Reading Response - 4
Bryce Sexton
Reading Response – 4
After watching the video and then finding one of my own on YouTube, I know understood just some of the hassles that Jet Blue customers faced during the blizzard of 2007. There are definitely two very different audiences that need to be addressed in the same letter by Jet Blue. The first audience would be the customers who experienced the ordeal first hand. The second audience would be the customers who were at home that Jet Blue needed to convince to fly with them again.
Once Jet Blue decided who the letter was addressing, they now needed to decide what the letter was to do. By examining the options of textual context, it is very easy to decide that the textual context was to inform. By informing their customers, Jet Blue is creating a bridge from the company to its customers. The immediate context of this letter should contain the most vital facts. This would be especially helpful to the two guys in the first video who were almost able to make a snowman inside of the terminal. Also in the video that I found, if Jet Blue would have posted these vital facts online, the gentleman using the computer could have read it and shared the latest news with his friends. By supplying their customers with the vital facts of the situation, Jet Blue could have lessened the frustration of their customers and given them some hope.
The Thomson reading over context and rhetoric was a very helpful reading because it gives the foundation of how to write a good business letter and more importantly, it gave the reader concrete ways to connect with their desired audience. I believe this chapter will help me in the future because not only will it help me write in a professional manner, it will help obtain a superior level of communication with my audience.
My link to my second Jet Blue customer reaction: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOo-tG9q2h0&mode=related&search=
Comments
jetBlue
I think that you a have a good grasp on your audience in preparation for writing the letter. In addressing your first audience, the customers involved, you need to apologize and acknowledge that some of your actions could have prevented or lessened the affects experienced. Then you should explain how jetBlue will prevent this from happening again. In addressing you secondary audience you should concentrate on explaining the Bill of Rights and how this will never happen to them. You also should end with explaining all of the features that makes jetBlue great and on top of the airline industry.
Comment
I feel that the TH will also be very helpful in professional business writing and in the process of writing this press release letter. I didn’t really think of the idea of JetBlue needing to address two different audiences at once but you are entirely right. It seemed that through my search I found several upset customers posted video and their comments but then those people not involved in the whole fiasco seemed very rude and unsympathetic to those who where stranded. I don’t think that any if the stranded passengers were complaining for no reason and that the letter will help address why these complaints were out there and what the company intends to do to fix it.
Jet Blue
I agree with what you are saying, the videos that were posted by the Jet Blue customers who were stranded were more of videos made for entertainment, not to degrade the company. I can see it from their point of view, since they have been stuck in the airport for so long, getting very angry and making a scene will not get them anywhere. In the two videos that I watched, the travelers seemed upset, but never once stated that they would not fly Jet Blue again. I believe that the ones who were not directly involved with the issue made it out to be much worse than the stranded passengers made it out to be.
Reply
The audience that we are addressing for the business letter is the passengers affected by the storms directly. The press release addresses those two audiences. I thought your idea of posting information on the Internet was a great idea so that passengers with laptops computer access could receive the information promptly. The video I posted first hand shows customers' frustration concerning communication as they explain to a crew member how they have been told numerous different things by different people and those in charge "keep disappearing". If the information was posted on the Internet it would have been reliable, consistent, and direct. Definitely eliminating lots of confusion and frustration from passengers.
Jet Blue
I agree with your comment. The more that I research the Jet Blue crisis, the more ways I find that they could have responded in a little bit different way. One of their biggest problems was not getting accurate information to the travelers. Yes, putting the information on the internet would make it accurate, but I believe that when Jet Blue tried to react so quick to the situation, is when they lost control of everything. They should have from the start, took a step back to thoroughly examine the situation and then react. This would have given the company time to decide on a plan of action and for the company to tell their employees how to answer questions. At least if they took this approach then all of their answers would be the same. This would have helped the travelers because it would have given them a consistent answer and then maybe they would have believed that something was getting done.
Reading (4)
Creating a bridge between the customer and the company is a great idea. It gives the customer a feeling of having a say or a part in the company if something is wrong or they do not like the way something is handled. This will also add the appeal of the letter itself. I think that recieving a letter from JetBlue stating that they feel bad for everything blah blah.. is great but being able to create the bridge is a key.
comment
I totally agree with you on fact that there are two sets of people that we have to address to.
I too found the chapter in Thomsomn Handbook very helpful. I mean it can definitely help us to refine the press release and the letter if we consider the points stated in the chapter. The chapter lays stress on knowing the audiance which why i think it was very important to have an idea abou the audience. The video and the other material including the blogs helps us to know what beliefs the audience hold and whether the company will be able to reconnect or win the customer's trust again. I also agree with the fact that if the information was provided on the internet it would have been very easy for the people.
Informing
Great video - you can tell how annoyed these guys are, especially the people who obviously did not want to be on camera. This suggests that there are customers even angrier and more annoyed than people who did document the experience. I wonder about a comment you made in your reading response where you said the purpose of the letter was to inform. Certainly, you want to get out vital information about the situation. But because this letter is coming a few days after the fact, is informing people enough? People may want more than just an overview of what happened. Furthermore, a letter that is too distant and factual may not resolve the emotional needs that audiences like the guys in the video may have. Though information is crucial, there should be some kind of emotional content along with that information.