Lynda's Blog

Hey, if you haven’t been on Twitter you may miss something! Did you know that your tweets updates within seconds. That it is always live, that twitter is used for your short memory not long term like in Facebook.  Steven Woods posted on his blog Online Marketing Connect about Twitter and Short Term Memory: http://blog.onlinemarketingconnect.com/stevenwoods/2009/06/we-all-use-twitter-short-term-memory-long-term-memory-and-the-consciousness-of-the-internet/.

When looking for  some interesting Tweets to follow; I tried to stay with the olive industry. Comes to find out on Twitter there are not many people who tweet about olive products. There were however, many users using olive oil. I did my best searching for things that are sustainable and olive tree friendly. So my first choose was Econsaveolgy; she’s a mom who is into organic sustainable green eco tips. Another person I followed was greendieth, this micro-blogger is into diet supplement. The last micro-blogger is buidinggreentv, it tweets about building green houses for a healthier planet.

Creating an engaging blog takes more work than you think. First you have to have something to blog about. Having a blog is not like writing a diary for the world to see. That can be boring over time even if you think you have an exciting life others may not. If you all you do is blog then you may be repeating yourself or worse not have anything to say because you don’t have a life anymore. Having confidence is my nemesis. After this class I do plan to spend more time on my website and post more often about what interests me the most olive trees.

When writing my blog I know now to try not to use the word ‘it’ at all. Come to find out that if you use ‘it’ in your blog you blog may never be found when people are conducting searches. Got that information from What You Don’t Know About Blogging May Hurt You. Of course I have to become more social on the internet. I am glad that my husband and I have thought up a great name for my website “Things in Lynda’s Head.” Instead of focusing on a lot of different things I need to near my focus.

Updating My Blog

First thing I did was to go the about me page, I noticed that my about page only had two sentences. So I updated it with more information. I made it longer and hopefully more meaningful. Gave information about what I am interests are, such as olive trees. When I plan to graduate, don’t know what my future plans are currently, if I did I would have posted that as well.

Desired Results

My hope is that I become a confident blogger and writer. I can product more material to expand my knowledge and give information to people that inquire my knowledge.

When reading Solar and Wind Energy blog by Tim Smith, nothing was posted from him. It was all guest bloggers. The first article shown was “The Aerial Imagery/Pictometry” by Ashley Jackson. When comparing that blog to the recommendations to the ‘Nine Signs of an Effective‘ by Darren Rowse, number 7 from Rowse’s list, ‘The Post Is Interesting To Read.’ In my opinion The Aerial Imagery was not interesting. So I skipped it. I read the following article “Five Signs That Backyard Gardening Might Soon Be a Survival Skill” and “13 Tips for Growing Your Garden“ both were more interesting however, it didn’t have anything to do with the title of the blog site Solar and Wind Energy. What does gardening have to do with solar and wind energy?

My suggestion for Smith’s website his blog posts should be about solar and wind energy, instead of gardening. I would think that people who are interested in solar and wind may not be interested in gardening. People who are interested in gardening would not have the luxury of reading the garden posts because it is hidden in Solar and Wind Energy.

LinkedIn is a great place to accumulate your contacts; instead of business cards that can get lost or become unreadable over time. Also if your contacts move you don’t have to keep up with the business cards; it is always at your fingertips. There is more information about your contacts than just a card that you have to write on the back.

Some of the cons I have seen on LinkedIn are that people tend to bring in their personal lives as they do in Facebook. You should keep business contacts as business contacts. Something else I noticed about LinkedIn that not all the information is updated or have all the information filled out. If someone wants to get in contact either for a job or lead that could potentially backfire if not update date. However, you don’t want to update it every day as well. It may take away from other projects.

The other end is pro for LinkedIn. You may find leads if your profile is up-to-date. It brings a broader band of who’s who. If you want to connect to a certain company you can find those connections through other people or organizations.

I am a member of about five groups. Currently I am not a contributor but I do read up on what the professionals have to say and where the jobs are currently located. By having information for students, I can not only tell them about jobs but show them as well.

LinkedIn is bigger than you think. It is up to you if you want use it to its fullest extent or wait for someone to come to you. Just like finding a job, you have to do more having just a degree is not good enough now. You have to have experience that’s where internships come into play. Internships can lead you into the area you want to work.

Some other professional networking sites are Zoominfo.com it pulls from your Outlook plug-in and shares with business contacts with ZoomInfo. I don’t know if I want to share information through my Outlook. I have been a member of Guru.com it’s a freelancing website to expand your business. I found it difficult to get started. It’s a great way to get experience and for employers to see the work you can do before hiring you.

