Almost 30

I seldom blog because I always think I'm too busy-- so what a more opportune time to sit and write a blog than when I am trying to get my life back in order...

One of my most memorable posts has been about the Ice Cream Man talking about the guy who always seems to have a hold on you no matter what, and oddly enough since that post there have been more reoccurrences of a new Ice Cream Man and that feeling/issue than I'd ever be comfortable revealing.

Over these past few years I have changed and grown in more ways than one, mentally, physically and socially but none more than spiritually.

When I say "get my life back in order" let me not exaggerate things haven't completely fell apart like Chinua Achebe's book or like the main character in a Richard Wright novel, I'd refer my current life status as a Terry McMillan character because shit just isn't going the way I thought it would be.

As I near my 30th year of life on this earth my perspective on things just really has changed and not because I honestly wanted it to but because that is LIFE and looking at my friends around me maybe I am the "New Black Woman": 30 something, no husband, no kids, career driven, multiple degrees, hustling and grinding, responsibilities higher than Mt Everest, lover of wine and trying to get a six-pack on a beer gut diet.

Don't get me wrong, for the most part I want all of those things I don't have-- seriously who doesn't want love-- but how do I truly have it all? It's a common conversation amongst my friends and I (even the married ones) how do I get this, that and the third without seeming greedy, unappreciative, or angry and sadly none of us know.

When I figure it out I'll be sure to blog about it but for now I'm pushing on one crunch at a time, sipping wine and enjoying life as it is... Pray for me ya'll!

Blogs I Love

One of my favorite Blogs has to be TheYBF.com (which stands for Young Black and Fabulous), a site that covers black celebrity news. Besides the fact that I love reading up on the "tea" of celeb gossip, I also love to follow this site because I began working with the creator early on in my career, just as she began her site and to see how far the brand has grown is amazing.
If I had one critique about the site, it would have to be the expanding ads withing the content. It's often flagged by my computer as spam and interrupts my browsing.
Otherwise, I love the site, it's content and layout.

Semester One

It's pretty hard to believe that I am almost finished with my very first semester of grad school and as I work on completing my final paper of the semester, I am intrigued to look back and realize how much as a communications professional we in every day life we take for granted some of the often overlooked aspects of communications.

From the skyscraper model to the understanding of digital convergence, my Introduction to Digital Communications course has left me yearning for more, eager to learn more and anticipating the endless possibilities of integrating these practices into my professional life.

The New Age of Advertisement

So one of the assignments for my most recent class involved researching advertisements and I came across what may have been the most genius ad campaign that I have seen to date.

Coke Zero partnered with Spotify to create this amazing interactive campaign that allowed consumers to not only interact with various types of ads, but also benefit from it and obtain free product. I could probably go on-and-on about how great this ad campaign was but the video speaks for itself!

Check it out here:

Internet Governance

There are in many ways that internet governance can be good and bad. In my class readings the material delved into the world of government regulation and it made me think a bit further to two examples of internet governance.

First is the governing of the internet by communist countries, which brought me to think about the idea of the digital gap. The inability of individuals to view the openness of the world wide web and broad ideas shared on the internet, simply puts individuals in those countries with strict and government regulated internet access on the cusp of the digital gap. Although they are not as left out as those who do not have access at all, they are missing the many opportunities to explore all the web has to offer.

Secondly, which hit closer to home is the idea of fantasy sports being regulated state by state here in the United States. As s player of fantasy sports I find it frustrating that government would take away my opportunity to partake in online fantasy sports.

What do you think about internet governance?

The future of Digital Journalism

In an ever evolving digital world it seems only logical that journalism, which is defined on google search as "the work and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society" would too become digital.

As society continues to rely more and more on the ease of digital mediums, my ultimate hope is that digital journalism, would no longer be looked at as less credible, but as a more reliable source. But, that is not without some necessary improvements including better vetting processes, or ways to better determine what is actual news, gossip, satire and fiction.

Big Data...

I have recently enlisted a client to do a large joint email campaign with a company, and as the company was telling me the requirements for participating I realized... Ahh haa! Data mining is what the infamous opt-in lists are!

The more emails a company has of customers the more valuable those lists become and as my partner organization explained to us that they would only work with lists the same size or better than their 300,000 member list I was flabbergasted.

These emails are important to businesses because it's a way to continuously keep in contact with your consumers while also tracking engagement with the brand, and continuity based on those who continue to opt-in and those who choose to remove themselves from the lists.