Resolutions vs. Goals in My Opinion

Welcome to 2014! I have to say, it feels pretty good to be in a fresh year. There is truly something about starting the new year off with thinking more positively about not only yourself, but the world around you.

I have to say 2012 and 2013 were probably my toughest years. Although I graduated college this past December, I have faced a lot of difficult things that most individuals my age do not have to go through. Luckily, I’ve seemed to only grow from those experiences and now I want to use all that energy I have for 2014.

When I see any friends or family, they ask me know, “What is your resolution for this year?” Well, I have decided to not make any resolutions. I feel that resolutions are just easily given up on and forgotten about(in some cases).

During my final semester in college, I learned a great way to create and maintain goals, which has helped me in some cases (somethings I just have no control over). The few ways I have found to create and maintain goals is to put a date on it, write it down and read it everyday (My professor would be so proud). It is also important to make them “SMART” goals, Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Reasonable, and Timely.

I posted my personal goals in my bedroom so when I wake up, I know what I want to accomplish for myself. My professional goals, I have written in my wallet, so if I am ever in doubt, I have a place to look at them. Especially when you are a fresh college graduate and you want to give up, its nice to refer to that piece of paper and think of all the positive things that could happen if you stick to what you want!

Life can truly just run away from you if you don’t keep up with it. So here is to 2014 and I hope I keep up with all the madness it may (or may not) have in store for me!

Reaction: The Giver

Recently, a friend of mine had given me the book, “The Giver“, written by Lois Lowry, to read. I remember reading it in middle school, since it is a young adult book and I remember not really reading it, just reading it to get the correct answers on the test and move on to the next book.

Since I recently graduated from college, I finally had a night where I was not exhausted from a busy day. I made a cup of my tea and ‘dug in’ to the book.

For those who have not read the book, it is about a young boy, Jonas, who lives in a society where there is no pain, fear or war. Also in this society, you are assigned jobs and positions in life, which are given when the citizens of the society are a Twelve. At Jonas’ Ceremony of Twelve, he is given his assignment as The Receiver of Memory. He begins training with The Giver and Jonas learns through memories given to him by The Giver of what the society would be like if there were color, weather and emotion.

As I read the book, I began to felt the need to question why the world is the way it is today. Our world today, relies heavily on social media, which as we all know can be a good or a bad thing. Twitter tells us what is going on in the world, breaking news and sometimes what our friends are doing. It is those quick, “What’s happening?” that gets some people in trouble, look at Justine Sacco. In “The Giver” the citizens rely on The Committee to tell them what to think, do and say. Luckily we do not have this, but what if we did? How would The Committee handle Justine? What would happen if a brand had a Facebook campaign failure? Would the brand have to apologize to the citizens of the society?

Silent Films, silently disappearing

Recently, an article was released in the Los Angeles Times stating how the Library of Congress is losing many silent films that were in their possession. According to a study, “The Survival of American Silent Feature Films: 1912-1929” by David Pierce last month, about 75% of the silent films have been lost due to deterioration, fires, poor handling and destruction. Just a few of the movies that have been lost are, Tod Browning’s “London After Midnight” (1927), “The Great Gatsby” (1926) and several of Clara Bow’s featured films that were produced in 1928.

As a classic movie fan myself, I enjoy watching this genre of movies because of the passion actors had at that time. Movies were relatively new and they enabled those who did not have much in their world to see beyond what is out there. Although I have not seen many silent films, I have been gaining interest in them because of the way the actors portray themselves. When I reflect upon today’s movies, I just think of poor acting and just fancy animation to make a movie look good. In the early 1900’s, movies were made with a lot of work and just a few people working to create them.

I would recommend anyone start looking into silent films.

To read the report, click here.

Joan Blades visiting Millersville University

On Wednesday, Joan Blades, co-founder of MoveOn.org, MomsRising.org, author and founder of Living Room Conversations, held a conversation panel on Millersville University’s campus. 

I had the opportunity to help assist in preparing for Ms. Blades visit on the campus and it was a lot of work, but it was worth it in the end. (Isn’t it always?)

