Social Networking-
Corporate blog:
Online Collaboration-
Use program such as GoogleDocs to encourage employees to collaborate online to complete tasks.
Set up wikipedia pages for departmental projects (keeping in mind they'll be visible to the prying public) -- These pages allow for the production of collaborative documents and for the compilation of individuals' contributions to a group's overall task.
Online collaboration sites are also great for compiling employees' position-specific goals with regard to the group as a whole, and for viewing a Project-Manager installed Project schedule with due dates and other deadlines (can include a comprehensive timeline of goals).
Keeps everyone on the same page and keeps each person accountable to the team as a whole. Ex. With an online schedule denoting who owes what and when, team members won't want to see an blank space in the "date completed" field of their task.This, in turn, encourages a proactive work environment (people try to impress their boss, peers) whereby individuals are more likely to complete tasks on time and, since everyone can see the online compilation, team members will likely do a better-quality job.
FIN:
1. Multiple contributors
2. Testimonials of product effectiveness (pharmaceutical industry) -- how its changed peoples' lives.
3. Aesthetically pleasing
4. Detailed functionality of blog: -tags for use with digg/delicious/technorati
-sub-post buttons for adding posts to common ugc compilers (technorati, digg, etc.)
-subscribe feature for users to stay in the loop -- can be 1) used in a reader/rss/atom, 2) blog updates e-mailed to subscribers
-widget features to involve visitors
-widespread advertising of the blog accomplishes 1)obtains visitors who read and contribute ad revenue 2)brand recognition by getting people to see the company name
-advertising -- limited but still present. One 300x300 pixel video ad
-embedded videos that users have made that feature or support our product line
5. Product advertising w/ discounts or coupons... perhaps free trial offers for some otc drugs.
6. Offer link to profile page of CEO. Talk about his impoverished childhood and his commitment to bettering the lives of everyone who uses his company's products. Mention how his morals have contributed to the company's stellar commitment to taking care of people and always being sensitive to their needs.
7. Blog allows for reader feedback as well. Helps the company improve its business by getting feedback and therefore becoming more sensitive to customers' needs.
8. Link up to competitors- Posts can be about employees of all levels praising the company or describing the many facets of their jobs, but the informative posts about company products, development, or releases can link up to competitors pages, as a means of proving betterment.
9. With a large company, it takes only a little time for each employee to make a contribution [send a mass memo requiring all employees to write a post, then stockpile posts and publish periodically, over time], which, over time ends up not harming productivity all that much.
10. To manage the online world, a tech savvy "Technology Manager" would need to be hired (me), who could implement all the features of a blog of this kind, and maintain it. Essentially, once it's set up, only occasional maintenance is required, and a daily/weekly commitment to publishing posts is required. It could be make a routine portion of a tech-savvy PR employee's job.
11. Install visitor tracking and web analytics utilities in the blog to understand where visitors come from. In doing so, the company can create more targeted advertising [cisco is a good example- lots of targeted adword advertising].
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Let’s Get Together… Online.
Efficiency in business processes is mandatory for any successful business, but now there’s a new way to define efficiency.
Your company can create its very own online office space at no cost. In this space, employees can make contributions in the form of notes, project parts, or uploaded documents. What’s better is that other employees can actually remove, edit, or supplement the work of their peers. A document can even be worked on by multiple team members simultaneously, and the changes made appear in real-time. There can be one work space for the entire company, however it’s probably most practical to make separate work spaces for different work groups, teams, or projects, and then compiling a list of links to all company project work pages in one central, company-wide online space.
Depending on your company’s privacy preferences, each of these work spaces can be separately designated as either public (viewable by anyone on the internet) or private (password protected). A nice feature of working online in this manner is that all the benefits that apply to team members working in adjacent cubicles also apply to teams spread across wide geographic locations (i.e. in different cities). This is great for a company like yours which has offices in four states (that is, after all, how your company derived its name: San Francisco, New York, Atlanta, and Chicago = SNAC Pharmaceuticals, Inc.). An online work environment eliminates the necessity for even a telephone call because team members are able to collaborate and leave notes in the online work space.
Your company can create its very own online office space at no cost. In this space, employees can make contributions in the form of notes, project parts, or uploaded documents. What’s better is that other employees can actually remove, edit, or supplement the work of their peers. A document can even be worked on by multiple team members simultaneously, and the changes made appear in real-time. There can be one work space for the entire company, however it’s probably most practical to make separate work spaces for different work groups, teams, or projects, and then compiling a list of links to all company project work pages in one central, company-wide online space.
