How much is too much?

As I was perusing E News today, I came across a story that really got me thinking. Leonardo DiCaprio has just signed on to do a television commercial for a Chinese phone company that will reportedly pay him five million dollars.  Yes, that is correct, five million dollars for a 30-60 second commercial!  This situation causes me to ask, how much is to much for an actor, sport figure or other opinion leader to be paid for his or her services as an endorser? All the time you hear of athletes getting millions and millions of dollars with Nike and Gatorade.  But then, I think about a country like China that is so close to Japan, a country that is in the midst of a national crisis, and wonder how in the world is it excusable to pay five million dollars for a television commercial.  That five million dollars could do so much for the relief efforts in Japan or even for important issues in China.  And then I think about Leonardo DiCaprio taking this money.  At a time like this and as an actor who is usually quite philanthropic this is appalling to me that he would accept this offer.  At least say you will give the money to the Red Cross or something Leo!  I think that the world's priorities are a little messed up at this point.

Spreading like wildfire

This week's reading about viral marketing brought up what I thought was a very interesting and important point.  Most of the time viral videos and stories happen by chance.  It is not always planned.  I'm sure some creators hope that their little homemade video will take the internet world by storm, but a lot of times it is purely chance.  For example, I imagine Charlie and his older brother's mother did not intend for this video to go viral and get as many views as it did.  When Emily and I posted our video for the get connected contest, we did it because it was part of our assignment and I figure no one outside of our class would see it.  But, when I looked at it the other day we had almost 50 views.  Now obviously 50 views does not a viral video make, but it shows the randomness of a video becoming viral. Something else I thought was very clever in The New Riles of Marketing and PR was the geyser metaphor.  it fits so perfectly into the explanation of a viral video process.  First nothing, and then bam, an internet sensation.  
Our in class discussion about the different youtube videos we all watch was so insightful.  There are so many choices out there on the internet.  Someone can literally find anything they want when it comes to a youtube video.  And the fact that it is such a popular search engine is amazing.  I remember when I was in high school and first heard about youtube.  It seemed like such a novelty and was even blocked from school computers.  Now, I watch at least one thing on youtube everyday.  Amazing what a difference a few years can make in the world of technology and social media.  Which I think it kind of the point of this class.  We need to all be aware and prepared for the constant changes that are taking place in the world of social media.  Something that is becoming more and more relied upon everyday.

Something in the water?

It seems as though the new Hollywood "it" trend is to go off the deep end.  You have Charlie Sheen, Christina Aguilera, Lindsay Lohan and numerous other stars who have made some questionable decisions.  And now just as the restraining order against him from Rhianna is relaxed, it seems as though Chris Brown is headed back to the dark side.  After the public domestic violence incident between the two singers two years ago, Chris Brown has been flying under the radar.  But with the release of his new album F.A.M.E, he is out on the press circuit.  He performed on ABC's Good Morning America Tuesday morning and things seemed to be under control.  Host Robin Roberts attempted to ask some questions about the Rhianna situation, but Mr. Brown graciously avoided the questions by bringing the conversation back to the album release.  He showed a little bit of frustration, but got the conversation back on track.  Successful appearance and welcome back into the limelight right?  Wrong.  After Mr. Brown left the GMA studio a window in his dressing room was found broken.  Immediately authorities believed the singer was to blame.  Mr. Brown took the situation to twitter claiming that people like Charlie Sheen get to do whatever they want and people still buy tickets to his show, but he has one mess up two years ago and people will not let him live. Soon after the comment was posted it was taken down.  It seems as the day went on Mr. Brown's behavior got more and more erratic, even displaying some off the wall behavior at his album release party that night.  Was this just Chris Brown being himself, dangerous as that may seem, or has he had some of the Hollywood water that seems to be making stars lose touch with reality.  Only time will tell as we keep a close eye on the singer.

Rain, Rain, Go AWAY!

Even though it is officially spring according the the calendar, I feel as though Ada, Ohio is far from it.  While rain is a natural occurrence in the spring months in the Midwest, the freezing temperatures and possible snow showers need to go away.  I would have really liked it for that little taste of spring we had last week to be a permanent change in ONU's weather.  Unfortunately, as is typical with Ohio weather, one can never predict what the weather is going to be from one day to the next, especially in March and April.  Hopefully this possible snow headed our way will be the last of the season. 
As I was walking to class today and the rain started, I considered the essential weather gear that it seems every Northern girl is equipped with, a list I wish I would have had prior to my freshman year.  So, I am going to provide that list for any future ONU student reading this blog.

1. Rain boots (I prefer either a neutral colored pair that will go with anything.)
2. Snow boots (Again, a neutral color or choices depending on your outfit, but make sure they have really good traction)
3. Umbrella (It is best if the umbrella is quite sturdy and will not flip inside out while in use.)
4. A fleece jacket (i.e. Northface)
5. A really warm hat and gloves
6. A big puffy warm coat
7. A cuter coat when it is not super cold
8. Good balancing skills (The ice on campus can be deadly.)
9. Warm socks
10. Lots of extra jeans to change into when yours get drenched on the way to class

While many of these things I brought to school with me when I was first starting, some of them I learned about through trial and error (i.e. the traction on shoes). It may seem silly and like common sense, but it is unbelievable how important a simple pair of warm socks can become in mid-January.

