Let the champagne flow and hour'doeuvre's be served for TF Cornerstone's newest luxury apartment rentals located at 505 west 37th street in Manhattan's midtown west. On April 29th, the property had its V.I.P. grand opening. For those in attendance it was another day in their fabulous life of social luxury, but for this intern it was a taste of a New York City lifestyle that I cannot get enough of.
Courtesy of my internship at Quinn and Co. public relations, the agency that handles TF Cornerstone's PR, I was able to attend the event along with others on an impressive guestlist that included Mayor Bloomberg dignitaries and ballet legend, Mikhail Baryshnikov (the dancer in me had butterflies in my stomach doing tour jeté's in his presence). Aside from the who's who in real estate being there, the property itself was simply astounding. The lounge area oozed class through subtle simplicity and the art photography by Natasha Toth-Elghanayan and Najib Aschrafzai added a great conversational piece to be had over drinks and hour'doeurvre's. As the April sun began to set, the outdoor patio area literally left me gasping at the exceptional lighting and design of the space. I was with the photographer, Pablo Corradi, most of the evening taking pictures of the guests and taking business cards or names for captions. Thanks go out to Pablo, a true professional. Understanding this was my first event, he did a great job of taking the photos but also helping me make sense of what was going on, who was who and making me feel comfortable.
Being attached to Pablo's hip was an easy segue into light chatter when I was off duty and able to partake in the schmoozing. I ordered a glass of red wine and proceeded to make jokes with journalists, share stories with real estate developers, snag some business cards and have my resume forwarded to some friends of friends. Being an intern at Quinn and Co. didn't hurt either. Once I mentioned who I was interning for, people listened and reporters raved. It is a public relations firm's duty to handle their client's brand management, but also to handle their own. The power of brand recognition is evident in just my experience at this event and how receptive people were to the lone intern working the room. The fearless leader at Quinn and Co., Florence Quinn, and the head of the firm's real estate division, Suzanne Rosnowski, were also in attendance and were bonafide celebrities. They effortlessly weaved in and out of the crowd with people stopping them just to get a few words. Interning at Quinn and Co., I know I am learning from true professionals. My shoulders were raw by the end of the night because I was rubbing so hard and to top it off, I got a snazzy complimentary umbrella, a life essential for the business New Yorker.
Real estate public relations does not have a fascinating ring to it. It does not have the immediate allure of travel or entertainment public relations, but ladies and gentlemen, I have drank from the fountain of real estate glamour and I am intoxicated by it. The sounds of corks popping, the breadth of creative possibility and the personal gratification of finding that captivating story in a property adds charismatic depth to the real estate industry. In short, I can see myself doing this.
Credit and thanks needs to be given to quinnling (Quinn and Co. employees), Marisa Long, for handling such a successful event at the TF Cornerstone grand opening of 505 west 37th and for bringing the intern along for the ride.
Pictures of the event will be coming soon so stay tuned!
Make sure to check out all the people mentioned in this post.
505 West 37th Street - www.505W37.com
TF Cornerstone - www.tfcornerstone.com
Quinn and Co. - www.quinnandco.com twitter:@quinnandco
Florence Quinn - @Florencequinn
Suzanne Rosnowski - @Suz_Rosnowski
Marisa Long - @Marisalong
Freddy Melendez - @FreddyMelendez
Pablo Corradi - www.Corradifoto.com
Natasha Toth-Elghanayan - www.natashafoto.com
Najib Aschrafzai - www.najibaschrafzai.com
Monday, May 3, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
In the Current Landscape, Anonymous Online Comments Have a Need for Transparency
If it ever feels like the Internet is shrinking, that’s because it is and newspapers are looking to make it even smaller as they dive into the issue of anonymous comments on their Web sites. In a recent New York Times articles entitled, “News Sites Rethink Anonymous Online Comments,” journalists and media outlets are advocating for the removal of anonymous comments and moving towards registered user comments. My comment is, “It’s about time!” It is no secret that the Internet, while culturally transformational and revolutionary, can be a hub for digital bathroom graffiti. This is clearly evident in anonymous comments posted in articles on media outlet Web sites, which brings about a needed conversation about changing how the media engages its online users and how that community interacts with each other.