Depending on your company’s privacy preferences, each of these work spaces can be separately designated as either public (viewable by anyone on the internet) or private (password protected). A nice feature of working online in this manner is that all the benefits that apply to team members working in adjacent cubicles also apply to teams spread across wide geographic locations (i.e. in different cities). This is great for a company like yours which has offices in four states (that is, after all, how your company derived its name: San Francisco, New York, Atlanta, and Chicago = SNAC Pharmaceuticals, Inc.). An online work environment eliminates the necessity for even a telephone call because team members are able to collaborate and leave notes in the online work space.
Genealogy of the Blog
Earning visitors to your company’s blog is exciting, but don’t you want to know where they came from? How about knowing the exact Google search they typed to located your blog?
Business knowledge like that could really help your blog out! By uncovering the roots of your visitors, your company can publish targeted advertising to the groups of people or the subjects that are most likely to earn your blog visitors.
Using a tool like Google Analytics, however, includes many more helpful features. You may see where all the traffic to your blog originated geographically. A map can show you the individual cities where visitors reside. The utility can also report the system capabilities of visitors, which will allow your Tech. Manager to tweak the blog just right so that the most users are able to maximize the functionality of the blog, with minimal page load time.
Just as nifty, you can learn which posts your visitors read the most, which cause them to leave the blog most often, and which of your visitors are repeat readers. Additionally, you are able to see the amount of time that readers spend on your blog, while also learning about the depth of their visit, either in time or page/post views. Building a readership base over time will be important, and this tool, with others, can help in that endeavor. Altogether, analytics tools allow your company to learn how to maximize its blog traffic.
Business knowledge like that could really help your blog out! By uncovering the roots of your visitors, your company can publish targeted advertising to the groups of people or the subjects that are most likely to earn your blog visitors.
Using a tool like Google Analytics, however, includes many more helpful features. You may see where all the traffic to your blog originated geographically. A map can show you the individual cities where visitors reside. The utility can also report the system capabilities of visitors, which will allow your Tech. Manager to tweak the blog just right so that the most users are able to maximize the functionality of the blog, with minimal page load time.
Just as nifty, you can learn which posts your visitors read the most, which cause them to leave the blog most often, and which of your visitors are repeat readers. Additionally, you are able to see the amount of time that readers spend on your blog, while also learning about the depth of their visit, either in time or page/post views. Building a readership base over time will be important, and this tool, with others, can help in that endeavor. Altogether, analytics tools allow your company to learn how to maximize its blog traffic.
Features and Capabilities are Endless
There are many nifty features to get bloggers involved on your company’s blog. These in particular are strongly recommended:
· Tagging: Allows the Tech. Manager to apply multiple single-word descriptions to company blog posts that are then used in web aggregators to filter out specific content based, typically, on a user generate query. Examples of services that use tags include del.icio.us and Technorati.
· Aggregator buttons: Following posts, a series of buttons allows individual readers to add a particular post to online blog/news aggregators. These aggregators are used by many people who are looking for specific content. Even better is inclusion of aggregators in Google searches, making it even easier for your company’s name and news to spread like wildfire. Talk about social networking to the extreme!
· Subscribe buttons: One or more buttons or input boxes that allow blog visitors to receive a company post as it is published. With subscriptions, users have the choice of a) receiving the posts in their own news aggregator (i.e. Google Reader or Bloglines), or b) receiving posts in their e-mail in-boxes. Establishing this connection with readers is a key social networking tactic.
· Widgets: These devices are interactive tools placed on blogs that involve readers by entertaining them, in essence getting them to stick around for longer. An example would be a sudoku puzzle.
· Advertising: By placing a small (300x300 pixels) advertisement on the company blog, the company can earn revenue every time someone visits. A small, noninvasive ad would generate cash while not burdening the blog readers too much.
· Embed Videos: Undoubtedly there will be videos or movies produced involving your company’s products. For supportive films, the best action your company can take is to embed the films into its blog. By doing so the film creator is made happy, blog visitors are entertained, and your company is promoted with yet more free advertising.
· Not So Free Advertising: A final option would be to pay for some limited online advertising which promotes the company’s blog. It would inform the general public that your company has started its blog, and that it is looking for visitors. This may be something to consider if promoting the blog via newsletters, e-mails, and printed materials does not yield the kind of visitor turnout that was expected or hoped for. Paid advertising, while inviting web surfers to visit your company’s blog, also imprints your company’s name in peoples’ minds.
· Tagging: Allows the Tech. Manager to apply multiple single-word descriptions to company blog posts that are then used in web aggregators to filter out specific content based, typically, on a user generate query. Examples of services that use tags include del.icio.us and Technorati.
· Aggregator buttons: Following posts, a series of buttons allows individual readers to add a particular post to online blog/news aggregators. These aggregators are used by many people who are looking for specific content. Even better is inclusion of aggregators in Google searches, making it even easier for your company’s name and news to spread like wildfire. Talk about social networking to the extreme!