She began her presentation with a PowerPoint very briefly explaining her various endeavors such as a software company, Moveon.org, Momsrising.org and Living Room Conversations. When discussing Moveon.org, she said it began by one statement she and her husband wrote and sent to friends and family, which then got sent even further around and gained thousands of signatures of support to send to Congress. She also mentioned how “small donations” add up when a campaign is going on. She gave the example of the “We will remember” campaign in 2000 in which Moveon.org raised $2.3 million in donations.  Since 1998, there have been three viral movements and thousands of organizations using Moveon.org as an online empowerment.

Momsrising.org is a “back burner issue” has she called it. The organization is focused on maternity leave for mothers, equal salary and sick days. Joan Blades also brought a guest with her, Kiki Peppard who has made it her mission to pass a law in Pennsylvania so that interviewers can not ask a woman or a man if they are married or have kids because she feels that it hurts some individuals from getting a job.

Blades’ book, The Custom-Fit Workplace, is a guide to “choose when, where, and how to work with a family” because everyone “deserves a job that fits” their lifestyle. In the book she also discusses flexible and virtual workplaces, modern career tracks and how mother’s should be allowed to bring their babies to work if there is no child care available. Going along with the topic of the workplace, Blades also briefly discussed the “Formal Result Workplace” in which businesses such as Gap and the Girl Scouts of America, do not keep track of time, they just keep track of what they are getting done and the results that arise because of that.

Living Room Conversations started as six people discussing a topic such as war, politics and healthcare breaking bread together. Blades said “We live in self-segregated communities…[and]…participants find common ground when they felt heard and learned something about other’s views” during a Living Room Conversation. There are six ground rules to having a Living Room Conversation: be curious, show respect, look for common ground, be authentic, be purposeful and own and guide the conversation.

By having Ms. Blades on Millersville’s campus, I hope her presentation will encourage students and faculty to think about discussing issues that may not have any impact on our grades, but assist in learning knowledge in different ways.

I also had the opportunity to live tweet for my social media campaign’s class using the hashtag, #getsocialMU to encourage students on Millersville’s campus to participate more in social media topics. It was a fun experience to be able to tweet information from a guest speaker and I learned a lot about being able to communicate effective information to those who could not attend the event.

I am personally glad Millersville University brought in Ms. Blades and I would encourage the university to be able to bring in more speakers like this.

Preseason Game 1: Flyers v. Maple Leafs

I’ll admit…The first period of the Philadelphia Flyers v. Toronto Maple Leafs was a bit shocking. I mean three goals within three minutes was a bit daunting as a fan sitting there in my Lindros jersey.

I give props to Kadri, Bodie and Raymond, they had some talent and I was getting nervous for Mason since I really liked him when he played for the Flyers in the 2012-2013 season (4-2-0). 

When the Flyers started making their move, it was amazing to watch. Clarkson, Scheen & Cousins get some great goals.

Stolarz, a 19 year old from New Jersey, had a tough experience for his first game with the goal by Ranger, however he managed 14/15 saves. Not to shabby.

I look forward to watching the season opener with these two on Oct. 2nd. Until then, I look forward to seeing the preseason games!

 

Yahoo’s New Logo

Today Yahoo unveiled their new logo. After a month of teasing us with different logos on their homepage, it is finally released! What do you think?

Analysis: The 20/20 Experience Part 2

The public relations team for the 20/20 Experience Parts 1 and 2 for Justin Timberlake (JT) are doing an absolute great job. They have really engaged with the fans of the former boy-band member of N*sync.

JT is returning from a five year music break (although he collaborated with various artists and wrote tracks). He first announced his “comeback” (I use that term loosely) via YouTube, Instagram, Facebook & Twitter in 2012. The announcement came as a 30-second video of him walking into the music studio. Since that point, his PR team has done their part on using social media to continue to engage fans.