News, when written objectively, is designed to inform its audiences and elicit thoughtful conversations. Using the Internet as a channel for these conversations interconnects the world and becomes a global melting pot of ideas and points of views which breeds a beautiful culture of participatory democracy and is a living statement of freedom of speech. If everyone wrote comments with this purpose in mind then there would be no need for any regulation, but this is not the case. There are many article comments that detract from the dialogue of people sharing thoughts by posting abrasive or over abusive verbiage, so much so that pages and pages of these comments disguise those that are truly relevant to the discussion and get lost in the clutter, or even worse do not get posted at all because the audience reading the articles are not the audience reading the comments. On several occasions I have not posted a comment on an article because the other comments didn’t engage the topic, forcing me to ask, “If I post this, who is going to listen?”
In addition to the overwhelming amount of comments that are tattered with inflammatory speech, come the comments that are rigged with mudslinging propaganda, citing in particular the situation mentioned in the Times article with the judge who posted anonymous comments about the lawyer who’s case she presided over.
The ugliness of some comments is undeniable and a testament to the damage of anonymity, but also anonymity just is not “in.” Internet users are starting to create online identities of their real selves through social networking sites, widgets and the inclusiveness of technology across the board. To not have an online identity, is to not exist socially, in the job market, in the consumer market and is not hip. To be honest, if I cannot find someone on one of these sites or through a google search, I really debate if they are even worth knowing! The days of hiding behind America Online screennames are far behind us and soon to follow is Internet anonymity. The media outlets that require a digital footprint now before it becomes the standard have a better handle on increasing trends and a more effective way at targeting their most interactive readers.
Media outlets ridding their sites of anonymous comments reap the benefits in these ways:
*Registered User Tracking: Media outlets would have the ability to track their registered users and how they interact with their Web sites. Through analytics advertisers can more effectively target their audiences and outlets can entice the purchasing of ad space next to the comments column, which has been lacking in sales.
*User Engagement Community: Users will be more encouraged and empowered to engage in conversation knowing that other users are there for the same purpose establishing a community.
*Relevant Discussions: Article comments become what they were designed to be, a forum for people to share thoughts and opinions through a relevant discussion.
*Digital Circulation: The more people engaging in an online conversation, the higher the likelihood of them retweeting articles or posting them on Facebook, increasing impressions.
Media outlets have already begun to look into ways to regulate anonymous comments. Requiring users to register with the website with an e-mail verification before they are allowed to engage on the site is a good start. The fact that one has to register and verify with a valid e-mail address requires a decent amount of mouse work that some offenders just do not want to deal with. Allowing users to rank other users establishes credibility and encourages visitors to increase their “cred” so that their opinions are heard. The integration of social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn also eliminates anonymous postings. Check out Citysearch.com and Metromix.com to see how they integrate Facebook into their venue reviews. Establish a clear user policy that outlines what is marked as offensive or is marked as clutter that does not contribute to the goal of creating relevant dialogue. Hire a person who’s job is to police the Web site and identify violators of the user policy. I know resources are low and hard to come by, but these are all excellent first steps in removing anonymous comments as a media outlet standard. The needs and capabilities of every media outlet are different, so these strategies may or may not work, but it is a trial and error process.
Defenders of freedom of speech argue that the media must allow those who are disenfranchised to have a voice and that anonymous comments serve as a stage for people who might want to say something that might affect them professionally or socially. To the disenfranchised I say, voicing opinions might lift a heavy burden but a presence is what elicits change. To those who want the freedom to say what they would like about their jobs or their neighbors without the accountability I say, leave the gossip for the water cooler and the PTA meetings.
The abolishment of anonymous comments will change the digital face of media interaction, but how else will these trends affect readers and their media consumption? Care to comment?
