing communications programs. Towards that goal, Keller et al (2001) considered how to develop, implement, and evaluate an integrated marketing communication program, including event sponsorship. To provide both macro perspectives, especially relevant for managerial planning, and micro perspectives; they provided criteria as to how integrated marketing communication programs can be designed and evaluated as a whole, i.e. according to coverage, contribution, commonality, complementarities, robustness, and cost considerations. They also described how the two perspectives relate and conclude by discussing theoretical and managerial implications and outlining future research directions. The competitive strategy literature seems to offer two principal approaches to the problems of developing marketing strategy in volatile environments, labelled as the formal and informal approaches by Wilson (1999).. More recent research into managerial cognition provides promising possibilities for integrating formal and informal approaches to understanding strategy development in volatile conditions, and exploratory research by Wilson (1999) has shown that, in practice and in contrast to much of the strategic marketing literature, the response of organizations in volatile environments depends fundamentally on how the managers involved perceive their environment and that managerial perception can vary considerably between, and even within, rival organizations facing ostensibly similar environments. As a result, the effectiveness of an organizations strategy can depend crucially on these managerial perceptions, or paradigms, and that it may be more realistic to regard competitive str ategy as an organization’s response to the perception of competitive ‘threat’, rather than the more popular emphasis on ‘opportunity’; thus sponsorship is often undertaken as a response to a competitor pursuing a similar strategy, and reaping perceived benefits. Finally, although the importance of signs and symbols has been widely recognized in an integrated marketing approach, only a handful of consumer researchers have developed theory and research programs based on semiotics, the doctrine of signs. Mick (1986) outlined the emergence and principal perspectives of semiotics and then discussed its applications and implications for consumer research and marketing strategy Among its strengths, semiotics positions meaning at the nucleus of consumer behaviour, provides a rich ‘meta-language’ for semiotic consumer research, and recommends a multi-paradigm philosophy of marketing which can be applied to the effective integration of sponsorship into a wide ranging marketing strategy. Evaluating Effectiveness The use of sales figures, traditionally used to measure marketing effectiveness, as an indicator of sponsorship effectiveness is highly problematic in consequence of the possible influences of collateral marketing communications inputs, carry-over effects of past advertising, changing economic conditions, entry or exit of competing businesses, and so on. Hence, the results of sponsorship are typically appraised in terms of awareness levels achieved; attitudes created or altered; prompted and unprompted brand or company name recall; the extents of television, radio and press coverage, and cost per thousand prospects. (Bennett, 1999) A common approach is to measure the duration of television coverage of a sponsored event and the magnitude of press coverage obtained in terms of single column inches and then to compute the cost of purchasing corresponding amounts of space or broadcast time (Allen, 1990). This is convenient and practicable, but only indicates the extent of the publicity r esulting from sponsorship, rather than the impact and effects of the exposure (Meenaghan, 1991). Meenaghan (1991) in fact recommends a three-fold evaluation procedure: determination of a companys present position in terms of pre-sponsorship awareness and image with the target audience; tracking to detect movements in customer attitudes towards the firm; and the post-sponsorship comparison of performance levels against initial objectives. A number of theorists, primarily Thwaites (1995), have advocated the use of tracking devices to monitor sponsorship effectiveness, however Marshall and Cook (1992) found that although 78 per cent of a sample of 58 UK sponsoring companies evaluated their investments in some way or other, very few of them actually undertook specialised tracking. Allen (1990) similarly reported evidence to suggest that only a small number of companies completed any formal evaluation of their sponsorship expenditure, or engaged in any research whatsoever designed to identify the likely interests of target customers. The survey conducted by Thwaites (1995) found that while two-thirds of a sample of 30 companies sponsoring UK football teams attempted to evaluate their sponsorship activities, few went beyond the basic measurement of media coverage, and generally unsophisticated methods seemed to be applied. Reasons advanced by managers for not evaluating sponsorship effectiveness