Gillam, C, Week 2

Welcome back to week two of my blog everyone,


This week was full of more opportunities and experiences. We had several facilitator reports, a field trip to the Corning Museum of Glass, and a guest speaker. 

Having the chance to visit the Corning Museum of Glass was an unbelievable opportunity. When we first got to the museum, a tour guide met us off our bus and started to give us a tour. Throughout this tour we saw various glass pieces from all different cultures from thousands of years ago. 

Image Credit: Myself

Image Credit: Myself

These are just some of the many beautiful old glass pieces we were able to see throughout our tour. 


After having the chance to go through the museum, we then made our way into a studio where they were giving a hot glass demo. This was a very cool experience, as it is was my first hot glass demo. Throughout this demo, there was a lady on a microphone who explained all the various steps needed to create a glass sculpture. 

Image Credit: Myself

Image Credit: Myself

The guy in the picture to the right was rolling the hot glass into pre shaped metal. The glass blowing process takes a lot of time and experience. 

To end our wonderful day at the museum, we had the amazing opportunity to listen and speak with Robert C. Robert is the Chief Marketing Officer at the museum and he takes on a very important role everyday. Throughout his presentation he talked to us about the journey of the Corning Museum of Glass. Twenty years ago, no one really knew or went to this museum. Today, it is one of the top museums in the state of New York. Robert talked about how this museum became so successful. He stated that it took three steps, “Marketing, Visitation, Revenue.” As easy as this sounds, it was not that easy. This took lots of time and patience. Throughout the rest of his presentation he talked about certain key factors that led to the success of the museum. One of the things that made the museum so successful is the 2300 degree program. Robert C actually came up with this program and to this day it is still running. He ended his presentation by stating that today “All ages attend.” The museum brings in over half a million people a year. The museum has staff that puts on glass blowing shows on cruises, and all throughout the world.

"Come see glass, come see glass made, come make glass yourself." - Robert. C

Image Credit: Professor Wolfe

Throughout this weeks facilitator reports, the book Why We Play really caught my attention. The main idea of this book so far has been on athletes. The author, Yasmeen Sharara talks in depth about what it takes to consider yourself an athlete. Her definition of an athlete is, "Somebody with a body" (Sharara, 2017, pp.46). It doesn't matter if you're an Olympic swimmer or if you walk a mile everyday. If you have a body, you can consider yourself an athlete. After explaining what it means to be an athlete, Sharara then talked about how brand companies have well-known athletes represent their brands. Well-known companies such as Nike, need to have a reputable athletes so that they can sell their products to certain consumers. Having reputable athletes where certain brands really helps to advertise and sell products at a rapid rate. I really enjoyed reading this part of the book because I can relate myself to what she is explaining.

I can't wait to see what experiences this week will bring!

Thanks for reading,

Caroline Gillam