Check out the blog posted on Quinn and Co. Public Relation's purple lounge - www.quinnandco.com/wordpress
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Pepsi - The Real Super Bowl Champs
Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints put on a gutsy performance at super bowl 44 to cap off a stellar season, but Pepsi is the real winner this year.
check this out
The funny thing is, Pepsi wasn't even there. After 23 years of super bowl advertising, Pepsi sat the bench this year. That's because of their new integrated marketing campaign titled "The Pepsi Refresh Project" which is donating $20 million to causes designed to move communities forward. This social media campaign could not have come at a better time either. The recent tragedy in Haiti, in addition to the lack luster reviews of super bowl ads, has given Pepsi an opportunity to jump on the charitable trends of American pop culture and to really become the star in the midst of mediocre advertisements. This was public relations genius. While everyone else is battling for advertising supremacy, Pepsi is reaping the benefits left and right through blogs, trade publications, media coverage and every organization they donate some of that $20 million to.
Major props to the PR people at Pepsi. I think I'll go have one actually.For an advertising perspective check out the 411 Overload @AmandaAnn124 - A young talented Senior Advertising Major at Rowan University.
In other news. I just landed an internship at Quinn and Co. in their travel division. Very exciting. Check them out @Quinnandco
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
- Strategic PR blunder causes 7 percent of Mo. parks employees to get laid off -
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g-uACT9oKQ-4u5jovb6FRKedlA5QD9BEF8PG0
At Rowan University, the public relations dept. stresses the importance of RESEARCH and STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION to put together an effective public relations plan and more importantly to influence attitudes.
The communications director of Missouri's dept. of Natural Resources probably should have sit in on one of my classes because then maybe 100 Missouri employees will still have a job in the next few weeks.
See link above.
If you're not one for more reading, allow me to sum up the article. More than 100 out of about 715 employees are losing their jobs and according to temporary spokesperson for the department of Natural Resources, Travis Ford, "this is 100 percent about the decline in revenue from the parks sales tax." The article goes on to state that three-fourths of the parks divisions' revenue comes from an earmarked state sales tax and the recession has lowered consumer spending.
Let's completely deny the accountability of the E. COLI IN MISSOURI'S BEACHES!
In the past three years there have been "10 cases... in which public beaches at state parks were not closed despite high E. coli levels.
Where do the research and strategic communication plans come in?
With articles dating back to 2006 about the E. coli in Missouri's beaches, would you not think that a strategic public relations plan would have been put in place to combat the negative attention, perception and attitudes that the media and Missouri natives had about its beaches?
(2006) http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/3693
(2008) http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/29177/
(2008) http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kwmu/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1310864§ionID=1
And several other articles.
If they did, it was an epic failure.
If they didn't, they all jumped on the fail boat and sunk along with 7 percent of Missouri park employees.
Travis Ford cannot deny that the media attention on the elevated levels of the E. coli virus did not have a direct impact on the consumer spending at Missouri's beaches. Even worse, is that he continues to deny it now after 7 percent of Missouri park employees will be filling the unemployment lines in a matter of weeks.
Let us not forget the public relations crisis of the E. coli virus in spinach a couple years back. Even with a PR plan in place, the United States Fresh Produce Association never recovered its spinach sales from the crisis. In fact, it knocked down all sales of fresh produce.
Another factor to take into consideration are the attitudes of American's and their health. In the past several years, American's have put more stress on their health, what they eat, who their doctors are, their exercise regiments, the purity of their water, etc. American's want to live long healthy lives especially with the healthcare industry being the moneysucker that it is. American's will not risk their health visiting beaches with elevated levels of E. coli, especially after they have not been shut down.
The smart move would have been to shut down the beaches in the first place and acknowledge the problem and put a plan in place to clean the beaches, in addition to releasing research and tests to prove which Missouri beaches are clean and healthy to visit. Afterwards, an integrated-marketing campaign should be put in place to promote Missouri's clean beaches to help stimulate revenue and create exposure.
