Podcasting is Awesome!! Try It !!

Podcasting is Awesome!! I say that a lot of things are awesome, so I guess that makes me kind of a goof. No, but really, podcasting is so cool and kind of misunderstood, especially by me. You see podcasting is generally a term for an audio/visual recording of a show or some sort of video that is available to subscribers via syndication. What the heck is syndication? I had to look that definition up, but Wikipedia gave it like so. Syndication is an aspect of the delivery that separates a podcast from a file available for download. So it sends the files to the intended receiver, and they watch it. Think of it like TiVo. The person that posts these podcasts is doing so, so others might experience what they have to offer. It’s like the old Field of Dreams example of if you build it they will come. In this case, if you send it out over the internet, someone will want to see it. The whole idea of podcasts blew my mind. You see I thought it was only operatable through Apple because of the name of podcasting. Ipod, Podcasting; they just sound like they are in the same family. In fact, you can download podcasts from numerous programs called podcatchers. These podcatchers act like a catcher at a baseball game, who catches balls that are thrown to them. These podcatchers send all the information on an RSS feed. What is an RSS feed? RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It is a program that is just used to standardize podcasts, blogs, audio, and video so it can be viewed on any program that is being the catcher.

http://www.podcasting-tools.com/

So the process goes something like this. There is a person or persons who think that they will make a movie, or quick little talk, so they will tape what they have and save it. Next, the person will send the video over the web using a standardized method so anyone with a computer and internet can pick up the signal. Next subscribers pick out the video so they can check it out and watch it. In a way Youtube is kind of a podcast except for the fact that you don’t really subscribe to it, but you just pull up random videos. Podcasting gives the users a way to follow certain movie makers, or public speaker who interests them. Imagine if Youtube and Twitter got together. That would make a podcast.

The idea of podcasting is so cool. It can have an endless role for the consumers. It gives people the opportunities to watch videos of certain people whenever they have time. Time is an important asset that we take for granted. Sometimes the only time to see a show or speaker you love is when you are in rush hour, or a subway car. Podcasts offer the user entertainment as well as informational content. The fact that they are for the most part free is also a plus for anyone to follow. My advice is simple, go try podcasting. I am sure there is something out there for you.

Job Hunt...

-- Fox-owned WFLD/WPWR-TV, Chicago, has an academic internship program for college credit with internships in news, promotions/PR, traffic/research, community affairs, human resources and finance/business/programming. Must be registered and junior or senior standing; students must provide resume, completed application form and a letter from their colleges indicating they will receive credit. For information, contact Shynaa Brown, intern coordinator, WFLD/WPWR-TV, 205 N. Michigan Av., Chicago, IL 60601, or call (312) 565-5558. EOE (indef.)~~


This job/internship is located in Chicago Illinois. It is owned by Fox network and seems to be a wonderful internship to get my foot into the door. What really catches my eye when looking at this ad is the fact that it is located in a big city. I really like the way it sounds. Fox is a major company which if not for them, i could work at pretty much any other network with a background such as this. Experience is the best door opener. I really am not picky when it comes to finding a job. My target would be something in the advertising end. This job posting that i'm looking at is for promotions and advertising. The downside to this job is the fact that it is in Chicago. This is a pretty good distance from St. Louis, my current home. The upside to such an internship is experience and an awesome addition to my resume. To be in such a program, all you need is a letter from your university stating that you are a junior or senior in college. This is an awesome job listing. There are alot of different spots it seems. This gives me the feeling that the economy is not as bad as the media makes it out to be, or it could be that i'm a half full kind of person.

Free Stuff: The best form of advertising!!

We want cheap or free. We want it all now. These are just a couple of traits that Generation Y is always wanting. We want fast and easy and nothing else. We want everything available at our fingertips. We are spoiled rotten with all available technology sitting at our fingertips. New gadgets and gizmos make all of this so easy. That is where marketing comes into play. You see Generation Y loves catchy themes. We really don’t care what a company is selling most of the time, but we love to see what a product is. We are just so curious.

http://www.thesleepysurfer.com/blog/tag/funny-video

The ways that marketers reach us are infinite. The interesting fact is that newspapers are being used less and less to reach us. We use internet and multi-media devices constantly. It’s the new age of technology. We all seem to have Facebook accounts and Myspace. The fact that we all have some sort of communication program gives these marketers an easy area to put ads up for viewers. The interesting part is that sometimes you accidently tap on one and then pop ups go all over your screen. Annoying ads also get your attention any more. Advertisers have to keep coming up with new methods for catching our attention.