included the costs and uncertainties involved, technical research difficulties, absence of meaningful criteria for assessment, and lack of clear initial objectives (Allen, 1990; Thwaites, 1995). As a result, Bennett (1999), suggested that a sponsoring companys ability to create false consensus among spectators represents a concrete and useful device for measuring the effectiveness of sponsorship activities. In the absence of an external measure of validity of sports advertising effectiveness, alternative measures are often utilized. For example, John Hancock Financial Services measures the effectiveness of its bowl sponsorship by the number of stories and lineage in newspapers and magazines across the country (McCarthy 1991). For the 1990 ‘John Hancock Bowl’, an American football collegiate championship, 21 binders of newspaper clippings were collected, whose value the insurance company estimated at over $1 million of advertising equivalency. Another approach used by event sponsors is to compare sales in periods before and after the sponsored event, however such surrogate measures give no evidence of the size of the audience exposed to the promotion. Furthermore, Levin 1993), claims that measures such as these are incomplete because they do not tell â€Å"how event marketing shapes consumer awareness, attitudes and impressions of a company or its brands†.. It is possible to have on-site audience research that goes beyond mere number counting and studies consumer attitudes, interests, and opinions (AIO). For example, statisticians, including Sudman (1980), have developed techniques to make place-based media surveys conform to traditional norms Research has also demonstrated that audiences at particular events have varied demographic and lifestyle characteristics, as well as distinct AIO (Nicholls, Laskey, and Roslow 1992). This finding makes certain events more attractive to some sponsors than others. For instance, Nicholls and Roslow (1994) found that the Maryland Gold Cup steeplechase attracts spectators targeted by the local Mercedes-Benz dealers, whereas those attending the Indy CART automobile race in Miami have characteristics sought by Nissan. Even though Mercedes-Benz and Nissan understand the importance of demographics, lifestyles, and AIO, the impact of sponsorship and advertising in place-based media is still enigmatic. Where it is possible to make purchases on-site, sales measures are available and, moreover, can be related to the characteristics of customers. For instance, individuals who purchase particular items at a supermarket may be tracked by specialized Nielsen and IRI databases. (Nicholls and Roslow, 1994) In general, however, advertising effectiveness measures are not available for audiences at most place based sites, including sports events, unless they are specially commissioned. Thus, Nicholls and Roslow (1994) were most concerned with methods of measuring the advertising effectiveness of a specific sports event Traditional measures of effectiveness, beyond actual sales, include advertising exposure, consumer attitudes, brand recall, and purchase intentions, and Nicholls and Roslow (1994) collected and an alyzed brand preference on sponsor brands promoted at a professional golf tournament in order to build a model of sponsorship effectiveness. Examples from Specific Genres â€Å"Action sports†, an emerging genre of individualistic sports, increased immensely in popularity over the end of the last century (Bennett et al, 2002). Sponsorship of action sports events has likewise increased rapidly over the last few years, and these sponsorships are prevalent on most televised event broadcasts. Bennett et al’s (2002) research suggested that there is an expansive and increasing action sports industry and several major corporate sponsors have uncovered the benefits of advertising on ESPN, NBC, and others. Advertising research is replete with examples of utilizing intermediate measures to assess sponsorship effectiveness, and the literature base on intermediate measures in sport marketing has now been well established by the authors listed above, and has provided sport marketing and management practitioners with useful data on intermediate measures utilized by the LPGA, Olympic Games, and Gay Games, respectively. However, despite the development o f literature on sponsorship effectiveness within the sport industry, there is a relative paucity of original research on the action sports phenomenon. As such, Bennett and Lachowetz (2004) discussed the attractiveness of the action sports genre to the ‘Generation Y’ market, claiming that action sports events may increase in popularity even further over the next few years. Since action sports were founded by individuals seeking to be involved in participant-controlled sports, the genre will likely continue to have some mass appeal for the members of ‘Generation Y’, and therefore many companies and marketers will seek to benefit from the transfer of brand associations resulting from the firms aligning themselves with the events and athletes that appeal to the youth