I am not saying that consumer sales and the economy did not play a role in this crisis.
What I am saying is that this PR blunder could have been avoided and could have significatly reduced a staggering 7 percent of Missouri park employees being laid off.
At Rowan University, the public relations dept. stresses the importance of RESEARCH and STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION to put together an effective public relations plan and more importantly to influence attitudes.
The communications director of Missouri's dept. of Natural Resources probably should have sit in on one of my classes because then maybe 100 Missouri employees will still have a job in the next few weeks.
See link above.
If you're not one for more reading, allow me to sum up the article. More than 100 out of about 715 employees are losing their jobs and according to temporary spokesperson for the department of Natural Resources, Travis Ford, "this is 100 percent about the decline in revenue from the parks sales tax." The article goes on to state that three-fourths of the parks divisions' revenue comes from an earmarked state sales tax and the recession has lowered consumer spending.
Let's completely deny the accountability of the E. COLI IN MISSOURI'S BEACHES!
In the past three years there have been "10 cases... in which public beaches at state parks were not closed despite high E. coli levels.
Where do the research and strategic communication plans come in?
With articles dating back to 2006 about the E. coli in Missouri's beaches, would you not think that a strategic public relations plan would have been put in place to combat the negative attention, perception and attitudes that the media and Missouri natives had about its beaches?
(2006) http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/3693
(2008) http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/29177/
(2008) http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kwmu/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1310864§ionID=1
And several other articles.
If they did, it was an epic failure.
If they didn't, they all jumped on the fail boat and sunk along with 7 percent of Missouri park employees.
Travis Ford cannot deny that the media attention on the elevated levels of the E. coli virus did not have a direct impact on the consumer spending at Missouri's beaches. Even worse, is that he continues to deny it now after 7 percent of Missouri park employees will be filling the unemployment lines in a matter of weeks.
Let us not forget the public relations crisis of the E. coli virus in spinach a couple years back. Even with a PR plan in place, the United States Fresh Produce Association never recovered its spinach sales from the crisis. In fact, it knocked down all sales of fresh produce.
Another factor to take into consideration are the attitudes of American's and their health. In the past several years, American's have put more stress on their health, what they eat, who their doctors are, their exercise regiments, the purity of their water, etc. American's want to live long healthy lives especially with the healthcare industry being the moneysucker that it is. American's will not risk their health visiting beaches with elevated levels of E. coli, especially after they have not been shut down.
The smart move would have been to shut down the beaches in the first place and acknowledge the problem and put a plan in place to clean the beaches, in addition to releasing research and tests to prove which Missouri beaches are clean and healthy to visit. Afterwards, an integrated-marketing campaign should be put in place to promote Missouri's clean beaches to help stimulate revenue and create exposure.
I am not saying that consumer sales and the economy did not play a role in this crisis.
What I am saying is that this PR blunder could have been avoided and could have significatly reduced a staggering 7 percent of Missouri park employees being laid off.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Media Credibility Trumps Social Networking
Who has all of the up-to-the-minute news?
The public.. powered by a tiny cartoon birdie we like to call twitter.
Read this.
Twitter has drastically changed the media landscape and gardened it to level the playing field. Ladies and gentlemen, that means we are now all journalists. However, we only get 140 characters instead of column inches. Who do you think told CNN and MSNBC about the elections in Iran and the military coup in Honduras? The tweets, obvi (sorority short hand for obviously).
Okay, let's stop with the jokes. We are not all journalists. The difference between us and journalists is that the news we tweet is simply comment and responsive while media outlets are objective.
Twitter has put the news into our hands, and unlike my previous blog about media consumption, this is about the gift and the curse twitter is for journalists, the media consumers twitter filter, the charge twitter has put on the media, the twitter effect on PR and the media and ultimately the triumphant platform the media still has over the twitter phenomenon.
