Aspiring Creative

instagram: Rhyolite Ghost Town Want to see more photos from...

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:12:50 -0400

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instagram:

Rhyolite Ghost Town

Want to see more photos from Rhyolite? Check out the Rhyolite Ghost Town location page and the #Rhyolite hashtag.

In Nye County, Nevada, about 120 miles northwest of Las Vegas, rest the remains of Rhyolite, one of the many abandoned ghost towns scattered throughout the American west. The town became a booming hub near a promising gold mine during the Gold Rush in the first decade of the 1900s, but its success was short-lived: the mine was exhausted, the 1906 earthquake hit and people left in droves. By 1920, its population had dropped to zero.

Today, Rhyolite remains a popular tourist destination off the beaten path. Most of the town lies in ruin, but partial remains of the train station, school house and bank still stand as reminders of the town’s prior success.

Guest Speakers 4/2/2013

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:12:21 -0400

Yeah! I was so pumped that I got to see my coworkers and supervisors from Social Forces last week during class! It totally made my day. I was also glad to share my experiences with the class. Social Forces is really a great place to hold an internship. They are there for you; they want to help you learn and grow. I’ve been given a great opportunity to get my hands on a little bit of everything in regards to a digital ad campaign. And most importantly, a ton of client interaction.

I’ve already heard all the information that they presented in the class, but I’m sure it was pretty useful for everyone else. SoFo does an amazing job breaking down really complicated ideas and turning them into simple, digestible processes. All the diagrams that they showed to the class were actual company documents that are used on a daily basis.

Our second guest speaker was pretty awesome, too. I was awestruck by all the technology crammed into his office. It seems like a pretty exciting place to work. That video that he showed us was pretty awesome as well.

He talked A LOT. Which isn’t a bad thing, but it was just a lot to take in all at once. I feel like the conversation was super beneficial for a few people in particular. I was really surprised that he was so willing to help us out. Offering to take us around the city, to meet people and help us network was extremely generous! Our conversation with him was very refreshing and different from previous speakers. Maybe that was because we got a little more in-depth with him than with other speakers.

Last week’s class was my favorite class. Maybe I’m biased. And hopefully I’ll get to come back with Social Forces to speak to this same class in the future.

Ha! Oh yeah! Official! Move-in time! #sold #homesweethome...

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 17:45:05 -0400

Ha! Oh yeah! Official! Move-in time! #sold #homesweethome #imabigkidnow #adulthood #makinmoves

Guest Speaker Write-up: Jackie Smith

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:39:14 -0400

Alright, I’m gonna be real.

Overall, I wasn’t impressed. I didn’t really gain much from what Jackie had to say. Maybe it was because our previous speakers had already harped on teaching yourself code and web design on codeacademy.com or teamtreehouse.com. She did have some good anecdotes to share. And I was also inspired by her story. If she can teach herself code at home after having kids, so can I. But other than that, it didn’t really do anything for me.

I was kind of bored.

I was also a little embarrassed for her when Eric pointed out that she had forgot to remove a portion of the code of the website she designed for those doctors before their site went live. Good thing he did, otherwise she would have had some mildly unhappy clients. Also, strange how much she was talking down her current job. She kept comparing it to her time with Eric and how he was there to catch all the little details (like the one he pointed out during her presentation). Like, you wouldn’t think that she would start picking up on those things, right?

I was somewhat surprised that she said that she just uses free templates to make websites. I mean, it’s resourceful, definitely. But I just wasn’t expecting it from a working professional. Is that wrong? I must have some weird expectation that web designers can create highly complex and interactive websites from a blank browser page, like, they’re gods of technology or something. I was a little distracted by her inability to function the presentation from Eric’s computer. I understand it’s intimidating, but I wasn’t expecting that from a designer. Again, maybe that’s a ridiculous expectation.

I did really like her personal website though. It was really nice. It made me want to make one immediately. I started imagining what mine would look like and what I would have on it and how I could jazz it up.

I appreciated that time that Jackie took out of her schedule to come speak to us. Even if she did repeat a lot of what previous speakers had said, it just adds to their significance.

Hopefully this post isn’t too mean.

Blog #10: Youtube

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 20:18:18 -0400

This past week, Youtube hit a billion users per month. That’s about half of the people on the internet. That’s a lot of people watching Youtube videos a month. But can you blame them?

It’s a world full of viral cat videos, goats starring in lip-dubs, and random faces hoping to be discovered. How could you NOT watch?

A billion viewers a month is kind of crazy though. Youtube itself has been around for eight years, which is also something to brag about especially in today’s world where the market and technology grow so rapidly. It’s more typical of early movers in the Internet phase out pretty quickly.