segment. Certainly, there are valuable lessons for all sports sponsorship marketing practitioners that can be learned from the substantial growth of the action sports industry, and since there has been such a dramatic rise in the popularity and strength of the genre, practitioners should analyze the efforts made by those responsible for expanding the industry. Obtaining sponsors that appeal to targeted markets or have the capability of transferring images is another objective that has been utilized by action sports marketers and managers, and marketers should consider being authentic or creating a cool image when attempting to influence the youth market, especially one so large and filled with cynicism toward corporate sponsorship. As such, Bennett and Lachowetz (2004) concluded that choosing sponsors that can deliver on authenticity rather than simply provide a revenue stream may allow greater return on investment in the future for those targeting ‘Generation Y’ Moving to looking at a more mature genre, certain professional sport organisations fall short of educating their corporate clients with respect to all of the benefits and attributes of the sport products they offer, including sponsorship programs, luxury suites and event sponsorship(Lachowetz et al, 2003). In response to this problem, theorists have developed a nine-step framework: â€Å"eduselling,† that identifies corporate sales activities designed to assist professional sport franchises in the education and retention of their corporate customers. Lachowetz et al. (2003) surveyed all 29 teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in an attempt to validate the nine-step process, with the purpose of the study being to collect more detailed information about the sales activities used by NBA franchises. As a follow up to the study, marketing directors were selected from five NBA franchises, with selection criteria including average to below-average team winning percentag e and average to above-average corporate customer retention rates, which indicated an effective corporate sales strategy. Methodology Theoretical Models A great deal of fieldwork has attempted to gauge the relative effectiveness of sponsorship in a marketing context, but theorists such as Cornwell et al (2005) claim that these â€Å"weakly controlled field studies contribute little to our understanding of how individuals process sponsorship-linked marketing communications.† By considering qualitative factors, including possible underlying information processing mechanics, individual and group level factors, market factors, and management factors, together with theorized sponsorship outcomes, Cornwell et al (2005) thus offers a theoretical model of consumer focused sponsorship linked marketing communications that summarizes and extends theoretical understanding of the topic. Grohs et al (2004) in contrast, examined these obstacles of assessing sponsor awareness and image transfer in sport sponsorships in two ways. Firstly, as a means of reducing the danger of ambush marketing, they analysed a qualitative model designed to identify what drives correct sponsor identification. Their empirical results, collected to test the model, indicated that event sponsor fit, event involvement, and exposure are the dominant factors predicting sponsor recall, thus offering sponsors a basis for successful sponsorship planning and execution through the selection of an appropriate sponsorship. Secondly, Grohs et al (2004) proposed and empirically tested a quantitative model that assesses image transfer in sport sponsorships, finding support for a basic level of image transfer for all sponsors. However, more detailed research and interpretation of results suggest that the magnitude of image transfer depended on two factors: sponsorship leverage and event sponsor fit. The other main theoretical pieces of work were conducted by Keller (2001) and Wilson (1999). Keller (2001) aimed specifically to provide micro perspectives especially relevant for academic research, and in order to achieve this, they introduced the Marketing Communication Tetrahedron, a quantitative model, as a marketing paradigm approach, as well as a means of classifying and analyzing factors influencing marketing communication effectiveness along four broad dimensions, i.e. factors related to the consumer, communication, response, and situation. In contrast, Wilson et al built a model based on research that suggested that organizations seem to respond initially to the perception of competitive threat by reinforcing previous behaviour patterns before later and often reluctantly adopting more innovative reforms, implying a cyclical pattern of paradigm adjustment. Implications for further research and for management practice are discussed including the need for multi paradigm models, to compensate for said cyclical behaviour. Survey, Questionnaire and Empirical Data Oriented One of the major quantitative, practical pieces of work on the subject was the on site survey conducted by Nicholls and Roslow (1994) at the Doral-Ryder Open Golf Tournament in 