Rock

Music and drugs have gone together hand-in-hand ever since the explosion of rock and roll on the American culture in the sass’s. Since then, many gifted performers have succumbed to drug-induced deaths, which Is why I feel that drugs negatively effected rock music. Many great pieces of art have been rumored to be created while under the influence of several drugs, or to be inspired by these drugs. Many artists over the years have used drugs as an excuse to escape their fame, and many have used different types of drugs for inspiration for writing pieces of music, or as for an “extra boost” for a live show.

While drugs may have helped great works of art to be enjoyed by many, drugs are ultimately responsible for many untimely deaths of many great artists, who died before we could truly see their potential. The sass were an era unlike any other in American history both culturally and politically. Many new changes were being made at this time in our government, and with several tragic events occurring In what seemed to be a series of events (the assassination of JEFF, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jar. And Vietnam), the styles of music during this time often reflected the emotions of people. The lyrics of the music of the time were changing from simple love songs, to harsh songs about topics such as rebellion, protest, sex, and more increasingly, drugs. As psychedelic drugs became more and more popular in America, bands such as the Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead saw an immense increase in their number of fans, due to large amounts of people who had an affinity for this new, Jam rock style of music which was very popular with the psychedelic drug scene (“American Culture: 1960-1969”).

Many artists at the time were coming out with albums dedicated to drugs, or albums whose intent was about drugs. One such album was The Beetles’ SST. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which, In addition to including drug-oriented songs, presented a body of Interrelated pieces that constituted an organic whole. This is considered the first “concept album. ” In a concept album, all songs contribute to a single effect or unified story.

The Beetles’ album was often considered to have been the first concept album, primarily because the title song, occurring In two versions, wraps around the rest of the album like bookends: however, most of the songs on that album are actually unrelated to one another (“Rock Music: The late sass and sass’s: rocks golden age”). These new “concept albums” would come to dominate music over the next 10-15 years, as many new artists came to surface with music that mixed with drugs, and often provided fatal results.

During the sass and sass, the influence of drugs in musical culture was at its peak. Woodstock; a three-day public concert that became notorious worldwide as a concert protesting the Vietnam War, was heavily saturated with drug usage. During this time period, some of the most gifted musicians of the last 50 years died to drug elated problems. Those who were not dead by drug overdose, such as David Bowel and Alice Cooper became more popular due to their Increasingly bizarre and drug fueled stage antics.

Artists at the time had been in tune to the restlessness of American college students, tenet primary announce, Ana Ana uses tenet audiences willingness to accept new ideas and new things as a way of promoting the “rock and roll lifestyle” of free love, new music, and of course, drugs. Many great musical masterpieces were produced during this time, as “concept albums”, such as The Who’s “Tommy’, and Pink Flood’s “The Dark Side of the Moon”.

Both of these albums proved to be wildly popular to both the band’s fan following as well as the mainstream public, as rock music and drug usage seemed to blend together, and were becoming more accepted by the public as the norm (“Tomorrow Never Knows: Rock Music & Psychedelics in the sass”). Although everything so far seems alright; things take a turn for the worse. It unfortunately took a few tragic deaths to derail the change in public opinion that was happening at this time.

The deaths of superstars such as Janis Joplin (a famous and talented singer who was a star at Woodstock, died of a heroin overdose), Jim Morrison (lead singer of The Doors, died after a heart attack brought on by drug abuse), and Jim Hendrix (considered to be one of, if not, the greatest guitarist of all time, death by choking after barbiturate abuse), brought a shock to the music culture, as seemingly more and more musicians were dying due to the abuse of drugs, day after day.

It seemed as if the music and drug cultures were slowly drifting away from each other and out of the mainstream spotlight, until the sass when several new deaths involving musicians and drugs came into the limelight. Kurt Cabin considered by many to be the most talented musician of the last 1 5 years, committed suicide by shotgun, after using extremely high amounts of heroin. This event came as a shock to almost everyone not only in the music and drug worlds, but everywhere because Nirvana (Cabin’s band) was becoming internationally known, partially the reason for Cabin’s suicide.

Heroin was an inspiration for Cabin, and while it may have helped him to produce his music, it ultimately lead him into the pitfalls of depression and caused the death of a great musician, and the breakup of an excellent, growing, nouns band with limitless possibilities. Another death that occurred in the sass due to drug overdose was Bradley Newell, the lead singer of popular southern California band “Sublime”, who died off heroin overdose.

Sublime was another band with great possibilities to become a lasting force in the music industry, however, Newell decided to destroy himself and his family by forming a deadly habit. Many of the deaths that occurred in the sass concerning drugs and rock and roll were mostly in the sass, a result of depression and heroin abuse, as heroin usage came increasingly popular with the mid-ass grunge movement, and more and more musicians starting to do it. The sass and sass were both eras of change and protest, Just in a different light.