The unsuspecting journalist finds her/himself in a rose garden, and picks the most beautiful rose of them all. And as s/he reaches over to pick it, they are plucked by the thorn - aye, twitter.
Twitter the gift - Twitter can be used as a tool by journalists to keep up with trends in the public eye, follow certain people who are heavily involved in their particular area of niche journalism whether it be consumer or travel, etc, and its also the future in media consumption and journalists need to stay current to stay competitive.
Twitter the curse - Over this past weekend, apparently Jeff Goldblum fell off a cliff in New Zealand and Harrison Ford fell off his yacht. Hmm, maybe not so much considering Jeff was on the Colbert Report Tuesday. People can tweet whatever they want, and if it gets enough retweets it becomes news? Twitter has the potential to become one huge rumor mill. Unfortunatly, the media has to deal with this. In regards to breaking stories, like Michael Jackson dying, people were calling his death as soon as they found out he was hospitalized. The media has to be the source that dispells these rumors and gives the facts. Fortunately for the media, twitter limits users to 140 characters in one tweet which only leaves room for headlines, no details that can really inundate a story and make it difficult to tell fact from fiction. It encourages consumers to actually follow up the stories, which leads me to..
The media consumers twitter filter! With 37 million members tweeting away at their every twinkling, twitterers have to scrutinize these tweets and acknowledge their subjectivity and lack of credibility before they become twitter twips and retweet twat that's not true. The internet is saturated enough as it is, but now there's a central hub that funnels all that information into one tweet at a time. It is more important now than ever that the media consumer be wary and informed of what's being said and where to get objective factual news.
With that being said, the media is now charged with an even stronger duty of objectivity to inform the intelligent media consumer. This needs to be done for two reasons aside from the ethical ones. As long as the media stays objective and factual, it retains its credibility and more importantly the trust of its consumers. In this business, credibility is all you have. Also, by maintaining that credibility, the mainstream media cannot be trumped by social networking and will continue to have its necessary and vital contributions to society.
Twitter offers a new channel for public relations people to deliver their messages to their audiences. Essentially, audiences are scooping the media and public relations people have the ability to avoid the middle man all together. What does this mean for the relationship between PR people and the media?
A professor once told me that when it comes to the media, you want to treat them like they were your girlfriend. It was some of the best advice I ever got. Twitter is a very dangerous tool for PR people because although you can directly target your message to your audience through this channel, it does not offer the same credibility that the media has. Consumers have their media outlets and channels they trust. PR people need to use the relationship that the media has with its audiences strategically to build and deliver effective messages.
Now when you bypass these outlets, its like not talking to your girlfriend and letting her feel unappreciated and not needed. Your girlfriend starts to feel ignored and shunned and is then going to seek attention elsewhere. But when you want that attention and its gone, you feel that chill called loneliness crawl up your spine. Coldblooded! Same thing in this situation. If the PR person goes directly to its audiences and ignores their media relations, it strains the relationship. The media wants to stay current with what you want your audiences to know. With these new channels available, PR people cannot forget that the PR & media relationship is vital and mutually beneficial to both professions.
Ultimately, the media trumps twitter and other social networking sites because of its credibility - a constant theme throughout this blog. Twitter and all of its tweets and apps and widgets do not have the reputation or the established relationship with its audience to dethrone reputable media sources. Although social media is the future of media consumption, media consumers are intelligent and will continue to scrutinize, challenge and filter the twat that is tweeted to get to the facts that only ethical, truthful and powerful journalism can provide.
--- Side note - Arizona just passed a law that allows people who are licensed to carry a concealed weapon to carry guns into places that serve alcohol. WHAT!?
The public.. powered by a tiny cartoon birdie we like to call twitter.
Read this.
Twitter has drastically changed the media landscape and gardened it to level the playing field. Ladies and gentlemen, that means we are now all journalists. However, we only get 140 characters instead of column inches. Who do you think told CNN and MSNBC about the elections in Iran and the military coup in Honduras? The tweets, obvi (sorority short hand for obviously).
