Ahhhhh The Relief!!

What Do You Mean That's Only Half!!

Evening Biplings,

Well I hope everyone has de-stressed somewhat after our exams and then realised that the exams & associated projects while important only concern themselves with the 3 subjects that make up HALF the course marks! Genius! Ah no matter we get marks now for sabotaging 'working with' host companies! Or for the innovators among us, you get to do a project of your own!!

But going back to the exams for a minute, I found the whole experience of getting back in an exam hall quite stressful, not least the damn invigilators hovering past your desk every 30 seconds. Now there are those among us that do have a shifty look about them but really cheating! I not unlike many of you, I presume, felt that Christmas became an almost unnecessary distraction 'en route' to the exams and what little spare time I had away from family and friends was taken up with studying or the thoughts of studying. I can guarantee that I am far from what one could call a 'swot' but being that bit older and some would say wiser than when last sitting down with pen and paper for an exam, I felt that my faculties would not handle a dozen cans of Coke and no sleep before an exam, so a bit of study was warranted.

Study!! a sudden and very stark realisation dawned that over the past 13 or so weeks I had not taken in one iota of information with any relevance, I new how to fold a T-Shirt (thanks Frank, if I am stuck in central China and need a few dollars a month!!) and also that I must disappoint somebody about something first, but after that it was all rather blurry! With that said I thought to myself surely the course notes I took and the slides on Moodle would be of some help!! Yeah right, I realised that I should be going to school with my kids to learn to write again for one, because my notes looked like they were written by an illiterate Panda and the slides made everything more vague, with pictures from films and diagram after diagram after diagram. At my wits end I decided to follow the topics and read a few chapters of the books. Four f**king books in which a single chapter is longer than your average Mills & Boon, I was at breaking point! If that wasn't enough every smart arse without a clue was posting on Facebook "Useful" titbits to help during the study! The more I read there, the more I felt like I hadn't even been on the same f**king course! But c'est la vie and I found a way through, Waffle!

"You are never alone in anything you do, unless you Think you are alone!"

We all got through the exams together and with the support of all our classmates, be it useful or not! But I can safely say now that they are over , was there anything really to be stressed about? Was it not down to each one of us and our own insecurities or fear about the exam more than the event itself! But seriously I am sure we all did well in at least 2 of the exams and in the marketing exam well we shall see. What do you mean marketing wasn't one of our course subjects!!! But hey that's a battle for another day!

Now we move ever closer to the end of the course and good old De Vito I mean Brendan takes us under his wing and guides us through helping somebody else make more money for free! Getting years of top class experience for a nod and a wink, we are all past being apprentices and to say this is a learning experience, I would debate that with anyone! But I am sure we will all put our best feet forward and muddle through! If some of you out there some of the theoretical content was sketchy during the year, the "Practical Project" is going to rub you up the wrong way altogether, some the host companies don't even know what they want from it, so if they don't know it's gonna even be hard to disappoint them!!

Now we are freed from the classroom I will try to get back here a bit more often and share with you my musings of the project experience and feel free to share yours, comment here or via twitter, the Blipping Students current followers are active and very engaging, a nod to @dvbsh, @ajocca (Poirot), @ofitzmaurice , @roismhuire, @andrewkinsella and of course @geraldinelavin. If i have left anybody out, thats probably because your not important!

Good Night

The Blipping Student
@dcublip3

TOP EXAM TIPS

It's all Kicking Off in the Morning!

How to get past the exams

Evening All,

I presume most, if not all, of you are knee deep in pools of your own sweat surrounded by piles of notes and trying to take in the last few molecules of information before your tiny little pixie heads explode!! Never fear the Blipping Student is here with some words of (somebody else's) wisdom!