1992. At the time, this was a major Professional Golf Association (PGA) championship, held each year at the Doral Country Club in Miami, Florida, with the principal sponsor, Ryder System, being a major vehicle leasing corporation, headquartered in the United States, but with numerous operations abroad. Nine major sponsors were included in the analysis, and the survey was conducted on each of the four days of the actual professional tournament. The championship itself was preceded by several days of pro-am rounds and a musical evening so that the whole affair extended over ten days, and respondents were interviewed as the tournament progressed. Each of the interviewers was assigned to a specific location on the golf course and a total sample of 276 respondents was obtained during the final four days of tournament play. Interviewers were instructed to select the first person to cross a given point following the conclusion of each interview, and this procedure was found to have reduced bias with respect to the interviewer selection of the respondents. Respondents were asked their specific brand preference in the categories included in the study, and the analysis investigated whether the preference for advertiser sponsored brands was related to the number of days attended. Nicholls and Roslow’s (1994) stated aim was to establish whether there was any empirical relationship between spectators’ degree of preference for brands advertised on-site and the number of days these spectators attended the tournament, i.e. the number of advertising messages directed to the events audience. Their findings provided a link betw een the degree of brand exposure and the degree of preference however, despite the large number of respondents interviewed, the link was found to be equivocal at best. A more decisive piece of practical work was completed by Bennett et al (2002) who, after concluding that their literature review revealed no significant research involving sponsorship and action sports, undertook an investigation of the effectiveness of action sports sponsorships.. They claimed that such a study was both warranted and timely; and thus composed an original 19 item questionnaire in order to measure action sports sponsor and athlete recognition by members of the ‘Generation Y’ market. The results from these questionnaires were crucial in forming their conclusions about targeting younger people. Similarly, as part of their work, Lachowetz et al (2003) interviewed numerous individuals by means of a 45-60 minute phone interview. Data from these calls was qualitatively a

Aldo Vallone :: The Divine Comedy

The Dante research of Aldo Vallone1 spans forty years, from the publication of his Prime noterelle dantesche (1947) and his bibliographic update of N. Zingarelli's Dante, to his recent annotated edition of the Commedia (1985-87)2. To retrace Vallone's Dantesque journey step by step would involve some 200 items, covering the whole spectrum of Dante scholarship and including interpretive studies of individual works as well as surveys of Dante criticism. We can here indicate only the salient moments of Vallone's critical contributions. The Vita nuova has frequently engaged Vallone's scholarly interest. His editions of the text appeared in 1954 and, with a critical anthology, in 1972 (the latter was expanded in 1975). His attention to Dante's poetic apprenticeship is documented by the analysis of the first nine chapters of the libello, the lectura of chapter XXV, and the study of the prose connectives in the libello.3 Analogous interest is shown in the studies on Dante's early prose: the essays on Dante's Latin and on the vocabulary, syntax, and style of the Convivio. In these studies Vallone analyzes not only Dante's rhetoric but his  «spiritual make-up » as well, underscoring the points of contact with the poetic language of the Commedia.4 In a revealing passage of his  «internal lectura » of Dante's lyric poetry, Vallone reflects on his own methodology:  «I propose a reading which aims to illuminate Dante's "lyrical substance". His poetry contains and offers from within all manner of interpretation. My approach is not simply "explaining Dante with Dante". It strives to locate and verify the internal coherence of the poetic text, in which each feature conforms to an internal necessity and has its rationally appointed place within the whole. My reading identifies in the text the subterranean echoes and hidden links between one verse and another; it undertakes to distinguish the vibration and "force of resistance" under the surface of the word. I intend to pinpoint Dante's intimate reasons for the choice of a given word: a choice that cannot be determined solely by personal taste, but always reflects the poet's experience of life, the rules of his art, and the social context. It is a multiform approach that o perates simultaneously on more than one level. It allows, encourages, even forces the reader to verify his reading at every step. One textual detail recalls and conditions another; and the sum total coincides with the meaning of the opus.

