Throughout my experience in this course we have explored a lot of areas in social media that I was unaware of. We explored blogging, social media bookmarking, podcasting, and what it takes to develop a viral video.

Towards the end of the semester I realized just how useful this course was, and how much I can actually take away from it. I learned how to create a social media profile/resume, which can be a great tool for those going into the field of journalism, public relations, or some other field dealing with in the field of media or advertising.

This course consisted of hands on experience, pushing us to do things we weren’t all that familiar with. We created blogs, and Twitter accounts, along with a few other social media outlets that I wasn’t even aware of before. This course definitely expanded my knowledge in the field of social media, and showed me just how much bigger it is than what it may appear to be. In many classes you learn things, you learn great things, things that may be applicable now, or things that may stick with you and help you later in life, in this course I learned many things that are applicable now, things that I can relate to, and outlets where I can express and use my talents and passions.

I found it a very applicable course, a very informing course of where this generation is headed, and that is towards strictly technology. I learned just how important it is in my field to be up to date on what’s “buzzing” online, and ways to keep up with current events, news or something else that may be considered worthy of attention. I learned a great publicist, writer, producer, anyone in these fields needs to be up to date on whats going on in the world, and whats occurring around them. This was a great course, and I am thankful for all that I learned.

To view my Professors blog, simply visit here.

After creating an account with Diigo, I have realized just how useful the site is. It has the capability to create a profile with lists of your favorite web-sites, blogs and such, and also to include notes and many other things that may be very useful to those you connect with.

If it weren’t for an assignment I would have never known about this web-site. It’s a great idea, with little marketing. I have never heard of the site actually until it was assigned to me. I haven’t had a chance to connect with people yet, but one can imagine the capabilities a site such as this one holds.It has the capability to create networks, connect with friends, and people around the world, and also the ability to create a list of your favorite web-sites and even establish a library.

So, when you get a chance definitely go check it out, and create an account/profile, it’s free and definitely worth it, and find out for yourself all of the cool features that come along with it.

Here is the link to mine.

The Winters of Life

Posted by: elizabeth carmen in Untagged  on Jul 5, 2010

I think it’s safe to say that for most of us, we struggle with feeling like we’re not achieving what we should, we’re not making a difference, we’re not living up to our potential, and we can easily get discouraged by it all.

A couple years ago I read a book called Anonymous, which talks about this sense of “anonymity” we often feel. The author, Alicia Britt Chole, looks at it a different way, though, seeing these seasons of our lives as an opportunity from God to prepare us for our seasons of action, of affecting the world.

One of the analogies she uses is of trees and how the different seasons affect them: During the summer, their leaves are full and coat the limbs, but when winter comes, the leaves fall off and all that is left is the tree’s infrastructure. So it is with us: What the plenty of summer hides, the nakedness of winter reveals. When the winters of our life hit, we are stripped down to bear the strength of our infrastructure–our character.

But we must take time to grow and build up to be able to withstand those winters. It’s these seasons of anonymity, when we go unseen and seem unnoticeable, that protect us and prepare us so that we have time to create and forge that infrastructure. Then, when we undergo the winters of our life, our underlying strength will be strong enough to shine through and sustain us.

Chole writes in the book, “Anonymous seasons are sacred spaces, they are formative and to be rested in, not rushed through–and never regretted.” And, “We can easily mistake fruitlessness for failure. We naturally grant more weight to the visible than the invisible, so it’s easy for us to underestimate its vital importance. We must not think unseen = unimportant.”

This will be for the LORD’s renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed. Isaiah 55:13

[ read more at my blog, http://lifeblessons.blogspot.com ]

From the Relevant site.

17-hour flight. When I tell everyone here in Australia that the flight alone took 17 hours, they all respond the same. “Oh, that’s not so bad then” with a “fuckall” or “heaps” or some other screwy Aussie jargon interlaced.  To Australians, a 17-hour flight from L.A. is nothing compared to the 24+ hour flights it takes to get to Europe or New York.  They’re off on their own, these guys, and I’m completely fascinated by it.

I’m a day-and-a-half ahead, 2 seasons off, and the toilet keeps flushing the opposite way.  I’d say I’m more than jetlagged.

