I was looking for a place to gather all of my different presentations on the web in one place. How to reach me on Facebook (where I can decide if I want to add you or not), my resume, my linkedin profile, web presentations, photography, even my twitter feed. These are all different sites, but i’m thrilled to be able to link them back all to one place!

I interact with people in different faucets – i’m a technical recruiter at work, but while i’m networking professionally, i’d love to be able to share some of my personal quirks as well, and I love that I now have this website to do it.  So for those who would like to know more about me, (and possibly batman), you can find me here.  http://meganspurr.wordpress.com/

Cheers!

I was prepared tonight, to follow up on some research on twitter, and how it has helped social movements like Occupy Wallstreet, or even the Arab Spring, but I stopped first to watch some TV online. Not wanting to waste too much time (there is a whole next season of West Wing, and Bleach just waiting for finals week to be over!), I pulled up last night’s Daily Show. There was a small dialogue with Jon Stewart and some of his “reporters” (read: I don’t remember the actors names. Sorry!) about the viral Kony video, and how it has moved the youth to be active. Is it really still a foreign concept that something that can catch our attention, can sway our political opinions too?  Not too long ago (about a year and a half), this same show sponsored their own rally in DC – the “Rally to Restore Sanity“. I loved the idea, I loved the banter on the show leading up to the event, and then… ? What happened? Was there any take away from that day? Aside from the generation after the generation after generation X being able to say “we did something” – there was nothing that I could pocket and take away, and even better, link to my friends – where we do the majority of our sharing a socializing.  I feel like that show has the audience, but they just don’t know how to get our attention, and then make us want to do something!

It’s an interesting thought how our communication style and our learning style has changed, and yet we still interact with the previous generation (insert worst-super-power-evar X-men joke here). So how does one even begin to search academic or scholarly articles on… “so, I think we think and learn and talk different now. Google that”? I tried something similar and found this article on DemiseofAdMen by Theresa Cramer. She talks about how we don’t have ad’s, we don’t shop the way we used to. She started discussing the TV show “Mad Men” (I’ve never watched it) and moved to how, if there isn’t a discount, if it isn’t something that she sees in her in-box, then she probably isn’t buying it. But there was a portion that really struck me -

“I’ve got a theory, and I imagine you’re already seeing it play out at your water cooler–or on Twitter. Instead of Super Bowl commercials, we’ll all be talking about the hot new viral videos in years to come. Heck, we all ready are!

Remember that YouTube video with robotic-voiced cartoon characters where one was looking for an iPhone and the other was desperately–and rather profanely–trying to convince her that an HTC EVO was a better choice? The salesperson extolled the virtues of the bigger screen, and the buyer asked, “Is it an iPhone?” The salesperson said that no, it wasn’t, and the buyer said, “Then I don’t care.”

The video was a home run on every level. It was hilarious and got into my consciousness. (I still can’t say the words “I don’t care” without thinking about it.) It got great buzz and made even the most devoted iPhone users wonder if their brand allegiance wasn’t a bit silly. It was such a hit that GEICO started using the same free animation tool to produce some of its television spots.

But while I ran around sharing the YouTube video with everyone I thought would be interested, I never once pointed anyone to the GEICO commercial. The traditional advertising guys–the ones in the skyscrapers on Madison Avenue–are playing catch-up with their audience. Sure, sometimes you get a wink and nod that says, “Look we’re paying attention.” But from Amazon reviews to Groupon, the ad men are losing ground.”

These guys are losing ground. They know it, they even outright tell us they know it, but they haven’t found that viral magic button yet that says “ACT NOW” or “BUY ME”. Want to fix our economy? Figure out how to sell to me.

