Why I Love the Freed Center

As indicated by my last post, I am mildly excited for the royal wedding happening on Friday.  I have been looking forward to this for months now!  I hear my mom talk about how she got up early to watch Princess Diana get married, and I want to have a memory like that of my own.  So, here is the plan.  I am going to get up at 5 a.m. on Friday morning and make some waffles with chocolate chips for my roommate and I.  They will look similar to a famous British desert, but will hopefully taste better.  We are going to sip tea while wearing borrowed hats from the Freed Center.  I walked into the costume shop and asked Cathy if I could borrow a fancy hat and she pointed me in the right direction.  Without the Freed Center's help my royal wedding viewing would not be complete.  You cannot watch a royal wedding with a bare head.  There must be a hat on it.  I am so excited for the whole event.

Royal Wedding Overload? No Such Thing!

Every entertainment television show, every morning news show, every news network, every talk show and every single show in between has the Royal Wedding fever.  As the nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton are fast approaching, it seems as though the world is coming together to speculate and watch.  Everything from what Kate will be wearing to how the Prince and new Princess will travel from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace is being analyzed by news corespondents. And every possible trinket imaginable is available to be purchased as a memento, including Kate and William condoms, tea sets and clocks.  Some people may say that this is overkill, but not me.  I think if the world is able to come together and celebrate something as beautiful as a wedding for a young man who has lived a somewhat sad life, then let all the hoopla come along too.  With all the negative and sad things happening in the world today, if our attention is focused on something as surface level as the designer of a wedding gown, then I say more power to the news editor who is putting that story on the air.  I know that I will be up at 5 am on Friday morning anxiously awaiting the results of all of these speculations.  Friday, April 29 will be a day that the world remembers, just like the day Prince Charles and Diana got married.

Do I Smell a Fraud?

Greg Mortenson is the author of the bestselling book Three Cups of Tea.  And earlier this year a one-man show of the book was presented at the Freed Center for the Performing Arts. After a report on 60 Minutes this past Sunday, it is possible that the amazing stories shared in the novel are a lie.  Investigations are being launched into whether or not this man and his story is telling the truth.  In addition, questions are being raised about where the money he earns goes and if his charity is benefiting at all from his speaking engagements and book sales.  This all seems very reminiscent of the scandal that accompanied the novel Million Little Pieces and its author, James Frey.  Only time and more investigation will tell the truth about the newest novel under suspicion.  Click here to see the 60 Minutes story.

Visual CV and this week's reading

Here is the link to my visual cv. I have to say, creating this was much more fun then I thought it would be.

During class on Monday, we were assigned to groups to look at different sections in Engaged.  My group was assigned to part 6.  I was excited about this, because I think that part has some really useful information and some fun facts, as well.  What fun facts you ask?  Well, did you know that Whole Foods has over 50 different twitter accounts?  Each section of their store has it's own account.  For example, cheese from Whole Foods a twitter account.  What an awesome marketing strategy!
Another part of section six that was interesting to me was the section on hashtags.  As a new twitter user, this information was helpful to me.  I have not completely grasped the concepts of hashtags and when to use them, but this section in the book certainly helped.
One of the most important things this section talks about is the movement from CRM (customer relationship management), to SCRM (social customer relationship management).  As companies become more and more accessible, it is more important for these mew types of relationships to be managed properly.  Instead of just managing relationships, now companies have the ability to listen to and engage their customers.  This is something that can be very helpful to a growing company if it is done correctly. This section of the book was very helpful.

Duck and Cover

Well, I guess there is a first for everything.  Finally spring quarter of my senior brings about a tornado warning in the middle of the night.  Granted, I have experienced my fair share of tornado scares while growing up in Northwest Ohio, the start of tornado alley, but until last night I had never experienced one while at ONU.  There was a tornado scare this past summer in Ada, but I was not around for it.  Last night at approximately 12:30 p.m. I hear the wind start to pick up and my walls start shaking from the thunder.  I guess that is what you get for living on the third floor in the room with the outside facing wall.  Then, that screeching siren sounds and I know what that means.  I go to wake up my roommate and we discuss for a couple minutes what to do.  There is no basement in the campus apartments, so we call a friend who lives on the first floor.  We head to her room only to discover the rest of the people in our building lining the hallways of Stadium View East first floor.  The sirens are continuing to go off and it is starting to get annoying.  I continue to watch the news and once we discover that everything is all clear, I head back up to go to bed. Just a little excitement in the tiny town of Ada on a Tuesday night. One thing that really surprised me though was the number of people who were absolutely terrified.  I actually think storms are fun and exciting as long as no one is getting hurt.  But the number of people I have talked to today who were unable to sleep because they were too scared was astounding.  I guess it is a good thing that a tornado warning has not come to Ada in my four years before now.

