Blog #10: Options...

I would like to research a discourse community that I am already part of  since it is required that the research paper is based on something very specific. I can only think of two options, which would be of either work or my internship. Working for a corporation is not necessarily too specific as there are many departments and many positions, so I will choose to research the National City Chamber of Commerce, which is where I currently form part of as an intern.

I am interested in this organization because it allows businesses to network, and I am a business major, furthermore, I like to see how business owners interact among each other to reach shared interests. In addition, this organization is a non-profit one, and many of the meetings that take place require certain practices that I have never seen before. Each chamber of commerce has specific rules, sometimes in order to allocate funds to a certain activity a minimum number of the board members have to be present in order to approve such allocation. Also, an example that I can recall of, is that in order to approve a certain activity, the board chairman has to introduce the proposition by saying motion to approve "X and Y". The use of language is very unique and I especially notice it when introducing an idea or concluding one. I am also interested in this organization because it is amusing to see how business owners can conflict with each other but have to work with each other in order to reach a solution. Sometimes it involves politics or special interests and can cause many of the board members to take sides which is something that like to analyze as I can learn from these instances to solve my own problems when I apply it to my daily life.

I would like to interview my direct boss who is the CEO of the National City Chamber of Commerce. I know that she is a first generation college student who got a master's degree at Harvard, which is something I deeply admire for she was very determined since she was very young. I would like to ask her why she chose to work for a non-profit organization, in my perspective she might be a bit "overqualified" for that job, nonetheless, she is passionate about her job and I can see that she enjoys giving back to her community.

I would like to approach this research paper by disseminating its communicative practices in a professional manner, by comparing agendas, emails, meetings and staff discussions to understand a better what Board Member's tasks consist of. After all, I have only been interning at this organization for two month's so there is still a lot of aspects that I have to learn about.

I think that these communicative practices are acquired by assisting to many meetings and by being involved in many forms of business. Its members enculturate themselves by cooperating with each other and reading policies that businesses have to follow. Members have to be familiar of how a new activity will take place by being present in all of the meetings that discuss the different items that business owners would like to implement.

Being part of this organization can lead its members to take political ideologies and consequently, can be rejected by some of the communities that they belong to since most of their actions will be reflected publicly, and at times local news will mention all of these aspects.

There are multiple genres in chambers of commerce, particularly agendas, invitations, thank you letters, emails, income statements involving allocation of funds for non-profit organizations etc.

I really do not know what I should focus on, however, I know that many people do not know what these organizations do, and I do form part of one and have a general understanding of its practices so I think that this would be the best option for me to research on. Perhaps I can analyze the way that its board members decided to join this organization and why it is convenient for them to form part of it since they do pay an annual membership fee. Or maybe I can interview my boss and ask her in what ways she has contributed to her community, what she envisions for her community if she continues to work there and so on. I definitely need to get some guidance on what to specify on, but there are different aspects that I can analyze as there are many people that conform such organization.