Pokémon Go is an app that encourages users to get up on their feet and walk to catch characters from Pokémon on their mobile devices. While Pokémon Go is an app more for entertainment and being active, the app still encourages similar ideas that social media promotes.
Social media is all about getting people to interact together. Pokémon encourages people to get active which in turn creates a competition to see who can get the most Pokemon. It creates a sense of community within the users in the real world rather than online. According to USA Today, Pokémon Go has been downloaded over fifteen million times. That is a staggering number that could potentially connect a lot of people through their shared experience of catching Pokémon. Pokémon Go is the medium for interaction in the real world for certain audiences.
A number of teachers are downloading Pokémon Go and playing so that they can connect with their students. They can talk about what level they are on, integrate achievements and catches with their lessons and connect with their students. Some families even all download the app so that when they spend time together they can catch Pokémon together on walks and vacations. Pokémon Go allows for connections just by a tool on a mobile device.
The main point of discussing this app is to remind that social media is ever changing. Social media is all about the interactivity between users on a platform or through a medium. In this case Pokémon Go allows for users to interact with each other in the real world using an app and shared experiences.
Consider trying out this app and challenging your friends! Gotta catch em' all.
This social media workbook has lots of specific tips and tricks to focus on specific platforms of social media. This week we focused on Facebook. Lots of people use Facebook, but do they know how to? Here are the overall hits from the chapter.
Facebook is the largest social media platform.
If you can understand the dynamics of Facebook, you will better understand the dynamics of other social media platforms.
Facebook utilizes Edgerank.
Facebook is fun.
Facebook is basically an online scrapbook of posts and content from you and your friends. Facebook encourages interactivity. For an organization that means that the tone of posts should be fun and upbeat. Your posting rhythm should get people to "buy your stuff" but also be fun. Fun, fun, fun, buy my stuff. Don't over promote yourself!
To not over promote yourself the author gives these posting strategies to drive up interactivity.
Be emotional.
Sentimental posts.
Utility: How To
Counterintuitive: Make you think.
Funny.
Survey, polls and contests.
Quotes
Outrage
Controversy.
The last two are give and take depending on what your organization represents. Regardless of what drives your posts you can change it up by using text with photos, blog post summaries, quotes, infographics or even quizzes and surveys.
Using Facebook is a valuable tool for your organization because it allows you to stay in touch with your audiences on a different platform that almost everyone uses. To help manage your account and market your organization consider using other tools like Hootsuite, Keyhole, Facebook Advertising, LikeALyzer and more tools!
Remember it's all about interactivity. How can you get your audience to be more interactive with your channel?
I have been doing a lot of drawing and sketching lately for various projects I have going on. I wanted to take a second and talk about how great my makers are. I own around one hundred Copic markers. They were a gift from my grandmother whose gift store recently closed. She sold lots of arts and crafts supplies as well as high-end gifts for our small town.
Copic markers are popular because they are high quality markers that last a long time. Copic markers are designed for high quality illustrations, arts and crafts, design and all areas of art. They come in 358 blend-able colors, are refillable and have four types of tips. They markers apply smoothly and don't smell badly. What I love about my Copic markers is that they last a lifetime because they have refillable ink.
Copic utilizes a great website to explain their products as well as teach professionals and amateurs how to use the markers. Copic offers online class certification to learn techniques on their markers and other products. The least expensive class on their website is around $100, but there are plenty of good tutorials on Pinterest and YouTube.Instagram has a lot of great art accounts that feature Copic artists.
Being a college student doesn't leave me a whole lot of time to do art or draw anymore, but when I get a chance I love having quality markers that I know are going to be good. I am so grateful that my grandma thought of me before sending those markers off to an auction. I will get great use out of them. Hopefully when I get out of school for the summer I can learn how to use these great markers better. Despite them being kind of pricey, I would highly recommend looking into at least getting basic colors from Copic.
I love that my apartment on campus has a kitchen. For my class schedule and rehearsal schedule making my own food works out for me. I get to choose what I make and when I make it. It usually consists of a balance between really yummy, healthy foods and pizza. This week I needed to make something quick and easy to feed a lot of people. Italian beef sandwiches are the way to go!
Here's what you will need:
crock pot
1.5 pounds of beef roast, the heaviest and leanest meat you can afford
1 can of pepperoncini peppers or chili peppers
1 package of Italian roll buns
optional: provolone cheese
This is the recipe that my dad gave me after a successful trial of it at home feeding a family of six.
Purchase your ingredients. It will all cost around $25 or more depending on how lean of a beef roast you decide you can afford.
Line the crock pot with a crockpot liner to save a mess.