Essay --

Introduction Cloud computing is the transmission of computing as a competence rather than an industrial good, whereby common means, software, and signs are delivered to computers and other apparatuses as a service over a system (Mell & Grance, 2011). Cloud computing acclaims, characteristically unified, facilities with the transported data, software, and control through a connection. Software as a service (SaaS) is frequently touched with cloud computing. End users have an access to cloud depended claims through a network browser or a light weight desktop or mobile app while the occupational software and facts are deposited on servers at a distant place. Cloud applications attempt to stretch the same or healthier service and presentation than if the software packages were connected nearby on the end-user processors. At the basis of cloud computing is the bigger idea of organization meeting (or Converged Substructure) and communal facilities. This sort of data focused environment permits enterprises to develop their requests up and running earlier, with calmer manageability and fewer upkeep, and allows IT to additional quickly adjust IT resources to encounter changing and unpredictable occupational demand. Cloud Clients Operators access cloud computing consuming interacted client strategies, such as desktop processors, laptops, tablets and mobile. Among these tools, cloud clients depend cloud computing for completely or a mainstream of their requests so as to be fundamentally lack of it. Instances are thin customers and the chrome nooks based on browsers. Numerous cloud submissions do not need precise software on the client and in its place use a net browser to interrelate through the cloud application. With AJAX and HTML5, these... ...asonable. It is also true for traditional/conventional data centers. Therefore countries with promising circumstances like Sweden, Europe and Switzerland are demanding to enthrall cloud computing statistics centers. Energy competence in cloud computing can consequence from energy conscious preparation and server alliance. Though, in the circumstance of dispersed clouds above data centers with dissimilar basis of energies counting renewable basis of energies, a small negotiation on energy ingesting reduction could outcome in high carbon footprint drop. This technology is expected to grow by leaps and bounds in the coming years, and may very well be one of the innovative technologies that spring our civilization into a new era. The speed in which information is being transferred and stored is growing constantly and there is no sign of that slowing down anytime soon.

Joan Of Arc Essay -- Essays Papers

Joan Of Arc Witchcraft is an on going concern throughout all ages in history. Many people believe in the power of darker forces. Most fear those with special gifts and begin to make accusations formulated through jealousy. Joan of Arc was one of those people that had many gifts and foresaw the future through divine intervention. Burned at the stake for being accused and tried as being a witch, she never gave up her pride or lost faith in her God. Joan was born in 1412 and lived in a small village called Domremy, which is located in the Champagne district of northeastern France. She grew up as the daughter of a farmer. Often working on the farm and tending to the animals, Joan lived the life of a peasant woman.1 She did not attend school and never learned to read or write. Even though she was illiterate she spent most of her time praying and attending church.2 At the age of thirteen she became aware of something she soon came to call "voices." Joan perceived these voices as being divine. Later on these voices Joan heard led her to reveal a secret outcome of a battle that only the king himself had knowledge of. After learning of Joan's prediction, the rightful king, Charles VII called her in to talk and Joan told him about her visions and prophecies.3 Meanwhile in France, the English began to gradually invade the central area. This was part of the One Hundred Years War, and the English threatened the city of Orleans. Orlean s is located eighty miles south of Paris and if the English would have captured the city, Paris would have probably been next.4 The only solution to this problem was to stop the English at Orleans. At age seventeen, Joan of Arc suited up for battle to lead her troops to Orleans and drive the French ... ... Press Ltd, 1996. 36. 16. Wheeler, Bonnie. Fresh Verdicts on Joan of Arc. New York: Gerland Publishing Inc., 1996. 58. 17. Michelet, Jules. Joan of Arc. New York: University of Michigan, 1957. 31. 18. Pernoud, 161. 19. Wheeler, 98. Bibliography - Beevers, John. Saint Joan of Arc. New York: Hanover House, 1959. - Lightbody, Charles. The Judgements of Joan. London: George Allen and Urwin Ltd., 1961 - Michelet, Jules. Joan of Arc. New York: University of Michigan, 1957. - Pernoud, Regine. Joan of Arc. New York: Stein and Day, 1966. - Warner, Marina. The Trial of Joan of Arc. Great Britain: Guernsey Press Ltd, 1996. - Wheeler, Bonnie. Fresh Verdicts on Joan of Arc. New York: Gerland Publishing Inc., 1996. - Winwar, Frances. The Saint and the Devil. New York: Harper and Brothers Publishers, 1948