· Subscribe buttons: One or more buttons or input boxes that allow blog visitors to receive a company post as it is published. With subscriptions, users have the choice of a) receiving the posts in their own news aggregator (i.e. Google Reader or Bloglines), or b) receiving posts in their e-mail in-boxes. Establishing this connection with readers is a key social networking tactic.
· Widgets: These devices are interactive tools placed on blogs that involve readers by entertaining them, in essence getting them to stick around for longer. An example would be a sudoku puzzle.
· Advertising: By placing a small (300x300 pixels) advertisement on the company blog, the company can earn revenue every time someone visits. A small, noninvasive ad would generate cash while not burdening the blog readers too much.
· Embed Videos: Undoubtedly there will be videos or movies produced involving your company’s products. For supportive films, the best action your company can take is to embed the films into its blog. By doing so the film creator is made happy, blog visitors are entertained, and your company is promoted with yet more free advertising.
· Not So Free Advertising: A final option would be to pay for some limited online advertising which promotes the company’s blog. It would inform the general public that your company has started its blog, and that it is looking for visitors. This may be something to consider if promoting the blog via newsletters, e-mails, and printed materials does not yield the kind of visitor turnout that was expected or hoped for. Paid advertising, while inviting web surfers to visit your company’s blog, also imprints your company’s name in peoples’ minds.
Comments, Questions, Concerns?
Along with free marketing, free polling comes included as well. Most simply, a one-or-the-other poll on your company’s blog can tell management a lot about a little, through the eyes of the consumer.
For more detailed feedback or commentary, rather than relying on consumers to send self-identifying e-mails to the company, a commenting feature on your company’s blog is a must have. With this element of the blog, visitors can leave their feedback anonymously, easing any worries they may have about disagreeing openly with a company. In this way, upper-level management and the “Technology Manager” can receive specific or generalized feedback on issues they might not otherwise hear about. Comment moderation means that the Technology Manager can remove any potentially harmful or negative comments the company’s blog might solicit. Positive comments left will supplement the image-improving system already in place. When thought through analytically, it’s truly a win-win situation!
For more detailed feedback or commentary, rather than relying on consumers to send self-identifying e-mails to the company, a commenting feature on your company’s blog is a must have. With this element of the blog, visitors can leave their feedback anonymously, easing any worries they may have about disagreeing openly with a company. In this way, upper-level management and the “Technology Manager” can receive specific or generalized feedback on issues they might not otherwise hear about. Comment moderation means that the Technology Manager can remove any potentially harmful or negative comments the company’s blog might solicit. Positive comments left will supplement the image-improving system already in place. When thought through analytically, it’s truly a win-win situation!
Testimonializing Your Past, Present, and Future
As the CEO of a major corporation, your customers may have an interest in your background. Biography web sites are wonderful, but they’re generally not told from the perspective of the CEOs themselves. On your corporate blog, there would need to be a special place, perhaps the “Captain’s Corner,” where you as the CEO could summarize your rise to power. As a public interest piece, readers would be delighted to learn more about you. What you have to say may even change their perspective on your company, and even persuade them to buy from you in the future. The idea is to make a magnificent, lasting impression that readers will take away as the face of the company.
Additional pages will catalogue testimonials given about products your company produces. Detailed feedback about specific treatments using the SNAC brand, that describe a betterment of human life, are what you’d need here. The thoughts of real people, compiled over a long span of time, illustrates your company’s care for the lives of its customers, and its commitment to bettering them.
Additional pages will catalogue testimonials given about products your company produces. Detailed feedback about specific treatments using the SNAC brand, that describe a betterment of human life, are what you’d need here. The thoughts of real people, compiled over a long span of time, illustrates your company’s care for the lives of its customers, and its commitment to bettering them.
Playing Dirty on the Blog
You know that your products are superior to the competition. Show everyone.
With a new blog, your company can advertise its own products. Not only is paying for advertising out of the question, but much more creative ads can be concocted. For example, coupons or free-sample offers can be posted by SNAC for some of its OTC drugs. There could even be a short, common-sense quiz on the blog that awards participants with a coupon for savings on their next SNAC brand purchase.
Now lets examine a way to take a stab at the competition that, before now, was not possible from the company’s standpoint. Your competitors likely have websites and even blogs of their own. What having a blog allows you to do is to “link up” to your competitors’ sites. If you’ve found a competitor’s press release online, that you believe could hurt their business and help yours, you can provide a link to it on your blog. By doing this, credibility is awarded in your company’s favor because it has provided your readers with tangible evidence illustrating your clear superiority or their apparent inferiority in whatever matter the case may be addressing. Taking this approach to battling the competition can run you the risk of being accused of slander, but the risk-reward ratio makes it a tempting strategy for getting ahead. At the very least, when the faults of other companies are revealed, your company’s blog can include a post highlighting the safety features or proven track record of particular, comparable products offered by your company.