So Youtube has successfully made a name for itself on the internet and doesn’t seem to be leaving anytime soon. Their biggest challenge now? Adapting to advertising.

But wait, Youtube does have advertising. They’re so freakin’ annoying before my videos and around my screen. I skip them all the time. Or I get up and do something for 30 seconds while the ad plays through.

A lot of advertisers still like produced programming over random video clips. Like, say, Vimeo.
So Youtube’s billion viewers doesn’t necessarily add up to anything profitable. Most Youtube videos don’t have ads. Most advertisers don’t want to go near singing squirrels.

I can definitely see the challenge of targeting the right audience on Youtube. It’s so vast. I mean, if you’re target overindexes on Youtube versus the average Youtube user or internet users, than yeah, you might hit them. However, it’s hard to target them with a specific product. Maybe someone who enjoys watching singing squirrels would want to buy Clorox Clean-ups. But who knows?!

Lots of users, sure. But lots of money? Eh, maybe not so much. To combat this, Youtube may be considering a subscription service where you have to pay to watch the really good stuff.

unconsumption: Brilliant! And a great addition to the “beverage...

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 20:14:20 -0400

unconsumption:

Brilliant! And a great addition to the “beverage carton-repurposing” idea file.

Spotted on Facebook, on the Grow Food, Not Lawns community gardening page here. (If you’re aware of the original source, please tell us — I wasn’t able to track it down.)

Other garden-related ideas can be found in earlier Unconsumption posts here and here.

Photo

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 19:46:40 -0400

garden-of-vegan: spinach salad with cucumber, carrot, red...

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 17:16:46 -0400

garden-of-vegan:

spinach salad with cucumber, carrot, red onion, avocado, chickpeas, and a lemon poppy seed dressing

Digital Nation Review

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 17:16:14 -0400

I had to chuckle to myself as I was watching the first half Digital Nation. It was all about multi-tasking. I had the video playing on my computer as I was making my breakfast in the kitchen and then moved it into my bedroom as I got ready to head out. I went to Starbucks to grab coffee and finish the rest of the movie thinking it would be the perfect place to sit down and watch. WRONG. It was more distracting. I mean, I couldn’t help but think that this was partially a joke — a true test of my attention span — trying to pay attention to a 90-minute video talking about how we are a generation with a lack thereof. It was certainly an eye-opener for me at that point. I may have not been digitally multi-tasking, but multi-tasking nonetheless. And when it came down to actually sitting and directing all of my undivided attention to this video, it was kind of a struggle. I started to worry about how the internet was “dumbing me down” as some on the video had stated.

But no one really knows if that is what the internet is actually accomplishing. “The technology is outdistancing the research.” I’ve heard it before — that technology is changing everyday so it’s nearly impossible to keep up with it. It’s true in regards to researching the effects of the internet, but it’s also true for us, advertisers. We know where everyone is, but we also have to consider the other places they are at the same time. If we are all multi-tasking, then we are in multiple places at once and our message (our ads) become so lost in all the clutter. In other words, if people are multi-tasking then they aren’t paying attention to the advertising. We are like the professors at Cambridge in that we need to create more than just a presentation — we need to create something that catches a person’s attention and then keeps them interested in what we have to say. It’s hard for us to not only target someone directly and know that they receive the message, but also to keep up with the pace of technology that people are using on a day-to-day basis.

So how can we become something more than a passing ad that has no depth and doesn’t stick with consumers? Take the World of Warcraft segment for example. These people never met one another in person, but created such a strong bond with each other over digital interaction. Maybe this is the next step for brands. I mean, a lot of brands are already creating a presence online in the social media space. They are becoming more than just their ads. The brands are interacting with people in a space where they are comfortable and familiar, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I think that’s the way a brand can create a relationship with a consumer and stand out from the clutter.

Side note: I can’t believe that Internet Rescue Camps are real or that people have died from gaming marathons, songs about Netiquette freak me out, the creator of Second Life is a weirdo, and I love Bubbe.

Blog #9: Brands, Consumers and Social Media

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 22:34:12 -0400

When most people think about social media they immediately think about Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and any other website they use to update and share their life online. But there is another huge purpose social media serves: customer service.

An article from Online Media Daily made a good point; social media is instant and can be amplified. It’s the place your customers will go to share a great or poor experience. It is estimated that by the end of 2013, 80% of companies will use social networks for customer service. The key is to prove that your account is not inactive and that you care a lot about what they have to say. This will create more loyal customers and hopefully newer ones, too. Most businesses get it. They are on Facebook and Twitter. They have teams that manage their social media accounts, making sure that good comments are appreciated and complaints are resolved.

The people love it! A study by J.D. Power & Associates for Netbase found that most everyone wants companies to listen to what they say.