During the Legends of the Summer Tour, with Jay-Z, his PR team has created a scavenger hunt of sorts where a pair of shoes that are worn and signed by the man himself, is hidden in the town of the concert that night. Then, after the concert, fans rush to find the sneakers and whoever finds them, gets them. JT’s team will post photos of where the sneakers are hidden. This absolutely peaked my interest. In my opinion, this is such a great way to engage his fans as well as gain more followers, because who doesn’t want a pair of stinky, sweaty sneakers worn by a man worth more than I will ever have in my bank account.

For the release of 20/20 Experience, Part 2, JT’s team has been posting videos via Instagram of two pages of a book, that shows the 12 tracks. However, each video releases a track (again, keeping the fans of JT engaged). This is also where they announced when the album would be released.

Follow Justin Timberlake on Instagram to keep up with the updates!

Repost: Apples and Oranges: How no two people grieve the same way

Repost: Apples and Oranges: How no two people grieve the same way

Last night, I was going through the emotions of everything that has happened in the last seven months with me and my family, and thinking of all the great things that will be happening in the next few months. It really got me thinking and somehow my phone knew what to suggest for me as an article to read. It was titled, “Apples and Oranges: How no two people grieve the same.” 

I don’t mean to make this a depressing post, by the way.

So I read the article and it was just what I needed to read. The article discusses how the culture of today is to put everyone in a category and that is how you are taught you are. Even our days are categorized by what we do now and what we do later. 

This labeling process is what I am dealing with almost everyday. I am trying to label myself as a grieving individual, but I am truly so much more than that. I don’t fit in one category and my emotions to not fit into one category either. 

I truly could read this article over and over again. I hope to possibly share it at the support group I attend. 

The point of my posting is to share this and to ask for everyone to take a moment to realize, they can not categorize their emotions, thoughts, personality, etc., even in the moments of grieving. 

Privacy Settings for Family

I am very blessed to have such a caring family. And such a large family. They always want the best for me and I know I can turn to them for anything.

However, I have noticed through my friend’s postings on Facebook and Twitter and some of my own experiences in the past, nothing is private from your family anymore. You post one word and the entire family (in my case) knows.

Facebook is always changing their privacy settings, but I wonder, would it be in the interest of Facebook and its users to have a “Family Privacy Setting?” I mean think about it, you could click a button and your entire family does not need to find out about that guy/girl you met at the bar last night (although you shouldn’t publish it to begin with). Or in my case, my family does not need to know how obsessed I am with Justin Timberlake.

I’ll admit, I have blocked certain people from seeing all my posts and photos (like my mom) because I don’t want the “You shouldn’t even have a Facebook” conversation (when I want to work in social media, nice try). Some might say, “why do you even accept your family as friends on Facebook?” Again I am trying to avoid the, “You are embarrassed to admit you know me” conversation.

Anyway, with all the changes in privacy settings, it may be beneficial to the world of users on the internet to have that private place where family can’t find you.

What I have noticed

For the past three months, I have been working on a invitation list for the inauguration of our new president at the university. As of today, we have over 700 names of higher education leadership individual, community leaders, and some others.

What I have noticed upon all my research is that, no matter how easy we say the internet is, it really isn’t.

When researching higher education leadership individuals, such as presidents or chancellors, I have found I have to go through pages and pages on a university’s website, just to get a name…getting an address is a whole other issue. Most of the time I just give up and call the university’s toll-free number. However, these are usually student workers (such as myself) answering the phones and they always laugh when I ask for a mailing address or say, “check our website.” Why don’t they have information readily available on the internet. Possibly because they don’t want anyone to have it.

Another thing I have noticed is higher education websites are all NOT the same. Take for example, Vassar College in New York. Their landing page looks so beautiful. My first thought was “wow, this is an elegant school.” Then I clicked on “About” on the top right hand corner, and it went to a very girly looking landing page. Just to see what happened, I back tracked, and tried to go through their “Info & Resources” and again, it is nothing like the first landing page, although a lot better than the “About” page. What really surprised me is the President’s page. After going through several clicks, I found this page. IT LOOKS NOTHING LIKE ANY OF THE OTHER PAGES ASSOCIATED TO THE COLLEGE!

So the moral of this, keep your content consist and easy to find.