A Class Divided: the Effect of Discrimination in One Life Essay

The most interesting part of A Class Divided is when the students were tested on their knowledge on the days of when they had to wear the collar and when they had it off. The test scores were higher when the collars were removed. It is amazing that discrimination can mentally affect someone academically. Discrimination is a powerful weapon that can harm anyone, no matter where you are in the social class. My opinion on the video is that no matter what race or ethnic group you are, there is always a way that discrimination can affect you. I believe that although minority groups are more vulnerable to discrimination, the dominant group has a flaw in which can be discriminated by other races or ethnic groups. The most common discrimination occurs to African American people, just because of skin color. Discrimination among Asian people occurs because most people would think that all Asian people are Chinese. It is also known as a stereotype that Asian people’s eye sizes are small, which is not in every case at all. Another stereotype is that all Asian families own either a restaurant or a convenience store. Although there are a few Asian families that do own a business, most families do not have the benefit of owning one of their own. Japanese people were being harshly discriminated during World War II because of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. Asian people, however, did not receive as much discrimination as an African American person or a woman. African Americans were discriminated since the beginning of civilization, starting out as slaves to a more dominant group. In the United States of America, African Americans earned their freedom after the civil war, but were still discriminated harshly. Jim Crow laws were placed to limit the freedom of African Americans. Eventually, civil rights movements occurred with Martin Luther King, Jr. leading the movement. Women were also discriminated harshly in the past. Women were considered as property of their husband. Human rights of women were very few, or none at all. Women were always at home cooking, cleaning, or taking care of the children. Women were not able to fully get their rights until they were able to receive their political rights. Different countries in the world granted women’s suffrage at different times. New Zealand was the first country to grant women their suffrage rights in 1893, while the United States granted women their voting rights in 1920. Right now, illegal immigrants from Mexico are being discriminated because they are working for low wages. Many United States citizens are outraged at the fact that their jobs are being replaced by illegal immigrants. Also, people from the Middle East are being discriminated for the actions of the terrorist group that Osama Bin Laden found, Al Qaeda. Even though most people from the Middle East are innocent, the terrifying horrors of 9/11 scarred their lives in the world. If everyone participated in Jane Elliot’s experiment on discrimination, the world would become many steps closer to world peace.

Of Mice and Men: How does the author show sympathy for Curley’s wife Essay

On the ranch there is a well known woman merely referred to as ‘Curley’s Wife’. As the characters develop we find that she is not in fact the unimportant, nameless character we first perceive her as, but rather she is a relatively complex one, with much more to her than we first gather, causing us to feel sympathy for her later in the novel. In this essay I will state how John Steinbeck influenced the reader to feel sympathy for Curley’s wife, especially after making the reader prejudice towards her. Steinbeck creates sympathy for Curley’s wife in numerous ways, one being her name. The fact that she never has a name outside of the reference to her husband clearly shows the reader that her identity is surrendered to a heartless husband. Evidence of this is when she admits that her husband ‘aint a nice man’ and that she never truly wanted to marry him. This leaves the reader with a impression of a unhappy, isolated woman to the extent that there is sympathy regardless of her outrageous behavior towards Crooks. Alternatively, the lack of a name for this woman could could suggest she is insignificant and not as important of a character as George, Lennie or any of the other men on the ranch. It could also be referring to how during the Great Depression, women were oppressed and treated less equally. Steinbeck may have portrayed Curley’s wife in this light to allow the reader to recognize the inferior role of women at that time. The lack of name relegates Cur ley’s wife to an insignificant status like a lot of women in a 1930s society. Steinbeck enables the reader to see Curley’s Wife through migrant worker Candy’s eyes on their first encounter her, as in