References

In your opinion, how has the gatekeeper role of the editor changed how you get your news? It doesn’t have to be political or social – because I found the lack of editors has in the largest part changed how I receive my news about industry more than politics. For example, rather than picking up a ‘Make’ magazine to learn what people are doing these days, I am reading blogs to see what people are DIY’ing, to try myself. It doesn’t cut out the advertising in any way – because for one, the blogs still have advertising on the side to allow people to have them for little to no cost (for the most part), and individuals are very keen to tell you what they enjoy down to the specific brand and model. This isn’t just fan boy, but specifics. (which are GREAT when you’re trying to tell someone how to solder a motherboard to mod your gaming rig)

My second question, is why have any of you turned away from traditional media? I know there is no specific answer, and it’s possible some of you haven’t.I don’t know if I can pinpoint the exact moment that I decided to find other sources of information. It started when I was younger, and I didn’t want to read ‘Wizard’ to get my news on comic books. I enjoyed my time in the comic book shop talking with my boss, and him telling me what sites he liked to go to for the ‘inside’ news. I started looking for news that wasn’t dosed out on a bi-monthly basis. Then it grew – I found more news and thoughts, ideas, suggestions…. What I found was different than the traditional media was giving me. Not to say it’s better – but not the same, and I started to go to that first, and slowly it’s replaced my order in which I search for any information.

I can understand what Clay Shirky is getting at in Here Comes Everybody, but I won’t lie – there are a few concepts that grated on me. He goes so far back to discuss scribes, but fails (in my opinion) to make the link that sometimes, change is for good. Sometimes we don’t want someone to interpret the news for us. Martin Luthor started a trend he had NO idea would end up in spreading news in 140 characters or less. So one of the thoughts that I had, was on how – yes, Journalism is going to have to change, but it has before – and in (fairly) recent memory too. The Sacramento Bee doesn’t employ a wild pack of reporters that roam the streets looking for the latest news story – they have a few reporters, and they get the bulk of their news from the Associated Press. That was a huge change, but no one seems to be tearing down the gates about that one.

The million dollar question is, how do we integrate the web 2.0 into the existing structure? My personal opinion (and I’m pretty sure the economy would crash, again, if this advice were to be followed), is that it shouldn’t. Discussion that I’ve had with friends, family, and strangers is that the resistance they have to the user generated content, is that they don’t know if they are supposed to like it. It isn’t branded. Seriously?? If you like it – just enjoy it. Does it have to be professional for you to enjoy it?

And the news – if you are like me, and you get your news from about 90% of user generated content, you learn to verify data. We already do that with Wikipedia. It’s a change that is already happening in the culture, and we need to roll with it. The change I am suggesting is not just that we give up on local papers and local news channels – but we need a bigger culture shift. Be comfortable with listening to something and give credence to words and ideas and thoughts and feelings that come from something other than CNN and ‘brought to you by…’ pictures. It’s different than our parents past, and different from their parents. This is still the infancy of the Web 2.0 revolution, and right now it’s only the media that we are discussing, but we are in an in-between stage right now, and it isn’t far enough. I’m willing to walk down that path, because the only other option is to turn back.

CC Photo By Mycaisha (Megan Spurr)

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So after I rallied last week about how people were discussing about buying their domain through wordpress, and I worried about how they would like their format being stuck in the cookie cutter blog setup of wordpress.com – I decided that I wanted to have my own site. The part that took me the longest? Picking out my domain name. Currently my project is MeganSpurr.wordpress.com – and it will remain there for the life of this project, but I do have aspirations of making this a real usable, workable site for me in the future. So I purchased Rollforperception.com. It integrates some of my fun nerdyness that I like (D&D 5e is coming out soon, and I’m certain I will blog about it), but I feel like it’s just an undertone of the site name, so it doesn’t have to be all about gaming.

That said, I did make pages for everything I want on my site, I have uploaded my resume, and have found the folder of photos that I want to upload in a gallery – but after setting that up, I have found that my theme doesn’t default to adding the pages I created to the top of the page where the other defaults are. I still need to play around and see if it is a setting I am missing on this theme, or if I need to start over with a new theme (more likely).

I hope to have this completed by next weekend, and then spend the rest of my time concentrating on adding more blog posts and tweets that are more than just about school work!  Cheers!

I can understand the need to lay out the history of graphic design and how it has changed over the years – but my brain hurt after an hour and a half of people trying to say “The medium is the message” without directly quoting Marshall McLuhan. I absolutely agree with just about every single person on that film, that the style in which you present your (insert name of computer generated content here – ad – post – cover art – article), absolutely changes the way you read it and feel about it.  Seriously, does anyone one take Comic Sans seriously anymore?  Does Papyrus make you feel like an ancient Egyptian is telling you about the sale of vintage jewelry? Me either.