Video Contest Entry

Video Contest Entry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArPXifOwf_Q

Mixing the old and the new

This past Friday night my parents hosted a large party at my house in Findlay for friends and family.  It was a just because type of party.  My parents had asked if the Northernaires, the eight voice vocal jazz group I am a member of on campus, would be willing to perform.  I jumped at the opportunity to sing in front of all these people in my hometown who had watched me perform all through middle school and high school.  It was such a blast! There were about 125 people crammed into my house....a little chaotic I might say.  I feel the best part of the evening for me was mixing my ONU life with my hometown life.  My roommate, several of my other friends and two guys I had gone to high school with and now they go to ONU were in attendance.  It was so neat to see these people that were a major part of my younger life interacting with the people that are currently a major part of my life.  I also enjoyed showing off my hometown folks and family to my ONU friends.  I had a great time and wish my parents would throw a big party like that more often!!

ALFAC taking feeling some flack.

This week Gilbert Gottfried was fired as the voice of the talking duck for the insurance company AFLAC.  This came as a result of Gottfried posting some racially degrading tweets in response to the Japanese tsunami and earthquake. Saying things like "Japan is so advanced they don't go to the beach, the beach comes to them."  What an untimely and all around rude comment to make. A comment like this would never be acceptable, but especially in a time of crisis in Japan, it is simply appalling.

I wonder how much heat AFLAC will take for their former employee's comments or will the majority of the media attention be focused on Gilbert himself.  I think in this instance it is more important to focus on the actual person.  The organization has no control over what their employee is going to tweet in regards to current events and really shouldn't have control when it is not concerning a company matter. I am not sure how much of a career Gilbert Gottfried has to salvage, but whatever it is, it is going to be hard to regain the world's respect.

If you would like to see a news report on the event click here

Engage Part 2

Now that I am really getting into Engage! I really appreciate the writing style and the flow of this book as well.  It is very easy to follow, and I like how Brian Solis breaks the topics up in a way that does not make a 120 page section feel like you are reading a 120 page section. There were several different topics in part 2 that were of interest to me. The first one being the section on podcasts and wikis.

I have to be honest, I really didn't know exactly what a podcast or wikis were.  I had obviously heard about the wiki leaks scandal, but the only wiki i had ever heard of was wikipedia.  I really appreciated learning about wikis in general. I was surprised to find out how prevalent they are and how they are defined by their interactivity. As for podcasts, I had seen them pop up on my itunes, but never had really taken the time to look into them. I now realized they are sophisticated radio media, but more specialized. Almost like a satellite radio station.  I feel like an awful communication major for never looking into these terms, but I am very glad I know them now.

Secondly, I really liked the section on social calendars and events. I have recently become a little obsessed with evite.com.  I created my account and within a week had sent 3 invitations.  It is just a simple and organized way to keep track of attendees and upcoming events. This summer at my internship I got a lot of experience with public online social events calendars.  Whenever we had an event coming up, as the intern, it was my job to find every possible outlet on the internet to advertise it.  It was amazing to me the number of places that had event calendars that would send posted events to their members through email.  Also, so many cities have city cites where any event happening in the area can be publicized.

Finally, I got a kick out of the facebook section.  It was funny to me to see groups and pages explained when it seems like such second nature.  But in the future, facebook will probably be no more and there needs to be documentation about this social networking phenomenon that took the world by storm.

"The New Influences" Response to Intro and Ch. 1

When I looked at the book list for this class and received them all in the mail, I did not understand how a class about social media could have so much supporting text.  Soon after starting the read the introduction and first chapter in The New Influences though, I realized there is so much more to the world of social media then I thought.  Mr. Gilliin writes in a conversational and easy-to-read way that makes reading for this class enjoyable. I have learned so much just from the first 17 pages of this book and the first 18 from Engage.

The thing that stuck out the most to me in the first part of Mr. Gillin's book was the fact that he immediately admitted that he was wrong.  He first gave a quote that he had published about social media and that it would soon  see its downfall.  Within the next two sentences of the introduction he states "I have never been more wrong about anything."  I feel this is a such a great way for an author to connect with the audience.  It puts him on a level playing field with his readers by admitting his mistakes.  Many authors would leave their faults out or glaze over them to make themselves look better.  The way Mr. Gillin handled the situation automatically made me respect him.

In chapter one the different types of blogs are discussed. I had no idea there were 15 different types of blogs! I honestly thought a blog was a blog, was a blog. What helpful information to have though when entering the world of blogging like I am.  To know that different formats and styles have to be used when writing different kinds of blogs will only increase my credibility in the blogging world.

While the author asserted his credibility to by acknowledging his shortcomings, I will be able to assert my credibility with my blog by using the proper format and having the basic skill set needed to be a successful blogger.

No, No Jimbo

Big PR News this week!

Jim Tressel, the OSU football coach, was fined $250,000 and suspended to 2 games next season because he apparently did not tell NCAA officials that he was aware of some "frowned upon" behavior by his players.  The details of the story you can get somewhere else, but I want to talk about the PR aspect of this story. Should OSU back Tressel if the NCAA comes to inflict a bigger punishment? Should Tressel be working on his own to improve his tarnished reputation? Should the players come to his aid?

I am not a sports fanatic by any means, so I am not completely aware of all the no-no's in collegiate level sports, but I do know that this is a good lesson in crisis communication for OSU, Mr. Tressel and his players.  They need to be working to get this stain off of their reputation. Let me know what you think about this story......I would be interested to hear from some people who are more sports savvy than I am.

New Blog!

I have set up this blog for my social media class at Ohio Northern University. We had our first day of class yesterday and that is where I made this blog. I am really excited about this class. I think it will help me to better understand how to use social media to my advantage as a young professional. Also, I just think blogging is fun! 

After my first day of my last quarter at ONU, I realize what the term "senioritis" really means. I found my motivation to be dwindling, but at least this social media class is going to be fun and keep me interested in the subject matter. And at least I will have one class in my spring quarter that will keep me focused on school :) I am ready to head full force into this quarter and "Spring into Graduation"....get it???