How to get through the exam pressure in simple steps;

1. GET A GOOD NIGHTS SLEEP, TONIGHT!
1. Make sure you get to be early and get some decent sleep tonight. This may sound ridiculous if you are the type of person who crams, or obvious if you are a swot! Do not underestimate the importance of a fresh head in the morning. Plus studying while tired is not effective enough to warrant the risk of falling asleep half way through!!! Easier said than done!
2. COME PREPARED!
1. Know where you are going and how you will get there!
2. Spare pens and pencils, spare anything you will need rulers for diagrams etc
3. Exam Number & Student Card
3. EASY ON THE CAFFEINE & USE THE LOO!
1. Don't drink too much coffee tonight or in the morning! It does not help, it may cause a trough in your attention through the exam or have got you through studying but only to leave you drained for the event!
2. No Laughing, try and void your bladder of excess prior to starting the exam, to avoid losing or interrupting your train of thought during it! It is extremely distracting for you trying to hold it or leave midway through answer and for everyone else being disturbed by you getting up to leave!
4. BE ON TIME, NOT IN TIME!
1. Make sure you allow plenty of time to get to the exam centre, Mahony Hall
2. Allow for the worst traffic, road conditions, lights etc
3. There is nothing more stressful than being late of rushing to get there on time only to spend the first 10 minutes of your precious exam time trying to calm down from the stress induced panic of getting there!
5. BEFORE YOU WRITE - RELAX!
1. STOP LAUGHING!! I'm serious if anything this is probably the best piece of advice I could give anyone doing an exam. Stop, Breath and Relax.
2. Rushing won't increase your marks or your ability to do well, it will mean you will forget or overlook something, FACT!
6. READ THE QUESTIONS - FIRST SEEK TO UNDERSTAND!
1. Over and over again we 'Vomit' all the information on a topic into the first question, only to discover parts 2 & 3 cover the same information we put into part 1, we repeat ourselves or end up writing a load of waffle to fill up the next three pages with the info we wrote on the first part.
2. Then to makes matters worse, after showing our tombs of knowledge on the subject didn't actually answer the questions asked!
3. Save time and hassle and only answer that which you are being asked, seems easy, but its not!
7. GIVE EXAMPLES
1. During all your questions try to give as many examples as possible, it demonstrates your applied knowledge of a topic.
2. Theory is great but you will not remember verbatim everything in the books or notes, so be prepared with examples to show you understand the principles of the theory and how to apply it! (and that goes for life aswell as exams, you need to be able to apply what we've learned not repeat it)
8. KEEP IT SIMPLE - STUPID!
1. Don't get carried away with big sentences and difficult to interpret fancy language, it shows you understand the English language but wont necessarily get you marks.
2. Write what you know and how you know and leave the prose to Shakespeare, its about getting across your level of awareness and understanding
3. Straighforward, clear and concise answers (not too concise) will be easier to understand and mark than lines and lines of waffle and irrelevant ramblings, speaking from bitter experience!
4. Show your work, if needed! Pre-Structure your answers on rough paper if required, it will show your thought process and organisation skills and also some information you may eventually leave out of your answer
9. FINALLY - REVIEW
1. Schedule some time at the end if possible to read your answers and compare to the questions, spelling, small errors or touch ups may be needed to make the best of the answers and easier for the examiner to read! 
2. The harder it is for the examiner to understand or comprehend or read the tougher the mark you will get, its frustrating enough to mark almost 90 papers but to have to struggle to read what may be valid info will not help you become predisposed to the examiner!

Remember, they are only exams, its not the end of the world. Stress, worry or anxiety will not get you marks. Go in tomorrow and write what you know, have seen and learned over the past 13 weeks of the course and you will be fine. 

Whats the worst that could happen!! You have got this far, a piece of paper will not make or break you now!

Best of Luck,

The Blipping Student

A Semester in Review

"The aim of life is self-development. To realise one's nature perfectly - that is what each of us is here for."

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) from The Picture of Dorian Gray

What Have We Done? What Will We Do? & What Can We Do?

Afternoon All,

We are halfway there and of that which remains there is nothing but project work in our future. As the heading suggests we now have three ways of looking at the coursework we have completed, what have we done, what can we do and what will we do? Three very important questions for some of us, for others less so as the plans are made and the BIP Bus is but a waypoint on the route to our destination. This is very important, we must at all times remember that the course, the BIP, is just a vehicle to help us get to where we want to go, at times it felt like a 'funky Ford Cortina' (old, but perfectly functional) and at other times it resembled more a 'hybrid Lexus' (lean, green and really sexy) but as with any journey it was made on Irish roads so at times inevitably it became very bumpy! But this is something to remember and if you take nothing but this next point from my somewhat untimely and irreverent ramblings its this;

It's always important to enjoy the journey, as the destination sometimes disappoints!