My husband and I went back and forth about the importance of type-face, and why it seems to have resurged as a big deal to a growing group of people these days. I agree that it doesn’t quite matter as much to me as it does other people, but I can see why it would irritate those people who pay attention to spacing. It’s similar to my friends who have been graphic designers for more years than they care to admit – and they would rally and pound on the walls of everyone who used glittery fonts, flashy symbols and the digging man animated gif of ‘under construction’ on their geocities page.

What made me stop and think though was the difference in advertising that was made in the short period of time. Obviously the introduction of Helvetica couldn’t have changed everything single handedly, but the images they used of different hand written fonts, lots of exclamation points, family pictures – all detracting from what it was they were selling; then came DRINK COKE. Direct, to the point. This is more than about the font – this was a way of communicating that changed. The manner in which you convey your message, changes what message is received by the end user. (See? I can say ‘The medium is the message’ too without quoting Marshall McLuhan.)

My final thought though on this film – they could have really cut out the crazy lady who associates Helvetica with big government and war. She brought very little to the table, and left us discussing more about how crazy she was, and less about the importance of the change in communication.

Here is where we argued. I said this isn’t an uncommon practice – but my friend said that “If they like my photo – and they should, because I do use professional grade equipment, and I have training in this field – and I say no to them because I charge a fee for my work, they can search by tags instead and email someone who has a similar photo who is happy to just have their handle (not even real name!), credited. I don’t disagree that having a site to store your photos and share with friends is good, but it’s taking the place of real businesses like Getty images for example. “

I read all the assigned papers on Flickr, but I asked my friend what she thought of the Murray, S (2008) article Digital images, photo-sharing, and our shifting notions of everyday aesthetics, and I think I was finally able to draw the line in the sand where she and I disagree. I see her challenge, that sites like Flickr make her feel like her work is devalued because it’s swimming in a sea of photos where many of them can be had for no monetary value – BUT – I think that it’s a culture shift, not to blame of any single website. My friend feels that if these sites weren’t available, there would be more value on sites where you have to commission your work. Now we move into the realm of “what if”, but this is what we spent an hour texting back and forth on: I think if Flickr and other photo sharing sites went away, people would turn to facebook, twitter, Tmblr, twitpic, etc. and contact the photographer directly for rights to use the work (they do already, just not to the same extent).

Maybe I fall into the realm of enjoying more of the user generated content, because it allows for more people to discover what their passions are without investing much into the field?  Then again, if the world moved into a realm of all open-source coding, then my skills would be devalued and I might be on the other side of the fence with my friend.

I like Ben’s idea about having a press kit request… I am wondering if I could do something similar down the line – WAY down the line – when I think about putting together another choir group. I don’t have the time right now with work and school, but with graduation coming up, I’d love to have an electronic place for people to come to for either requesting performance information, or requesting how to audition!

Comment 2 – http://ainslc.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/planning-stage-2/#comment-15

I love that people are enthusiastic about their websites and want to build a personal page by buying their domain through wordpress, but I worry about how happy they will be with that choice later on. It is outside the scope of this course, but I think maybe a small lesson on what it means to host a site, what a domain is, and what is difference is might be useful for some people! But that said, I liked the timeline, it seemed obtainable and not over reaching – which I am guilty of all the time.

Comment 3 – http://benryoncom495.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/portfolio-vision-and-timeline/#comment-19

I liked the phrase that Ben used – “comprehensive, professional and yet still distinctively personal.” That is exactly what I was looking to do with my website! I like the idea that I want something that is professional and details my previous work accomplishments, what I have done with my career that isn’t easily detailed on a resume, and yet still a house to hold my photography, my audio vocal recordings, and links to my social media sites. I still wonder about the plans to buy the domain with no discussion of hosting though!

My data is going to be mined in either location, but I think the concept of micro blogging on my blog is pretty amusing, and something that I have already looked to incorporate!  (Currently I have a widget that shows my feed at the bottom of my blog page – scroll down!) but, I am looking for a way to integrate it into my meganspurr.wordpress.com.