Chapter One

Hello Everyone!

As I mentioned in my first entry "Prologue" I am making each blog post be as though they are chapters in a book. I hope you enjoy chapter one!


This first week assignment requests personal thoughts on the following questions:

What forms of new media do you use daily? 
As an active participant in the new media "world", you will find me on Google, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and of course E-mail every day - no doubt about that. Nes websites like CNN, and fun pages like Buzzfeed and Stumble Upon are just a few new media sites I play with on my iPhone, iPad, and Macbook almost daily. They are quite entertaining.
In past jobs, my daily work included creating and updating websites, wiki pages, and designing digital/email marketing.
Home or work, there is not a day that goes by where I do not use new media.


How has new social media influenced your perspective of events? 
In my perspective, both as an event attendee and event planner, social media has a major influence in events. The way this world works now is strongly influenced by all forms of social media. Silly Twitter updates, fun Instagrams, or exciting flyers shared on Facebook are great ways to utilize social media; this type of marketing has a major influence on society today. Personally, I am more attracted to an event if I can get the basic information in short postings with bullet points, not in long paragraphs. Also, if there is a link to webpage, the facebook, and/or twitter that are eye catching and give proper updates, I am more likely to attend if I feel that the event will be more fun rather than too structured and boring. Social media gives the opportunity to show the targeted audience more about the event itself through different media tools rather than just a flyer, a poster, or an ad. Making potential attendees go out of their way to get information is least appealing for someone in this society; it is more comfortable and convenient to get the information they want while at home.


Are these positive or negative influences?
Majority of the influences are positive, however, having a marketing and design background, some social media marketing tools can be very displeasing to the eye. 

I have noticed that news channel postings on Twitter and their websites make any news update seem like "Breaking News". This negatively reflects on that companies media and marketing due to making every story seem urgent and important. It is quite unfortunate, because when important situations are brought to the audiences attention, sometimes they are overlooked because it gets lost with the rest of the "urgent" news. At least, that is what I have noticed recently.

Social media, for the most part, positively influences events by reaching out to its audience in the most appealing and convenient way. As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, social media gives more opportunities to reach out to the target audience in the comfort of their own home rather than looking at a flyer or a poster. The fact that social media can provide instant information, this confirms that social media positively influences events in society.

Hopefully my thoughts make sense - if you have questions or comments, please do not hesitate to share!

Best,

RJ

Weekly Recap:

This week has been rather low key, but I had quite an adventurous start to this past weekend. Late in the evening on Friday (9/20) I was admitted to the hospital with appendicitis and had an emergency appendectomy a couple hours later. By the time the surgery came around it was barely Saturday, but it went smoothly and I was able to go home later that afternoon. The whole thing took me (and my family) by surprise since I was the very first person in our family to have appendicitis.

My first week of Graduate School isn't quite how I imagined. Since I got back from the hospital I have slept on average 20-22 hours each day - no thanks to the pain medications. Getting a masters degree has been something I've wanted for a few years now so I am determined to not let the required 2 week bed rest and the pain medications (that make me quite loopy) get in the way of my success. Hopefully the rest of you had a much more successful week!!

Prologue

Hello Everyone!

You are probably wondering why my first entry is titled "Prologue"... I have decided to write each blog post as though they are entries in a book. Being a book worm and a freelance writer, I thought it would be fun to add my personality to this blogging assignment. :) Along with the assigned posts I will include just a little bit about my week in a "Weekly Recap", that way I can share a little bit about my life outside of school to make things a little more personal. (I hope that's okay Dr. Feliciano.)

My only problem with writing in a blog is the fact that I tend to ramble - hence my blog name. I am also not afraid to share my view point while keeping an open mind, but I have accepted that to be a great quality to have. As for this class, I am very excited to learn with my professor & fellow classmates and to also learn from their thoughts through blogging, discussion board conversations, and course work.

In case you did not get to read my "Ice Breaker" post, I have included it below so you can learn a little more about myself and what I hope to get out of the class. If you have read it already feel free to skip over the italicized writing...

My name is Rachel, but prefer to be called RJ. :) My education background includes a Bachelors in Music Arts Administration with Marketing and a Certification in Wedding & Event Design. These past few years I have dabbled in a variety of fields trying to decide what I want to do professionally and after working for Non-Profits, Walt Disney World, and in event marketing, I have finally figured out where I want to take my career. A month ago I was laid off so I decided to take advantage of this time to work on a Masters degree and truly believe that SNHU will help me achieve my career goals.

The dream is to work in Higher Education to assist students in being a change agent in the community and support/encourage their involvement in community service and leadership projects on and off campus. I am confident that SNHU and this course will teach me the skills needed to best succeed in that role. 

Taking this course will be beneficial since I have a background in design, non-profit management, and hospitality. Most of my experience in with the creative side of businesses rather than analytical so I hope to learn the important basics and how to best utilize this communication tool. During my undergrad, I took a few Public Relations courses that lightly touched on new media, but they did not go into the nitty gritty details. I hope to be able to learn how to successfully reach out to my "audience" through best practices and knowing the foundation of New Media. I am very excited to get started! :)

Since I am already rambling quite a bit and this is just my first entry, I will be sure to make the following posts less overwhelming. I wanted to share a little bit about myself so you have a better understanding of who I am before I moved on to the first assignment. I do hope everyone has had a wonderful first week and I look forward to what is ahead of us!

Cheers!

RJ