I like this article and the five “Dos and Don’ts” for SM.
1. If you want a response you should be transparent. It is easy enough now to know what company you work for if people comment about their project.
2. If you wouldn’t say it to someone’s face then don’t say it at all. Remember internet is online and will be there pretty much forever. Don’t forget.
3. Number three in the article is the most concerning of all. When replying to students and asking only for their student ID number. However, more and more are willing to pass along their Social Security number. Emails can be hacked. So when replying to students, I have to take the extra step to delete their SS number and email the individual not to include SS. It is just so surprising to me how “freely” people are willing to provide this information.
4. You don’t know who is reading or looking at your blog, Facebook, or is following you on Twitter. Bill Beard posted a great article about businesses not only doing a criminal background check, credit check and now SM check. It is an interesting article; I wish I thought about it. Here it is: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Social-Media-History-Becomes-nytimes-510406413.html?x=0&.v=1. Thanks Bill for sharing.
5. Don’t be everyone’s friend. Remember the old saying: “Stranger Danger.” It still applies more so online than just in person. People are hurt everyday due to “stranger danger.” If I was smart I would have kept the video I made of stranger danger online involving your kids.
6. Privacy settings are important. Remember one thing… what you post may still be viewed by others. So don’t post it if you think everyone can see it.

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2010/10/22/career-journal-watch-your-words-on-twitter-facebook/

Melinda Long is an advisor within the Department of Communication at UTA. She is of the baby boomer generation. Her usage of Social Media is non-existent. She doesn’t have a Facebook page, Twitter account, or a blog. The only experience with the internet is email, work related programs and maybe streaming video on slow days. Long said, “My usage of the internet is minimum. It is something that I didn’t grow-up with. I have to make time to incorporate it into my everyday usage.”

This is not a priority in her life right now. Texting and IMing are about as high tech as she feels comfortable. She knows that she should expand out but doesn’t believe it is necessary currently.

Long’s view on attitude is that Social Media is a necessary evil. Do to the advancement of technology; she did not grow-up with it. She may one day get around to figuring out how it all works. Again it is changing every day.

My generation is Generation X. My beliefs are different from Long’s views. Since we are advisors we should reach our students instead of having our students reach us. As part of the advising office we don’t want the students to get misinformed and do things their way. We want them to have the correct inform. Students should be able to find what they want when they want it. As advisor we should the flexibility to Tweet, Facebook and even YouTube if that is where our students are going for the information. I use social media often but not like I use too, Facebook has been around and now I am getting tired of it. Twitter is great to see what is popular for the day.

While working at UTA I have noticed that many students do not check their emails. Students are on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube in class. We send out emails to students about the last day to drop a class. However, many don’t get the information. If we had a Facebook or Twitter account we can reach more students about dropping a class and the proper way to drop a class. Getting the information out to the students all entails putting signs in the halls and on doors. If you even come to campus on during the long semester and see the walls. How can anyone see that the last day to drop a class? We make our fliers colorful, we ask professors to announce in class the last drop day, and send out emails. However, we always have a hand full of students who did not know when the last day or the procedure to drop a class.

Some of the challenges to reach multiple generations at UTA are difficult. You don’t know what is popular in regards to social media. You have to stay on top. Asking the professors to make announcements in class is a great idea, but we don’t know when or if they do. Emails are great you know you are getting the information out to the students, but they may not be looking at it. The key is know where the students are online that is where you will reach them.

Goals of the campaigns

Charleston Parks Conservancy has its mission statement on the front page: We exist to care for and improve Charleston’s 120+ parks. By doing so, we improve more than the city’s beauty. We improve its health, community and economic strength.

Random House Buzzers is a teen book community. The goals is to increase teens reading books, participants can earn “Buzz Bucks,” activities teens do can earn them Buzz Bucks. Some of the activities are voting, submitting reviews, sharing stories, writing, photos.

Sea Worlds campaign objectives were only three: build relationships with coaster community; build awareness of Journey to Atlantis; and assist in driving visitation to the park.

In what ways are they successful

When researching Charleston Parks Conservancy (client), Step Ahead wrote that the client set goals to increase awareness about the parks; people use the parks; find Twitter followers to enjoy the parks; increase exposure; reward those who use the parks; and increase volunteers for gardening and other related park events. One of the avenues that the client went was Foursquare. It is an app that friends can see where you are, if you check-in. Depending on where you check in you may get a great deal as well. Friends can become mayor and earn badges. I personally use it for the free stuff. At the end of the study the client had the following results from Foursquare 305 friends; had great feedback from the community about the tips regarding the parks.

Charleston Parks

Random House Buzz is to motivate teens to become more involved in reading and submitting reviews of books they have read. In the store young readers can purchase books like Fallen by Lauren Kate for 15000 Buzz Bucks. Currently the book is sold out.

Buzz Bucks

Sea World knew ahead of time that there may be critics that would not like the ride because it was considered a family ride. So it was expected to see negative reviews about the ride. The website for the roller coaster was temporary but the results would be reviewed and expanded upon. Sea World asked 22 sites to review the ride. Only 12 responded… out of that it was very successful.

Sea World

In what may it improved

The website for Charleston Parks Conservancy has a lot of white space but no real direction for me. The current program activity does not move automatically. It does not have news feed page on the home page. The blog page does not seem like it is being used often by its members. My recommendation is to see if it can have influence involved in commenting on the website. Move the blog page to the front but have more communication.