With a new blog, your company can advertise its own products. Not only is paying for advertising out of the question, but much more creative ads can be concocted. For example, coupons or free-sample offers can be posted by SNAC for some of its OTC drugs. There could even be a short, common-sense quiz on the blog that awards participants with a coupon for savings on their next SNAC brand purchase.
Now lets examine a way to take a stab at the competition that, before now, was not possible from the company’s standpoint. Your competitors likely have websites and even blogs of their own. What having a blog allows you to do is to “link up” to your competitors’ sites. If you’ve found a competitor’s press release online, that you believe could hurt their business and help yours, you can provide a link to it on your blog. By doing this, credibility is awarded in your company’s favor because it has provided your readers with tangible evidence illustrating your clear superiority or their apparent inferiority in whatever matter the case may be addressing. Taking this approach to battling the competition can run you the risk of being accused of slander, but the risk-reward ratio makes it a tempting strategy for getting ahead. At the very least, when the faults of other companies are revealed, your company’s blog can include a post highlighting the safety features or proven track record of particular, comparable products offered by your company.
Becoming the $40 billion Company
Public Relations works in aesthetics, the aesthetics of your company’s reputation, that is. Taking your business to the next level, and becoming the $40 billion company will require a new face. Maintaining your company’s newly established blog will be the guiding force behind the viral spread of knowledge regarding your company and its immaculate product line. Just posting is not enough, however. Readers don’t want to see a boringly formatted, plain-text page. They want to see neat, photo-shopped graphics, alternative fonts, and catchy titles. These are factors that make and break blogs. Readers will tell their friends about your blog if it piques their curiosity or if it reads well with fascinating content.
Once you have established and continue to maintain these factors, the virus is planted and time will do your company the justice its products and name deserve. $250 million in annual sales is a substantial amount, but it has the potential to grow so much larger. Maintaining an aesthetically amazing blog will set the tipping point, after which growth is unavoidable.
Once you have established and continue to maintain these factors, the virus is planted and time will do your company the justice its products and name deserve. $250 million in annual sales is a substantial amount, but it has the potential to grow so much larger. Maintaining an aesthetically amazing blog will set the tipping point, after which growth is unavoidable.
Contributors
Your corporate blog will need a single “technology manager” to devote about 30 minutes per day to upkeep of the blog. In essence, it would take no more than a single day for one person to set up an aesthetic, functional blog that’s ready for use. Once you’re set up, you’ll need contributors to write for your blog. With a company of several hundred employees, each could make a small contribution to form a comprehensive blog.
It’s most favored by consumers and readers if your blog is well rounded in its contributors. Occasional posts from the CEO will be a necessary facet, however having employees of all ranks contribute, from managers to janitors, is most favored. The easiest way to accomplish this is by sending around a memo once per year asking each employee to write a small snippet about their job. This could include particularly interesting or rewarding portions of employee’s jobs, or just a daily run through of what they do. The technology manager’s responsibility would be to censor and post one of these synopses every other day. In this way, readers of your company’s blog get fresh and interesting material, and are able to get a feel for what the whole company does. Additionally, contributions can discuss product release details, or even highlight a philanthropic event that the company has sponsored.
It’s most favored by consumers and readers if your blog is well rounded in its contributors. Occasional posts from the CEO will be a necessary facet, however having employees of all ranks contribute, from managers to janitors, is most favored. The easiest way to accomplish this is by sending around a memo once per year asking each employee to write a small snippet about their job. This could include particularly interesting or rewarding portions of employee’s jobs, or just a daily run through of what they do. The technology manager’s responsibility would be to censor and post one of these synopses every other day. In this way, readers of your company’s blog get fresh and interesting material, and are able to get a feel for what the whole company does. Additionally, contributions can discuss product release details, or even highlight a philanthropic event that the company has sponsored.
Welcome to the Blogosphere, Captain
You need a way to tell your company’s story. But, it would be one-sided and impractical for just a single employee to maintain this façade.
The answer is a blog. The term “blog” is short for “weblog,” which is a way to catalogue events or stories as they take place. Joining the corporate “blogosphere,” as it is called, would enable your company to express itself in a new way. A huge benefit of a blog is that any employee may contribute to it, assuming you allow them to. Blogging, in essence, establishes social networking connections that can change how your company is perceived.
Initially, one employee would need to set up this interactive online world known as your company’s “blog.” It would be a cheery, interactive web page hosted on your company’s servers, just as your corporate home page is. Let’s place your blog at BlogSNACPharm.com. With a catchy title like this, the frame for the free marketing phenomenon is already established. What consumers find inside the blog is what will make your business grow phenomenally.
The answer is a blog. The term “blog” is short for “weblog,” which is a way to catalogue events or stories as they take place. Joining the corporate “blogosphere,” as it is called, would enable your company to express itself in a new way. A huge benefit of a blog is that any employee may contribute to it, assuming you allow them to. Blogging, in essence, establishes social networking connections that can change how your company is perceived.
