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!

First Wikipedia Edit

So I did my first Wiki edit today. It was a very, very small edit because I am still learning how to do everything on Wikipedia, but I wanted to change something while I get the hang of the edits. My change was on the "Alpha Sigma Alpha" page of Wikipedia. Alpha Sigma Alpha, also known as ASA, is the sorority I am in on campus, and we participate in 2 philanthropies nationwide: Special Olympics and the S. June Smith Center. Only Special Olympics was listed on Wiki's page, so I added "S. June Smith Center" to the 'Philanthropies' section of ASA information. I still need to make further changes because I can't figure out how to make it not appear as a link on the page. Check it out here.