Team:Georgia State/Public Engagement/ASF
D iscovery Day is ... Georgia State’s iGEM team participated in GSU Discovery Day, where we created an activity for young students to construct their own plasmid using different colored beads to make a bracelet. The different colored beads represented different features of a plasmid. Students constructed a plasmid that had a promoter, ribosomal binding site, coding sequence, and terminator. After constructing their plasmid, they transformed it by placing it into a cardboard cartoon E.coli. The E. coli then produced a protein (a jolly rancher) based on the coding sequence that the student chose. The students were able to learn how transformation works and the building blocks in a plasmid that result in a target protein.
Our goal for that day was to not only raise awareness about Coral Bleaching, but to also connect with and encourage students to take STEM-related courses. Many times, students who come from a background without higher education or a greater social-economic status may not feel prepared enough to be successful in these courses. The team members took turns talking about their personal hardships and advised the students to take a leap of faith and pursue their dreams regardless of the obstacles. STEM-related courses are a great way for students to learn how to work well with others, be responsible, and obtain research experience.
After speaking to the students on a personal level, they seemed to be more interested and began to ask questions about the project. These varied from “How do you get the Coral?” to “How will you be able to change the Algae’s DNA?” This definitely encouraged our team to think about the future plan of the project and how to proceed if we successfully cultured and transformed the algae. Following the presentation, many students decided to sign up for an upcoming biotechnology course at the school. We plan on visiting the students again and develop a schedule to host Synthetic Biology workshops for their biotechnology course.
How your staff greets them, ambience of the waiting room, how well you understand customer requirements, and then precisely delivering what they wanted, everything is an experience.
- How your staff greets them? The ambience of your Salon & Spa is crucial in making the first impression. The initial vibes that your customer feels when they enter is what stays with them. It’s important that you make these vibes as positive as possible as it has a sub-conscious effect on the customer.
- Humans not Robots: Train your staff to treat customers like family. Take special care that their interaction with the customer isn’t robotic and the overall interaction is as human as possible.
- Remember ‘The Name’: Regular customers don’t like to enter a Salon & Spa and explain all their preferences again. Remember what they like, remember their dislikes, and most importantly, remember their name.
It’s time that you build your Salon & Spa like a getaway for your customers whenever they feel stressed in life. Go an extra mile to make your customers feel great about themselves. Give your opinions on what is good for them and what’s not, but be a good listener.
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Atlanta Science Festival
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