Initially, one employee would need to set up this interactive online world known as your company’s “blog.” It would be a cheery, interactive web page hosted on your company’s servers, just as your corporate home page is. Let’s place your blog at BlogSNACPharm.com. With a catchy title like this, the frame for the free marketing phenomenon is already established. What consumers find inside the blog is what will make your business grow phenomenally.
Reliable, Real-Time Project Collaboration
What if your offices across the country could all collaborate on large projects in real-time?
Creating synergies and revealing efficiencies is an essential part of maintaining a good business model. Being able to maintain these working relationships while still accomplishing the tasks at hand is important. If you have ever been a victim of data loss, either paper or electronically, then you know how difficult it is to make a full recovery. Inadvertently something is always lost, whether it be physical data or just the time spent trying to recover. There should be a way that your company can organize itself effectively, without having to worry about issues as trivial as data loss due to power outages or natural disasters.
Now there is! Online collaboration technologies will make all your worst teamwork nightmares disappear. Turn to page 5 to discover the simple techniques companies everywhere are using to get work done faster and easier than ever.
Creating synergies and revealing efficiencies is an essential part of maintaining a good business model. Being able to maintain these working relationships while still accomplishing the tasks at hand is important. If you have ever been a victim of data loss, either paper or electronically, then you know how difficult it is to make a full recovery. Inadvertently something is always lost, whether it be physical data or just the time spent trying to recover. There should be a way that your company can organize itself effectively, without having to worry about issues as trivial as data loss due to power outages or natural disasters.
Now there is! Online collaboration technologies will make all your worst teamwork nightmares disappear. Turn to page 5 to discover the simple techniques companies everywhere are using to get work done faster and easier than ever.
What’s Better Than Free Marketing?
Nothing. Letting the public do all the work for you is the way to go.
Viral and word-of-mouth marketing are multifaceted in their benefits. First, they’re effective. A friendly referral via speech or via a link in an e-mail is sure to occupy a person’s mind, at least for a few seconds. If someone decides not to pursue your business, at the very least your company’s name has been imprinted in his or her mind. Brand recognition of this sort leads to more referrals, and soon your company’s name and its business has become viral.
Second, and just as important, these forms of viral marketing are virtually free. With two great reasons, it’s the responsibility of individual companies to take the initiative to exploit these efficiencies for their own benefit.
Using emerging web 2.0 technologies, online social networks have transformed the face of marketing, creating a universe where outreaching to thousands of people is possible in an instant, and with ease.
It’s time to take your business to the next level. You’ve worked hard to put build a good face for your company. Technology is the way of the future, and adopting these Internet technologies is how you will sculpt the features of that face. Read on to discover the simple but effective ways your company can enhance its presence worldwide, build its name, and multiply its business, all at the same time.
Viral and word-of-mouth marketing are multifaceted in their benefits. First, they’re effective. A friendly referral via speech or via a link in an e-mail is sure to occupy a person’s mind, at least for a few seconds. If someone decides not to pursue your business, at the very least your company’s name has been imprinted in his or her mind. Brand recognition of this sort leads to more referrals, and soon your company’s name and its business has become viral.
Second, and just as important, these forms of viral marketing are virtually free. With two great reasons, it’s the responsibility of individual companies to take the initiative to exploit these efficiencies for their own benefit.
Using emerging web 2.0 technologies, online social networks have transformed the face of marketing, creating a universe where outreaching to thousands of people is possible in an instant, and with ease.
It’s time to take your business to the next level. You’ve worked hard to put build a good face for your company. Technology is the way of the future, and adopting these Internet technologies is how you will sculpt the features of that face. Read on to discover the simple but effective ways your company can enhance its presence worldwide, build its name, and multiply its business, all at the same time.
Snooth.com
Snooth.com is a wine-rating site where users leave their feedback and ratings for other visitors to the site. To date snooth.com has accumulated over 1.9 million ratings and has become the premiere online wine rating site. While the service recently launched in June of 2007, the numbers it puts up make the site’s popularity even more astonishing. The service is still in beta testing, and it prides itself on its unforgettably made up name. The site is very colorful and upbeat, and
Perhaps the best part about the site is the space where the actual winemakers may leave notes or remarks regarding a specific wine. Winemakers can copy the text right of their bottle, or add their own tasteful or creative flair to a wine’s profile. Also included, naturally, are the wine’s specs (alcohol content, total acid, pH, residual sugar, and blend if it applies) and origin. For most wines the information is complete and [assumed to be] truthful.