The sass were an era of psychedelic drug usage, where musicians were outgoing, and held Jam fests and large outdoor festival concerts, where the usage of drugs was permitted and most often encouraged. In the sass, music fans and musicians were using drugs as a way of protest and inspiration; however, the sass were a different case. In the sass, musicians often kept to themselves, as most deaths were due to a lethal mix of depression and previous mental problems and the addiction to dangerous street drugs such as heroin and cocaine (“Sex, Drugs N’ Rock & Roll? Nah”).

While the sass were an era of freedom, where individuals were encouraged to express themselves Ana level Trebly, ten Ana Tolling were an era of oppression, where everyone was put together as one big piece, and in order for people to break free from this “piece” and establish themselves, they must do something groundbreaking or different than what is typically expected. Music and drugs have always been intertwined; however, this relationship has offered over time due to changes in the cultural and political atmosphere of the area during the time where sad music was created.

The general publics feelings about certain events and policies at the time of occurrence is often what most influences how something will interact with something else (and in this case, the interaction of the drug culture and the music culture). During the sass and ass, many artists released experimental types of music and experimental albums simply because the material they were producing was groundbreaking, it was simply music that no one ad ever produced before.

In the sass, artists were often trying to gain infamy for their music and for their uniqueness, not for the corporate material that the executives had packaged them to be. Drugs and music will always be related, as long as there is something to speak out against and someone, somewhere to speak out against it. People use music as a way of voicing their opinions, and thus drugs and music will remain related, and drugs will continue to influence the musical culture, despite the possibility of death or mental depression they can cause.

Time and again we come across the articles on reaping benefits of content marketing. There is a plethora of blog posts claim content is still a king. The rise of content marketing led markers hire more content writers in the organization.

Further, new age marketing tools like marketing automation, lead nurturing, and content syndication are infused to increase the revenue stream.

According to Content Marketing Institute, B2B marketers allocate 28 per cent of their total marketing budget, on average, to content marketing —the same percentage as last year. Further, More than half of B2B marketers plan to increase their content marketing budget. Companies are in no mood stopping in investing content marketing any time soon.

In fact, no marketer wants to leave behind in this new revolution. But everything is not rosy because the end result is not encouraging.

The analytic report paints a gloomy picture of the impact of content marketing activity on the revenue. The macro goals: leads and sales chart is not climbing as expected.

Sure CMOs are shaking their heads in disbelief after seeing the results. So, is content marketing just hype? Will it slowly die? No. Content marketing isn’t going anywhere; it’s here for the long haul.

Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions. The questions we should be asking:

1. Where the content creators went wrong?
2. What content engages the visitor?
3. How to create the sticky content?
4. How to promote the content effectively?
5. Yes. Let’s do it right.

Stay Away From Ego-centric Content

Despite the fact, website is overfilled with content; still it fails to draw the attention of visitor. The lion share of content in the website is filled with what we offer to our clients.

In addition, the type of tone is used in the content. Companies put the pride of product ownership in the marketing collaterals. Often we celebrate the achievements of company in every nook and the corner of the website.

Not to forget, we are comfortable being noisy while positioning the product in our creative.

But, most of the times, readers get confidence when they read the approach document to the solution.( pain points ) How engaging the documentation should be? Which format it should be?  What creative elements should be put? It is left to the creative director, graphic designer and content writer.

When story revolves around the customer, even if it is not directly related to services or the products, it creates a fond full memory. (people will recall the brand  that leads sales when customer is ready to buy.)

Customers are looking into latest trends and news to update themselves to stay in the rate race. Publishing the research findings of your industry is a sure way to educate the customers. Or partner with research consulting firms to create the reports. Customer want expert to handle his requirements. These insight reports boost the confidence level for customers to share the challenges.

Customer-obsessed Content

The common marketers’ syndrome is constantly thinking on creating the content that drives more sales. The thought process of driving sales leads creating segmented content marketing plan by industry, decision makers and demography.

In an age of customer, delivering the content on an audience level is expected. Customer obsessed content is above all.

Make one-to-one experience. Eg: Deliver series of customized emails; create videos and if needed design an infographic that is just relevant one customer.

Deliver the same content in all the formats. Let visitor choose as per his convenience. For example:  Convert the white paper to podcast, infographic and video. Give the choice to choose the format. Let commuter listen the podcast while playing his favourite game. Delivering the preferred form of content based on the visitor’s behaviour brings better engagement rate.

Even a small change in offering the experience can make a big difference to the visitors. For example testimonials increase the trust level of companies. Come out of showing the old testimonial format: a passport size photo of client and his heap of praise about the company.

Instead, go to client place and shoot a documentary on how the day to day life in business has changed. How the client is making profits with the technology. How the client is creating the happiness to their customers with your technology.

