Henna

Had my first job at Unique Treasures Saturday. Did henna on a teenage girl, and sadly it was not my best. She kind of surprised me with a custom piece (a claddagh with a clover instead of a heart, which sort of defeats the point of the symbol in my opinion). I did the piece as a bracelet, explaining the symbol to the girl and giving advice on how to take care of her tattoo. I asked that she not move her wrist around much until it dries and let her be. She ruined it within minutes and asked me to fix it. I said I would if she let me take a picture of the piece. She did but I don’t think I’ll be using the picture due to the piece’s ruin…the clover looked more and more like a glob no matter how I messed with it.
I did three free pieces for the owners of Unique Treasures and will put up the pictures in a new photobucket account when I can.
My jac bottle clogged up and I had no mylar cones with me, a mistake I will not repeat that is for sure.
For my first time doing henna there I think it went rather well. In all I made 8 dollars and some change (the girl’s mother had to pay with debit card which has a fee at the shop).If you’re ever in Johnson City, TN on a Saturday stop by downtown at Unique Treasures for some excellent coffee and a henna tat.

Albertsons Library Digital Collections!

Albertsons Library has a new resource available:

The digital collections feature materials scanned from the library's Special Collections department. Currently, there are 3 collections available online:

Historic Boise State, a growing collection of photographs documenting the history and evolution of the campus, student life, personalities, and events, from the university's founding as Boise Junior College in 1932 to the present day;

Len Jordan Collection, which features 75 photographs of his career as Idaho Governor (1950-1954) and U.S. senator (1962-1972);

Western Writers Series Collection, which contains 23 out-of-print booklets of biography and criticism on the American literary west.

Please visit http://digital.boisestate.edu to take a look!

International Connections Luncheon: Christina Bruce-Bennion

Join Albertsons Library and International Connections to welcome and hear Christina Bruce-Bennion's talk: The Global becomes Local--Welcoming Refugees to our Community.

Date: February 19th
Location: Student Union Building, Lookout Room.

Time: 12:30 - 1:30 pm

Events around the world often seem disconnected from our lives, but those events may cause people from other nations to move to Boise through the refugee resettlement program. This session will present information about refugees in Boise: who they are, why they are here, how they get here, and how their presence impacts our community.

Presenter Christina Bruce-Bennion is the Director of the Agency for New Americans, a refugee resettlement agency in Boise. She has been with the agency for over ten years, and has served as Director for almost 9 years. She has worked with refugees both domestically and overseas in various capacities including case management and women's and youth programs. She holds a Master's degree from Boston University.

Want to tell us what you think?

The Library is conducting a series of tests of the Library website, and we're seeking volunteers to help us find out how to create a website that works better for you.

What is usability testing?
Usability testing is a process of watching people use our website to carry out typical tasks. We are not testing the abilities of the subject, but rather the efficacy of our website.

Why usability testing?
Because the Library website is so complex and information rich, it can be difficult to organize in a way that is intuitive.

What kind of volunteers do you need?
Undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty use our website very differently. Because of that, we get the best results if we work with all three groups.

How long does it take?
Between 30 minutes and an hour.

What do I get out of it?
Our eternal gratitude. And, hopefully, an improved Library website.

How do I get involved?
Contact Ellie Dworak, Web Services Librarian at 426-1623 with any questions or to set up a time.

Marketing: Truth or Lies?

Some days I struggle to think of something to blog about. Today, this topic came to me. I was catching up on my emails (comprised of work, personal and the beautytech mailing list). I was reading a thread of nailtech emails with regard to Gels, Soak off Gels, Gel Polish and other variations of basically the same enhancement.

One of the girls said, "I personally have a lil bit of a problem with marketing that is misleading. There was a campaign in recent years in national print media about “manicures that last three weeks”….but it was really for traditional liquid and powder enhancements. Unrealistic expectations and “spin” don’t make for loyal clientele…for me, at least."

It got me thinking about our industry from a few sides. As a Manufacturer, as Salon owner and a technician and how very different the thought process is for each one. For example: As a manufacturer the market gets increasingly more competative. We are constantly striving to put together marketing campaigns that will grasp our focus group and pull them in. If the manufacturer of that "gel polish" simply called it "color gel" the competition is steep. There are hundreds of color gels out there. But by calling it something new "gel polish" he is setting his product apart from the competition and hoping to spark an interest and build his business.

Now how does this relate to a Salon owner? Well, isn't his or her job to draw customers to her salon? And if every salon within 10 miles of her offers "color gel" wouldn't it then be smart of her to market something "new and exciting" to set her apart from the competition?

And how do we lose this thinking at the tech level (such as the tech I quoted)? Well, as technicians we hold our clients hands. We talk about their personal lives and build trusted relationships. In some cases we become their psychologist / best friend. Somewhere along the way, in all the feelings, we tend to forget we are running a business and feeding our families!

So where do we draw the line between truth and lies? It's ok to call your service "gel polish" and not "color gel" but to say "this product will take 10 pounds off your waistline and make you look 20 years younger by coating your nails" is a lie. Don't let your personal feelings and relationships with your client get in the way of running your business. With competition on every corner of every block be smart and market your services to make them unique and set them apart from your competition. It may be the difference between being busy or looking for another job!

Elaine
(writing from Valencia, CA today)

Writing Center @thelibrary

On Sunday afternoons the Library becomes your all-in-one project headquarters!

The Writing Center is holding walk-in consultations on the first floor of the Library every Sunday, from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm. The Reference Desk is open Sundays, as always, until 10pm. Plus you can grab a coffee at Starbucks to jump-start your efforts.

So stop by the library next Sunday, get your caffeine fix, and power up your research papers with solid research help and Boise State's writing experts, all in the same place!