If these ads mention anything about paying for stuff, then we tend not to buy into it. Generation Y enjoys free stuff. The problem is that we don’t have to buy products anymore with all the programs out there. It can be so simple to find free stuff, so promotional items would really bring people in to buying items that we would normally not even look at.

The question is, is what will we be willing to spend our money on. Advertisers need to figure out that our age group really doesn’t have a ton of money to throw out. To give us free items would maybe give us a feeling to want to spend our money on helping them out. It can turn into a win, win situation for everyone.




The point is that marketers have to look at advertising in a different way than selling to the older generation. My advice is simple. Give away free items and consumers will come back to support you. Certain music composers are doing the free album thing and coming away with as much money as when they actually put a price on it. When advertisers annoy us with their annoying ads, consumers don’t really want to deal with them. Make buying a choice for the consumer and not something that is needed. Marketing strategies have become much cheaper by putting them on the internet. These cost adjustments should be sent on to the consumers as a way to draw in new business. I did see some of this bonus free product advertising when I was looking for articles about marketing and generation y. In the end, free product dispensing is the ultimate advertisement for any company out there. Last, I want to discuss Red Bull. Red Bull is the ultimate free dispensing product company. The image of Red Bull is in everyone’s mind. It is hard to go out and buy something that you don’t know anything about. The way that “cool” people like us, are drinking something and letting consumers try it for free is what really brings buyers to that gas station to buy a really good product. Buying Red Bull is a little expensive, but knowing that it is good gives me that extra incentive to actually buy it. Free product samples equals bigger customer support!

Funny Guy!!

Saturday was a great day to be at Lindenwood University. Those who took part know what I’m talking about. For those who don’t know anything that I am speaking of let me explain it to you. I had the great pleasure of meeting a very funny writer by the name of Chris Cluess. He was absolutely hilarious. I think it is a shame that we watch all of these funny sketches on television and really never know who wrote them. As a matter of fact you almost think that the actors wrote them because of such a wonderful ability to act the part so perfectly. Chris is just one of many writers out there who should get some extra recognition for all of the hard work he puts into his job.





He mentioned that he writes for himself. He doesn’t write for the audience, but for himself. I find this idea a little bit different than normal media. Media in general is written for the audience and thrives on the needs of the audience. Comedy is different because as long as you laugh, then the writers have done what they set out to do. He illustrated comedy by picking an audience member and putting him at the butt of a very stale joke. The point of the fact was that by doing something as simple as making an oblivious person look dumb, comedy is achieved. What a dream job of making others laugh. The fact was that it was great!







Comedy is written by writers who only care if it is funny to them. Chris pointed out that his starting in comedy business was by chance and that he was just in the right place at the right time. His career started when one night he by chance ran into Danny Akroid. The story kept me at attention for the fact that Dan Akroid was one of my favorite Saturday Night Live actors. Mr. Cluess continued by telling the audience how he approached Dan. He said “Stop, I’m not gonna hurt you.” What it sounded like to Dan Ackroid was, “Stop, I’m going to hurt you.” Imagine the reaction from a man who heard that. It was these small stories that kept me listening as well as some of Chris’ sketches that we viewed off of YouTube. Mr. Cluess has worked as producer for a few sitcoms as well a sketch writer for MadTV. The media that we viewed was pretty funny. It ranged from a Viagra commercial to a fake cooking show to a missed Christmas comedy skit. Oh wait, I just want to say that what we call skits, writers call sketches. This was also pointed out to the audience, as well as some randomness that could put a smile on anyone’s face.

Walking in to the Black Box Theatre, I didn’t know what to expect. I was a little bit sad that more people did not show up, but to those who didn’t come, I want to say that opportunities that come like this one did, take it. I learned a lot about the comedy industry that I couldn’t have learned anywhere else. First hand is the best. Mr. Cluess, if you read this blog, I just want to thank you for taking your time to talk to Lindenwood University!

Pirating. Is It for the Glory?

Stealing. That’s the word that the government is giving most generation Y computer users. The reason is that we almost expect to get music and movies for free from certain websites. It all started with Napster. This website allowed users to get music for free. It used the internet to send and receive music files and called it sharing. How can you get into trouble for doing what we call sharing something that someone actually pitched in some money for? Generation Y seems to find any way to get around spending money on things. I find it kind of humorous. You can give a friend a cd to borrow but u can’t borrow over the internet with some anonymous person. I am a little confused about that rule. We have the opportunities at the touch of a button that generations before us had never had.






There might be more to piracy than the government gives us credit for. I see piracy as more than just stealing. This might sound real crude, but I almost find it an art to figure out how to pirate some kind of program, music, or movie. I am not going to incriminate myself so I’ll stop right there. I do want to talk about how it has influenced me.




