Links
Archives
Thursday, November 10, 2005
|
TEACHING TODAY A Regular University Diaries Feature  okay kids here's today's sales quota From a University of Georgia student newspaper: PROFESSOR SELLS HIS BOOK THROUGH HIS STUDENTS Few things are more difficult than hiking the Appalachian Trail — except maybe getting people to buy a book about it. At least that is the challenge facing nine students in a Lessons in Leadership class in the Terry College. The student’s class project is to market their teacher’s book “Bearfoot: A Northbounder E-Mails from the Appalachian Trail.” The students’ goal is to sell 1,000 books. So far they have sold eight. Patrick Pittard, the former CEO and chairman of the Board of Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. and an executive-in-residence at the Terry College of Business, wrote the book as he hiked the Appalachian Trail over seven months in 2002. “The first mile I ever hiked was on the Appalachian Trail,” Pittard said. “Everything in my backpack was new, even my backpack was new.” Pittard did not set out to write a book about his adventure. “I am an accidental author,” Pittard said. “I didn’t mean to write a book.” Instead, Pittard was trying to keep in touch with friends through e-mail while he hiked. He took notes in a small notebook and left voicemails for his assistant of his notes whenever he passed through a town. Then, his assistant transcribed his voicemails into e-mails. Originally, 30 people received these e-mails. During the course of Pittard’s hike, that list grew to 300, and Pittard estimates about 1,000 people were reading them. The book is the collection of the e-mails he wrote during his hike. Pittard designed the project to give his students actual experience in marketing and the opportunity to make some money for the University. All the proceeds from the books the students sell will go to the Institute for Leadership Advancement. David Carswell, a group member and a senior from Marietta, admits the project has been harder than he thought. “At first, I thought ‘Oh, we have to sell a few books a day,’” Carswell said. “It’s at the point now where we need to sell 30 books a day to reach quota.” For Andrew Price, a third-year law student from Greenville, S.C., the class has been a nice change of pace. “Most law classes, you just sit in lecture the whole semester and take a final exam that is worth 100 percent (of your grade),” Price said. “This is really hands-on.” |