Place the roast into crock pot after dumping any drippings in. If your roast is really fatty, cut off the fatty pieces or chop into smaller portions of meat. Add a half-cup of water.
Cook on low for about four hours.
After about four hours has passed dump in your jar of pepperoncini peppers into the crock pot. Use all the liquid and peppers in the jar. Cook for another hour.
After an hour has passed, take two forks and shred the meat and cut it if necessary. It should just fall apart. Add the peppers from the crock pot back in with the meat on your dish.
Serve on buns or straight on a plate. (optional: add pieces of provolone cheese.)
My dad also advised after cooking you invite your parents over and save the leftovers. Both of these instructions I wasn't able to do! Everyone loved the dish so there were no leftovers. As for my parents... I will have to make this again sometime for them.
Speaking of throwing a party, creating Facebook events are an easy way to send an invitation to your friends or people who may be interested in an activity without using old fashioned snail mail.
To create a Facebook event you need an account. On the left hand side of your screen there are options to look at your personal profile, newsfeed, and your messenger. Keep looking down that column until you see "Explore." Under the "Explore" section you will see "Events." Click on the events section.
If someone has already invited you to an event you will see those current events on the main page. You can also click a tab over to view suggested events based on what friends are going to or have been invited to. There is a giant blue button that says "Create an Event." Click it!
The very first thing it will ask you is whether you want that event to be public or private. This step cannot be changed later. Think before you do. Private events are made available by friends you invite to come to that event. Public events are still available to invite specific friends, but visible to others so they can attend and see what people are going to.
Once you choose public or private, the next step is to customize your event details. Use an image to catch people's eye. Using Canva is really easy because they have a Facebook cover photo feature. Make sure to include where the event is being held, what time and if there are any other important details. Make sure your friends are informed so that they know what to do or bring to your event.
Right now I have an event open for Sigma Alpha Iota recruitment. From the administrative side of the page, if you are an organization have at least two administrators that can post and edit content. This allows for someone to make changes should their be any mistakes that weren't caught as well as just have the account with more than one person.
Communication between administrators on what is going to be posted is important. We try to post at least once a day with the new activity for each day and encourage our members to post fun comments and photos to our event to get people talking about it.
Events on Facebook are easy to create, use and benefit the events you already run. Facebook is all about engagement so get people engaged! Use the event feature to boost your activities.
We are onto a new book! The Art of Social Media was great to identify key aspects for overall use of social media for organization but this workbook delves into the specifics of social media marketing!
Social media is like throwing a party! There are elements of invitations, entertainment and hosting that are involved in crafting your messages for your audiences.
Invitations = Promotions
Entertainment = Content
Hosting = Ongoing Management
Social Media Marketing is an illusion. The concept seems effortless, easy and free. Social media is not this easy. When it comes to social media marketing the authors recommend users analyze what channels they like and what works and try to reverse engineer it.
There is nothing as powerful as the power of positive thinking. New opportunities will come along to reach audiences.
That being said the author does out line five common goals for successful social media marketing.
Electronic Word of Mouth
Customer Continuum
Trust Indicators
One Touch to Many
Promotion, promotion, promotion
Social media marketing is a cycle of putting out content, whether that's curated or creative and hoping that you receive positive feedback. Remembering the big picture is key. Knowing your messages and who you are speaking to regardless of what platform is important to your success.
In my podcast last week I discussed the social media of Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps. I explained a little about their background but I have a lot of personal experiences that might help you clue into what my time there meant to me.
The Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing a competitive, educational experience while touring the country for three months. They essentially are the NFL of marching bands. A drum corps consists of brass players, marching percussion, a front ensemble and a color guard. Members are ages 15-21 from all over the country and world. To be a member you have to go through an extensive audition process and work during the year on assignments and physical workouts to prepare for the touring season.
Each section works together to perform one show to the best of their ability. Shows are about twelve to fifteen minutes in length. Members never stop moving. One would think that a drum corps just marches around the field, but actually members are running, playing, dancing and moving their way through forms. Each run through of the show a member burns anywhere from 6,000 to 8,000 calories. Corps often do a run through at the end of the rehearsal or large chunks on top of the physical performance each evening.
Ten years ago ESPN did an athletic analysis of the physical demands a member has during a performance.
There are current studies being done to see what the average heart rate is during performances as well as the effect of playing and marching at the same time, but none are published at this time. There are physical trainers and athletic trainers that travel with us to make sure the members are being taken care of after working out for extreme hours in extreme conditions.
A day in the life of the member during spring training would look something like this. Keep in mind the season is every day from the end of May to the first two weeks in August. Lots of time is being put into making the final product great.