However time, resource, budget and real hardships go into making content different formats.Being customer obsessed means in order to make customer happy do whatever it needs and stretch whatever level it takes.

In an age of the customer, some companies change the entire line of products as per the behaviour. Netflix understood the needs of user and release binge series that traditional media hasn’t even thought for years.

Data Driven Content Marketing

The success of content marketing lies in delivering right content to the right audience at right time. Rather creating content by intuitive, build the story and promote the content based on the recent studies published by research firms.

Data driven content marketing can be implemented right from the start: the content creation, ideation to the very last in choosing the mediums to distribute the content.

For example: Google search data says half of people begin their formal home search 6–12 months in advance, with about three-quarters starting within a year of the purchase.

People searching for “small house” show a spirit of DIY independence. They are 3x more likely to search for gardening, 8x more likely to search for woodworking and 4x more likely to search for knitting.

Based on the research findings, create content on gardening, woodworking, and knitting in the blogs.  Roll out periodic email newsletters, prospective customers looking for small houses, about latest small properties and blog posts for next six months.

Below are the low-hanging fruits of data-driven content marketing:

1. Use buzzsumo and google trends for blog ideas.
2. Build content around specific queries generated from PPC campaign.
3. Reach the targeted audience by Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin ads.

Creating more content is no more the number one priority. The real driver behind the successful content marketing is offering relevant content and customer-centric information. Lastly content should be found at the right time.

Impact On Rock N’ Roll

Perhaps music can be considered to be one of the most universal things in the world. Notably, music since the 1960s have been greatly shaped by one of the most monumental music figures in the history of the world, The Beatles. Before the Beatles became a prominent figure in music, the most popular genres of music were all forms of jazz. The Beatles alone were the main influence in bringing rock n’ roll in the music spotlight and still continue to do so to this day. They were said to “be even be even bigger then Jesus” to quote the humorous and often controversial John Lennon.

The Beatles were a pop-rock band that originally formed in the 1960s. The band was formed in Liverpool, England, with the four main members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. The band did not originally have Ringo Starr as its drummer and only added him in 1962 when a conflict arose in the recording studio which called for the dismissing of their pervious drummer. The Beatles came to fame in the UK in November 1962 with their single “Please Please Me” which reached #2 on the charts there. Three months after the release of their first single the band released their album of the same title.

At this time, the band was noticing that their fan base was prominently made of teenaged female fans. As The Beatles became more well-known as the band in the forefront of rock n’ roll, a phrase came about that described them. It was called “Beatlemania” as the frenzy surrounding the group could only be compared to that of a mania. All the emotions they brought up in many people ran the spectrum. Some would feel extreme love while others found the music very offense and condemned the band. It was this very control that they had over the people that helped boost the band into fame unseen before.

Soon after the Beatles’ rise to fame in their own country, their catchy tunes started to spread across the Atlantic Ocean to America. The band’s first US chart-topper was “I Want to Hold Your Hand. ” The song became popular when several popular New York City radio stations began to play it in their evening rotations. Around the same time was when their record company decided that it would be good to start merchandising t he band. It was a huge success. Then in 1964, the Beatles made their first historic visit to America. They were greeted by a mass of fans at the airport. They Beatles had never before experience such a reeting. Along with the mass of fans came the FBI, who closely watched the band. Then they had their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show; a popular pop music show of that time. It was all uphill from there. It would be an understatement to say that The Beatles forever changed music. Everything from live performances to recording techniques to style of fashion and more were historically impacted by this band. They would go on to shape and influence millions of band to follow in the many years to come. But not only in their musical craftsmanship did they shape the world, but also in the profound message their music held.

The Beatles set records for live performances. They were the first band to have a concert live at a stadium. Their first stadium concert was at Shea Stadium in New York and a total of 55,600 people attended this historical event in pop culture. To add to the substantial impact of this concert, the tickets to the event sold out in a short 17 minutes. This would become the biggest testament to their iconic status. When the Beatles recorded their music, they looked at their songs quite differently than other contemporary recording artists of that time.

At that point in time, most singers were only concerned with releasing singles as opposed to full albums with all good songs. The artists would record one or two chart-topping hits and write and record filler songs for the rest of the album. The Beatles on the other hand, would rarely include their singles on their full length albums. This required their standard of song to not be filler, but to be of high quality for all of their fans to listen to. This obviously proved to work for them, because the Beatles became the highest selling band in the history of the music industry.

Not only did the Beatles impact music with their influence, they also had a huge influence on the popular fashion styles of the time period. Popular fads that arose with the rising popularity of the Beatles were the “mop-top” haircut, the wearing of their famous collar-less suits, pointed boots, and John Lennon’s famous rounded glasses, which to this day are commonly referred to as, “John Lennon’s glasses. ” The themes in the Beatles songs tended to drift towards the distant dream of peace, love, and happiness.