- The Blipping Student 2012

With me and I am sure with everyone that has lasted up to this week the first few weeks were a mixture of excitement, nerves and novelty. Everything was relatively new and we all wanted to impress and be impressed at the same time. Most of us have experience of college of some sort and everyone of us a wealth of business experience to call on and after a while some of us(me included) found it hard to be taught! Listening to someone else contradict or question the way we have done business or not listen to the points we raised made for a few very interesting 'Debates' into which at one time or another Dave Staunton, Frank Munnelly & Co and Geraldine Lavin got involved in! Even during Dr. Theo Lynns guest lecture we reached a point where I very much felt like I was back in second year and was caught talking down the back.But I put these down to 'Growing Pains' we all became teenagers of sorts, we knew everything and couldn't be told anything, there were cliques in the class (good and bad) and this gave us one great lesson as to how life works. Every work place, club, society or group is the same, get us together in numbers and sub groups will form, cliques and rumours, conversations etc etc etc, and its amazing as life goes on we get older and we can still see the same behaviour. The lesson is that we recognise this and learn how to use it to our advantage apply it to our life and work, which is all that matters. Recognise that sometimes there are things we can't change, learn how to play the game and play the game well or else expect to beaten from time to time ,we have the choice!

We have completed our projects, what a stress inducing nightmare! During my career post school I myself have worked on several large projects within companies etc, but when your back in school the competition and fight for marks is unbelievable, I now understand and remember what secondary education was actually like! During the semester we also had many workshops and guest lectures of which my top 2 were, the Dyson Experiment!

Missed a bit Anne Marie!

Where we saw who the cleaner was for the first time! No wonder she was adamant the place be kept tidy!! The other guest lecture that really hit the spot was Theo Lynns - Techspectations presentation which opened I think all of our eyes to the importance of social media and the internet in business today.His Nazi style of presenting was refreshing if not a little bit disturbing.

I think overall I can safely say, with certainty of contradiction, that the most interesting yet least educational lectures through out the semester were that of Batman and the Boy Wonders! Frank and Jezmond! When I say least educational, I mean in a traditional sense, it was very much forward thinking and out of the box learning. It gave a very fluent look at the way we all new the product development or marketing department really work everyday, 'We'll make a cup of coffee and Ideate for a bit, then lunch and Brainstorm and then possibly another coffee break followed by drawing several mind maps or heck lets just write on the wall. Then get paid a zillion euro for an idea that some poor soul has to try and build/sell/execute!

As we came closer to the end of the semester the 'Stupid Question Squad' dissipated somewhat in to the background as more and more of us missed bits and pieces any question was nearly a welcome one! Then finally we came to the last lecture of the year with Darling Cocktails, thanks Frank! You know what good Chef's say about a meal, make sure the service & dessert blows them away as that's the most likely to be remembered  I think that credo applies here, make sure we leave pissed and we are sure to think of it as a great experience. Overall I believe it was a great learning experience, if nothing else it opened my eyes on how to do business differently and think outside the box (I would love to see that box someday) a bit more.

What will we do with it, hey that's a whole other course guys! As is was said at the start, we will only get out of it what we put in! I think that's very true those that engaged and involved themselves have probably learned more than they know, presenting, working effectively (or not) in teams, politics,(although Andy could teach anyone a lesson there - amazing Class Rep campaign, followed by being assigned to SNAP for the project - there will be a tribunal!!) and so much more. It would be very easy for me to be a cynic and say it was a money generating exercise for the academy or a project in self justification, but I think it fulfilled a real need for most of the participants. I for one am glad I took part, I met some great people and enjoyed the learning experience I got from each and everyone who participated in the course.