Essentially, each wine has its own profile. You may think to yourself, but can a wine on Snooth make friends like people on Facebook? The answer is “yes.” Wines can, in a sense, make friends, however they may not do so with other wines. It is the users of the service who rate the wines, and in doing so reveal either friendships or animosities. According to users’ ratings, one can even see how people like the wine over time, whether certain years are better than others. A wine’s ratings determine its standing in the wine community. The content of reviews and the general rating scale determine a wine’s favorability and, therefore, its ranking in the Snooth wine universe. What a great site!
Perhaps the best part about the site is the space where the actual winemakers may leave notes or remarks regarding a specific wine. Winemakers can copy the text right of their bottle, or add their own tasteful or creative flair to a wine’s profile. Also included, naturally, are the wine’s specs (alcohol content, total acid, pH, residual sugar, and blend if it applies) and origin. For most wines the information is complete and [assumed to be] truthful.
Essentially, each wine has its own profile. You may think to yourself, but can a wine on Snooth make friends like people on Facebook? The answer is “yes.” Wines can, in a sense, make friends, however they may not do so with other wines. It is the users of the service who rate the wines, and in doing so reveal either friendships or animosities. According to users’ ratings, one can even see how people like the wine over time, whether certain years are better than others. A wine’s ratings determine its standing in the wine community. The content of reviews and the general rating scale determine a wine’s favorability and, therefore, its ranking in the Snooth wine universe. What a great site!
CSI: NY Episode featuring Second Life
When pieces of software are featured in television shows, they’re usually not covered as in-depth as Second Life was on CSI: New York tonight. Second Life was presented as a trend-setting, hip-hop social networking world that many people of all ages use to collaborate and hang out in. During commercials, CBS even played advertisements directing watchers to the CBS website where they could join the SL world and actually play a crime-solving simulation. Clearly, the software was placed on a pedestal, especially as a means for law enforcement to track criminals in the online world. A major feature of the software that was pushed was the fact that this virtual world does not limit any based on physical capabilities. A suspect in the episode was diagnosed with ALS. As a result he did not want to have an RL relationship with somebody, knowing he wouldn’t be able to finish it. On the other hand, he was able to have a fulfilling online relationship in Second Life.
I noticed that not once was Linden Labs mentioned. They lead character even improperly referenced Linden when saying something to effect of “Second Life sent over the information on our guy, with credit cards and everything.” The crime fighters also made it look like a piece of cake to ping someone’s IP address and subsequently track them down in RL. The crime lab’s network was also shut down due to a virus uploaded through SL.
The SL demonstrations featured on the show included fighting with weapons, and make SL seem like a piece of cake to use. In my experience, SL lags to a ridiculous extent, has a bulky interface, and is much more complicated to begin using than CSI made it look. The forced tutorial is a huge barrier to entry that CSI forgot mention every new avatar must go through. Eventually, a murder plot was uncovered and a contract assassin exposed with the use of SL. The program was definitely portrayed much better on CSI than anyone else in RL could have made it look.
Had I seen this episode, as the CEO of a company I would consider, carefully, adopting an island. If my company markets trendy, techy, or younger-generation products, then I think that SL might be a good marketing tool. Knowing what I do, however, would lead me to keep my distance from the program. I feel it’s an ineffective outreach tool with too many caveats and, therefore, barriers to success.
I noticed that not once was Linden Labs mentioned. They lead character even improperly referenced Linden when saying something to effect of “Second Life sent over the information on our guy, with credit cards and everything.” The crime fighters also made it look like a piece of cake to ping someone’s IP address and subsequently track them down in RL. The crime lab’s network was also shut down due to a virus uploaded through SL.
The SL demonstrations featured on the show included fighting with weapons, and make SL seem like a piece of cake to use. In my experience, SL lags to a ridiculous extent, has a bulky interface, and is much more complicated to begin using than CSI made it look. The forced tutorial is a huge barrier to entry that CSI forgot mention every new avatar must go through. Eventually, a murder plot was uncovered and a contract assassin exposed with the use of SL. The program was definitely portrayed much better on CSI than anyone else in RL could have made it look.
Had I seen this episode, as the CEO of a company I would consider, carefully, adopting an island. If my company markets trendy, techy, or younger-generation products, then I think that SL might be a good marketing tool. Knowing what I do, however, would lead me to keep my distance from the program. I feel it’s an ineffective outreach tool with too many caveats and, therefore, barriers to success.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Reflection Paper, Final Paper
II. Plans, Timelines, Achievements
III. Excerpts of My Work
IV. Resume
V. Research Paper
VI. Promotional Materials
II. Plans, Timelines, Achievements
III. Excerpts of My Work
IV. Resume
V. Research Paper
VI. Promotional Materials
Agenda for October 16 Meeting
Goals => Powerpoint Slides
View presentation as it stands, insert names or slides where needed
Everyone must know what they are going to say next week at the presentation
Outreach
Mailbox flyers
Bulletin board flyers
Posters
When is the absolute soonest we can have these publications up or distributed?