Okay, let's stop with the jokes. We are not all journalists. The difference between us and journalists is that the news we tweet is simply comment and responsive while media outlets are objective.
Twitter has put the news into our hands, and unlike my previous blog about media consumption, this is about the gift and the curse twitter is for journalists, the media consumers twitter filter, the charge twitter has put on the media, the twitter effect on PR and the media and ultimately the triumphant platform the media still has over the twitter phenomenon.
The unsuspecting journalist finds her/himself in a rose garden, and picks the most beautiful rose of them all. And as s/he reaches over to pick it, they are plucked by the thorn - aye, twitter.
Twitter the gift - Twitter can be used as a tool by journalists to keep up with trends in the public eye, follow certain people who are heavily involved in their particular area of niche journalism whether it be consumer or travel, etc, and its also the future in media consumption and journalists need to stay current to stay competitive.
Twitter the curse - Over this past weekend, apparently Jeff Goldblum fell off a cliff in New Zealand and Harrison Ford fell off his yacht. Hmm, maybe not so much considering Jeff was on the Colbert Report Tuesday. People can tweet whatever they want, and if it gets enough retweets it becomes news? Twitter has the potential to become one huge rumor mill. Unfortunatly, the media has to deal with this. In regards to breaking stories, like Michael Jackson dying, people were calling his death as soon as they found out he was hospitalized. The media has to be the source that dispells these rumors and gives the facts. Fortunately for the media, twitter limits users to 140 characters in one tweet which only leaves room for headlines, no details that can really inundate a story and make it difficult to tell fact from fiction. It encourages consumers to actually follow up the stories, which leads me to..
The media consumers twitter filter! With 37 million members tweeting away at their every twinkling, twitterers have to scrutinize these tweets and acknowledge their subjectivity and lack of credibility before they become twitter twips and retweet twat that's not true. The internet is saturated enough as it is, but now there's a central hub that funnels all that information into one tweet at a time. It is more important now than ever that the media consumer be wary and informed of what's being said and where to get objective factual news.
With that being said, the media is now charged with an even stronger duty of objectivity to inform the intelligent media consumer. This needs to be done for two reasons aside from the ethical ones. As long as the media stays objective and factual, it retains its credibility and more importantly the trust of its consumers. In this business, credibility is all you have. Also, by maintaining that credibility, the mainstream media cannot be trumped by social networking and will continue to have its necessary and vital contributions to society.
Twitter offers a new channel for public relations people to deliver their messages to their audiences. Essentially, audiences are scooping the media and public relations people have the ability to avoid the middle man all together. What does this mean for the relationship between PR people and the media?
A professor once told me that when it comes to the media, you want to treat them like they were your girlfriend. It was some of the best advice I ever got. Twitter is a very dangerous tool for PR people because although you can directly target your message to your audience through this channel, it does not offer the same credibility that the media has. Consumers have their media outlets and channels they trust. PR people need to use the relationship that the media has with its audiences strategically to build and deliver effective messages.
Now when you bypass these outlets, its like not talking to your girlfriend and letting her feel unappreciated and not needed. Your girlfriend starts to feel ignored and shunned and is then going to seek attention elsewhere. But when you want that attention and its gone, you feel that chill called loneliness crawl up your spine. Coldblooded! Same thing in this situation. If the PR person goes directly to its audiences and ignores their media relations, it strains the relationship. The media wants to stay current with what you want your audiences to know. With these new channels available, PR people cannot forget that the PR & media relationship is vital and mutually beneficial to both professions.
Ultimately, the media trumps twitter and other social networking sites because of its credibility - a constant theme throughout this blog. Twitter and all of its tweets and apps and widgets do not have the reputation or the established relationship with its audience to dethrone reputable media sources. Although social media is the future of media consumption, media consumers are intelligent and will continue to scrutinize, challenge and filter the twat that is tweeted to get to the facts that only ethical, truthful and powerful journalism can provide.