his dialogue he refers to her as a ‘tart’. Through his words, we develop an initial perception of Curley’s Wife as as a bit of a ‘floozie’. Furthermore, Candy effectively accuses her of acting disloyal to her newly married husband Curley by saying, ‘she got the eye’ for other men. The word ‘tart’ suggests she presents herself in an ostentatious manner. Before even being introduced to the woman, the reader is convinced she’s to blame for anything that goes wrong in Solidad. Her physical appearance of ‘†¦full, rouged lips†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢, as  well as ‘fingernail painted red’ and elaborate hair, emphasize our preconceptions of her. I believe her attire is very significant to how we perceive her. She is said to be ‘heavily made up’ in primary colours (making her almost impossible to ignore or dismiss). This could be interpreted as her silent cry out for attention due to her being so isolated and lonely, after all there are no other woman on the ranch. Her appearance is portrayed as one of an actress or someone who has means of great luxury, this is why she is so incongruous on the ranch as she is not your typical housewife.. Her mien could also be construed as though she believes she is above any other woman who lives on a ranch, indicating she wants escape from her current lifestyle as her attire is suited for anything but her own. The description of her face being, ‘heavily made up’ could also propose the idea that she is insecure with her natural complexion. In other words, her face is a mask – it’s fake and not the real her. This makes a big connection of her ambitions of being an actress, a person that is constantly pretending to be someone they’re not. All of this contributes to the reader sympathising with her as she is so hopelessly insecure. On the other hand, Curley’s Wife’s appearance could be seen as naivety, and simply desire to be appreciated/noticed. Steinbeck may have portrayed Curley’s Wife with’ wide eyes’ to illustrate her as gullible or even that she is searching for something – which I believe was to be appreciated. If the text is analysed thoroughly, Steinbeck leaves subtle traces of evidence to help the reader understand her behaviour and fashionistic choices. ‘He says he was gonna put me in the movies’ is evidence of the ‘dream life’ Curley’s wife believed she was destined to have as she details twice ‘ I coulda been in movies†¦ I coulda sat in big hotels’ had her chance not have been stolen. This theme of lost opportunity or shattered dreams is often repeated throughout the story. The delusional mindset that leads to her cruel nature is the theme that makes the reader sympathetic to her. Red is a primary colour therefore people are attracted to it hence why Curley’s Wife wearing a lot of red may symbolise she desperately wants the  spotlight (attention) – much like many film stars. The description of ‘full rouged lips’ could be evidence of her attempt to be appreciated by the ranch workers; by drawing their attention to her lips it forces them to listen to what she has to say. Furthermore, another connotation of the colour is danger. A reason for Steinbeck portraying her as an associate of this colour may have been the foreshadowing of the blood that was to be shed. Finally, it is also a reminder of the girl in Weed who had a ‘red velvet’ dress that Lennie grabbed which caused him and George to go on the run, which we also know happens at the end of this novel. I believe Steinbeck structures Curley’s Wife’s character very intelligently as this subtle foreshadow indirectly makes a connection of the beginning and ending of the novel, also relating to her ambitions of being a movie star by the emphasis of a red ‘velvet’ dress. This indistinct description is often unnoticed causing the ‘reality vs: fantasy’ connection to be dismissed between Curley’s wife wearing a ‘cotton’ dress which immediately makes her no more than a housewife, however much she tries. Also on Curley’s Wife’s first appearance, the reader is made apparent of her alleged promiscuity as, ‘she put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward’, This suggestive and provocative body language justifies Candy’s statement of her and is hard evidence to the reader that she in fact a tart. However, we know this is not true. Curley’s wife shows similar traits to Crooks by standing in the door frame as he is isolated from it too. This causes the reader to feel sympathetic for her as she is secluded for being conceived as something she actually isn’t. Through no fault of her own, the men do not want to associate with her due them believing she is ‘jailbate’ ‘and a ‘rattrap’. This infers that the men are scared of her, something that frustrates her because she can’t comprehend why the men’s attitudes to her are so negative. The ‘rattrap’ could also be a forewarning of her escape to freedom which was only achievable by death. This is because once the rat trap’ (ie her) had been set off, it could no longer be used again, so effectively she committed suicide. I