From here What Can We Do? its a good question and it won't be on any exam, I believe we can do anything we want and set our minds to! We are a bunch of great, experienced people put together in one room, who can help each other and help ourselves achieve what we want! We have already achieved plenty in our lives and have plenty to be thankful for, after the BIP can only get better. So I ask the question again,

What can we do? YOU tell me? I say Anything!

Until Next Time

The Blipping Student

dcublip@gmail.com

OH THE PAIN

How Embarrassing!

Morning All,

I know I haven't written in a while, for a couple of reasons, the lack of material from the class', the volume of assignment work and life in general just got in the way. But I was exercised yesterday by the sheer lack of respect some of the class have shown towards the course itself. I know there will be confusion and misunderstanding and some of this not helped by the sometimes murky and garbled information provided by the BIP Team themselves.

However, not withstanding the few instances of misinformation from the course organisers, WE ARE NOT BABIES, If I was a lecturer who walked into a class full of MATURE STUDENTS (average age supposedly 48, not me) I wouldn't expect to be met with questions about areas already very clearly covered in the course material already provided or covered in lectures dedicated to the subject, namely the projects. I also would not expect to be met with a group speaking over itself, there were so many voices at one stage yesterday I don't know how any sane person would have been expected to deal with it! Example, the majority of the class were contradicting each other and also the lecturer despite not having read their emails which clearly clarified the Project Management matter, now put this into a work situation (which we are all supposed to be working towards) and we went into a business meeting without all the facts, FIRED is a word that comes to mind. Nobody has the right to contradict or confuse the situation without reading the information provided by the course whether that be Assignment Brief's, Schedule's or indeed Course Emails. There will be some of you out there who will say I don't have access to my email/computer/course details all the time, fair enough, but then don't waste my time and your classmates time arguing the toss about a project or other subject when you know already that you haven't read the information provided.

Finally, KUDOS to MICHAEL REGAN, who may at times be a pompous ass, but showed more backbone than our elected representatives (surprise surprise, similar to that of real life TD's) to stop the infuriating madness yesterday. He voiced the concerns of an overwhelming amount of the class that had in fact read the information provided and understood it. He, like me, was frustrated to the point of madness with the lack of understanding shown by a class with a 'wealth of experience' like we are supposed to have in the way they blatantly displayed their lack of knowledge of provided course/project materials.

Rant Over, but take note, I, like Michael Regan et al, am here to learn and there a significant amount of the class that would rather bitch and moan than actually take some self responsibility and act like a MATURE STUDENT and get on with it, we wonder then why the country is the way it is, a perfect mini example of it's the STATE's FUALT SYNDROME!

Until Next Time

The Blipping Student

Follow The Leader

Class REP's Voted In

Morning BIPlings,

Apologies again for my mysterious lack of posts of the last few days, but I started one of our textbooks last wednesday evening and I have just finished the first chapter this morning it's like wading through porridge!

Last week we had our local elections and voted in our Class Representatives, Dave Bushe, Irene Bergin and Andrew 'Red Pants' Kinsella! The Sunday Independent is rumoured to have a breaking news story about the elections for the front page this week, it all centres around the financial reporting during one of the candidates campaigns. But I digress more on the breaking news as we have it!

I attempt on a daily basis to take the temperature of the class so to speak and to understand the daily feelings, for want of a better word, of the room as a whole. With those 'feelings' in mind I have put together a 'wish list' for the reps!

1. Printing Station - I am sure with the resources at the disposal of the academy that a simple pay per use printing station could be made available! Before someone screams 'environmentally friendly' if the cost was slightly higher than average and a recycled paper was used, also a recycling bin at the printer I am sure the carbon footprint wouldn't be anything that would keep us up at night! I am quite sure DCU main campus has several areas available for students to print.
2. Moodle & Non Related Class Questions - Could you please for the love of God, get the message out that anything unrelated to the class in front of us, the lecturers won't (shouldn't) answer! Our face time is limited and sometimes seems to be caught up with someone who can't log on to Moodle or can't find coursework! There have been several occasions over the past 2 weeks where the lecturers have been visibly annoyed by the questions of some of our peers, there are plenty of people in the room that do know and can help! There is also a bloody helpline, use your new found power and position to influence this please!
3. COFFEE - I cannot function without coffee and as we have the facilities, can a FUND be put in place to get some real coffee! I would gladly give a euro a week (and I am sure others would as well) to ensure we don't have to endure any more Maxwell House warm water!
4. Social Events - It was discovered and shared that there was over 2000 years of experience in the room and the average age was 49 (my God we're old (except me!!)), I think it would definitely be no harm for you to arrange some sort of social event where in a comfortable setting the social minded among us could meet and network/chat about things other that innovation SIDEBAR: I am now constantly bombarded by the word innovation on a daily basis anybody else getting that!.

