Growing My Social Capital

Contact #1:

1) Who they are and what their background is.

     The person is my brother Daniel Parra. He is a graduate from the University of Florida working at an internship with UF's The Agency.

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

    The slot that Daniel will be filling is the domain expert. Right now Daniel is developing and perfecting his web development skills by taking a rigorous class with UF's Development Academy. This a three month course that helps people hone and perfect their web development skills that almost guarantee a job when completing the course. Daniel fills this spot because he has taught me so much about being an engineer. He has served as a role model to me and I even try to follow in his footsteps. Daniel is now capable to program application, websites, and many other things that will prove useful to many employers. This is why he is my domain expert.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

    Well Daniel is my brother and I am currently living with him here in Gainesville. We are close siblings and he has helped me a lot.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

    The nature of our exchange is very symmetric. He has helped me with knowledge and engineering skills, while I offer him errands, favors, and sometimes money when he is a little tight on cash. I guess we don't really expect much in return because we both help each other and it is a mutual relationship.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

    Including my brother in my network will allow me to have a very close contact in the professional world. Daniel is likely to get employed by a company by the end of this year when he finished his development course. This will allow me to have someone very close to me help me with tips, advice, and even connections to that employer.

Contact #2:

1) Who they are and what their background is.

The second person is Aaron Hanuschak. He is a close classmate of mine ever since I started college.

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

Aaron fills the market expert role. Aaron ever since he was young has been exposed to technology by his dad. Now in his twenties, Aaron is very experienced and even holds a leadership job in Gainesville's own GatorTec. His job requires him to have contact with companies and their interest in Apple. He know much on the market when it comes to technical help, product services, and much more.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

I found Aaron my freshmen year of college. We had several classes together and one day struck conversation with him. Since then we have both been following the similar classes and help each other out.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation?

Aaron is very experienced with technology, circuits, programming, and many other things. He helps me as I am fairly new to the some things he has know for years. Aaron often struggles with Calculus and I offer him help in that. Also since my close location to UF, when we stay late in Marston I often take him home since buses stopped running. We both help each other out in a mostly symmetrical  way. Although he tends to help me more as he doesn't really need much help with things.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

Including Aaron in my network will allow me to have more insight in the professional marketing world. Aaron's job exposes him t many companies and with that I can also receive insight through him.

Contact #3:

1) Who they are and what their background is.

The final person is Andres Gomez. Andres is my best friends dad and owner of multiple businesses. 

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

Andres will be filling the supplier spot. Andres fills this spot because of his many years of experience in owning and running a business. One of his companies, Data Memory USA, is a company that offers integrated solutions for markets in the technology and communication areas. Andres and his companies have experience with selling products/services to many organizations around the globe.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

I found this person through my best friend Daniel Gomez. Danny and I met in high school and I met his parents and learned of his dad's work.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation?

Well when I am done with school, I will contact Andres and offer him my skills and experience I learned here at the University of Florida. In return hopefully, Andres will be willing to offer me a job in his company to help grow and improve the company. It will be a symmetrical relationship

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

Including Andres in my network will dramatically expand my social capital. Andres is a very social person with business contacts in many places all over the globe. Also he is very experienced in running a company effectively for many years.

Reflection:

This type of assignment will help me form networking experience. i must be able to reflect and navigate myself to people I see that will both help me ascend professionally and help them improve. I also realize that I have to start to surround and network more with others because I will never know when that person can come in handy. This assignment did differ as I had to take into account my social capital. I had to recognize who was in my web of contacts and how they can help in my industry. I enjoyed this exercise a lot.