This sparked my interest, because I, along with most others in the world would love to be surrounded with only these things. When I listen to the Beatles, I feel happy and sing along and lose any worries I may have had before I started listening. They bring of sense calm and joy which has touched millions throughout the years, all the music has been released. I’ve had a passion for music my whole life, and as a teenager in 2008 to be listening to a band that first gained its popularity in the 1960s, this has to show that they were making music that transcends time and barriers.

The Beatles music is commonly linked to politics, freedom, and life in the free world. They mentioned an overthrow of communism in some of their songs such as, “Back In The USSR” and “Give Peace a Chance. ” In doing this, they achieve a level beyond that of mere recording artists. They helped set some groundwork on how a musician can not only impact music but the society in which they live. And how using their influence is a responsibility entrusted upon them. At the same time, there were riots that were said to be caused by the Beatles’ music.

A British rock fan magazine of that time observed that the reason for the violence was that the Beatles “symbolized the rebellion of youth. ” While these riots are basically the opposite of peace, the Beatles wanted it known that their music was meant to inspire revolution in a mostly positive way. War is a common issue in the United States and the rest of the world. The Beatles music represented the war-free world they wanted to see. They hoped that people would see this and understand. They wanted everyone to “give peace a chance”, especially considering the turbulent times in which they lived.

To this day, songs of this influential band are placed in movie soundtracks, covered by popular artists of the day, and used in commercials and advertisements to represent peace-related issues that correlated with their lyrics. Being such a conscience band, controversy had to follow. In 1966, John Lennon made a comment on Christianity dying and how “the Beatles were now bigger then Jesus”. This naturally caused massive backlash with the religious conservatives. They became enraged on how John so careless and callously brushed aside their religion.

Almost immediately did the public respond; they burned Beatles albums and even bulldozed them. Under intense pressure from the media and of course the record label John issued a public a apology for the comment in a attempt to calm the people. Even as now as of November 2008, the Vatican has forgiven John for the comments he made, chalking it up as merely “a boast by a young man grappling with sudden fame”. The Beatles and everything that goes with their franchise has incredible popularity and the world would be a different place without their impact.

They helped shape an entire generation of followers. They sang of peace, love, and the psychedelics that had to do with their time. But the Beatles music cannot be contained in that time. It has spurred onward and lived strong in the old and young of today. Without music, the world falls silent; and without the Beatles’ impact, music would not have been changed forever.

References

1. “List of best-selling music artists. ” Wikipedia.
2. “The Beatles’ influence on popular culture. ” Wikipedia.
3. “The Beatles. ” Way of Life.

Fear Everyone has a weakness and something they fear; for many it can be the fear of heights or just a simple little spider. Some people may react by crying, shutting down, and acting tough or in rare occasions some might choose to overcome it. It doesn’t matter who you are, or what you have done in life, the truth is that there is nothing that can prepare you for that one moment in life that one fears the most. The sky was gray, there was smoke everywhere, the smell of burning tires, people running and yelling at one another.

It was very difficult to comprehend what was going on, and all I could hear was the sound of bells in my ears similar to the ones you hear after leaving a heavy rock concert. I had lost my consciousness for a few seconds and had no idea what just occurred. As my head cleared out I looked around and slowly began to regain my consciousness, there were buildings, a burned vehicle and soldiers laying down to my left. I lay down with the rest of the soldiers and heard my lieutenant calling for help.

That’s when I realized we were just ambushed, and there was nothing we could do about it. A simple patrol turned into the worse day possible. Finally, it was quiet for a few seconds and that fear of getting hurt was going through my head. It was one of the worst moments of my life, and the worst part was that there was nothing to do but to stay calm. We all decided to run into an abandoned building to look for cover. Once inside, we began to clear the rooms one by one until we found a secure location. All of us have been out patrolling for hours in the hot desert heat.

We were all exhausted, supplies were low and everyone was running on their second wind and to make matters worse our only way of communication was our damaged radios. There was no way to call for backup and our only hope was that somehow our unit back in our base was able to get the message and realized that we were in need of help. Even though we had all been trained for situations like this, there was no way to compare it to the real thing; you don’t think the same and your body won’t respond like it normally does. I’m not going to lie, I was scared; the fear of me dying was there I didn’t show it but it, was there.

Even in a stressful situation it’s funny but true that at times like these the non-religious is always praying for something. As the hours went by, there was nothing we can do but wait. It was quiet, and there was really not a way to describe the scene. It was just one of those priceless moments where everyone was weak. In the corner of the room was that tough guy that never went to church on his knees with his hands together silently praying; to his left was one holding a rosary, another soldier looking at his family picture as a tear slowly rolled down his cheek.