Thats all my suggestions for now, but my fingers on the pulse of the BIPlings every day I am sure it will not end here.

We have just received some breaking news on the Blipping Student's desk, Fianna Fail is looking to appoint Andrew Kinsella campaign manager for the next election. This comes on the back of rumours that Andrew Kinsella was supported through the campaign by Snap Printing CEO. This allegation has been strongly denied and Andrew has stated very clearly that the campaign funds were donations from 'Friends' and the money was only 'resting in his account'. Andrew refused to comment this morning but fears are now raised that he could be removed from the Technical Group similar to the way Mick Wallace was earlier in the political season! More as this story progress'!

If you have news that the BIPlings should be aware of drop me a line at BLIPPING STUDENT , as you can see we will print unfounded allegations about anybody and anything in an unprofessional loose cannon sort of way. We will have a review of last week up before too long and will get down to the issues posed this week before the weekend.

I will be back soon with some more vital news for all of you, but I better start to concentrate here!


The BLIPPING STUDENT
dcublip3@gmail.com

p.s. Comments welcome but often ignored!

More Creativity & Innovation

Top 10 Ways to Be More Creative/Innovative

Morning All,

It is a fact that if over our careers/lives we have been in an environment that has failed to foster Creativity or Innovation then it is highly likely the process may be quite alien to most of us! But like many skills a lot can be learned to improve our ability to think & act creatively in college, work or life in general.

Here are my Top 10 Ways to Foster an Innovative Mindset;

1. BRAINSTORM
This is very important ideas and thoughts clashing and being thrown up in the air highlights strengths and weaknesses that would otherwise go unnoticed. This includes asking colleagues and customers their ideas or go for a brainstorming walk!
2. TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS MORE
Your inner feelings are based on your life experiences and can very often be a great guide to successful ideas! Have lunch with a different person each day and don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it!
3. KEEP AN IDEA JOURNAL
Write down all your ideas you never know what idea or thought could make you your first million. Another way to use it is to spend 5 minutes writing down as many ideas as possible, it's amazing when you force yourself to do it what can be achieved!
4. COPY, PASTE & IMPROVE
Plenty have thread these roads before us and most of the time a lot of the hard work has been done for us, so as the heading suggests! But use it wisely as there is no excuse for plagiarism that's just Lazy!
5. USE DEADLINES & GOALS
Without these there is no urgency or target for the creative process! Also not having something to aim for can make us Lazy and we extend our own expectations and get nothing done!
6. LAUGH MORE, WORRY LESS - HAVE MORE FUN
Ask yourself 'What's the worst that could happen IF I fail' and then understand the risks & relax! The work environment is vastly more productive when it's happy.
7. ELIMINATE UNNECESSARY BUREAUCRACY & ADMIN
During the Creative/Innovative periods avoid mundane and dreary tasks that are not helping to achieve goals.
8. ASK FORGIVENESS, NOT PERMISSION
Be careful with this one, but its very effective! Avoid 'NO' at all costs, management, owners tend to be more cautious with the uncertainty of ideas and plans.
9. DIVIDE UP YOUR TASKS
It's easier to solve small problems instead of trying a big project in one go!
10. KNOW IT IS POSSIBLE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Acknowledge all your success' and reward yourself.

This will be especially helpful when looking at our group projects.

Until next post,

The Blipping Student

Myers Briggs - Simpsons Powerpoint

Which Type Are You?

Evening All,

Below is a link to the PowerPoint we had today on Personality Types!

Simpsons PowerPoint

It's a funny example but gets the point across. 

Good Night

The Blipping Student