But it’s not all so easy. That same study found that “40% of consumers under 55 and 54% of consumers over 55 agreed that ‘companies that listen online are intruding on customers’.” So, consumers are glad that companies are listening and using social media to their advantage, but don’t necessarily want them listening all the time. That study also found that most people believe that they should be able to talk about companies online without that company listening in, yet should monitor online conversations to improve products and services.

So the takeaway? Social media is a great tool for enhanced customer service, but be careful how you use it. Consumers want you to speak when you are spoken to.

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:13:47 -0400

Blog #8: Instagram

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 21:28:00 -0500

In light of my SEO presentation, I decided to write my blog about Instagram. A little late due to the guest speaker write-up, but better than never. Of course, this would have made much more sense with my presentation, but oh well.

The first article I read was pretty much reporting on Instagram’s latest active user update. The second article allowed me to see how brands are using Instagram.

On February 26, Instagram surpassed 100 million users. (Side note: I feel like in 50-100 years from now, days when social networking sites reach a certain number of active users will go down in history and will probably become national holidays. Just wanted to throw that out there so then in 50 years I can say, “I called that”.) This was a big accomplishment because it came a short month after Instagram actually started releasing its active user numbers, which was after their terms of service hoopla.

The article highlights this growth as most impressive especially when compared to Instagram’s closest competitor, Twitter (which I kind of, sort of agree with). According to the article, Twitter may have 100 million more active users than Instagram, but that took over 6 years. Instagram is gaining ground and doing it fast.

So how is Instagram considered in competition with Twitter? I wouldn’t have recognized that kind of relationship at first because they are two entirely separate methods of communication; pictures and tweets. There seems to be two different needs that they both fulfill. However, the article brings up some examples in which Instagram was staking a little bit of claim on typical Twitter real-time territory, one of which was the Grammys. I could see where the line is drawn there, maybe, if you had to decide which social media platform to use during the Grammy’s or something of that nature. But how many times in the day are we on Twitter AND Facebook AND Pinterest AND (insert favorite website name here)? Exactly.

And brands are more involved with Twitter than Instagram anyway, with almost 100% of the Top 100 brands worldwide having a Twitter account. Only about 59% of those same brands have an account on Instagram.

Personally, I feel like brands can express themselves better on Instagram. Why? It’s visual. Maybe limited to the size of the screen of your phone, but not by characters. And if you wanna post a picture you gotta link it in your tweet. How annoying! And brands are getting a ton of engagement on Instagram. Out of the most followed brands, the top 8 are responsible for 80% of the engagement on the platform.

It makes sense that certain brands that are targeting younger consumers would strategize via Instagram, so in that sense I could see it becoming a bigger competitor against Twitter.

I don’t know, I think I just like Instagram more.

unconsumption: Everyone is familiar with the vending machine...

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 20:40:02 -0500

unconsumption:

Everyone is familiar with the vending machine that spits out a can of coke or a bag of Skittles.

However, if you like cold, hard cash better than the cold, hard candy, here is another dispenser you might be interested in - the Reverse Vending Machine, which rewards users coins in exchange for their empty plastic bottles.

More: Vending machines turn trash into treasure

Photo

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 20:39:36 -0500

themadeshop: number34: NEW...

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 20:37:03 -0500

themadeshop:

number34:

NEW SITE!

http://youngjerks.com/

Fantastic work and website.

Pretty fun website to check out

Blog #7: Let's give a round of applause to our guest speaker, Brian Swanick.

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 21:25:00 -0500

I’d first like to say thank you to Brian for taking the time out of his schedule to come and visit class on Tuesday. I may have felt mildly overwhelmed afterwards, but I’m glad that I heard everything he had to say. He offered a very realistic idea of what we need to prepare for and gave us the appropriate tools for us to do so. His presentation didn’t consist of him rattling off what he does at his job and then hoping that we would ask a lot of questions to take up time, which I liked. It was incredibly enlightening with it’s lists of life lessons, but also made my head spin due to the amount of information.

Before Mr. Swansick’s presentation, I had never heard of funnels. Now I can impress a future boss with my new found knowledge of funnels.

Oh yeah, and I really appreciated the meme’s. It made the presentation not so serious.

The tools and apps he recommended were great! I really like Rapportive and that Mr. Ritter didn’t even know he was on it. I think it will come in handy in the future. Buffer was cool, but I didn’t really see me using it in the future. It’s still good to know about though. Open Site Explorer was really awesome too. I had no idea that you can actually find that much information about a website for free. Code Academy and all the other coding tutorial websites were the coolest. I got really excited and wanted to go home right then and start learning as much as I could. I think I was relieved when Brian said that he wasn’t very good at coding, but learned enough with these tools to be successful. It was encouraging, for sure.

