Wow. Where did the past 17 years of my life go? I can remember getting my "diploma" for graduating from elementary school, and the same thing for middle school. I remember my high school graduation, and the speeches that were made. I remember chest bumping with my principle as I got my High School Diploma, and now? Now I'm two weeks away from being a college graduate with a bachelors degree?
Crazy.
It's been a fun four years, though. I made a lot of great contacts, got involved with a lot of great groups, and held some cool titles that I intend to put on my resume for a while. I'm so excited to move forward in my life. I signed a lease for next year, have a full time job lined up, my own desk, I'm going to start looking at new cars... ready, set, go with my new life.
Here's to a wonderful four years! Thanks, Northern. Don't forget to stay classy!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Trending Topics: Marriage?
In lieu of our latest Social Media assignment, I decided that I would turn back to trending topics on twitter to talk about for this blog post. Today's trending topic? #IfYouMarryMe
Strange, yes. But apparently because of the upcoming holiday weekend (maybe?) people are telling some pretty thoughtful things about... what would happen if you marry them. Some people chose to write very cute thoughtful messages, others listed a few things that you would get if you married them, and some were a little, well, shall we say, not PG-13.
I think stuff like this just goes to show how prominent technology has come in our lives. We're sharing with the world, thousands of millions of people why we want someone to marry us! Crazy isn't it? Oh well, twitter is important to a lot people, and so is marriage I guess. Why not throw the two together?
Strange, yes. But apparently because of the upcoming holiday weekend (maybe?) people are telling some pretty thoughtful things about... what would happen if you marry them. Some people chose to write very cute thoughtful messages, others listed a few things that you would get if you married them, and some were a little, well, shall we say, not PG-13.
I think stuff like this just goes to show how prominent technology has come in our lives. We're sharing with the world, thousands of millions of people why we want someone to marry us! Crazy isn't it? Oh well, twitter is important to a lot people, and so is marriage I guess. Why not throw the two together?
Monday, May 2, 2011
What's most Important?
The customer! That's what David Scott tells us in Chapter 10 of his book The New Rules of Marketing and PR. I read chapter 10 this week, although I lost my paper with the reading schedule, and I feel like I haven't been to class in ages, so hopefully this is the correct reading.
Anyway, Scott tells us that too many businesses and organizations focus too much on their product, and not enough on the customer and that in fact, the customer should be the number one priority... not your product.
I agree with this completely.
The only thing I can compare this to (and I think it works) is radio. Sure there are hundreds of things that come into play with maintaining a successful radio station for example the music, commercials, and the on-air talent, but you have nothing without the listener. A lot of mentors that I've talked to have taught me that the most important thing you can do is connect to the listener (or the customer).
I think that Social Media is a great way to do this. Personally, I'd be much more likely to purchase something from a company that has made an attempt to connect with me in some sort. Locally here in Ada, you see hundreds of kids who are friends with "Padrones Ada". A day doesn't go buy where they don't wish every single one of their friends a Happy Birthday. I've seen people get free food by sharing with them their concerns and comments right on Facebook.
Scott has it right. If we don't put the customer first, there's no point in even worrying about your product.
Anyway, Scott tells us that too many businesses and organizations focus too much on their product, and not enough on the customer and that in fact, the customer should be the number one priority... not your product.
I agree with this completely.
The only thing I can compare this to (and I think it works) is radio. Sure there are hundreds of things that come into play with maintaining a successful radio station for example the music, commercials, and the on-air talent, but you have nothing without the listener. A lot of mentors that I've talked to have taught me that the most important thing you can do is connect to the listener (or the customer).
I think that Social Media is a great way to do this. Personally, I'd be much more likely to purchase something from a company that has made an attempt to connect with me in some sort. Locally here in Ada, you see hundreds of kids who are friends with "Padrones Ada". A day doesn't go buy where they don't wish every single one of their friends a Happy Birthday. I've seen people get free food by sharing with them their concerns and comments right on Facebook.
Scott has it right. If we don't put the customer first, there's no point in even worrying about your product.
@onujpt's Twitter Assignment
This week our assignment in Social Media was to follow a weeks worth of tweets for two professional people and two companies, and look to see how they utilized the service AND how they used hash tags. So let's dive into this assignment.