Social networking sites
Let’s get a facebook group and send out invites, etc.
Fundraising
Letters printed and delivered to those who need them
Cans in dorm entrances, etc.
Precise details:
Set up dates/times for tabling
$10 registration
Registration forms printed out, w/ cover sheet explaining our cause
Allison can print these for us, someone needs to type cover sheet
Who do donation/registration checks get made out to?
We’ll e-mail registered students at a later date about advance t-shirt pickup
Professional Memo
Basically just highlighting what you’ve contributed to our presentation
Individual or 2-3 student groups
Submit by 5:00 PM on Friday
Meeting this Weekend- We HAVE to practice this presentation
Sunday night at 6:00?
Monday afternoon at 5:00?Tuesday morning before the meeting at 7:00 am?
View presentation as it stands, insert names or slides where needed
Everyone must know what they are going to say next week at the presentation
Outreach
Mailbox flyers
Bulletin board flyers
Posters
When is the absolute soonest we can have these publications up or distributed?
Social networking sites
Let’s get a facebook group and send out invites, etc.
Fundraising
Letters printed and delivered to those who need them
Cans in dorm entrances, etc.
Precise details:
Set up dates/times for tabling
$10 registration
Registration forms printed out, w/ cover sheet explaining our cause
Allison can print these for us, someone needs to type cover sheet
Who do donation/registration checks get made out to?
We’ll e-mail registered students at a later date about advance t-shirt pickup
Professional Memo
Basically just highlighting what you’ve contributed to our presentation
Individual or 2-3 student groups
Submit by 5:00 PM on Friday
Meeting this Weekend- We HAVE to practice this presentation
Sunday night at 6:00?
Monday afternoon at 5:00?Tuesday morning before the meeting at 7:00 am?
Urban Revitalization Defined
The past century has been one filled with change for Southwest, D.C. I seek to analyze this change through compiling a comprehensive research paper, encompassing each of the major stages of change that the Southwest of D.C. has undergone during, mainly, the last 80 years. I’ll cover the decline of Southwest during the 1920s and 30s, and its subsequent revitalization in the 1950s and 60s. Because of the city’s massive effort to reorganize Southwest, including bulldozing essentially the entire quadrant, I will place most of my focus on this era of Southwest’s history. Recent gentrification in the area has also added a lot of character to the area, and a number of endeavors undertaken by Southwest residents have greatly improved the quality of life and citizenry that inhabit the quadrant. Topics I will focus on include: the art of Call Boxes; the recently upgraded, self-guided walking tour markers; the history behind Ft. Leslie McNair; the placement of the Titanic Memorial and its traditions, and the rebuilding of the baseball stadium. I will most likely be referring to a Southwest resident, and former head librarian for the National Archives, for information regarding the aforementioned topics, and primarily urban revitalization.
Where’s the Money?
I will be sharing my reaction to the following Washington Post article by Theola Labbe and Dan T. Keating, entitled “Modest Gains In D.C. Schools,” found here: <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/17/AR2007081701363.html>.
Traditionally, illiteracy and poor performance in school has been related to a lack of money. The deficit can be either personal or organizational. With the former, a family is too impoverished to live in a school district where good teachers (and subsequently good academic performance) can be expected. The latter, as its title implies, is the direct impact that a school district or government which lacks funding has on its students. In the United States, inner city schools and the students whom attend those schools, are hurt because of a lack of funding from either of the above to sources. Both are just as common in this country, but abroad, poor governmental infrastructure, and, therefore, an inefficient means of tax collection, leaves many students without even the availability of a school, nevertheless without pencils, books, and teachers.
The article I read began, “Most of the District’s public school children still have poor reading and math skills.” Now, right away I find myself quite befuddled. Having lived in the District for over a year now, I very well know that there are bad parts of town. However, this is the nation’s capital. I would assume that school children in the District would be the smartest in the country. My reasons are simple: We live in the most productive, and most powerful nation in the world, which has the means to do anything it wishes. Why is it that in the nation’s capital, school children receive such a poor quality of education as compared to much of the rest of the country, when just down the road our president is spending hundreds of billions of dollars on a war that doesn’t even have a finite enemy? Education is finite. Actions can be taken which would affect finite matters, like teachers, facilities, and resources, and would produce finite results.
Our “low-performing urban school district,” as District Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee herself labels it, only saw 38 percent of elementary students attain the level of “proficiency” in reading on standardized testing this past year. Math is even worse: Only 30.5% of this same demographic of students was able to call themselves “proficient” in mathematics. Given that Washington, D.C. is the center of the country that gives backing to the most powerful currency in the world, I do not understand why D.C. schools are so deprived. This deprivation, as the article I read, suggests, may be due largely to under-funding of the education system in D.C.