It was not hard to imagine what he was going through. Others were sitting silently just staring at the wall, and then there was I sitting in the middle of the room holding my rifle close to my chest just like when a mother holds her baby, thinking of all the precious moments I had with my family, all the good times with my friends, everything that I still wanted to accomplish, and the fear of possibly not being able to do any of that anymore. Several hours had gone by, and there was no sign of anyone coming to aid us.

Everyone looked at each other and our eyes could tell us the fear we had and our expressions could tell us that hope was running out. Sure we can blame our lieutenant for not listening to us in the first place. I’m sure that if he would’ve done what we told him, we wouldn’t be in this situation, but we couldn’t blame him. It was his first time in combat. He was in a worse situation than most of us, but the truth is that blaming him would only make matters worse. The only thing left to do was just cross our fingers and hope that everything would be fine, but let’s be honest I was scared shitless.

Then finally, luck was on our side when one of our convoys was heading our way; we were able to flag it down and finally after a long shitty day a sign of relief was there. We all looked at each other grabbed our gear and headed out. That day was one of the worst days of my life, one that could only be described as the day I discovered and faced my worst fear, the fear of not knowing what was going to happen next or if I was even going to make it out of there alive. “All men are afraid in battle. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty” – George S. Patton.

Case Study: Hard Rock Cafe

1. Describe three different forecasting applications at Hard Rock. Name three other areas in which you think Hard Rock could use forecasting models. The first forecasting application that Hard Rock uses is the point-of-sale system (POS), they can analyze sales data, maintain a sales history, and improve their pricing of products. The second application Hard Rock uses is the 3-year weighted moving average to help evaluate managers and to set their bonuses. And the third application Hard Rock uses is multiple regression to help figure out how to set up the menu. Managers can compute the impact on demand for other menu items if the price of one item is changed. Three other areas Hard Rock could use forecasting models are seasonal forecasting for the menu, customer satisfaction with/without entertainment, and new menu items and its impact.
2. What is the role of the POS system in forecasting at Hard Rock? The POS System counts every person who walks through the door. The system gathers information from what the customers buy or even if they just walk in. From this transaction, they then compile statistics on the average consumer. The statistics combined with data on weather, conventions, and food/beverage costs affect the finalized forecasts. Since most of Hard Rock’s information is all gathered into one POS system, it becomes their core of all their strategies and basics for forecasting.
3. Justify the use of the weighting system used for evaluating managers for annual bonuses. Using the weighting system, Hard Rock can more accurately predict sales and the bonuses act as an incentive for managers to exceed previous years’ sales. The three-year model helps to ensure that managers will strive to make sure the company does well in the long-term to maximize future earnings.
4. Name several variables besides those mentioned in the case that could be used as good predictors of daily sales in each cafe. Some variables that can help as good predictors of daily sales would be the age demographic that comes to the stores and the times they come, vacations and holiday times, and when competitors have sales or offers. At Hard Rock’s Moscow restaurant, the manager is trying to evaluate how a new advertising campaign affects guest counts. Using data for the past 10 months (see table) develop a least-squares regression relationship and then forecast the expected guest count when advertising is $65,000.

To be able to perform at a level which is suitable for me to gain employment in the world of outdoor pursuits, one of my mid-term goals, it is vital that I am able to monitor my own progress in order to critically evaluate my levels of fitness, skill and knowledge in certain aspects of the industry. In this case rock climbing. In order for me to progress I must monitor my current levels and be able to produce a programme which will allow me to push these levels to a higher standard, motivating myself as I do so by working at a standard that allows me to remain focused and set on my chosen goal.

Prior Experience

Although I entered into outdoor education with no prior experience, as soon as I heard that I was going to be climbing as a major part of my course and would be required to do so as a large part of my chosen career I wasted no time in researching the sport. Having tutors with a large knowledge base for the subject I made notes in their lessons highlighting key words, which I later researched further in books or on the internet, a tool with which I have a wide experience of working with from my previous career and something which I have recently used to acquire a wider knowledge base in relation to climbing. I attended and continue to attend all practical sessions in order to gain first-hand experience of the sport under expert instruction and continue to learn outside of college using my own climbing equipment and going over what I have been taught.

The sport is now a hobby of mine and as such I enjoy researching it, watching videos of professional climbers and reading publications on different styles of climbing, rope work and the associated use of equipment required to make the sport safe.

I have the backing from family and friends which is very important to me as they provide me with encouragement and morale support and offer me transport to and from climbing areas acting as climbing partners when needed. My tutors are a constant source of information, available upon request and even allow me to climb with them on the indoor wall at college and outdoors on certain occasions. By observing fellow athletes I am able to look at different aspects of climbing such as body positioning and different types of holds which I would otherwise know nothing about.