--- Side note - Arizona just passed a law that allows people who are licensed to carry a concealed weapon to carry guns into places that serve alcohol. WHAT!?
Monday, June 29, 2009
Media Consumption Revolution
Michael Jackson is dead!
I know I'm a little late on posting the news.
Aside from the personal impact the news had on me as a dancer and as a kid idolizing Michael, there is a very important undertone that needs to be looked at when it comes to media consumption and public reaction, and also their affect on this cultural revolution. Before we go any further, read this article.
"Because it wasn't just HOW lots of people first learned of Jackson's demise, but what they did once they found out."
Social networking sites are quickly becoming the opinion leaders of our time. Let's use Jackson's death as an example. As soon as the news broke, as said in the article, people tweeted and facebooked it. Text messages sent per second went bananas which led to more tweets and facebook status updates. Behold the newest trend in media consumption.
Let's continue with this consumption theme. I like to think of Twitter and Facebook as the appetizers for what the media wants us to consume. When a story breaks, someone will make a post about the story on these sites. From there someone else sees this post and looks into the story through more traditional means, the entree of the story if you would. These traditional means being CNN, newspapers, analysts, etc. This is ensued by a repost of the story so that someone else can go through the same process. This is public reaction to the way we consume media.
What I'm saying is that these social networking sites are changing the way all of us get our news and information, and the way we share that information with others. Facebook and Twitter are the buzz creating publicists for the mainstream media.
We are living in the middle of a cultural revolution. Many professors feel as if the students of my generation lack a certain amount of awareness about the world around us, and I agree. Many of my peers don't read the newspaper, and with the internet, many of us barely watch television. Now the media is effectively using these channels, social networking sites, to target a vast array of demographics. With these channels the media has become agile and versatile, so much so that lack of awareness becomes an active choice. Personally, I'm pumped about these new cultural trends in media consumption, and even more excited that people are reacting and responding. News media and the way our culture absorbs it is evolving and becoming more sophisticated and accessible. It's time to jump on the train and take advantage of it before you get left behind.
F.Y.I. - I found that article using my little brother's Wii video game entertainment system.
"I want to love you, PYT, Pretty Young Thing!"
I know I'm a little late on posting the news.
Aside from the personal impact the news had on me as a dancer and as a kid idolizing Michael, there is a very important undertone that needs to be looked at when it comes to media consumption and public reaction, and also their affect on this cultural revolution. Before we go any further, read this article.
"Because it wasn't just HOW lots of people first learned of Jackson's demise, but what they did once they found out."
Social networking sites are quickly becoming the opinion leaders of our time. Let's use Jackson's death as an example. As soon as the news broke, as said in the article, people tweeted and facebooked it. Text messages sent per second went bananas which led to more tweets and facebook status updates. Behold the newest trend in media consumption.
Let's continue with this consumption theme. I like to think of Twitter and Facebook as the appetizers for what the media wants us to consume. When a story breaks, someone will make a post about the story on these sites. From there someone else sees this post and looks into the story through more traditional means, the entree of the story if you would. These traditional means being CNN, newspapers, analysts, etc. This is ensued by a repost of the story so that someone else can go through the same process. This is public reaction to the way we consume media.
What I'm saying is that these social networking sites are changing the way all of us get our news and information, and the way we share that information with others. Facebook and Twitter are the buzz creating publicists for the mainstream media.
We are living in the middle of a cultural revolution. Many professors feel as if the students of my generation lack a certain amount of awareness about the world around us, and I agree. Many of my peers don't read the newspaper, and with the internet, many of us barely watch television. Now the media is effectively using these channels, social networking sites, to target a vast array of demographics. With these channels the media has become agile and versatile, so much so that lack of awareness becomes an active choice. Personally, I'm pumped about these new cultural trends in media consumption, and even more excited that people are reacting and responding. News media and the way our culture absorbs it is evolving and becoming more sophisticated and accessible. It's time to jump on the train and take advantage of it before you get left behind.
