UnEARTHing Iowa, College of Growth in Iowa
 Chelsea Berry |
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| Alex Frescoln 
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Rhonda Greenway |
If you’ve read my bio or my last blog post you’re already aware of my infatuation with product placement. I’ve easily spend countless minutes of my life adjusting my material possessions to display the logo on said products to the world. Given that addiction, I enjoy relating what I experience back to something that is near and dear to my heart. Today, that something is the Sims 3. I’ll be the first to admit that I enjoy the Sims a tiny bit more than the average person. Alright, that’s not entirely factual; my mom would be the first to admit that embarrassing fact. So, it’s only natural that when I’m listening to a bank president, a CEO, a college president and various other business professionals that I fall back on what I know. The Sims is an interesting idea to say the least. YOU have the power to create a character, choose their personality traits, pick their likes and dislikes and then set a lifetime goal for them. What I’m most intrigued with is this “lifetime aspiration” element. In the virtual world of the Sims YOU are the driving force in their progression. See, these lifetime aspirations are things like Leader of the Free World, CEO of a Mega-Corporation, International Super Spy and well, you get the idea. As I was in visits with our speakers today in both West Des Moines and the Pella area, I thought about where those individuals would fall on the “lifetime career track” in Sims. Then I thought about where I stand on that virtual timeline. After all of this thinking I started to wonder if the Sims virtual career track had any actual relevancy to the physical world or if I was just hoping it did to justify an obsession. The conclusion I came down to is that in the Sims the common theme is it’s YOU driving your productivity, advancement and aspirations. The same continues to ring true for all of the business professionals we met today. They’ve all been that person who took their own virtual lifetime goals and made them a physical, real life success. So, what happens in Pella? Virtual success becomes real success. |
Aug 11, 2009 9:17 AM
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Leadership Iowa University is a program of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry (ABI) Foundation. The program is designed to bring together two ABI Foundation programs, Leadership Iowa and Business Horizons, to create a unique opportunity for college students. Leadership Iowa University will educate, inspire and develop young leaders as the foundation for Iowa’s future economic growth and encourage their on-going involvement in local communities and the state to create a better future for all Iowans. |  |