Technical Knowledge and Skills

My technical knowledge is definitely at a higher level than my technical skills. I have bought enough of my own equipment to enable me to go climbing on my own and get used to using the various tools needed in the sport. I have spent time concentrating on the top of the crag ignoring everything except placing protection and creating anchor points in order to be able to climb. This subject however is huge and the amount that I know is only a small percentage of what is out there so I continue to buy and borrow books, videos and other materials demonstrating various forms of placing protection.

Through the leadership and party management section of my college course I have been able to take groups of individuals from varying backgrounds climbing something, which has helped me to develop my rope work and safety skills further, whilst on the crag or at the indoor wall. Being responsible for the well-being of others has made me look more closely at the theory behind placing protection and has allowed me to experience first-hand by working alongside a highly qualified tutor exactly what it is like to rig up a variety of climbing routes safely in order for people to be able to climb on them.

Different from placing protection is the actual skills needed to be able to climb. From studying the different types of hand and feet techniques and by looking at climbers body positions as they climb I have began to slowly understand certain aspects of climbing which will enable me to successfully complete a climb and conserve the most amount of energy possible when doing so. However recognising and knowing the names of the different types of techniques required for climbing is not enough and successfully putting them into practice can only be done by actually climbing and working on those techniques which I am least familiar with.

Climbing outdoors and more significantly on the bouldering wall at college has enabled me to experience these techniques and has paved the way into motivating myself into creating a training schedule for myself in order to push my climbing grades. The wall at college is overhanging, all of it! which requires a lot of arm strength and correct body positioning in order to stay off the floor. Training at first in this way was very uninspiring for me and it took a while for me to begin to be able to successfully move around on the wall. Through training with the tutors who have showed me various bouldering problems (the term used for a climbing route) and creating problems of my own I have been able to achieve that feeling of progress which I need to inspire myself and have begum training on a regular basis.

At around 8:30am on the days that I am in college I climb on the bouldering wall completing 5 circuits with each circuit containing the same 5 problems. The problems consist of various hand and foot holds which will help me to work a selection of muscle groups in my body as apposed to a few which is what would happen if I was to stick to the same types of holds all the time like hose which I am strongest. I train at around 8:30am as I am least likely to be interrupted and the college is cooler than it is during the afternoon.

Although progress is being made it is slow and some days I seem to do better than others but I am committed to sticking to my schedule and continuing to learn about the theory behind the technical side of climbing. On an afternoon, after finishing my studies I go to the weights room in college where I build strength in my arms, chest and back, working various muscle groups which I believe will allow me to raise my endurance levels and allow me to climb stronger and more aggressively. More recently and I believe as a response to this training my upper body strength has improved and I am moving more fluidly on the bouldering wall and even soloing (climbing on my own) on routes I wouldn’t have considered a few months ago.

I am soon entering the training phase of my Single Pitch Award (SPA) which is a big form of motivation for me to get out on the crag on weekends and concentrate on my lead climbing (climbing whilst placing leader protection in the rock as you climb) in order to go in for my assessment. Although the award only requires me to climb at the lowest grade in rock climbing I will work at a level comfortable at the time which enables me to push myself without any stress or pressure to do so.

Levels of Fitness

My fitness at the moment is at a reasonable level although I would not class myself as super fit. I smoked for 8 years before starting this course and have managed to successfully quit for just under a year with no desire to start again. I walk and climb on a weekend when possible weighting down my backpack to improve my cardiovascular and respiratory fitness. This also helps my lower body strength. I have cut down drastically on my alcohol consumption and go out maybe once a week as opposed to every other night which I was doing last year. I have noticed a vast improvement from the beginning of my course in my ability to walk up a mountain which indicates that my cardiovascular and respiratory fitness has in fact improved.

In relation to climbing finger strength is a major downfall in my climbing. As this is a part of my body which I would have never considered building on for strength my fingers and hands are relatively weak when attempting to hold my body weight. A variation of small holds of different directions on the college bouldering wall however is helping me to build on these strengths and I always go for the smallest hold possible where me strength permits.

• At rest my pulse rate is 72bpm and my breathing is 18bpm
• After exercise my pulse rate is 156bpm and my breathing is 18bpm
• After 5 mins rest my pulse rate is 84bpm and my breathing is 18bpm
• These levels are considered average for my age and gender but do not show that I am extremely fit. My weight is correct for my age, gender and height.

Diet

My diet leaves a lot to be desired. I rarely eat take-away food unless I am away from home but do eat fatty foods on occasions where time is a factor and fried food appears more convenient. I am aware of the consequences of such a diet and I am currently beginning to eat more nutritious foods such as salad based sandwiches at lunch time and oven cooked or grilled meat and cooked vegetables on the evenings.