So far, I have great hosts here in Melbourne.  Vinnie and Andrew are with Acclaim Magazine, who’s hosting the CARBON event I’ll be speaking at this weekend.  They brought us to this street here called Brunswick, which is highly reminiscent of San Francisco. Not just for the architecture, but the arts-based community, the trams running on wires, and FOOD.  Just look at my sandwich, that thing almost ate ME.

I’m also here with Mega (3rd from the left), who you’ll probably hear a lot more about from me considering he’s my new best friend.  The French artist lives in a home he built himself in Bali and is currently traveling through Oz doing exhibitions.  He’s featured at CARBON as well with my buddy Frank Liew here.  Frank is responsible for Qubic out in New Zealand, and I’m sure if you’re familiar with the street community, his blog is in your bookmarks.

Right down the street was this awesome store called The Lab, which I give 3 thumbs up.  They stock their own in-house label called Mr. Simple.  Four thumbs up for that one.

The main graffiti collective down here is EVERFRESH, a unit of designers and artists who got a stamp on the area. Met one of the dudes at a New Balance party last night, he was bummed on REVOK’s situation (FREE REVOK!!!!!!!!!!) and he also brought up Dave Choe’s quest for the dinosaur when I heard about these giant koalas that jump down from trees and I have to find one.

Not too far away were the Sneaker Freaker offices.  So cool to actually be here at the magazine’s epicenter, considering I’ve been reading and appreciating this publication for years.

Lefts and rights.

I had no idea where Woody was. Mafia wasn’t around either. So we just kinda wandered around and I documented Woody’s ever-expanding collection of sneakers. This dude definitely mixes business with pleasure.

Here’s the original prototype for the Sneaker Freaker “Skippy,” which I blogged ad nauseum about last year.  They were initially going for real kangaroo fur (!) but the turnout was kinda craze.  Glad they let the kangaroos keep their clothes on.

Obviously Woody’s collection obsession goes beyond shoes.

I know Ashley’s gonna love that WEEN poster.

Woody’s got it all. From runners to Roadrunners:

Then we ran over to the Acclaim offices.  Just realized that there are all these awesome print magazines still going strong for the streetwear community, and they’re all based in Melbourne, Australia (Like T Magazine). Why is that? Frank joked, “Maybe they haven’t found out about the internet yet.”

Right outside the window there is where all the crackheads hide out, shoot up heroin, and do dirty things.  They had video of this addict couple having buttnaked sex and I watched a little too long.

So many New Balances going around down here, which I give five thumbs up.

You don’t even want to know what we were talking about.  Last night at that NB party, 2 people in a row mistook Frank for me. Just because he’s Asian? With impeccable style? And devilishly handsome?

Might as well be mistaking this guy for me:

VISIT THEIR BLOG HERE.

Most of the time YouTube videos that have the most views are videos of entertainment, and of humor. They may also be videos with great “shock factor.”  Here are two of my more favorable viral videos.

These are just two examples of great viral videos. They have such a large number of views, and the content isn’t anything of amazing content. It’s simple and it’s something that can happen in everyday life, something natural, and people like that. People like content that they can believe as reality. So, my advice to one looking to create a viral video, is the more natural the better, and make it reality, it doesn’t have to be super creative.

Many people carry on their own perception of Podcasts, whether it comes from an experience with one, or many, or maybe it’s simply from word of mouth. Either way there are numerous opinions and perceptions about this great tool that many of us are totally unaware of.

Podcasting can be useful and beneficial to so many of us and we don’t even realize it. Podcasting is a simple yet profound tool where an individual or several individuals create content whether through audio or video, and make it available for download, or even streaming online for free. Podcasts are available all throughout the web and there is a vast majority of them available on iTunes, where having the content on your own personal mP3 player is only one click away.

I’m going to walk through some benefits of Podcasting from a business perspective, and I am going to share some links to several great posts that may help you if you find yourself ready and willing to explore the world of Podcasts.

In a very informal post written by Jeremiah Owyang titled ‘Corporate Podcasting Strategies for 2007,’ he goes on to list 17 bold points about Podcasting and ways to be effective by doing so.

Here is number 2 off of his list just to give an idea of what kind of easy tips he provides. you can view this article by clicking here.

“2) Extend your Podcast with Social Media Features
Many corporate marketers fail by only dropping an mp3 file and a link to iTunes on a ‘podcast page’. You can benefit from interaction and building better podcasts by allowing for feedback by enabling comments. Perhaps using blog software to publish your podcast.”