Podcast

Here is my social media podcast regarding facebook ethics between faculty members and students.

Elizabeth's Podcast

Facebook for the Non-Humans

This week I have noticed the number of "friends" that I have on Facebook that are not people.  Seems strange, right? Actually, it is one of the funniest things that keeps me really entertained on the social media site.  First of all, my friend Mike created a profile for his dog.  His name is Skip and he is probably the meanest dog in the world.  He has become a icon among Mike's friends with picture messages being sent back and forth on a daily basis.  So the next natural step was to create a Facebook page where people could communicate directly with Skip.  On his page, Skip talks about other attractive dogs and his latest escapades.  Obviously, it is Mike who us updating this information, but it is just so funny to get a post on your homepage that says "Skip updated his favorite quotes and about me."
In addition to Skip,  I have another friend who created a page for a fruit.  It is called Rasp Berry.  Rasp Berry is not as popular as skip, but he discusses concepts like his favorite fruits and the weather.  Skip and Rasp Berry are two of my favorite non-human  Facebook profiles.  I guess when you think about it, it is a little scary that anyone could create a profile claiming to be something they are not, but when it comes to dogs and fruit, it provides entertainment.

Extra, Extra, Read All About It.

In The New Rules of Marketing and PR, Scott discusses the new realm of press releases.  Back when press releases were simply used either by the main stream market or by professionals sharing information about the inner workings of their industry.  Today, news releases have a whole new job.  Without gate keepers, like newspaper editors, to keep your story from getting into the newspaper, the Internet allows for all sorts of news releases to be shared directly with the public.  With this new and exciting world to reach, Scott lays out several rules that should be followed when trying to reach and audience through press releases on the Internet. I have put them in simple terms so they are easy to follow and remember.

1. Don't just send a release when there is big news, send them all the time
2. Create releases that will directly relate to your customer
3. Keywords are the key
4. Include things that will impel your customers to respond
5. Link!
6. Make it searchable
7. Tag it
8. Drive towards sales

With the speed and accessibility of the Internet, it is more important now than ever to reach your customers consistently and in a way that speaks to your customers. Ever since PR writing, I have thought of press releases as one of the most important ways to get your thoughts and news out there.  After reading Scott, I have a whole new take on the importance of press releases.  They really can make or break a company's success in the social media world.

Small Town Opening the Window to a Big World

Tonight I got a truly unique experience on Ohio Northern's campus.  Dr. Jack Shaheen was brought to campus by the ONU political science department to speak on the American population's perspective of Arabs.  Dr. Shaheen is the author of the book Reel Bad Arabs which looks at over 1,000 Hollywood movies and their portrayals of Arabs and Muslims.  The book was also converted to the screen in the form of a documentary.  I have to say this was one of the most insightful and thought provoking lectures I have heard on this campus.
With over 25 years of research and numerous scholarly credit to his name, Dr. Shaheen deserves every bit of praise that he has been given throughout his career.  He opened the audience's eyes to the way that the media portrays Arabs and Muslims as the enemy.  So many different films, ads and news reports are simply appalling when one looks at them from this perspective.  I am so glad I had the opportunity to hear such a brilliant speaker on this campus.

Podcast me!

In class last Monday we discussed podcasts.  After the discussion and reading on podcasts, I became quite intrigued and wanted to see what was going on in cyber space in the world of podcasting. My first stop, iTunes.  I had no idea the huge number of podcasts available for download, and on every topic imaginable.  The ones that caught my eye included podcasts on podcasting, in-depth interviews, music lessons and museum tours. As Scott discusses in The New Rules of Marketing and PR, podcasts are really becoming more and more popular as more and more people are wanting to listen to audio content then watch a video.  There is a podcast for anything you might want to know about it seems.  

Now, I want to weigh in on the debate over if podcasts will take over radio.  I think yes.  As technology gets more advanced, there will be ways to listen to podcasts through the radio in your car, I believe.  That to me is the only thing blocking podcasts from outdoing radio. Podcasts are cheaper to make, more specialized and farther reaching. In addition, my least favorite part of radio are those annoying advertisements, something that is not an issue with podcasts.  I will be very interested to see how long it takes for radio to take a back seat to podcasts. 

