Growing your social capital

Interview 1:

1.     My older brother who works for Delta Airlines

2.     Domain expert

3.     I had to think about who to approach in my situation since there does exist a railway system in the US, but not at the magnitude that I am proposing. Thus, I wanted to talk to someone that is involved with mass transportation. Although my theoretical product would be competition to the industry he works in, I thought this would actually give an interesting perspective.

4.     We discussed the possibility of my idea and he gave me a lot of good feedback. I was particularly surprised because I was expecting the conversation to almost exclusively pertain to how the airline industry that he works for would be at odds with the railway transportation system I am proposing. We did discuss that, however, he talked about how a lot of times the two can work in conjunction with one another. If there was a domestic transportation system like my proposal, this may encourage more travel from foreigners to the country. Even though my service may decrease domestic airline travel, it could increase international airline travel.

5.     As a person in the travel and transit industry, he understands the complexities of it. To name a few, there are a lot of moving parts when it comes to liability, workforce, and maintenance that he shone a light on.

Interview 2:

1.     A family friend that works as a travel blogger

2.     Market expert

3.     I found this person because I knew that my mom had a friend that traveled for work. In addition to having her own travel blog, her primary source of income is actually as a hotel reviewer. Ultimately, as a person highly involved in travel and how to influence others’ travel I believed she would be a good resource.

4.     Our conversation primarily focused on the idea of how to persuade people to choose the particular travel option that you chose. Something she discussed that really intrigued me was how targeting consumers has changed in the past 10 years. It was affirming to me because she talked about how the advent of social media has impacted the industry massively. Ultimately, there are many consumers of travel that are looking for those “Instagram moments.” Thus, the experience of traveling itself must have a sense of novelty, and the appearance must be tailored to picturesque perfection every step of the way.

5.     This interviewee basically works and studies consumers’ travel preferences full-time. Thus, she is a great source to have when targeting my market because the consumers of my proposed service are all using it to travel.

Interview 3:

1.     A friend of a friend that works at Boeing

2.     Supplier

3.     I was able to get into contact with this person because I remember that my friend at a different university knew someone that had graduated and got a job with Boeing.

4.     Similarly to the interview with my domain expert, I considered the possibility of getting into contact with someone involved in the supply chain for railway systems currently. However, I wanted to focus my interview on something that the airline production system has seen more of – innovation. Our discussion revolved around this concept and we discussed how the current railway infrastructure could be enhanced. This interviewee in particular actually majored in statistics and deals with a lot of complex logistical matters that Boeing has to calculate. In regards to my proposal, one of the biggest obstacles would involve the planning and construction of the system. It would be necessary to calculate what areas would be most efficient for stations, the possibility of working off of existing infrastructure, etc.

5.     Having the opportunity to elicit help from this person would be great in formulating the plan once the idea is more concrete. As a logistical and statistical advisor, he could offer a lot of valuable insights into how a massive transit system like the one I am proposing could be introduced and maintained.

Reflection:

The biggest thing I took away from this experience in regards to networking is to be passionate about the ideas you have. This has differed from my past networking experiences because in the past I either don’t have an idea at all or the one I have isn’t one that I am particularly passionate about or proud of. When you go into a networking situation in which you are backed with a bit of pride in your work, it shows in the form of confidence.

I think for many students, the work that we first should be proud of may not be so much a specific business plan or idea. Rather, the product we should take pride in is ourselves and the work we can offer to potential employers.