think that Curley’s wife and a rat are arguably similar as they are both hated by their relative society for being who / what they are, which is completely unfair. Also, rats are relatively small animals, this  could link to Curley’s wife as she feels and is perceived as dramatically insignificant on the Boss’ ranch. Curleys’ wife both talks and acts playfully and flirtatiously in front of the other workers. In my opinion she behaves in this manner because her sex is her only weapon to gain attention. Steinbeck could have been trying to make a point of her actions being relative to the era she lived in. I believe he deliberately portrayed her in this light with the intentions of making the reader feel sympathetic towards her in later chapters, but also to make the reader feel apologetic and penitent for labeling and being prejudice towards her. On one of her ‘looking for Curley’ routines she says, ‘They left all the weak ones here’ alluding to the three men, all ‘weak’ in their respective ways. However there is irony in this comment because she is seen as unworthy of a name thus why the reader can conclude that she’s unimportant. It is also ironic because she was left behind by all the men too, ‘Even Curley’. This causes the reader to feel sympathy for her as she is aware that she is just as marginalized as the ‘weak’ men. Evidence of this is when she rhetorically questions them. Here, the author is not only trying to show that Curley is a major obstacle in her having a proper conversation but Steinbeck is also emphasizing the fragmented relationship the couple have.The lonely and hostile side of the woman is revealed when she admits to feeling a shameless dissatisfaction with her life which inevitably causes the reader to feel remorse for her. Curley’s wife is again shown to be dislikeable by expressing bitterness when reffering to the men as ‘bindle stiffs- a nigger an’ a dum dum† The author presents her intense anger by stating â€Å"breathless with indignation† which explains her frustration. Finally, Steineck creates sympathy for Curley’s wife in the way that he portrayed her death as her true vulnerability is unmasked. ‘Ever’one knowed you’d mess things up.’ were the words from Candy when left in the barn with her body. The fact that none of the ranch workers, or even her husband, seemed to be particularly saddened of her death causes the reader to feel sympathy for her because it cements just how unappreciated she was. We  finally see her for the young victim she is as ‘the meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache were all gone from her face’. This repetition of discontent symbolizes that death was her escape because she is now away from being negatively labelled and misinterpreted. Steinbeck uses imagery to present her at peace after her death as she is described as, ‘†¦very pretty†¦sweet and young†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ This causes the reader to feel sympathetic as the character we first perceived her as is gone. Also, the description of ‘young’ furthered my sympathy towards her as it suggests to me she had a short and unfulfilled life. My sympathy for her is also heightened in this chapter because her vulnerability is now clearly identifiable, for example she failed to understand the danger of Lennie – despite the evidence of his violent power in her husband’s mutilated hand and the dead pup he is grasping. The basic idea in Steinbeck’s description of Curley’s wife’s corpse is that in death her beauty can finally be appreciated. Furthermore, who can’t feel sympathy for somebody that is dead from no fault of their own? Personally, I feel most sympathetic towards Curley’s wife more than any other character in the book because she was in a constant battle to be accepted. What makes me most sympathetic though is that in finally letting her guard down to confide in Lennie, she was murdered. Even in her death she is nothing more than a scapegoat as she is referred to as ‘no good’ by Candy. She was never considered as a person, only as Curley’s showcase trophy. Curley’s wife, as Steinbeck depicts her, does not share Lennie’s innocence. Steinbeck rests a measure of blame for the killing on the victim herself which causes the reader to yet again pity her unfortunate life. Moreover, I feel sympathetic towards her because her dreams were futile and it was only at death that she could be rid of all the male dominance that corrupted and controlled her life. After all, it was a man who gave her the ‘false hopes entity’ that followed her to her life on the ranch, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t leave the past behind. She ‘had the eye’ restlessly searching for true love and affection. Steinbeck gave Curley’s wife a circular structure that represents no matter how hard she tried to progress to her ambitions, her cycle always involved her finishing at her starting point, therefore no progress could ever made because her life was the  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœbeginning of the end’.