@AllAccess
All Access is a company in the radio industry that does a lot of press releases and provides "backstage information" as to what's happening in the industry.
AllAccess is a heavy twitter user, posting somewhere between 25-35 tweets on any given day. On almost every single one of their posts, their is usually a link taking readers back to some news article. And in fact, a lot of their tweets are about news releases they have made on their website. The news releases cover all genres of music... from country to classic rock. While they do a lot of mentioning of their followers in their posts, I never seem to see any hash tags used in their tweeting unless it's their company name. In fact this week the only hash tag used was #AllAccess. I think that they could be doing more, especially when there are big things going on in the music industry in the news. For example award shows, big concerts, etc.
@CedarPoint
Cedar Point is an amusement park based in Sandusky, Ohio that I frequent regularly in the summertime.
Much different from AllAccess, Cedar Point only posts a tweet once a day, sometimes up to three. Primarily, it appears that they are using their twitter account for three different things: interaction with customers, advertising about deals and pricing, and driving traffic back to their web site. Most of the tweets are about purchasing tickets for this upcoming year, and a few are about contests they have going on online. Every once in a while, and the ones I find most important, they have tweets replying to people who have posted something about Cedar Point. For example:
@BubbaRadio
"Bubba" is co-host of the largest syndicated country morning show in Radio, Big D & Bubba.
If you want to find a way to connect with the people who are following you, follow this guy... and is co-host. Often times in radio you are taught that you need to connect with your listeners on a very personal level. While it may not sound conventional... you should be able to go out with these people, have a beer, and share good times. Bubba is very impersonal on his twitter, and shares things that are important to him. Tweets about what he's doing, pictures of his daughters fourth-grade play, things going on in the radio station, etc. One thing that is very unorthodox is his grammar. Nowadays we are taught to make sure everything looks proper, things are capitalized, spelling is correct, etc. Well check out one of his tweets:
@TheEllenShow
Although it says "Show" it's the personal twitter account for Ellen DeGeneres. Talk show host, lesbian, comedian... hilarious. I love her. But let's talk about her tweeting.
Actually, this account doesn't give a lot of "behind the scenes" looks at her show, but gives more of an inside look to her personal life. Tweeting 7-10 times a day, Ellen posts a lot of pictures of things that she finds amusing, and posts a lot of links. She utilizes a third-party twitter service called TwitPic a lot. Users of TwitPic can take pictures on their mobile phone, upload them to TwitPic and post it directly on their twitter. I think Ellen does a good job connecting with her customers, even @replying to a lot of them directly. She posts things that she finds funny, amusing, and contests she has going on at the time. All of these things connect directly back to her viewers. Looking at her past 100 or so tweets, there are no hash tags.
Overall, I think there are a lot of people using twitter out there, but this whole hash tag thing is either pointless, or isn't understood. I think twitter should offer some seminars on how to use hash tags, and provide some good examples of why we should be using them. #ComeOnTwitter
@AllAccess
All Access is a company in the radio industry that does a lot of press releases and provides "backstage information" as to what's happening in the industry.
AllAccess is a heavy twitter user, posting somewhere between 25-35 tweets on any given day. On almost every single one of their posts, their is usually a link taking readers back to some news article. And in fact, a lot of their tweets are about news releases they have made on their website. The news releases cover all genres of music... from country to classic rock. While they do a lot of mentioning of their followers in their posts, I never seem to see any hash tags used in their tweeting unless it's their company name. In fact this week the only hash tag used was #AllAccess. I think that they could be doing more, especially when there are big things going on in the music industry in the news. For example award shows, big concerts, etc.
@CedarPoint
Cedar Point is an amusement park based in Sandusky, Ohio that I frequent regularly in the summertime.
