Measurable reactions

I thought I was impressed by yesterday’s seminar presentation by Philippe Leclerc, the Interactive Communications Manager for the City of Regina…. and then I checked out his website. Now that’s impressive.

I learned a lot about what he had to say about using social media effectively and in particular, what social media can offer in terms of measurability and getting immediate feedback. It was the first time it really clicked for me that social media can be a tool for gathering information, rather than just pumping out information (as targeted and focused as that information may be).

The “citizen engagement” aspect of social media also really intrigued me. I sat beside a classmate yesterday who had called up a city department because she was trying to find out some pretty basic information. From what I gathered, she was transferred to at least three different people and had to make at least four separate calls. By the end she had landed right back where she had started and was talking to the same confused person she had called in the first place.

Now, I’m not saying the people on the other end of the line weren’t polite and helpful, but the whole rigmarole seemed…archaic. And exhausting. And I wasn’t even the one making the calls.

An hour later I was listening to Leclerc as he explained that questions or concerns posted on the City of Regina Facebook page are generally answered quickly and efficiently right online. And not surprisingly, people are appreciative (as noted by the measurable happy face results in Leclerc’s charts)….

After the seminar I texted one of my best friends who lives in Regina.

Me: We just had a City of Regina guy talk to us about social media. Apparently you guys are quite the social media users.

Him: We’re movin at the speed of light over here.

Agreed. And it's about time we caught up.

Uptight writer

This week three things that Creative Communications students were told to work on included:

1.     writing skills

2.     writing skills

3.     and writing skills

I think writing falls under the category of if you don’t use it, you lose it.

Blogging is a good way to exercise the writing muscle. One of the reasons I like it is because it’s conversational. I think a good blog post makes you feel as if the writer is talking to you.

When it comes to journalism, I have a tendency to write in a style that’s understandably more stiff and formal. But I was pleasantly surprised this week when our journalism instructor said, “Make people laugh. That’s good writing.”

Of course there are some things that just don’t fly when you’re writing about something serious. You need to adapt to the format and audience you’re writing for… after all, writing a research proposal is different than writing a restaurant review.

In terms of my IPP (see previous post), I’m going back and forth between doing something for radio or writing for print. I think I originally dismissed the idea of writing a book or a series of articles because I wasn’t thinking outside of the box--I was only coming up with “serious” topics to be written in a “serious” style. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that, but now my sights are set on something a little…. funnier. I have to remember to breathe when I write, or rather to let my writing breathe. Does that make sense? Probably not.

I think I’m going to put some other advice into practice too: write what you know.

More on the evolution of my IPP to follow….

Radio girl

A 28-hour day would sure come in handy these days… especially with talk of IPP (Independent Professional Projects).

What type of project would you want to spend a year of your life doing? The advice I’ve heard from former CreCommers is to choose something you’re passionate about. Something you want to spend your time doing… otherwise it’s going to be a long, long year.

I thought about writing a novella… but had no idea about what to write about (hardly a mark of passion...or maybe a sign that I have more thinking to do...).

I can’t draw or take pictures to save my life, so that’s out.

Then it came to me--I’m a radio show/documentary junkie and listen to CBC and NPR as much as possible. For a long time, my dream job was to work for “This American Life.”

Photo by: http://goo.gl/Qa1J7

 So maybe that’s the direction to go in… a “personalized” radio doc… hmmm…. That’s something I could get excited about. "Stay tuned” for more as I figure it all out…

Pants on fire

I was checking out PolitiFact’s Twitter feed last night as I watched the GOP debate….

What is PolitiFact, you ask?

Source: http://goo.gl/q6zD0

“PolitiFact is a project of the Tampa Bay Times and its partners to help you find the truth in politics.”

Basically, they go out and examine statements made by US politicians and “anyone else who speaks up in American politics” to see whether or not the statements are true.

The best part of it all is how PolitiFact rates the accuracy of what politicians say—they use a highly scientific tool called the Truth-O-Meter.

The Truth-O-Meter uses a scale consisting of:

True

Mostly True

Half True

Mostly False

False

Pants on Fire (my favourite)

Source: http://goo.gl/S2ZjV

I thought a blog post about Truth-O-Meter was timely given the focus we’ve had this week on critical thinking and media law. Does this sound familiar, CreComms?:

“Truth-O-Meter is based on the concept that – especially in politics - truth is not black and white.

PolitiFact writers and editors spend considerable time researching and deliberating on our rulings. We always try to get the original statement in its full context rather than an edited form that appeared in news stories. We then divide the statement into individual claims that we check separately.

When possible, we go to original sources to verify the claims. We look for original government reports rather than news stories. We interview impartial experts.”

It’s a website worth checking out, and one that I would spend more time looking at if I had those extra four hours in my day…

What's your mission?

