My Voice

My name is Michael Sherman I am an audio production student at the Art Institute of Las Vegas. I will soon be completing my first year and I am very excited to put the skills I have obtained to work in the real world. I Might be a bit of A late bloomer but have never felt the need to pursue A higher education until I had my son in February of 2011. I have been slinging booze for 12 years in and around Dallas Texas and Las Vegas Nevada. I decided not to long ago I wanted to pursue an education in something that I enjoyed and loved. Audio production was the area of study for me. I started a business with a friend of mine in 2005 called Heads Up Productions. We managed and promoted bands throughout the local Dallas area. The first show we did was a 3 day event with 15 bands a battle of the bands with % bands every night. We worked so hard and did so well promoting the show that I realized I could make this more than a hobby. We worked together for a few years and made some decent income but never enough to get me out from behind the bar; I have since split with my partner and have relocated to Las Vegas. So here I am trying to gain the skills I may need to get me in the Audio industry and out of the drinking business.

Week 2 EOC

The market share in the video game console market is pretty much up for grabs at this point. I do not particularly feel there is a real industry leader at this point. To me the two main manufacturers are very close in annual sales every year. According to vgchartz.com Over the Lifetime sales of the three major consoles NINTENDO WII has the lead with 42% of the lifetime market share. Though Playstation 3 and Xbox360 in recent years have out sold the WII by a ton they are still about thirty million units down over the lifetime of any of the 3 consoles.  http://www.vgchartz.com/article/88844/2012-year-on-year-sales-and-market-share-update-to-february-11th/.  “Though console gaming currently represents the largest market in the industry, its growth is projected to slow down in the upcoming years, from a 10.9% growth between 2003 and 2008, to a 5.5% between 2008 and 2013.” http://sites.duke.edu/soc142-videogames/international-trade-patterns/industry-growth/. While console gaming might be down a bit and the mobile gaming platform will show the most growth the console market will still hold the market share for some time to come. NINTENDO released a new console the WII U in the winter of 2012 and sales of the unit have been impressive, “despite negative publicity, the Wii U launch is off to a good, if not great start.  The Wii was a phenomenon.  For the Wii U to do 88% of the Wii's numbers, despite costing $100 more is nothing short of impressive.”http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/video-game-console-battle-tightens-167183. Though the Wii U sales are impressive I believe it will be short lived. Both PlayStation and Xbox have set to release their own consoles late fall 2013 they will surely interfere with the Wii U sales. Whoever comes out on the top of this year’s late battle for console supremacy will surely be the one to sit on top of this market share battle for some time to come.

EOC week 3 #1 Chritable

Newmans Own is a company that gives all of their profit to numerous different charities.  “In 1982, Newman’s Own started as a tiny boutique operation – parchment labels on elegant wine bottles that Paul Newman filled with his homemade salad dressing and gave to his neighbors as holiday gifts.” http://www.newmansown.com/our-stories/. What has started as a small dressing business has pulled in well over $350 million and donated all too charity. All 100% of Newmans profits have been donated to charities. In 2005 Paul Newman Started his own charity appropriately named Neman’s Own Foundation. “Newman’s Own Foundation is an independent, private foundation formed in 2005 by Paul Newman to sustain the legacy of his philanthropic work  http://newmansownfoundation.org/about-us/. In 2011 Neman’s own foundation donated over 25 million to 750 different organizations.  They have a network of summer camps for children with serious illnesses. Mr. Newman passed away but his business and his charitable donations are still carried on in his honor. Neman’s Own makes a wide range of products besides just salad dressings. Newman’s own daughter started and organic branch of Newman’s Own. Neman’s own products range from Salad Dressing to organic dog food and everything in between. With Paul Neman’s branding ability he created a cash cow that donates all of its profits to charity.