On a show day one of those four hour blocks would be dedicated to eating a meal, packing your belongings, cleaning the housing site and loading your items on the bus. In three months, the Blue Stars travel 12,000 miles across the country. They stay in a different high school gym each night on sleeping mats and air mattresses to pack it all up before the show to travel to a different location. After a show it is not uncommon to get to a housing site at three in the morning to unpack and go to bed.
Sounds crazy, right? Members don't get paid to go on tour, despite being the best of the best competing against world-renowned groups. The members do this craziness because of the quality education they are getting from the staff and because of the people they meet during the tour. Members experience so much together that the friendships and memories created through your time with the Blue Stars are unique and lasting.
I had a unique position this previous season in that I had family members on tour with me. My younger brother and my cousin marched with me. Being my third year it was nice to know some members from my previous seasons, but to be able to experience traveling the country and performing with my family is something I will hold onto forever. Marching with the Blue Stars has shown me the true meaning of working hard for something I love. Their corps motto finis coronat opus, or the end crowns the work will be a phrase that drives me in whatever work I will be doing.
There are several groups like the Blue Stars based near here. The Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps have used Ohio Northern as their housing site for the past two years. The Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps are based out of Canton, Ohio and recently won the world championships. I would highly encourage you to go see a drum corps show this summer and experience the raw sound of brass and percussion. It won't be something you will forget.
Here is a short clip of our show from last year that will help you get a feel for what the final product of the show looks like. Hopefully this gives you a more clear context of what the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps is and how they have affected my experiences.
Recently with all the changes in the world there have been many communication or public relations issues highlighted in the news. In addition to those highlighted stories, a new one a day it seems, there has also been similar cases that have hit home.
This past week my hometown's local college, Saint Joseph's College announced they would be suspending all activities at least until 2018. Within a week the board of trustees announced they were holding a meeting to discuss the financial situation of the college and made the announcement of suspension of activities. Financial problems of that size do not happen within a week.
The board was not transparent about the issue of finances and did not make a good effort to reach out to alumni for help or even just make information accessible.
The students of Saint Joseph's College are involved in many co-op programs such as nursing and business programs. Those host programs posted information for students to transfer and find resources to change programs before Saint Joseph's informed students of the activities suspension. All 900 plus current students are looking into options to transfer programs and not fall behind in their graduation track. This change of location is causing problems for numerous local students. The fact that the school didn't give their students more warning and resources to help them locate another option is really troubling.
Right now there is a petition going around for the state attorney general to review the actions of the board. So far an estimated 5,500 people have signed the petition. The town of Rensselaer is hurting after this announcement and a lot of local residents are concerned at how a college town will thrive without their college. The college was a big employer for residents of Rensselaer, Indiana. It will be interesting to see how the town does after so many students and employees are forced to relocate.
Both of my parents are alumnus of the college and loved their experiences there. They recently told me that they were troubled by the lack of communication and transparency through the whole situation. My father is a special topics professor there and wasn't given clear information about the situation. Both of my parents get more calls in a week from Ohio Northern University asking for donations or updates about what's going on at ONU than they have gotten from Saint Joseph's since they have graduated. A group of alumni are trying to use the petition to gain awareness and save Saint Joseph's from closing permanently.
Organizations need to be transparent in situations as hard or difficult they may be. Having information accessible to those affected is important. This whole situation may have been prevented if five years ago when they realized they were in some type of trouble, indicated so and asked for help. Withholding information and announcing these major findings in the same week did not elicit a good reaction from their publics.
It will be interesting to see how this case resolves, but watching the public relations and communications of it all unfold makes transparency and accessibility something to be valued highly in speaking to publics of organizations.
These final two chapters are all about conclusion. Guy Kawasaki and Peg Fitzpatrick wrap up their amazing book by giving tips and tricks to live by on the most common social media platforms. Their specific reference and tips throughout the book were really interesting, but the overall tips help summarize the book.
The authors go into quick details of the key points of how to be successful on each of the above social media sites as well as platforms like SlideShare, YouTube, Instagram and more.
Guy Kawasaki and Peg Fitzpatrick reference that these key points will lead to success on social media, but most importantly in life.
Be impeccable with your word.
Don't take anything personally.
Don't make assumptions.
Always do your best.
Be skeptical but learn to listen.
In the next book we are reading in class, we will go more in depth on how to use specific platforms of media for organizations and how to analyze data we get from them.
The Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps is a performing arts organization that is a part of Drum Corps International. Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps is a performing arts group for youth dedicated to developing a level of excellence and performance through values in education, teamwork, perseverance and discipline that can be applied in the now and future endeavors. Simply, they are a marching arts organization that travels the country competing against the top corps in the country at a world class level while learning valuable skills on a personal and musical level.
