Growing Social Capital

Domain Expert in Industry

1.     Who are they, what their background is:

Ben, a Software Engineer at Paracosm (a tech firm in Gainesville that uses mobile reality and visualization tools)

2.     How this person is a “domain expert”:

He has a lot of experience with technology and developing different software. Through his occupation, he has working on things like augmented reality, 3D technology, 3D scanning and has even helped Google develop programs to incorporate 3D functions.

3.     How I found and contacted this person:
I looked online for popular tech companies in Gainesville and called them.

4.     Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return expectation:
I had the opportunity to talk to Ben and explain my product idea. He was able to assure me that it was a possibility to install real time displays in parking garages and connect it to an application, but he also explained that it could be expensive to implement. It was a very quick discussion as he had other work to tend to.

5.     How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity:
He would definitely be able to assist in exploiting this opportunity as he would assist me with the technology piece of this business. If he personally could not help create the application or real time display, he could recommend other people who might or who might have more time and the same skills and experience he has.

Market Expert:

1.     Who are they, what their background is:
Riley is a senior at the University of Florida with a major in Marketing, who owns a car and utilizes parking on campus frequently.

2.     How this person is a “market expert”:
She is not necessarily a marketing expert, but she is a part of the target market and she experiences this problem daily, and knows a lot about the target market, while also having a little background in marketing.

3.     How I found and contacted this person:
She is in a club that I am in and I had the opportunity to ask her a few questions about what she thought about the product.

4.     Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return expectation:
I told her about my product and she showed a lot of interest in it and explained that she believed it could be vital for busy places, especially the University of Florida as parking is such an issue here. She explained that it would not be hard to sell students on downloading the app and liking the idea as long as kinks could be worked out and there would be little to no issues or complexities with the technology.

5.     How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity:
Including Riley would allow me to better exploit my opportunity because she has an understanding of the issue at hand and why it is such an issue. In addition, she has a lot of experience with University of Florida students and she has more experience in the marketing realm than I do, so she could help advise me in how to market my product.

Industry Supplier:

1.     Who they are, what their background is:
George Murphy

2.     How this person is an “industry supplier”:
He works at Real Time Technologies, which is a company that is stationed in several places (its location in California is the one I have contacted) and it provides technology and products for real time technology.

3.     How I found and contacted this person:
I found this company through the Internet and contacted this person via email.

4.     Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return expectation:
Through our correspondence, I explained my opportunity and asked him several questions about his company and the technology they provide. I told him I am focusing on a real-time display board along with an application for smart phones and he informed me of some of the specific things I might need.

5.     How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity:
Including him and this company would give me the technology I need. Speaking with him, really made me realize how much goes behind this product and all of the hardware and tools that would be needed to create this product.

Finally: Reflect

This experience shapes how I participate in any future networking events because it gives me more insight on networking and the difficulty of finding the perfect person that could benefit your product. It has also really helped me understand that we need to pay attention to those around us and reach out to those we know to see if they know anyone that could help. This differed from my networking experiences in the past because I was worried to disrupt the people I was talking to in this assignment as I did not want to act as a distraction for their job and I wanted to ensure that they took me seriously.