Much different from AllAccess, Cedar Point only posts a tweet once a day, sometimes up to three. Primarily, it appears that they are using their twitter account for three different things: interaction with customers, advertising about deals and pricing, and driving traffic back to their web site. Most of the tweets are about purchasing tickets for this upcoming year, and a few are about contests they have going on online. Every once in a while, and the ones I find most important, they have tweets replying to people who have posted something about Cedar Point. For example:
@andythehock Sounds like you might be on the season pass page. We have a "Deals" page featuring the spring sale here: http://ow.ly/4IwwXYou can still see how they are driving people to purchase tickets. Cedar Point does seem to be hopping on the hash tag bandwagon, though. They've used a couple over the past week including #cantwait and #FamilyTravel. Older hash tags that they've used are names of their rides, etc. I'd say Cedar Point could do a little more with interacting with their customers and not using sales at the same time.
@BubbaRadio
"Bubba" is co-host of the largest syndicated country morning show in Radio, Big D & Bubba.
If you want to find a way to connect with the people who are following you, follow this guy... and is co-host. Often times in radio you are taught that you need to connect with your listeners on a very personal level. While it may not sound conventional... you should be able to go out with these people, have a beer, and share good times. Bubba is very impersonal on his twitter, and shares things that are important to him. Tweets about what he's doing, pictures of his daughters fourth-grade play, things going on in the radio station, etc. One thing that is very unorthodox is his grammar. Nowadays we are taught to make sure everything looks proper, things are capitalized, spelling is correct, etc. Well check out one of his tweets:
today's pet peeve: all the people referring to Obama's SPEACH, when in fact he gave a SPEECH..silly, & Lord knows i am NOT perfect either ;)Yep. They all look like that. Not really the most conventional thing, yet it's working for him. Regardless of how his tweets look, he's very personal and in radio... that's important.
@TheEllenShow
Although it says "Show" it's the personal twitter account for Ellen DeGeneres. Talk show host, lesbian, comedian... hilarious. I love her. But let's talk about her tweeting.
Actually, this account doesn't give a lot of "behind the scenes" looks at her show, but gives more of an inside look to her personal life. Tweeting 7-10 times a day, Ellen posts a lot of pictures of things that she finds amusing, and posts a lot of links. She utilizes a third-party twitter service called TwitPic a lot. Users of TwitPic can take pictures on their mobile phone, upload them to TwitPic and post it directly on their twitter. I think Ellen does a good job connecting with her customers, even @replying to a lot of them directly. She posts things that she finds funny, amusing, and contests she has going on at the time. All of these things connect directly back to her viewers. Looking at her past 100 or so tweets, there are no hash tags.
Overall, I think there are a lot of people using twitter out there, but this whole hash tag thing is either pointless, or isn't understood. I think twitter should offer some seminars on how to use hash tags, and provide some good examples of why we should be using them. #ComeOnTwitter
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Out with the Old
I truly can't believe that I'm going to say this but I think I am starting to get over Facebook, and moving towards using Twitter more. To me, it's just starting to get too busy. It's the same exact thing that happened to MySpace; just too much happening.
Now you can't login to facebook without seeing hundreds of dumb applications clogging up your news feed. Farmville, Family Feud, Cafeworld... what's next? I started using Facebook because of the simplicity. A basic profile, status updates, and a place to post pictures. Now it's too much.
Now granted Twitter has added a few features over the past year, the concept is still the same. Say what you have to say in 140 characters.
If facebook continues moving in the same direction, i may opt out of using it.
Now you can't login to facebook without seeing hundreds of dumb applications clogging up your news feed. Farmville, Family Feud, Cafeworld... what's next? I started using Facebook because of the simplicity. A basic profile, status updates, and a place to post pictures. Now it's too much.
Now granted Twitter has added a few features over the past year, the concept is still the same. Say what you have to say in 140 characters.
If facebook continues moving in the same direction, i may opt out of using it.
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Wednesday, April 27, 2011
DroidX or iPhone?
So lately I've had this dilemma in my life. As I am now starting to get paid for a full time job, I noticed that my two-year plan with Verizon is up come the start of June, and now that the iPhone is with Verizon... should I jump on to the bandwagon? I just got my DROIDX not too long ago, and the only reason my two years is up so soon is because of some trouble with my account (they upped the date). I really do love my phone, but I have seemed to turned in to a "Mac person" everywhere else. I have a mac book pro, which I absolutely love; I have an iPod, that I use daily; and the last step is to get the iPhone.
