Final Project Mastery Post
I feel like I had learned only a few things during my time studying this Masters degree in Entertainment Business. Starting with the Mastery class, I really enjoyed the book offered, but other than that, the course was relatively simple and straight-forward, much like the rest of the program. In the following month, I was able to start a log using Evernote for class notes, ideas, and bookmarked websites.
However, because of the intense scheduling of this degree, I was not able to do any Lynda.com tutorials or explore the campusā Writing Center. Instead, I ended up creating an account with Grammarly and got tips for improving my writing right away. Fortunately, I did find some great online APA resources, like Project APA and APA Style Blog.
In Month 2, I went through Executive Leadership. I was able to identify and improve my leadership style by the instructorās video clips on YouTube. In one of the discussion posts, I was able to determine ways to better utilize the decision-making process. However, I decided that leadership is not something I have any interest in.
For Month 3ās course Project and Team Management, I had already known the basics of project management from previous job experiences. I was not sure which project I should start this degree off with, so I had worked on budgets for a smaller business project idea instead of on a larger scale. Unfortunately, I did not gain much information on how to motivate a team to accomplish project goals. Perhaps, this is for a more advanced course.
In Month 4, things started to turn around as far as what project I should choose for the remainder of the degree. In Business Storytelling and Brand Development, I was able to think of ways to start creating an online business with a solid brand. I was not able to write better to tell a businessā story, but I did create the first drafts of my companyās mission statement.
I took Entertainment Business Finance in Month 5, and my hopes were to pass this course fairly easily. However, I took that for granted as I did not. I also did not get too much of an understanding when it comes to fundraising, developing financial projections for various businesses, or necessary capital management and operations expense management.
I was very confused by the requirements on a couple of the assignments, and over time, I saw why. However, I immediately discovered that if I were to be successful in this degree, it would have to be on whatever I can figure out with the resources I am given. This course was a disappointment in that I did not gain the education I was expecting for financial steps or realistic monetary scenarios for even smaller businesses or projects.
In Month 6, my schedule had me taking Digital Marketing. Here, I developed a marketing plan for business created in Month 4. I also learned tips for digital and traditional marketing strategies. In turn, this helped me understand how to develop a stronger online presence for a business.
Next, I started the Negotiation and Deal-Making course for Month 7. For this class, I learned basic deal structuring and preparation, essential negotiation and deal-making skills, and contracts creation skills. I really enjoyed the assignments in this course as there was a lot of variety in their content. For example, the online training was more realistic than I gave it credit for.
For Month 8, I was delightfully surprised with the Product and Artist Management course. Throughout the whole month, I identified management issues for artist management and tips on how to avoid and resolve them. I also learned how to connect a product to an artist, and brainstormed on new products for artists. Unfortunately, I was not able to network with a local artist this month.
In Month 9, I knew the Advanced Entertainment Law was either going to be comfortable or enjoyable for me. Thankfully, it was both! I had come into this course knowing a fair amount of basic entertainment law concepts, so it was nice to be able to get validation on the information I had picked up. However, I was able to pick up some ways on how to protect intellectual property. Also, looking into the various insurance policies that exist for this kind of protection was helpful to me, as well.
Month 10ās course for Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution was wonderful! Not only was the information broken down appropriately, but I ended up with a ton of bookmarks of websites that I am excited to explore more after graduation. This month, I was able to improve upon digital publishing knowledge, as well as my understanding of the various digital publishing models. Sadly, I was not able to network with a distribution company as I had hoped, but I now know about Lulu and CreateSpace.
For the Business Plan Development course, I could not believe that this was Month 11 already. I also was thinking this class was going to be a lot harder than it was. After the first assignment, it clicked: All I am doing here is compiling all the work I did in the past eight months of class. Although I did manage to research some extra materials I needed for a possible business plan. The feedback I received on my first business plan draft was extremely helpful.
Finally, we have come to Month 12, where I am currently in the Final Project: Business Plan course. Expectedly, I refined my business plan created in the previous month. I thought I was going to eventually present this business plan to my peers, but thankfully, I did not. Unfortunately, too, I did not create a visually appealing and engaging presentation of my business plan as I had hoped, but it was enough to get by.
With this above timeline of monthly goals for all twelve of my courses in Full Sailās EBMS program, I would say that I easily met most of my goals. Month after month, I got better at understanding how to pass the class, mostly because the concepts were not a challenge for me. If I had more time throughout the months, I think I would have taken advantage of doing a more thorough job on some of the assignments, watched Lynda.com tutorials, and maybe even do some of the tasks again for more practice. If you want to read the individual monthās feedback in more details, feel free to review my previous eleven posts.