“Why Podcast? Podcasting is the new breed of reaching both internet users and iPod users who can download your audio file and listen anytime they want.” In this article I read by Apryl Duncan on ‘Using your Podcast to advertise your business” I found several great starting points for those who are interested in furthering their advertisement through Podcasting, which has become a great social media outlet.  She discusses how one should keep it fairly short and to the point, and how Podcasting is a great outlet because it allows users to skim through content that interests them, so they are more likely to come by content and download it if it isn’t drawn out and too lengthy. She also makes some wonderful points on how one can keep their readers returning. Visit here to read more.

In Social Media Today Gini Dietrich wrote an article “How to use Podcasts to Market your business.” In this article she gives some interesting facts about the power of Podcasting, and shares a story about how she created a podcast video to see what all the “ruckus” was about, she posted it on the blog, and their blog traffic quadrupled! She goes on to talk about how videos draw traffic like one wouldn’t believe. I guess there is only one way to find out! To see the rest of Gini’s article read more here.

In another post “Using Podcasts to Grow Your Business” by Anita Campbell she goes on to express how useful podcasting has been for her, even though many doubt, or have misconceptions about the difficulty of creating a podcast. She has a list with numbered points, and the first one starting with “start with the end goal in mind.” To read more of her useful tips and to gain more insight and information on how to further your business through podcasting visit here.

At the Entrepreneur web-site there is a very useful post “Using Podcasting to Promote Your Site.” This is probably one of the more in-depth articles/posts about podcasting, and one that anyone starting off, or even those already into podcasting should read. This post breaks down the basics on how to start a podcast from start to finish, how to perfect it, and how to create one in the most effective way where it will further the purpose you created it for. Read the article here.

PR Open Mic works like any other site when you become a member. One simply fills out a form, and then becomes a member where you login with your email and password. The site is very user-friendly, and contains many links within the home page that enable one to navigate the site, and also a link where one can link with others and become “friends.”

The Home Page is where news feed comes in, and one can view the most recently created blog posts.  At the home page you can invite friends, customize your page and add content.

Something else available on the web-site that may be of great use is the link entitled jobs/interns. This may very be useful to college students who are looking to apply for internships, or secure a job after graduation.

The PR Open Mic web-site also offers something similar to email, where one can write and receive messages. It’s located to the right of the screen on your home page.

I find this site very useful in a sense that it relates to a base, a base where it’s open for anyone to join, and provides great opportunity to those who are seeking. I feel like these web-sites can open great doors to those who are looking for opportunities that may be hard to come by outside of the internet. It is a very easy to operate web-site and is well worth the time to navigate and explore. I would definitely recommend this web-site to anyone who is seeking for some sense of knowledge on PR, or one is already playing a part in PR. Either way I believe it will help you one way or another.

Read this article to see why there’s so much buzz around this years March madness!

I visited a very nice restaurant this past week in Clearwater, Florida. The service was over the top, the waiters were very polite, and very attending to any needs we had. Some may say well that’s required, they are working for a tip. That’s not how I see it though, I feel one can tell when they are being “schmoozed” and when it’s simply a worker taking pride in what they do. These gentleman took pride in what they do and it showed.

I won’t go into detail of the situation and what happened exactly, but the point is that character does shine, and it makes all the difference when one takes great pride in what they do. I guess this could be a blog of encouragement to all of those who want to do a better job but just can’t figure out how, or those who think that they’re hard work doesn’t matter, because it does. It shows, so continue to take pride in what you do, no matter what it is. Who knows who you may encourage.

I came across one negative review. The person went on to say that this particular shoe came apart after only a few wears of playing at the gym. Right at that moment I steered away from this product, even though I had read several good reviews, and the player has an outstanding reputation and plays in them every game, I still fell back from interest in this product.

Now although this person could have been anyone, they could have been someone out to mislead consumers, or attempting to create a distorted image of this product. Either way, this shows how even one negative against countless positives still distorts the image.

We have to learn how to manage these kind of situations, and how to make a “come-back” from a situation like this one. I feel in some cases it is very important to address the issue, to respond to complaints, and to make sure that the reputation of a product or company far exceeds any negative reviews or comments.