Personally, I believe that impoverished families in general fail to place a particular emphasis on studies and schoolwork. I think that this may be due mostly or in part to the fact that parents of lower-income families must work many more hours per week than a standard middle income family. As a result, they are not always around to provide the nurturing and responsible environment that their children need in order succeed in school. Likewise, most low income families are low income because the primary bread winners of those families do not have much education themselves, and as a result cannot or do not want to necessarily help their children with school work. Children need a nurturing and encouraging environment if they are to succeed in school. One thing that can help in this regard, which is a direct result of funding, is the availability of after-school programs for grade school students. Extracurricular activities generally provide students the extra help and focus they need to do their work, while simultaneously keeping them off the streets, and out of unattended homes. The Washington Post article makes mention to this notion, and in fact, officials of the D.C. school system have conceded that more after school programs are needed. These programs, however, require funding that D.C. schools right now just don’t have.
I volunteered at a Southeast D.C. elementary/middle school a year ago, and not only were the facilities dilapidated, but there was a major lack of furniture, including very few books in the library, as compared to what I would expect to find in an elementary school. It was a sad find, but I was glad to be there helping move some new (donated) furniture in. Essentially, the feeling I got from performing this type of help is the reason for my taking KSB-252. I feel that I, like most students at AU, am very lucky to have been born into the life I now lead, and it only feels right to give some of that back to those less fortunate.
Works Cited
Labbe, Theola and Dan T. Keating. "Modest Gains in D.C. Schools." The Washington Post 18 Aug 2007 1-2. 16 Sep 2007.
Traditionally, illiteracy and poor performance in school has been related to a lack of money. The deficit can be either personal or organizational. With the former, a family is too impoverished to live in a school district where good teachers (and subsequently good academic performance) can be expected. The latter, as its title implies, is the direct impact that a school district or government which lacks funding has on its students. In the United States, inner city schools and the students whom attend those schools, are hurt because of a lack of funding from either of the above to sources. Both are just as common in this country, but abroad, poor governmental infrastructure, and, therefore, an inefficient means of tax collection, leaves many students without even the availability of a school, nevertheless without pencils, books, and teachers.
The article I read began, “Most of the District’s public school children still have poor reading and math skills.” Now, right away I find myself quite befuddled. Having lived in the District for over a year now, I very well know that there are bad parts of town. However, this is the nation’s capital. I would assume that school children in the District would be the smartest in the country. My reasons are simple: We live in the most productive, and most powerful nation in the world, which has the means to do anything it wishes. Why is it that in the nation’s capital, school children receive such a poor quality of education as compared to much of the rest of the country, when just down the road our president is spending hundreds of billions of dollars on a war that doesn’t even have a finite enemy? Education is finite. Actions can be taken which would affect finite matters, like teachers, facilities, and resources, and would produce finite results.
Our “low-performing urban school district,” as District Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee herself labels it, only saw 38 percent of elementary students attain the level of “proficiency” in reading on standardized testing this past year. Math is even worse: Only 30.5% of this same demographic of students was able to call themselves “proficient” in mathematics. Given that Washington, D.C. is the center of the country that gives backing to the most powerful currency in the world, I do not understand why D.C. schools are so deprived. This deprivation, as the article I read, suggests, may be due largely to under-funding of the education system in D.C.
Personally, I believe that impoverished families in general fail to place a particular emphasis on studies and schoolwork. I think that this may be due mostly or in part to the fact that parents of lower-income families must work many more hours per week than a standard middle income family. As a result, they are not always around to provide the nurturing and responsible environment that their children need in order succeed in school. Likewise, most low income families are low income because the primary bread winners of those families do not have much education themselves, and as a result cannot or do not want to necessarily help their children with school work. Children need a nurturing and encouraging environment if they are to succeed in school. One thing that can help in this regard, which is a direct result of funding, is the availability of after-school programs for grade school students. Extracurricular activities generally provide students the extra help and focus they need to do their work, while simultaneously keeping them off the streets, and out of unattended homes. The Washington Post article makes mention to this notion, and in fact, officials of the D.C. school system have conceded that more after school programs are needed. These programs, however, require funding that D.C. schools right now just don’t have.
I volunteered at a Southeast D.C. elementary/middle school a year ago, and not only were the facilities dilapidated, but there was a major lack of furniture, including very few books in the library, as compared to what I would expect to find in an elementary school. It was a sad find, but I was glad to be there helping move some new (donated) furniture in. Essentially, the feeling I got from performing this type of help is the reason for my taking KSB-252. I feel that I, like most students at AU, am very lucky to have been born into the life I now lead, and it only feels right to give some of that back to those less fortunate.
Works Cited
Labbe, Theola and Dan T. Keating. "Modest Gains in D.C. Schools." The Washington Post 18 Aug 2007 1-2. 16 Sep 2007.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)