AB: Hey this is Ashley Brown, Marketing Communications Manager at Polyvision, and today I’m here with Max Wilson, our Product Management Intern. Max, thanks for joining us today.
MW: Yeah, thanks for having me!
AB: Today I want to discuss with you a shift in education and the difference that we see in Gen Z’s perspective when it comes to information sharing. We know that video conferences, email, and digital technology have made it much easier for us to work, especially on a global scale and stay connected, but at Polyvision we still find a lot of value in face-to-face brainstorming sessions and written collaboration. Let’s start by talking about your educational background and the field you hope to enter one day.
MW: My educational background began at the University of North Georgia where I began studying Marketing, and from there I found an interest in digital marketing, just more emphasis on digital mediums and social media platforms. Then later, interning now with Polyvision and looking to get into the field of software sales, analytics and any sort of sales in marketing.
AB: Well, there’s definitely not a shortage of those types of jobs! One thing that you said that caught my attention was the digital marketing comment. I know that focuses on marketing in the digital landscape, so what are your thoughts on analog tools, do you think that they will eventually become obsolete?
MW: That’s a topic we’ve talked about a lot in class. I definitely think that analog tools are going to stay around, although digital tools are becoming more prevalent in the business environment and education as well, I think there’s definitely some value in using analog tools and I think it will stay around for a lot more years to come.
AB: Tell me about when you are working on a team at school or collaborating on a project here at Polyvision, tell me about that face-to-face environment and how it allows you to collaborate better with team members.
MW: I’m a results-oriented personality and I like to see the progress that I’m making and see it written down in a physical form, so I think that’s where I get the most use from a whiteboard or analog form of communication. Digital tools like Google Docs and Skype are great whenever you aren’t able to make it to that physical setting or meeting, I just find a lot more use and responsibility in actually meeting in a physical setting and writing on an analog surface.
AB: Do your professors use analog tools in your classes on a daily basis?
MW: Analog tools are used in about every class that I’ve been in with a mix of digital forms as well, so you have both digital and analog forms of communication. I’ve seen more in my marketing and digital classes the digital technology, but in quantitative classes where you have a lot of statistics or equations, you see more analog. But you typically see a mix of both.
AB: Absolutely, there’s definitely pros to using digital tools. I also find analog very helpful, so you see things and you remember it more when you see it written down. There’s definitely a lot of research behind that.
So Max, tell me a little about how you personally learn. What methods work methods work best for you? Is it a digital format or is it more the analog retention and recall?
MW: I find writing things down just makes me remember things and actually retain the information. Digital does have its perks, but I definitely find much more value in writing things down just as a way of remembering it and really making sure that I grasp whatever concept it is that we’re learning.
AB: I’m actually the same way, I write down notes in my notebook. I actually used to take notes on my computer and it just wasn’t as effective for me. I didn’t remember the things I needed to do or the conversations that we had, so I found that writing in an analog version is much more helpful for me.
There’ve been a lot of studies lately, that the use of whiteboards, pen and paper and other analog tools are becoming very large consumer products, especially for Gen Z-ers. What are your thoughts on that?
MW: Well I think we started learning with pen and paper, and over the past 5 years or so we’ve gone to technology as the main form of communication. I think now Gen Z-ers are going back to pen and paper because that’s what we started with and it’s a kind of a way to get away from the technology side of our lives since it’s so involved in every part of our lives. It’s a great way to get away and just write down a to do list or a journal. I think it’s something that’s going to stay around for a long time and that’s why we’re continuing to see research that’s showing it’s coming back around for Gen Z.
AB: Yeah Max, I think you’re completely right. I think we’re going to continue to see an uptick in sales for those analog tools and I’m interested to see how the market plays out with that. Well thanks for being here today Max, I appreciate you spending the time with us and giving us some insight from the Gen Z generation, and maybe we can chat again sometime soon.
MW: Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for taking the time to hear what I had to say. I had a good time.