Random House Buzz you have to understand their audience, which are teens. The website is busy for me; however the website is designed for teens not for adults. Keeps teens involved and wants to promote reading and writing.

I don’t know if Sea World could have done any better. It had good coverage. It seems that Sea World got a better deal with the social media campaign ($0.22) than with TV ($1.00).

What were the different SM platforms used in the campaign and how they were utilized

The park uses Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and Foursquare. Those are currently the most popular. On Facebook I did not see many people involved in communication. I don’t think it was very interactive.

When doing a web search for Random Buzzers I saw on the web RSS where teens can receive messages to stay updated. The website has Facebook and Twitter, currently this is the site where teens tend to visit often.

Sea World had YouTube, Flickr and Veoh (another video site) so fans can watch the construction and groups could virtually ride the Journey of Atlantis if they could not attend the day it opened.

Was SM effective? How?

For Charleston Park Conservancy I do not believe that they are effective in SM. The fan book page on Face book has 1,229 followers but there is no interaction on the site.

Random buzzers on Facebook have less people who like the page but I see more interaction with the comments. Talks about book reviews have voting posted on Facebook.

It seems that Sea World got a better deal with the social media campaign ($0.22) than with TV ($1.00).

What specific elements were in all three campaigns that could be translated into other SM efforts?

All three looked at its audience. Not knowing who your audience is can be detrimental to your campaign.

College students who attend now have a different view on social media (SM). Did you know that many students don’t pay attention in class, but rather use that time to socialize or update their Facebook. When advising students at UTA, I use twitter to keep students updated about class schedules, drop dates, enrollment, and graduation. Anything that I think is useful information to students; I post to my twitter account. Unfortunately, my department, Department of Communication, does not want to use social media. We have just started using Listserv for the department. Even if my department is not currently willing to use social media other colleges are staying in touch with students. Even law schools have found a use for SM; it seems that law schools are using Twitter more. Reason you can stay up-to-date with what is current at their college, even student accomplishments. The professors are getting involved to keep students updated. The list is long and is hopefully growing the title is How Law Schools Use Twitter.

The video A Students Vision is an interesting way to see how students think and use SM in class. Another great video is about how we as a world increased technology and use SM around the world, Did You Know. An article that was posted on Huffington Post Tech about 53 percent of students find getting information off the Internet and only 51 percent find the information they look for in books. More now than ever, students use SM an increase within just two years is over 25 percent of students who use SM from Social Media Optimization.

Did you know that Princeton Review has partnered with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to produce to guide to the top 311 Green Colleges?

The catalog covers the most eco-friendly campuses.

Students can become active with USGBC while attending school. The guide also gives information about sustainability, green tips, and even give a criteria for the Princeton Review Green Rating of Colleges.

So when reviewing the guide it was last published in 2010; University of Texas at Arlington, in fact none of the UT schools, were listed. The only school that was posted for North Texas that was in the guide was University of North Texas (UNT). Also UNT offers the first PhD in Environmental Ethics in the country. According to the guide “UNT is considered the bet in the nation.”

Texas Christian University (TCU) is also listed in the guide. The student organizations are active. It has the TCU Society of Sustainability (SOS) Club and the TCU Environmental Club. Since 1996 TCU has spent over $43 million to energy conservation and retrofitting. TCU even has a freshman camp called “Eco Frog Camp” that focuses on sustainable living.

For more information or even to download the guide go to Guide to 311 Green Colleges

As you may know by reading my blog I want to become a professor in Sustainability. However, recently I was turned down due to my experience and education. Part if this may be that I have not written for a peer-review journal. So I am looking at how I can write and submit my work and get published. It is harder than you think.

So I started looking to see if I can get help writing. One person I spoke with, Melinda, said that I may have to co-author an article. However, when we got into more detail the professors I don’t think are interested in the same subject area that I am. Most of my professors are in real estate. I am more into recycling, waste, and of course animals.

So I decided that I should look at getting another Master’s degree. One of the colleges I looked into is Texas Women’s University (TWU). The school offers a degree in government. When looking at the degree something just caught my eye. The OpEd Project helps women focus on getting their voices heard in the public media.

“Since women currently do not submit to key opinion forums with anywhere near the frequency that men do—and because these gateway forums feed all other media and drive thought leadership and policy—we target and train women experts at top universities, think tanks, nonprofits, corporations and community organizations to write op-eds and more broadly to take thought leadership positions in their fields; we connect them with a national network of high-level mentor-editors, and we channel them to the media gatekeepers who need them, across all platforms.” The OpEd Project

The OpEd Project website led me to Echoing Green. This website is what we need as a class. It offers a fellowship for start-up capital and technical assistance, plus other benefits. This would be great as a class project for a capstone class. I recommend that if you think you have a great idea then go for it! As you know “No” is not a bad word.