Training Attendance and Effort

At the moment I only train when I am in college which is around 2 to 3 times a week and this is often random and non-consistent. Some days I am able to climb better than others and when I am having a bad day climbing I find it hard to motivate myself into completing my circuits. I usually climb on a morning and lift weights on an afternoon after my classes although this often depends on the type of day I’m having and if something which I deem to be more important has come up. I enjoy training but I wouldn’t say that I was extremely dedicated although I have been training quite consistently the past couple of weeks and am definitely noticing a difference with my climbing and the amount of weight that I am able to lift.

My effort is often varied once again being highly dependent on the mood I am in and the type of day I am having. I wouldn’t say that I have a strict training schedule, more of a ‘more frequent than usual’ approach to exercising.

I have made sure that I have attended all of the practical days at college and have missed maybe one session since starting there. These days have been extremely valuable to me as I have been able to work alongside and observe much more experienced climbers than myself, something which has not only taught me elements of rock climbing but has also motivated me into exploring certain elements of the sport further helping me to improve my technical knowledge and skills.

Access to Equipment

My main source for training is the bouldering wall at college which is freely available for me to use whenever I choose. This is usually only when I am in college though as I live in Teesside and find it difficult to get in some days. I have enough of my own equipment to train outside of college and do so on weekends, weather permitting. Living in Teesside I am very close to some excellent climbing venues both outdoors on the crags dotted throughout the Cleveland Hills and Indoors at Sunderland Wall and Thornaby which has a small bouldering wall made by the same people who built Sunderland Wall. The north of England is an excellent location for climbing and other outdoor pursuits. The Lake District is only an hour or so away although I have not been there to climb as yet. I have however climbed at Brimham Rocks and Almscliffe both near Harrogate.

Other climbers that I know are kind enough to lend me any equipment which I might need for a day on the crag with the general rule that I supply my own rope and other nylon equipment which can become damaged in the event of a leader fall and should be recorded for safety reasons and to keep a check on the strength and deterioration of equipment.

Access to Effective Coaching

Being a student studying an Outdoor Education course I am able to ask for expert advice at anytime from my tutors who I have no doubt will be happy to help me. Although the climbing part of my course is now over and other outdoor activities are being concentrated on I am still able to use the bouldering wall at college as part of my training schedule and I am even able to train alongside my tutor who will guide me in the right direction or offer me information and videos or publications which will help me to progress. Although it would be encouraged for me to find out most of the information for myself in relation to setting up my own individual training schedule I am able to ask for help where needed, something which would cost me money if I were not studying Outdoor Education.

Leadership Communication Skills

Since starting the course I have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to work with various groups from schools around County Durham and the Teesside area. Working with these individuals who were aged between 14-16 years old I have been able to develop my communication skills in relation to climbing and working with groups and have experienced in different surroundings how important it is to be a good communicator both verbally and non-verbally. From first meeting a group and working with them I feel that I can be quite confrontational if the group in question is unwilling to learn or becomes disruptive when I am attempting to teach them something. I have learned that this is an inappropriate way of communicating though and I am beginning to adopt a more passive way of communicating following working with groups of dysfunctional teenagers who do not respond well to confrontation.

I am a good listener and I speak clearly enough to be able to get my point across and in a manner which I feel allows people to understand and follow my instructions. I keep my body language as neutral as possible standing with my arms by my side or in front, never crossing them and always making eye contact with those that I am speaking or listening to. I do interact with members of a group but prefer to work more on the technical side working with equipment and setting up climbs more than attempting to motivate groups or acting as a counsellor, although I do always make myself available if someone wishes to talk to me or ask me something.

Values and Beliefs

I have strong values and beliefs in the way that I respect other people, whether these are climbing partners, groups I am working with or other climbers on the crag/wall. I follow both the written and un-written rules of climbing and respect the venues at which I climb. From being taught by working alongside other climbers who have years of experience I have been taught what is and isn’t good practice and go out of my way to ensure that I follow these values in my day to day climbing.

Possible Areas for Improvement or Change

I feel that I could improve in the way that I train in general. I could put together a more consistent training schedule which would enable me to become stronger quicker and in the parts of my body which I use the most in a session. My attitude towards teaching and communicating with a group in the first hour or so from meeting them could be improved by talking to them more and finding ways to make a session more fun either by incorporating different teaching methods or by investigating their backgrounds and finding out what their interests and attitudes are towards the session that I am taking. My training and diet could be improved by eating healthier, balanced meals. Less fried food and more vegetables.

More training and stretching would enable me to become more flexible, reaching harder holds and enabling me to improve my body positioning resulting on me staying on the wall for longer, preventing injury and ultimately improving my levels of endurance through prolonged periods of climbing. I also believe that this will improve my general rate of recovery, which could be shortened. My co-ordination skills need working on and I can do this by taking more time on a climb and watching where my next hold is. Being able to visualise a climb before I actually climb it would, I think make me more focussed and enable me to climb smoother with more fluidity. When training at college I should have more trust in my colleagues when they are belaying me, but this is difficult because of the age difference and in some cases the ratio of their weight to mine.