This week I was asked to write a mission statement in my public relations class. Seems like a fairly straightforward assignment --- but it wasn’t a mission statement for a business, organization or group… it was a mission statement about me.

I didn’t know where to start. Should it be light-hearted? Should it be serious? Should it be about my professional life? My personal life?

I had all of ten minutes to write it, so what I handed in wasn’t exactly a masterpiece.

But it did get me thinking.

In general, a mission statement should be short and easy to understand. It should also identify the purpose, business and values of whatever you’re writing about.

Sounds easy, right? Wrong.

The “problem” I have is that I want to be and do everything. I’ve made leaps and bounds in terms of what I want to do with my life career-wise since starting the Creative Communications program, but I still find it hard to settle on “just one thing.”

I understand that I can do an array of different jobs and roles—which is good news, but that doesn’t make it any easier when sitting in a class with the clock ticking and a mission statement due in a matter of mintues.

All that was going through my mind when I was trying to write it was different lines from movies and books:

---

Derek Zoolander: Who am I? 


Derek's Reflection: I don't know.

---


Mr. Mayer: You should have been a lawyer, Miss March. 


Jo March: I should have been a great many things, Mr. Mayer.

--- 

Terry: You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it.

---

You can only imagine how difficult it was for me to complete the branding assignment for my advertising class last term (What’s your brand? What do you offer? What do you stand for?).

But I’m happy to say that despite having little time left in the day to ponder about grand philosophical questions about identity (see how I tied in the theme of the blog here?), I am happy to report that I’m figuring it out.

So, what does this have to do with mission statements? A lot. You gotta start somewhere and, it’s cliché, but figuring out who and where you want to be is just as much about figuring out who and where you don’t want to be.

Politics and popcorn

Last night I put away the books for two hours and took advantage of an opportunity to see the premiere of The Iron Lady starring Meryl Streep. The movie is a biopic about former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Ms. Streep can do no wrong, in my opinion. Combine her acting talents with politics and that’s my idea of a great night.

I won’t get too much into the nuts and bolts of the movie because Ms. Dow over at http://kulturebykatherine.wordpress.com/ will have that taken care of this weekend.

All I’ll say is that Streep is unbelievable. But the movie, directed by Phyllida Lloyd, left me wanting more: more about Thatcher’s political career, more about the time she governed, more about her relationship with other leaders, more about the riots and strikes…

When I got home I spent a good hour looking up clips of Thatcher and reading about her. There are many other women (and men) in politics that I’m interested in learning more about, too.

....the first female head of state and woman president Vigdís Finnbogadóttir is one of them.

In short, Finnbogadóttir is incredible:

“She was a divorced single mother and breast cancer survivor.

"How could she be president," alluded one male contender, "She's a woman and half a woman at that."

Her response? "I'm not going to breastfeed Iceland- I'm going to lead it."

And sure enough, in 1980, Vigdis was democratically elected as Iceland's first female president and served four consecutive terms.” 

- from http://rosastef.com/blog/

Now, if I had it my way, I would live my life out as a character in The West Wing. Until I figure out how to make that possible, I’ll continue to keep an eye out for more political films (that I can live through vicariously).

When’s the movie about Clinton coming out? I’ve heard something about the one profiling Sarah Palin and the 2008 US presidential election called Game Change (is it a comedy?).

Any other recommendations for books and films about politics?

I autofailed my holiday list...

So, it was a busy Christmas break for me.

I didn't get around to giving my blog a facelift (nor did I make a single post), and I pretty much autofailed my holiday checklist that I made before the break (see below).

However, I did have an incredible experience as an intern at the Winnipeg Free Press. For three weeks I was writing articles, making phone calls, trying not to panic, but most of all... learning.

My head is still swimming and I'll have more to write about it soon. A sneak peek: my adventures include going to the scene of two fires, trying to get an interview with Don Cherry, trying to decipher government press releases and more!

Until then, here's a report on how I did in terms of checking stuff off of the list of things I was planning on doing over the break:

1)      Read a book. Any book.: I read half of a book, and a good half it was.

2)     See a movie. Any movie: I didn't go to the theatre-- but I did watch The King's Speech on TV one afternoon. That counts, right?

3)     Eat good food: I didn't go out to eat, but had tons of great meals at home thanks to my foodie brother.

4)     Go to the Festival of Trees and Lights downtown: YES, did that.

5)     Spend some time at McNally Robinson: Nope, didn't make it there.

6)     Get in touch with friends and family I haven’t seen since CreComm orientation: I saw some of them on Christmas Day for a few hours...

7)     Go on a steady diet of Christmas cookies: YES-- very successful. 

8)    Go to the Canad Inns Winter Wonderland: Nope, but still hoping to.

9)     Go skating at The Forks: Nope, didn't even get near The Forks.

10)  Recharge for term 2: HA! No way--- but it's here nonetheless!

Looking forward to seeing all of the CreCommers tomorrow morning :)