I’m not really sure what I was expecting from guest speaker, Brian Swanick, on Tuesday night, but needless to say it was a great way to spend class time and I think it was highly beneficial for all of us. And I can’t wait to get some awesome business cards from Moo.

smartercities: Car-Free City: China Builds Dense Metropolis...

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 20:35:11 -0500

smartercities:

Car-Free City: China Builds Dense Metropolis from Scratch | Web Urbanist

Altering most of today’s cities to eliminate cars altogether would be a daunting, if not impossible, proposition – which is why China is starting from scratch. Great City will be built around a high-rise core housing 80,000 people, entirely walkable, and surrounded by green space.

Planned for a rural area outside Chengdu, the high-density Great City will give residents access to a ‘buffer area’ of gardens and greenery making up 60% of the total area of the city. Walking from the center of the city to the green spaces takes just ten minutes, and other nearby urban centers will be accessible by a mass transit system.

Blog #6: Real-time.

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 20:33:57 -0500

Blog #6

This week I found some articles on Emarketer dealing with real-time. They seemed to read together well. The first talked about the significance of real-time marketing, but weighed in on the factors that are holding companies/clients and agencies back from using this exciting new outlet of marketing. The second emphasized more of the positives of real-time and focused more on location data in regards to mobile targeting.

Advertising and marketing professionals understand the importance of real-time social data, but what I got from this article is that the manner of interpreting it is not as advanced, yet. It’s obvious how big of an impact it makes (need I cite the super bowl, again?) And according to a survey by Emarketer, 53% of marketers worldwide plan to make greater use of it this year. The plan though isn’t to just send a tweet at the right time, it’s to create more engaging, relevant content that yields high responses. “Some marketers are also using real-time social data for product development.”

So what’s stopping them? Apparently, more than I realized.

According to another study done by Emarketer, about 40% of companies and agencies alike said that a lack of tracking capabilities and analytics is what is holding them back.

The same amount of agencies said the lack of budget/buy-in from organization heads and the lack of joined-up thinking was holding them back. I can see where the lack of buy-in can hold clients and agencies back, but I feel like if they don’t start using it they will rapidly fall behind the pack.

The second article talked about how marketers are integrating geofencing and geoaware targeting into their mobile campaigns. According to the article, geoaware uses real-time location data to send specific messages to the user based on their distance from the nearest retail location while geofencing targets users based on a set distance from a location of interest.

Geofencing and geoaware are still a smaller part of mobile location-based targeting types than DMA or audience. The article suggests that this is due to their ease of use, or lack there of. But there are some industries that are taking advantage of this new mobile targeting such as retail, consumer goods, travel and restaurant. The restaurant industry utilizing this kind of targeting makes sense because you can target someone while they are out and about looking for some place to go and eat.

It sounds like everyone is going to start adapting to these new targeting opportunities and that everyone is looking to find new ways to capture and interpret the data these campaigns provide.

"If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it.”..."

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 15:17:06 -0500

““If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it.”
― W.C. Fields”

- http://www.goodreads.com/quotes

Google Search: Eating Clean

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 17:32:46 -0500

I just finished watching this health food documentary called “Hungry For Change”. It was really great and enlightening. I learned a lot of new things. I did hear this term being thrown around though, “eat clean”. I’ve actually seen it a lot lately on Tumblr and Instagram as #eatclean.

Well, as most of us these days, I was on my computer while I was watching the documentary and decided to go ahead and tap into the biggest resource online to help you answer any question you may have: Google.

I searched the phrase “eating clean.” The first thing I noticed was that there were no sponsored ads. Zero. Zilch. Nada. So no one has paid for the phrase “eating clean” to trigger a website for the next fad diet/rip-off to show up in the results? I don’t know if it could be anything else.

Guess not because the first result was a link to a website titled, “The Eat-Clean Diet.” It’s probably ranked number one because it has almost my exact search query in the name, the domain name, and the description. It also had the shortcut links beneath the description. The website itself is a pretty nice setup. Very clean, easy on the eyes, and navigable. There are share/connect links for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and any other way to share right on the front page. It’s not a responsive website, but that’s still relatively new.

The second result was an article from Eatingwell.com. The article is specifically dealing with eating clean, and has “eat clean” is in the article’s title. It also has “clean” in the description.

The third result was more along the lines of what I was looking for; a true definition of what it means to “eat clean”. The search query was in the title of the results link and the description. The link took you to a specific page on a website called the Gracious Pantry, which is probably why it was ranked third. The site is very basic and not very advanced, a little novice really. However, its packed full of information about what eating clean means, how to do it, how to start, and a plethora of resources to help you in your lifestyle change.

I can understand why the first site was ranked number one, but looking at the search query process from this kind of perspective, I feel that the third link should have been first.