S.W.O.T Analysis

I have selected my major strengths and weaknesses from the profile wheel and have listed some opportunities and threats which either enable or stop me from climbing.

Strengths

Intelligence

I am intelligent enough to realise when something is dangerous allowing me to prevent injuries from occurring or if I am doing something which will benefit or hinder my climbing.

Pain Tolerance

I am not squeamish to injury or pain and as such I am able to push myself during training allowing my body to develop and advance to harder climbs.

Determination

I am a determined individual who wishes to succeed. I know what I want from my college course and my training and I am determined enough to go out and get it.

Rope work

My rope work skills are probably better than my climbing skills. I have researched further a lot of the techniques and skills taught to me in the practical sessions of my course. I have borrowed books from the library, bought books and read magazines / watched videos which have enabled me to learn more techniques in relation to my rope work.

Selecting Appropriate Equipment

I have the knowledge to select the appropriate equipment to enable me to climb safely either inside at a climbing wall or outside on a crag something which allows me to climb and to push my grades knowing that I will be protected in the event of a fall.

Weaknesses

Flexibility

My flexibility is quite restricted. Being a tall person I find it quite difficult to raise my legs up past waist height in order to reach a tricky hold. This can be improved by me however by stretching more and taking part in more aerobic exercise.

Body Positioning

Another element of my flexibility is knowing how to position my body in order to stay on an awkward hold, for example a side pull, will enable me to climb for longer, pushing my levels of endurance.

Trust

I have difficulty trusting my climbing partners because they are either inexperienced, which is the case for my partner from home who has not had much climbing experience or they are quote a bit younger than me and quite immature and easily distracted.

Endurance

I have trouble climbing long climbs or climbing for extended periods of time. This I feel can be improved by working on my flexibility which in turn will help to improve my body positioning allowing me to stay on holds longer resulting in me climbing for longer and pushing my endurance levels.

Visualisation

If I am able to visualise a climb before I climb it, something which I rarely do I would be able to improve my levels of coordination and would connect with holds more helping me to stay on the wall / crag for longer.

Opportunities

College Bouldering Wall

The college bouldering wall offers me a great opportunity to train. The wall is overhanging which helps me to build my upper body strength allowing me to climb stronger on vertical or slabby climbs. Tutors often use this wall and allow me to climb with them creating the perfect opportunity to try new routes and techniques and ultimately push my fitness levels and climbing grades.

Tutors

(See above)

North East Climbing Venues

I live in Teesside very close to the Cleveland Hills, which accommodate some of the best climbing venues in the country. Further good climbing can be found at Sunderland’s and Aycliffe’s indoor walls and excellent outdoor venues found in the Lake District and the North of England.

College Practical Sessions

Although the practical climbing sessions have now stopped in replacement of other activities they have proved to be a valuable source of information for me and have ultimately enabled me to go out on my own or with a climbing partner knowing that I am able to successfully and safely climb in or out of doors.

Own Equipment

Armed with the knowledge obtained from the practical sessions I have managed to gather together my own equipment, which I am now able to use to climb outside of college, helping me to continue to train after college, in the holidays and when I pass the course and go into my chosen career.

Threats

Transport

Not being able to drive I sometimes find it difficult to get to climbing venues, which are often in hard to reach, rural settings, something which prevents me from climbing on certain days.

Financial Situation

My financial situation is less than ideal. This can prevent me from using climbing venues where a fee is involved and prevents me from being able to pay for driving lessons which create the threat described above.

Lack of Knowledge

Although I have the basic knowledge to enable me to go out and climb on my own, there is a lot to know about rock climbing both technically and physically and this can prevent me from knowing certain ‘trade secrets’ which could enable me to progress at a quicker rate than I am at the present.

Bad Weather

The weather is an incontrollable element of my training. Bad weather has prevented or hindered my progress on several occasions, preventing me from climbing outdoors. Although simply going indoors as an alternative when the weather is bad, my financial situation and lack of access to transport can often prevent this.

Injury

Although I have had no serious injuries as a result of climbing this is a constant threat which could knock my training back to the start in the occurrence of a broken leg for example which can take up to six weeks to heal. Such an injury prevents further training and produces a weakness in that area and possible psychological damage.

Summary

By using a profile wheel and selecting my weakest and strongest attributes from that wheel I have been able to identify what I am good at and what needs my attention during training. Through highlighting these attributes I will now work towards maintaining my strengths, training my weaknesses, maximising my opportunities and minimising my threats in task two of The Reflective Practitioner. I will be able to do this by identifying my short term and long term goals and analysing these using SMART Targets.