Practical 4 - Where the journey of a thousand miles comes to an end

Prologue
A thousand miles? Yes, this project was indeed a journey of a thousand miles, for no shorter journey would open unlimited possibilities for the creative ability of the human spirit, nor allow me to delve so deep into the unknown, exploring new horizons and opening new doors. This was a journey I didn't choose to take: in fact, I absolutely hated it, and was completely uninterested in it. However, fate has ordained that I, who chose this diploma to learn Infocomm Security Management, will have to learn Social Media Marketing, a module I would never had thought of taking. I have encountered countless setbacks and also countless triumphs, and then it dawned on me that, although the journey is not going to be frictionless, there is hope for me in completing this journey, for the path to wisdom is a treacherous journey, and if I choose to avoid it, I will never know where I am.

A short note to my group members
Before I continue, I would like to address my group members first:
Our marketing project, to be honest, was a complete failure and I have no way to remedy that. My decisions were made on the best information available and I know that all of you have did all that you could have done. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone. It was a pleasure to work with all of you, despite all our differences, we worked hard to strike for a common goal, a common hope, and a common dream. You have brought me to new heights that I would never have attained without your help. But right now, our journey has ended and its time to say goodbye. As we part, I do not know if we will ever collaborate again. Even we would never cross our paths again, I will remember this project, for this project was my first - my first foray into the unknown and you will remain the foremost in my heart. May I have the honor to wish you the very best for the success of the projects that you will undertake in the future.

The journey
 A foray into the unknown, perhaps it was a step into the right direction, perhaps it wasn't - I do not know what shall be the judgment of history but I would be well pleased if on some later day this proves to be indeed a step in the right direction. In this journey, I took on many roles, learnt many new concepts skills, and also furthered my skills in many aspects of my knowledge. It lifted my sights; it demonstrated to me that magnificent conceptions can be made real. It had inspired me and at the same time taught me true humility.

Starting with a touch on what I had done and learnt, we shall now recap on what I have gained in this journey. Through the sourcing of a client for us to run a campaign for, I learnt how to liaise with clients and the art of communication. Through the creation and running of the Facebook page, I learnt more about social media marketing and how to fully utilize the tools provided to me to bring information across a mass audience quickly and effectively. Through the contributions to the editing, suggestions for changes and contributions of ideas to Powerpoints, reports and other articles of the group, I gained the chance to brush up my English language skills and also learned to push the boundaries of my creativity. Through the creation of posters and other articles for the group, I brushed up many skills, from my information gathering and research skills such as sourcing for details, answers to our problems to even skills like Photoshop and design. Not to forget, through the group meetings and occasional clashes in opinions with the group members, I learnt how to collaborate with others, how to make concessions, how to make peace with them and how to work with others who are different from oneself, and also to learn from them and better myself in areas I am sorely lacking in.

As I had previously mentioned, this journey wasn't just a walk in the park. It is, with much difficulty, did the group come to where we are today. Now, let us look back and consider the problems which the group had encountered, and how we had managed to overcome, sidestep or perhaps even ignore. To begin, the largest issue the group had encountered was poor time management, for most of our work was done at the very last minute - even though we had the advantage of an entire December holidays on our side, we failed to take advantage of it and left the project to crumble and stagnant for the entire holidays. What the group should have done would be to utilize the December holidays to plan ahead and prepare for the upcoming tasks and also to post regularly on the Facebook page. It is, with much regret that I did not inform the group to do so, even though I had thought of doing so during the holidays countless of times and, in fact, also spent all that valuable time for my own leisurely benefits. The other notable issue we had was our lack of coordination among the group members and also, between the group and the store owner, which often led to mismanagement of the group, unproductive meetings and cancellations to plans. What could have been done was to properly plan out not just a timetable with sketchy details, but a detailed timetable encompassing even the most minute of details so that the goals are clearly set out and allow the group to work towards it. Now, on to myself. I have to admit I lack dearly in time management, which have led to me being late for a couple of presentations. I should have planned my personal timetable not to just allocate the right amount of time for everything, but also to have included some room for delays and the likes to prevent a delay in a task causing everything else to be late.

Footnote

At this historical moment, I am particularly proud to announce that although this journey has come to an end, the benefits and knowledge gained will forever be with us, where perhaps, in the future, it may bring us to reach new heights in the journeys to come. It is a happy coincidence that the group bears the name Solace; this symbolic name defines comfort or consolation in a time of distress or sadness, indeed, the journey we had gone wasn't a smooth and happy one, but it has brought us much consolation that our efforts were not in vain.