The Best of the Best

While looking on the Internet for interesting social media stories, I came across this list on the Forbes Magazine Website. What did this list teach me? I need to be more up-to-date on my social media happenings. I recognize only about half of these campaigns. I do not know whether I should be proud of this, that I have not been eating up time on the Internet, or ashamed that I am not up on the trends. But as I think more about it, I realize that every single day a new social media campaign is launched on the Internet, and there is no way to keep up with the pace that they are being launched. I do think this class is making me more aware of the social media world, an important tool as I head into the business world.

The one thing that I find very interesting about this list is "The Blair Witch Project." I never thought of that as a social media campaign. For a film that was released in the late 1990s it was way ahead of its time. If you want to know how this film was really a social media phenomenon, click here.


Forbes list of the 20 best-ever social media campaigns:
“The Blair Witch Project”
Blendtec: ill It Blend?
Old Spice: “Smell Like a Man, Man.”
Burger King: “Subservient Chicken”
Pepsi Refresh
VW: “Fun Theory”
OfficeMax: “Elf Yourself”
Evian: “Roller Babies
Ikea: “Facebook Showroom”
Hotmail
Whopper Sacrifice
Target: “Bullseye Gives”
Vitaminwater
Smirnoff: “Tea Par-tay”
The Dark Knight: Why So Serious?
Quicksilver: “Dynamic Surfing”
Cadbury: Gorilla
BMW: “1 Series Graffit Contest”
Bing/Farmville
CareerBuilder: Monk-e-Mail

Humans Vs. Zombies

Its spring again at ONU which can only mean one thing...humans vs. zombies has started again. Now as a non-participant it can be very odd to be walking to class or turning into a parking spot when all of the sudden there is a war breaking out in front of you.  This has happened to me twice already and I think the game has only been going on since Monday or yesterday.  Typically, I just scream "I'm not playing," at the top of my lungs to be sure that I am not confused for the enemy.  While the game can seem like an inconvenience to some, I find it to quite entertaining. For example, just as I was walking into my building this afternoon my roommate and I started army crawling down the hallway to hide from the war happening outside the building.  While this may seem just ass strange to other people walking by as a zombie war does to me, it is sure entertaining.  I do have to commend the organizers of this event for creating something that is so well know and popular on campus, as interesting as it may seem to anyone else not involved.

I need you to listen.

As a communication major, many of my classes have dealt with the difference between hearing and listening.  And let me tell you, there is a big difference.  Listening means really taking in the message you are receiving and processing it.  On the contrary, hearing is simply the physical act that occurs when someone is speaking to you, you hear them.  Well in chapter 5 of Groundswell, Li talks about listening to the groundswell.  It is important for advertisers, companies, and executives to listen to the people who are talking about your product in the social media world.  According to Li, "your brand is whatever your customers say it is" (pg. 78).  I really believe this to be true.

In order to really know what your customer is saying, you have the listen to them.  Go into their world and find out what they want from you, what they expect from you and what they think of you.  If someone on twitter is bashing your product, that is going to spread quickly, and a company needs to be prepared to handle that situation effectively.  Just like we talked in class about the State Farm isn't always there fiasco.  If the members of the State Farm PR team weren't listening to what the groundswell was saying, there could have been a major crisis for the company come Monday morning.

In order to start to listen effectively and use the groundswell to your advantage, Li suggests following these steps:
1. Check the Social Telegraphics profiles of your customers
2. Start small, think big
3. Make sure you have an experienced team listening for you
4. Choose a higher-up to interpret the information and then pass it down through the company

Listening is one of the most important skills we as individuals and members of the social media world can have.

Randomness: The college expereience

In my years at ONU I have discovered that on a Friday or Saturday evening you have to get a bit creative when it comes to finding something fun to do before 10 pm.  Last night was one of those nights. I had plans at 11 to stop by a friend's party for a while, but what to do until then?  Well let me take you on the adventure that was an evening in northwest Ohio. It began early evening with a trip to El Campo for some chips, salsa and a margarita. This was followed by a trip up interstate 75 to Findlay to The Spaghetti Shop, the tackiest Italian place with the best garlic bread. We hopped back in the car for a trip to Jack's pets to play with the puppies for about a half hour before heading to Pirate's Cove for some laser tagging.  Yes, that is correct, six 20 somethings playing with puppies and playing laser tag.  After the laser tagging we headed to Friendly's for some ice cream sundaes to top off the evening before heading back to Ada to stop by the party.  Only when living in a small town in Ada while in college will you get this kind of adventure!  It was a blast, not your typical college student night, but an absolutely great time!