Arts - Buffalo State College

50
Business and Fashion & Textile Technology
Saving the World One Shirt At a Time:
The Patagonia Story
Sara Geartz, FTT 450W: Issues in Apparel and Textile Industry
Faculty Mentor: Professor Lynn Boorady, Technology
In a society where we are constantly being reminded to take
care of the environment, sustainability has become a new fashion
statement. Many retailers are making the change to organic
products, as well as monitoring how much of the earth’s resources
they are using or destroying in the production of the products. A
company that has been at the forefront of this movement since
the 1970’s is Patagonia. Founder Yvon Chouinard, who started out
making rock-climbing equipment in his garage in the late 1950’s,
has turned Patagonia into one of the largest eco-friendly companies
in the world. After realizing how much of an impact the fashion
industry was making on the environment, Chouinard decided that
he needed to think of a more sustainable way to do business. This
research paper will outline what Patagonia is doing to help the
environment, why it’s so important and how they are getting other
businesses as well as their consumers involved in the effort. My
poster will outline all the great projects that Patagonia has started to
not only reduce their impact on the earth, but also to give consumers
the knowledge they need to make a difference.
Presentation Type and Session: Poster I
The Science of Appliance: The Blogging
Intern
Danielle Dudkowski, BUS 378: Business Professional Practice
Faculty Mentor: Professor Lynne Scalia, Business
My poster session will provide an overview of the marketing
internship tasks that I am completing at Marcone Supply. Marcone
Supply is a parts distributor for major appliances located in
Cheektowaga, NY. Harry Markow founded Marcone in 1932. Over the
past couple years, the company’s property maintenance, cooling and
heating markets have exponentially grown. Marcone currently has
45 locations in the United States not including Canada. The locations
include 12 distribution centers and 6 call centers. Marcone covers
over 94% of the population with next-day ground shipping. Marcone
also ships parts to 117 different countries. These major appliances
include dishwashers, ranges, refrigerators and HVAC. My internship
responsibilities include creating an inventory database. I use
Microsoft Access and identify part descriptions for over 27,000 parts
and categorize them by part numbers. I had the opportunity to learn
more about social networking. I created a blog to promote Marcone
Supply’s website. I identify interesting topics and write up a blog
and then upload to various blog promotion websites. I am learning
so much about social networking and how to market a business
through the worldwide web. I create, update contact information
for all the branches throughout the US. I have also created monthly
surveys, updated contact information for vendors and processed
shipping requests.
Presentation Type and Session: Poster V
Seven Habits of Highly Effective Event
Managers
Rachel Pettys, HTR 375: Events Management
Faculty Mentor: Professor Kathleen O’Brien, Hospitality and
Tourism
Successful event planners have one thing in common: they
must be very organized. The fundamentals of planning an event
require extreme amounts of structure and time. There are many
things that can get lost in the hustle and bustle of planning an
event, so it is very important to stay on task. Many professionals
recommend documenting every detail of the event as one effective
way to stay organized. The itinerary, key contacts, contracts, banquet
event orders, and more are chronicled and saved. This is another
activity that is commonly practiced. A capable event planner should
also have key communication skills. Other strategies that aid in
organization include the development of checklists to assure good
follow up. These tools alone may not be enough though. This is
why an in-depth look at Stephen Covey’s highly acclaimed book,
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is used to explain
the correlation between highly effective people who manage the
events and their success rate. The poster presentation summarizes
characteristics of “highly effective people” who are also event
managers in Buffalo.
Presentation Type and Session: Poster IV
Social Responsibility Is the New Pink
Kit Sombke, FTT 450W: Issues in Apparel and Textile Industry
Faculty Mentor: Professor Lynn Boorady, Technology
As one of the biggest industries in the world, textiles create a
variety of products and generate a lot of revenue. The most popular
textile fiber is cotton. Many companies are becoming socially
responsible (SR) which may include using organic cotton. My
research delved in to the questions of why and how companies are
becoming socially responsible. SR companies may range from selling
only organic cotton clothing, or basing their brand concept around
using only recyclable materials. Current research also indicates
how cotton is classified organic and how current production of
cotton is reducing the textile industry’s carbon footprint. Being
socially responsible can range from how one treats their workers,
how a company manufactures their clothes, to what they sell in
their stores. Just because brands and industry leaders are striving
towards becoming socially responsible doesn’t mean consumers are
also active in the trend as well. My research found that older and
educated citizens were knowledgeable about organic cotton and
interested in being socially responsible. Educated consumers are less
likely to purchase products that are of unknown origin.
Presentation Type and Session: Poster VII