I myself have not ever used Napster. I just have never gotten into that particular program. I have used many of the other programs to avoid getting myself into trouble though. I have found that if I can get something for free, then why should I spend one cent on it. Limewire, Bearshare and Morpheus are just a few of my favorites. You do run into that one problem of getting a bad version of a file, but it’s still free. That is all that runs through your head when you download such a file. Another problem I have run into while downloading is the fact that I get corrupted songs sometimes. This is ridiculous because it can cause a system crash. I have already had this happen to me. I don’t use these programs anymore because of the stupid people out there in the web who think it is funny to file share such a bad data file.



I get the feeling that the government has implanted viruses into these file sharing programs so that we quit such practices. I don’t even know what the difference is between Napster and other file sharing programs and why it is so illegal on one and not another. I’m not a conspiracist, and I don’t want to incriminate myself over the web.

Video Piracy is so simple to do. You only need to know where to look. You can get around anything with a little know how. Generation Y only wants more. We want everything free and we all want it now. If we cannot get it cheap or free we will find out how to do it. The internet allows us to do the impossible. The people who submit all of the stuff out there are thinking the same things we are. We all want to bypass cost. It might cause the media to charge more because of the loss in profits, but as a generation who hates spending money and wants a challenge, we will only get worse about this and will find the loopholes. There are always loopholes. My generation is inventive. Piracy will expand to the next level. I don’t know what that next level is yet and I don’t think we will know yet. Media companies are always trying to protect their investment. People will always crack that code on how to pirate. The interesting thing is, is that they will always tell the world how to do it. Credit is always wanted, but the ability to crack codes is what people love to use. That’s the real truth behind piracy.

Man, She's Hot!!

Man, she is hot! That is what I was thinking when I was looking through all available articles on the keyword, photo-retouching. Here is a question that won’t give a person a second thought. The question is, is do you like looking at an extraordinary picture in a magazine or an ordinary one? The same could go for any other media advertisement out there. Do we care about the way these ads portray people as “perfect”, or maybe we like them because we also want to be perfect. What causes humans to be portrayed as something that they in reality are not? I

know most people in society understand themeaning of a retouched photograph. These touchups are everywhere. They are in every magazine and every commercial out there. They only portray the very greatest of wants in women and men. They can range from anything on the skin to a hairstyle that could never work on their own head. Why stop at hair and skin? Why not have a nice set six pack abs. Why not give these models perfect teeth, plump lips, gorgeous eyes and that wonderful nose. These models are re-mastered to delete all that is unwanted. There could be blemishes, wrinkles, those hated pimples, moles, or anything of that nature. Airbrushing can take away all of this. Computer graphics artists can turn anyone into whatever they want. Overweight to skinny or short to tall, they can change it all.

My problem with making a person perfect is that there are no defects in them. That is my point exactly. The media is giving a normal person something to look up to. No single person can ever be perfect. All of the plastic surgeries in the world cannot ever give a person that perfect Barbie or Ken doll look. Many people have tried and have constantly failed giving themselves an almost impossible lifelong recluse of a dream. Great actors and actresses have thrown away their original look for something that could be resembles as a wax museum model. To tell the truth, the wax models of these famous people whom we all have looked up to some time or another have indeed looked better than the real person.

The problem I believe with all of this body image changing is that when an actor or actress sees themselves as perfect in an image in the media, they long for a perfect image in the real world. All of this perfectness has totally wacked out people in Hollywood. Movie stars are being driven mad as well as our own friends and family. The cost of looking fake has driven the surgeries scheduled sky high. Let’s face it; the day everyone looks like that perfect model on the front of People Magazine, then who will we all look up to. We will already be there. What would be the point of being famous, or good looking? There would be no point. Our defects on our bodies make us who we are. We are imperfect and I believe that’s what makes us perfect and beautiful. I don’t want to say that I don’t like looking at perfect bodies of women, because then I would just be lying. I just don’t want us to dwell over it till we ruin our own lives.

Late Night With Generation Y?














What more relevant issue than to talk about Conan O’Brian and Jimmy Fallon. It might sound somewhat non media Generation Y, to actually talk about these two people. I’m going to have to make you reconsider that. For many years now late night talk shows have given people something to end the day on.


Laughter is a cure for disease, bad days, and even that common frown. Depending on what time you go to bed, you can finish the day with David Letterman, Jay Leno, or maybe Conan.