F.Y.I. - I found that article using my little brother's Wii video game entertainment system.
"I want to love you, PYT, Pretty Young Thing!"
Saturday, June 27, 2009
iFred
Welcome to iFred (because its cool to put 'i' in front of everything).
My name is Freddy. I am a recent PR graduate from Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ, a Philadelphia suburb. I originally hail from West New York, NJ - a tiny town whose population is 98 percent hispanic, wannabe gang bangers in over-sized white t-shirts run the streets while gym teachers and Cubans run politics, and you can find a store on the main strip, Bergenline, that sells cell phones, hello kitty stickers, sneakers and blow dryers. It's quaint. Perhaps its most defining feature is the majestic view of Manhattan from across the river, or Sal Vega's politics that have been recently featured on ABC. http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/video?id=6666355&syndicate=syndicate. My perfect shade of paradise.
What is iFred?
iFred is the "premiere blog in regards to PR news, cultural trends, entertainment and education" as quoted by someone credible, hopefully in the near future. I blog, I voice, I speak about what interests me. It could be about the new climate bill legislation that has been recently passed which serves as a historical and cultural bookmark in which this green fad transcends joining a fashion trend, or it can be about my picks for America's Best Dance Crew. I like to think of myself as an agile thinker. Let's run with that. Most importantly, it's my personality. iFred is an outspoken extension of who I am.
Why this blog - iFred?
iFred is my catalyst for personal growth and change through the world around me. It has its roots in self-motivated career advancements. Let's not lie. Through iFred, Twitter and Facebook I hope to fulfill one of if not all of my aspirations. These dreams include becoming a PR professional, becoming a hip-hop dancer, going to graduate school, becoming the dean of students at an institution, opening a barber shop and opening a dance studio - agile thinker.
But in these selfindulged notions comes a strong voice that is aimed at challenging and encouraging thought. Ultimately, if I remain jobless, still live with my mom and still blog from my bedroom but have created some sort of awareness and provoked an intelligent reaction within my readers, then my success is engrained in what my readers do with that thought through their social networking, the present and future of media consumption.
Welcome to iFred.
My name is Freddy. I am a recent PR graduate from Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ, a Philadelphia suburb. I originally hail from West New York, NJ - a tiny town whose population is 98 percent hispanic, wannabe gang bangers in over-sized white t-shirts run the streets while gym teachers and Cubans run politics, and you can find a store on the main strip, Bergenline, that sells cell phones, hello kitty stickers, sneakers and blow dryers. It's quaint. Perhaps its most defining feature is the majestic view of Manhattan from across the river, or Sal Vega's politics that have been recently featured on ABC. http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/video?id=6666355&syndicate=syndicate. My perfect shade of paradise.
What is iFred?
iFred is the "premiere blog in regards to PR news, cultural trends, entertainment and education" as quoted by someone credible, hopefully in the near future. I blog, I voice, I speak about what interests me. It could be about the new climate bill legislation that has been recently passed which serves as a historical and cultural bookmark in which this green fad transcends joining a fashion trend, or it can be about my picks for America's Best Dance Crew. I like to think of myself as an agile thinker. Let's run with that. Most importantly, it's my personality. iFred is an outspoken extension of who I am.
Why this blog - iFred?
iFred is my catalyst for personal growth and change through the world around me. It has its roots in self-motivated career advancements. Let's not lie. Through iFred, Twitter and Facebook I hope to fulfill one of if not all of my aspirations. These dreams include becoming a PR professional, becoming a hip-hop dancer, going to graduate school, becoming the dean of students at an institution, opening a barber shop and opening a dance studio - agile thinker.
But in these selfindulged notions comes a strong voice that is aimed at challenging and encouraging thought. Ultimately, if I remain jobless, still live with my mom and still blog from my bedroom but have created some sort of awareness and provoked an intelligent reaction within my readers, then my success is engrained in what my readers do with that thought through their social networking, the present and future of media consumption.
Welcome to iFred.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
