Growing My Social Capital

For this assignment, I decided to research what I really want to do versus the business concept I used for this class. When I complete my undergraduate degree in Food and Resource Economics with an emphasis in Food and Agribusiness Marketing and Managment, besides going to graduate school for International Business, I want to coordinate imports and exports of agricultural commodities, preferably coffee. So, for this assignment, I contacted a domain expert, industry supplier, and a market expert in the coffee industry.

Domain Supplier

1) Who are they and what is their background? The name of my first interviewee is Katrina of Coffee Blenders in Visa, CA. Katrina said she just fell into the coffee industry. She has a background in sales and stumbled upon Coffee Blenders because she was curious about doing some marketing for the firm. She has also liked coffee and saw the potential the company has, so she applied for a job within. Now that she works for Coffee Blenders she admits that she has now morphed into a coffee snob.

2) The slot Katrina fills: Katrina fills the domain expert slot by being a technical expert.

3) Search Description: I googled coffee industry domain expert and Coffee Blenders had their information posted on http://www.ncausa.org. I gave them a call and Katrina picked up with great enthusiasm.

4) The nature of the informational exchange: I must say, it was quite pleasant to speak with Katrina. She was hands down my best interviewee. Not only was she charismatic in providing information, she also informed me that huge coffee festivals are held around the country. There is one in Los Angeles on the 19-21 of August that I may attend!

5) How will including this person in my network exploit opportunity? Well if I attend this coffee festival I will have an immediate icebreaker due to the personable conversation we had. Also, this could lead to an internship or even a job.

Market Expert

1) Who are they and what is their background? For my market expert, I chose the Mecca of all coffee companies, Starbucks. Obviously, Kevin Johnson (CEO) wasn't available, but I did speak to a customer representative name Matilda. Matilda is not much of a market expert but directed me to the social impact section of the website so I could retrieve information for this assignment.

2) The slot Starbucks fills: Many would Starbucks is the market but the slot I used them for in this assignment is the market expert.

3) Search Description: I googled Starbucks and found the phone number for the Headquarters in Seatle, WA.

4) The nature of the informational exchange: The informational exchange was good. Even though Matilda was not very knowledgeable on the topic I was asking her about, she was still nice and helpful in pointing me in the right direction for research.

5) How will including this person in my network exploit opportunity? I wouldn't say she is a good connection to exploit opportunity but she informed me on a valuable portion of their website that I was not aware of before. The information that I can extract from that section will increase my human capital as a competitor in the coffee industry.

Industry Supplier

1) Who are they and what is their background? For my last interview, I interviewed a coffee supplier out of Delray Beach, FL that imports Italian coffee called Baristino Coffee. I interviewed the manager of the operation. He is an Austrian immigrant that would not provide his name or much of a background. He told me that asking about his name and background was too personal and he could not answer that haha. I still got a little information out of him though. The Austrian immigrant said he fell into the coffee industry 40 years ago. He was just a young guy looking for a job and he just so happened to land in coffee. He also mentioned that when conducting international trade with Italy, they use English to communicate.

2) The slot the Austrian immigrant fills: Industry Supplier.

3) Search Description: Again, I used google to aid me in my pursuit of information on the coffee industry. I googled industry supplier and Baristino Coffee was one of the first search results to pop up.

4) The nature of the informational exchange: In a way, this interviewee had a bit of a hostile attitude but still provided enough information during the interview to be useful enough for this assignment.

5) How will including this person in my network exploit opportunity? I'm not really sure, maybe if I go Delray beach and introduce myself this connection may be worth more. There's no doubt at all that he will remember our suspicious conversation.

**Reflection**: The major thing I have taken away from this experiential assignment is my potential attendance at the coffee fest in Los Angeles. I'm seriously considering going. This has shaped my networking strategy by letting me know that not everyone is going to want to participate in a college students questionnaire and if they are, be organized and assertive with a hint of finesse. This experience differed from other assignments in the past because I was interviewing business employees versus random people/students. Also, I entered into a industry I am actually interested in for research instead of working on my made up business idea for this class.