These organizations travel all over the United States to compete for three months in the summer. They are made up of dedicated teams of administrators who develop financial plans, show design, hire staff and advocate for their group using social media and public relations.
Personally, I have been a member of the Blue Stars for the past three years. I decided to do a social media review through my podcast "The Review." This podcast discusses the use of social media in recent years at the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps.
Harrison Heinig, a two-year member was interviewed to discuss the use of social media. Ian Smith, a one-year member was interviewed to discuss the overall benefits of having good social media at the Blue Stars. Their insight as well as my own provide a unique look on how using social media is a plus for a performing arts organization that travels a lot. The Blue Stars provide unique experiences for their members as well as utilize different tools to make their process run more smooth. Performing arts organizations similar to the Blue Stars should utilize social media to stay connected with their target publics and form better relationships with the members and fan base they have. By forming these positive relationships they will only enhance their public relations and gain new followings.
Lately with all the negativity on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter I have been using Pinterest more frequently. Pinterest is a social media platform where members share images to each other and create "pinboards" to document or share ideas. Pins are individual images that document an idea, image, or action that can be saved to a board, where you categorize ideas and document similar content pieces. Boards can be kept secret or public and members can share pins to their friends using a variety of different channels.
Pinterest for an organization is really good to document what activities or products you have already made or to showcase a smaller version of what you have available on your website. This platform allows to categorize images and organize them on one profile to let users perceive the organizations' brand. Pinterest is one of least used platforms for brands I follow. Organization members need to know what publics they are trying to reach and what platform to use.
Pinterest creates a personalized feed for you that recognizes categories you search for and creates a specialized group of pins that you might like or be interested in. These happen daily. Creating a feed specific to the member keeps them coming back and interested in new content that is generated daily.
Members can individually post their content, but because Pinterest creates personalized feeds for you the images you see is what you get. That is awesome right now because if you personalize your interests for DIY, photography, fashion, etc. then your feed is not as negative as other social media platforms right now. For example, recently I have been pinning ideas onto a board that I call "A Dog's Life. "Below you will see suggested pins that Pinterest thought I might like.
I like to use Pinterest because usually there is nothing about politics or bad news. It's positive and makes me think of new ideas I want to do or plan to do someday. My boards definitely reflect that, but it's almost similar as an idea journal to me. Below is a screenshot of titles of my boards.
If you don't use Pinterest for an organization, I would highly recommend that you consider looking into this social media platform. I don't view it as too girly. Once you create boards of things you are interested in, Pinterest will customize your feed and help fill it with content you want to see. Give it a go! Here is a link to the Best of Pinterest 2015. You can check these out to find content.
This week's reading was all about how to use Twitter chat and to avoid looking clueless. Chapter 9 and 10 are very different ideas so I will be primarily focusing on chapter 10.
Guy Kawasaki and Peg Fitzpatrick start off with a great quote by Bertrand Russell. "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people are so full of doubts." Whenever an individual is clueless usually that is due to some type of insecurity of knowledge or embarrassment. The best way to remedy the cluelessness is to learn how to not be.
Here are their general rules so you don't look clueless on social media!
Don't be an orifice
Take it from Thumper. "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. "
Don't tell people what to share.
They can share what they want. People are more genuine and it makes you more credible when they want to share your content.
Don't buy followers or likes.
They aren't really following you. They aren't invested in what your messages are so you might as well not have them.
Don't announce your unfollows or ask why people unfollowed you.
You wouldn't want someone to announce that they didn't like you anymore and then proceed to explain why. Don't be that guy.
Don't swear.
Stay classy.
Don't be a pimp.
While it's okay to promote yourself and what you are doing every once in a while, over promoting becomes annoying. People won't get the message because they will be purposely trying to ignore you.
Don't call yourself an expert.
Be modest online. Even if you know a lot about a subject, be humble.
The whole point of these pieces of advice is for individuals or organizations to learn how to be the most credible with their audience. Most of the time they will be generating content to those who are intended, but the unintended are their potential new followers. Knowing your publics and how to be aware of everyone is key to being credible. Being credible will get you followers and make them stay. Being clueless only turns people away. Follow the above tips and consider who you are speaking to through your social media.
Pokémon Go is an app that encourages users to get up on their feet and walk to catch characters from Pokémon on their mobile devices. While Pokémon Go is an app more for entertainment and being active, the app still encourages similar ideas that social media promotes. 
A number of teachers are downloading Pokémon Go and playing so that they can connect with their students. They can talk about what level they are on, integrate achievements and catches with their lessons and connect with their students. Some families even all download the app so that when they spend time together they can catch Pokémon together on walks and vacations. Pokémon Go allows for connections just by a tool on a mobile device. 
