Happy Spring Break!

Well now that this is my last post for today, I will soon be heading home for Spring Break! Nothing too exciting, but it will be nice to relax for sure. Also, I just went to class before & I think it was cancelled & I didn't know. I'm not sure, but no one else was there so I get that feeling...
Anyway, I just commented on my teammate Jessica Erskine's blog. She had posted about doing a vanity search through google, so I decided to do one myself. My blog unfortunately did not show up like Jess's, but a the 5th link directed me to my sorority, Alpha Sigma Alpha's, page at UD that introduces all the sisters, etc.
I posted to Jess to let her know & it was pretty cool, but kind of scary that people can SOO easily access information about you. But vanity searches are useful so that I can see what's out there & what others can see publicly on the Internet about me!
Well, feels good to be done for now & I hope everyone has a great spring break! Hopefully those points for being on top of my game are headed my way! =)

Wikipedia Edit #3 - Bubble Tea

So my 3rd Wikipdia edit is on Wikipedia's "Bubble Tea" article. I chose to edit the bubble tea page becauuse I actually work at a bubble tea shop on Main St. here in Newark called T'Licious. It's located right next to the Delaware Book Exchange..stop by!
Anyway, I edited some information in the top general section of the article regarding the source and origins of the tapioca pearls, an essential component of any bubble tea drink. I added "These tapioca pearls are made mostly of tapioca starch, which comes from the tapioca, or bitter-cassava plant. In other parts of the world, the bitter-cassava plant may be called manioca or yuca. Cassava is native to South America, and was introduced to Asia in the 1800s." Check out my updates!

Wikipedia Edit #2

So I just noticed that there is a page for my high school - Pearl River High School in Pearl River, NY. I was originally going to work on the page for my town, Pearl River, but I just noticed that there is finally a link to PRHS from the Pearl River article. This must have been added recently because when we were first assigned this project, I could not find a matching article when searching for Pearl River High School. I may e-mail Professor Brown now and ask to switch because it seems that this page needs more work than the one dedicated to my town. And I just made some minor grammatical edits in the "Rival" section. I made sure that the periods of 2 of the sentences were inside the ' marks & I also corrected a spelling error from "knowen" to "known" in the last sentence of that section. Check it out here. More to come (as long as I am allowed to switch to editing this article!

Spam, the Law, and e-mail Marketers

So I just read an article from ClickZ called "Spam, the Law, and e-mail Marketers" by Derek Harding, and it was thought provoking. Something I had never considered, but is a huge problem, is spam & its interference with the viability of e-mail. Derek discussed how spam is increasing at ridiculously exponential rates, and that eventually servers may be receiving millions of spam e-mails per week..that's right, MILLIONS! And what do people immediately want to do, but block these annoying messages? But there lies the problem, because in filtering spam, marketers are concerned that their advertisements and promotions will not get through to consumers. These marketers argue that this is, in fact, illegal. But Derek brings up another good point in that even if these messages from marketers DO get through, won't they just be lost in a crowd? Most likely. I know personally, I get SO much spam and it is terribly frustrating - I don't give any of those e-mails a chance..it's just delete, delete, delete. In my opinion, Derek is right & we have to ensure that we work toward saving e-mail...And maybe marketers should just find another method of reaching their target audience.

Bloglines Article Response #1

So I just read an article that I got through Slashdot. It was called "12-step program for e-mail addiction stumbles" by Paul McNamara. Anyway, it caught my eye because sometimes I do consider myself an e-mail addict! I feel that I check it compulsively, and go out of my way to find a computer if I am out & about all day. It is good to keep yourself up to date on what is going on, but I mean c'mon..sometimes I take it a little too far. Now that I have started blogging and realized that Facebook is essentially a blog, or at least an online community for sure, I realize how addicting all of these things can be - because I, along with the rest of the college students out there, am definitely a facebook/e-mail junkie & addict. But obviously, we are not the only ones.
Anyway, Paul's article was basically commenting on a 12-step process put together by an executive coach named Marsha Egan. And I am not going to lie, I totally agree with Paul that the process is a sham! I actually think that it is not really directed at people who compulsively check their e-mail, but rather would help someone cut back the amount of time the spend with their e-mail. For example, she suggests ways to keep your inbox neat & organized, and has a lot of suggestions about creating folders, and sending concise e-mails. None of which will help myself or the rest of the people out there who just can't stop checking our e-mail! Anyway, I guess she tried . . .
Maybe she just doesn't understand what it truly means to be a slave to your inbox...and here are the rest of us, stll checking. But hey, there are WAY worse addictions & for now, if I am a little hooked on e-mail & Facebook, I'd say I am doing just fine.

