Jananas

I’m editor of this year’s Rotman yearbook. I’ve been pretty impressed with what I’ve been able to accomplish thus far.

1. I’ve brought the yearbook committee under the wing of our student council. Before it was a free floating group with no authority and no accountability.
2. I’ve made some changes to the software we use to do layouts and the printing method, and as a result…
3. I’ve been able to bring down the price per book from $40 at a loss to $25 at a profit.
4. I’ve also been able to get funding from our student council to help subsidize the cost of shipping the books to students (many didn’t buy them as they wouldn’t be around to pick them up after graduation).
5. I’ve also increased the content so that it includes more of the student body (so increasing the focus on the three year program) and more of the awesome social events that make Rotman a fun place to go to school. This widens the audience we can sell to and makes us more relevant.

Right now, I’m trying to get students to buy the book. Which means that I need to communicate information about the sale and then badger the hell out of the students to actually do something (like read their e-mails and click on a link).

So here’s my problem – I have no idea how many students have actually bought books since the e-mail went out yesterday morning. The only sales I’m aware of are those when students have told me in person. Sales are completed online through one of the school’s websites. And there are zero back end analytics. Yup, zero. I believe that is referred to as negative awesome. I need this information so that I can sell appropriately. For example, I don’t want to hassle students with daily e-mails if the majority of the student body has already purchased a book.

How on earth can you be a business school and not understand the importance of reporting, analytics, and the impacts of both on decision making? And I don’t think I’m terrible out of line to expect the school that is supposedly teaching me about these things to also be able to put them into practice.

So Rotman, you fail this one!

Jason and I have been planning road trip for the month of May. We’re looking hitting up 3 countries, 22 states, and 10,000+kms. Did I mention that he’ll be doing all of the driving? We’re going to be driving out to Vegas for APP (a conference) and are looking for people/places to hang out and potentially some couch space along the way.

I write the last exam for my Masters Program on Tuesday April 27th and we’ll likely head out that night. We’re going to hit up Columbus Ohio to say hi to some friends there, then Louisville Ky to hang out with our friends Josh & Jess, then to Kansas City for some Bob love. We’re not sure what we’re going to do about Denver, Colorado. Then its onto Vegas, for a full six days of hotel and gambling goodness.

The way back is a little less defined, but we’re going to be hitting up Pheonix Az and El Paso Tx (and from there into Mexico!), before hitting up Austin to hang out with Em & some of Jason’s family. From Texas, things are still a little undetermined. We’ll likely hit up North Carolina to see Jason’s niece & nephew. We’re going to be in Philly, so that I can be in NYC to get my feet tattooed on May 21st (and Jason can get his chest piece, done by Joy, finished). Then back to Canada for my cousin’s wedding in Kingston on May 23rd. Ridiculousness!

So we’re looking for couches in/around or people to hang out with or good food suggestions, for:
- Denver, CO
- Pheonix, Az
- El Paso, Tx
- New Orleans
- Delaware
- East Coast goodness..

Click through on the thumbnail below to see the planned trip in all its glory.

These were inspired in part by Jason and in part by my friend Marie (and her lovely pink scarf). They are lobster claw mittens that are perfect for cycling – you can reach the brake without taking the rest of your hand off the handle!

The picture above was my first crack at them and I’m pretty impressed overall. Both with how easy they were to knit and how the first attempt came out. I’ll be giving them to my friend Marie to test out as she cycles to/from school.

To Download the Basic Ear Flap Hat Pattern you can do one of three things:

1. Click on this button above,
2. Click on this link,
3. Or you can find it on Ravelry here

It will open the pdf in a new window. From there, you can browse through it and save it if you choose to.

Also, you can find more of my knitting patterns here.

My cousin is getting married this May. I offered to knit her a wedding garter. Well, tonight we finished it! The actual garter took me about an hour to knit, on US5 needles in a soft, white Angora. It took another month to get around to purchasing some nice blue ribbon, elastic, and assembling it. My roommate sewed the ribbon & elastic together, and added the final bow. All in all, I think that this is a pretty successful project!

p.s. My roommate is modeling this on my behalf (and she’s single!).

So the Captain over at Manspun is holding a contest to win a skein of his fabulous handspun yarn. The contest? In his very own words…

“you need to send me a photo – what you think the manliest use for manspun yarns is.  please avoid photoshopping entries – the more real the picture, the more likely it is that you’ll win the prize.  all entries will be posted here on the site so that everyone can have a good look.  i will choose the winner and notify the world here on the manliest holiday of all – March 17 – St. Patrick’s Day.  the day where we all pretend we have irish heritage and drink guiness to celebrate.”

I submitted my photo yesterday. I’m using my knit gun to hold up Jason. Despite the non-manly pink colour, look at the size of the beard I’ve managed to get to stick ‘em up.

So please, my reading public – go comment here on how awesome my picture is so that I can win that skein of yarn! In fact, I’m not adverse to bribes. So I’ll take everyone who comments, draw one person’s name randomly and knit them something awesome!