Now before I sound like one of those tech junkies who just want the latest and coolest most innovative thing, I will say that the company I'm working for will be using this software soon called NexGen. NexGen is a type of radio automation software, and the company that makes the software has an iPhone app that would allow me to do a lot of work away from the studio. It is especially useful when doing remote broadcasts, or "being on location".
So I'm stuck, and I don't know what to do. If you listen to my podcast that I posted a few posts ago, I outlined some of the key pros and cons for each device, so I won't go into those now. What I really would like to hear is from some people who have iPhones. Are you happy with your device? Do you wish you could have something else? Does it freeze often? These are the questions. Someone help!
Now before I sound like one of those tech junkies who just want the latest and coolest most innovative thing, I will say that the company I'm working for will be using this software soon called NexGen. NexGen is a type of radio automation software, and the company that makes the software has an iPhone app that would allow me to do a lot of work away from the studio. It is especially useful when doing remote broadcasts, or "being on location".
So I'm stuck, and I don't know what to do. If you listen to my podcast that I posted a few posts ago, I outlined some of the key pros and cons for each device, so I won't go into those now. What I really would like to hear is from some people who have iPhones. Are you happy with your device? Do you wish you could have something else? Does it freeze often? These are the questions. Someone help!
Friday, April 22, 2011
No Plans for Easter
I don't know if this is sad or not, but I really don't have any plans for Easter. In fact, while most people are planning to spend the full Sunday with their family, I'm leaving Ada Saturday night to head down to Dayton to visit a friend for the evening. Sure my family has plans for Easter Sunday, but I don't really care to be a part of them.
Now before that sounds really bad, please let me explain. My poor Grandmother has been having our entire family over to her house now for 25+ years. She has nine kids, meaning she has 36 grand kids. Out of those 36 grand kids, none of them are married, but most have a girlfriend, so lets add another 15 people on to that. Out of those 15 people who are seeing someone, 3 have kids without having gotten married. So we'll add on 10 very young kids. So now, in a small house out in the country, we have somewhere close to 60 people crammed into the house. Can you see why I'd like to not attend? I'd be a little happier with visiting my Grandparents on a one-on-one kind-of thing.
Every year the same thing happens. She cooks a ham, or turkey, or a combination of both, and everyone else brings sides. She says we'll eat at 2. The responsible members of the family show up with their side around 1:30, and some of the others show up at 2:45. So we have person 1 who has been waiting to eat since 1:30, and then person 9 shows up at 2:45 without a care that they just made everyone else wait. My Grandma loses her mind, starts complaining to the responsible people who were there on time, and they eventually tell the one who showed up late, a fight ensues, people get upset, people leave, and then there we are... on Easter Sunday... a big happy family.
Let me end this post by saying, we are not by any means a disfunctional family. We just have a few bad apples who really shouldn't be invited but, "they're family". Know what I mean?
That would be why I had no plans for Easter.
Now before that sounds really bad, please let me explain. My poor Grandmother has been having our entire family over to her house now for 25+ years. She has nine kids, meaning she has 36 grand kids. Out of those 36 grand kids, none of them are married, but most have a girlfriend, so lets add another 15 people on to that. Out of those 15 people who are seeing someone, 3 have kids without having gotten married. So we'll add on 10 very young kids. So now, in a small house out in the country, we have somewhere close to 60 people crammed into the house. Can you see why I'd like to not attend? I'd be a little happier with visiting my Grandparents on a one-on-one kind-of thing.
Every year the same thing happens. She cooks a ham, or turkey, or a combination of both, and everyone else brings sides. She says we'll eat at 2. The responsible members of the family show up with their side around 1:30, and some of the others show up at 2:45. So we have person 1 who has been waiting to eat since 1:30, and then person 9 shows up at 2:45 without a care that they just made everyone else wait. My Grandma loses her mind, starts complaining to the responsible people who were there on time, and they eventually tell the one who showed up late, a fight ensues, people get upset, people leave, and then there we are... on Easter Sunday... a big happy family.
Let me end this post by saying, we are not by any means a disfunctional family. We just have a few bad apples who really shouldn't be invited but, "they're family". Know what I mean?
That would be why I had no plans for Easter.
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