I even watched Johnny Carson when I was growing up. People do stay up just for these shows. The problem is that we have a new audience popping into the picture. Generation Y. We love extreme and MTV. We don’t want to watch these late shows as much, because most of the jokes that are popped, we just can’t understand. The cure for Generation Y to get injected back into late night television is change. It’s always been like that, and when we are old, change will happen again. The media has to change for our selfish habits of wanting more. They also have to keep the old audience so they won’t lose any viewers to another program.

This comes to my next point of the Saturday Night Live star, Jimmy Fallon. Why was he chosen to play such a big part? He is well liked, loved and easy to laugh at. He is pulling the young back into late night. I took the time to view this new host’s show on Hulu.com. The reason I didn’t watch it on television was that I totally forgot about it. Hulu.com is a wonder if you want to watch pretty much anything on cable.


Watching the Late Show with Jimmy Fallon, I expected to see a juvenile, trying to capture the audience’s attention. I was quite wrong. He did great for a first show. It definitely helped bringing Justin Timberlake into the picture.


They relived an act played on SNL which broke all ice and fidgetiness. I don’t want to sound like I’m writing a commentary about this show, but I really think Jimmy will be around for awhile. Conan wasn’t even known before his show and look how good he has done. This is one big step to bring younger viewers back to the late night show circuit!

Bob Wigginton

Bob Wigginton: A Great News Journalist

Bob Wigginton delightfully came to our Survey of Professional Media class on Friday February 26th. I really enjoyed listening to what he had to say. The principle of the speech was, “how will we know what we need to know without newspapers and journalists?” Bob brought up many good questions, which made me think about the near future. How are we going to know about anything happening in our country without our dependable newspapers? The journalists are almost like a fourth branch to our great government. Mr. Wigginton called these journalists “the watch dogs”. We have the executive branch, legislative branch, the judicial branch and of course “the watch dogs.” Without our journalists we won’t know what is happening out there. We take for granted what information we are receiving and where that comes from. Other countries such as China regulate what the citizens get to hear. America has never been like that, but if we lose our news sources, then it will become that. Investigative journalists work for the people. They keep us safe in the fact that if our government oversteps their boundaries than our journalists reveal their secrets. Mr. Wigginton also talked about black sites briefly. He talked about how a law made by Bill Clinton in the Clinton Administration brought upon something called Extraordinary Rendition.
This gives the power to the government to seek out and question anyone they feel is a liability to the United States as a whole. Without journalists we would not know anything about this causing anyone to be susceptible to this treatment.

Newspapers may not be around forever, but journalists will. The constant need to learn and keep people informed will always be there. We might be reading everything off of the internet soon instead of our hard copies of news print. This will change our lives, but since we are so connected to all of this information, we will also have to change. Change is inevitable. Bob Wigginton stated, “Finding a job will be tough as a journalist, but take it as a challenge.” He said of himself that he found out how important journalism was when he watched the Watergate scandal on television. This kind of informative power is very important. It comes with a lot of responsibility. No journalist has all of the answers, but what they do to try and inform the people should be commended.

Lindenwood University's Sibley Day

Lindenwood University’s Sibley Day


I got the great opportunity to learn a new skill on the first annual Sibley Day. There were many different activities to choose from, but the one that really caught my eye was called “Dynamic Professional Cover Letters and Resumes to Open Doors for Interviews”. I mean wouldn’t you go check something out if you saw so many adjectives in one sentence? As a matter of fact it grabbed my eye faster than any of the other seminars offered. I always thought I had a great copy of a resume, but little did I know I was half way wrong. Mrs. Wehrli had a great power point presentation as a visual aide as well as being very informative. She mentioned that times have changed as far as how to prepare a great resume. There are so many job applications being sent to companies now a days that these companies are flying through these stacks of paper and picking out the best resumes that they can find. The way you write a resume out can possibly get you that job you’ve been looking for or totally “screw up” your chance of any success. To get the best possible chance of reeling in that job, you must follow a few guidelines. The First Impression is so important. How you communicate internally by highlighting your strengths will cause a second look on the employer’s part. Don’t overdo it by using unprofessional language. Example would be, “I Love Children”. Strive for one page. Employers have only so much time to glance over resumes, so they want to see your first impression fast. This means you need to keep your margins equal as well as choosing a neutral color on a bond, sturdy paper, such as white, light gray, or ivory color. You need a strong mission statement that is personal. Do not use I, Me, or My. They are reading about you, and you don’t need to re-tell them that. Always include references. Don’t tell them they are available upon request. They are busy people and they want all your information right there in your resume. Don’t forget to use power verbs when writing your resume. These will only super charge your accomplishments. There are never enough ways to “WOW” an employer.