Random!

Sooo I am about to do some Wikipedia work & other stuff to update my blog so hopefully I can get those 10 points! But I think I have been doing a pretty good job of keeping up, all things considered. I think Wiki is where I need the most work. Anyway, I just noticed that I received a comment on my blog from Shel - who runs Global Neighbourhoods & wrote Naked Conversations!..cool! I think I'm really getting to like this whole blogging thing & connecting with other people, having them enjoy my posts, etc. I commented back & I think I am supposed to post about that - so check out my Toby's Skype Presentation post & comments to see that!
The other random thing I wanted to comment on before I get down to business refers to a previous post of mine about my work in ENGL312 on that service learning project. We actually had a woman that works for the Center for Disabilities Studies here at UD come speak to our class (because several groups are working on projects affiliated with the CDS). Well, turns out, she gets alerted any time "Center for Disabilities Studies" is mentioned online & my post came up! She mentioned it when she was presenting to the class & said it was a really nice post! So cool! =) Anyway, she may be reading this one, too haha. But yeah, just another example of how we are all interconnected & how blogging may be changing the world as we know it. Good for her, though keeping up to date on the material out there regarding her place of employment - like we always say in class, it's good for businesses, people, etc. to know what is being said about them out there..both good and bad!
I just thought I had to share that because it was so cool! Now..down to business.

Survey Monkey

So before I head to class I didn't want to forget to blog about Survey Monkey. It's a funny coincidence that we were talking about this online survey creator the other day because I am currently working on a project for my English312 class about Survey Monkey, and another 477 student, Mike, is on the same team as me for the project. This project is through the Center for Disabilities Studies here at the University of Delaware, and we are basically responsible for marketing a Survey Monkey Survey to families of children with disabilities. The survey is an inquiry about after-school and summertime care needs of these families and their children.
But it is interesting because we need to look at the world of marketing today, and how to publicize this online survey to people who may not at all be familiar with the Internet, etc.
Anyway, we have our first meeting today with our sponsor so hopefully all goes well! Just wanted to share because I didn't in class. And now it's time for class! =)

Toby's Skype Presentation, etc.

So in class on Monday (March 5th), we had our first virtual guest speaker through a Skype presentation! It was so cool. I was only familiar with skype because my roommate uses it to talk to her brother (who is living/working/going to school in Austria & Germany). I have heard her use it before, but making it function for a class presentation is such a neat idea, and really expands our oportunities. Essentially, Prof Brown is able to expose us to any number of people throughout the country, and even the world! I really enjoyed Toby's presentation, she seems like a really cool lady, and she was a good presenter. And lucky her, she was working from home in warmer Atlanta as we sat in the classroom in cold Newark, DE!
But on a positive note, her presentation was engaging and elightening & her message was clear: Don't be the deer caught in the headlights! Blogging is a necessary and strategically advantageous part of marketing in today's world. I really enjoyed her examples of viral marketing and word of mouth advertising (videos on YouTube, etc). Hopefully we can have more of these interesting speakers throughout the remainder of the semester!
And I should really work more on my Wikipedia article edits soon. Pretty much all of them have lots of room for improvement that I need to take advantage of soon. That's all! Off to read 'Naked Conversations.'

=)

So cool, I just noticed that Diva Marketing Blog gave us a shout out & welcome a while ago on their page! Prof Brown is mentioned in the post titled "Welcome U of DE students." The post just gives a briefing on our purpose in the world of blogging & includes the names of all the other blogs we are required to subscribe to. I didn't realize we were famous in Diva's world of blogging..haha!