23
Apr/13

Social Media Reporting and the Boston Bombing

by under journalism, New Media, social networking

Source: scriptingnews

Like most people last week, I was glued to the TV and my Twitter feed. I was heartbroken by what happened at the Boston Marathon — seeing so many people lose limbs and three people lose their lives. I taped “For Boston” to the back of my running jacket on Tuesday, and ran on Wednesday in support of the national “Run for Boston” campaign.

The last time I was that glued to the news was on Sept. 11, 2001. I was a college junior in Stevens Point, Wis., and had yet to realize journalism was my passion. Today, I have my masters in journalism, teach journalism and am passionate about the craft. I get excited when I see good journalists doing awesome work, and I get frustrated when I see others screwing it up. Last week’s events proved to be another lesson on how to report breaking news in the world where Twitter is everyone’s news feed.

People were tweeting from the scanner leaving the Boston Police to ask numerous times for people to stop. Trained journalists know this – though some were still doing it. Matthew Keys who was social media reporter for Reuters, (also lost his job this week), wrote about his use of Twitter and using the scanner for reporting.

Social media is deeply embedded in breaking news. It can’t be ignored which means journalists need to understand the best way to use it. I was impressed with how the Boston Police were using Twitter. They embrace it as a form of communication, and it was cool to see. In an effort to teach my students the way to use social media in breaking news, I’ve aggregated a few articles about what happened last week in regards to journalism.

Here’s my list.

Have you read a good article that touches on this topic? Share it!

, , , , Comments Off more...

10
Apr/13

PRSSA New Media Conference

by under New Media

I had the opportunity to present to the University of Wisconsin chapter of Public Relations Student Society of America’s annual conference. Former student of mine, Garth Beyer, who is now a student at UW and involved in this group, asked me to present about social media. I gave the presentation “Advanced Social Media.” The goal of this presentation was to teach aspiring PR professionals the best practices for managing brand social media and online reputations.

I arrived to Grainger Hall in time to hear Theo Keith speak. – reporter for WISC-TV, Madison, Wis. I have raved about WISC-TV and its reporters’ use of social media in the past. Needless to say, I was ecstatic that this group of students asked someone from that news channel to speak about ethics and social media. If anyone in the local market can give an insightful and informative talk, it’s WISC-TV reporters.

Theo gave a lot of first-hand examples of reporters sitting on information, verifying information, and using information on social media. He kicked off the presentation in a great direction.

Next, I was up to speak. And I started with why we need to use social media – not like this group really needed reminding. Then I covered the tools to use, why and how to use them. And of course, I had to cover the brand nightmares … ahem Kenneth Cole and KitchenAid.

Like Theo, I encouraged the students to live tweet the presentation. When I had the opportunity to check the tweets after the presentations, I was impressed. A lot of my tips were tweeted by a handful of the students. And I received a lot of great feedback from them.

I had a blast, and I’m hopeful the PRSSA students enjoyed it as well. It seemed like it from the tweets; check out #uwconf.

Thanks again to UW PRSSA and Garth for allowing me to be a part of this conference.

, , , , Comments Off more...

27
Feb/13

Are you happy at your job? These people are.

by under Working

Throughout my career, I’ve had the opportunity to work for some great people and not-so-great people. In my experience, job happiness usually comes from how a boss treats you, the atmosphere, praise and challenging work. I decided to do a informal poll of my Twitter followers to see how many people say they love their job. LOVE it. I was surprised by the responses and enthusiasm. Here are just a few of the many positive responses I received:

Nora Teele Twitter

 

Katy Sails Twitter

 

Mike Martin

 

Stephanie Schreier Twitter

 

Do you LOVE your job? If so, what makes you love it?

, , Comments Off more...

9
Feb/13

The year of the cloud

by under New Media

Photo: Christy Harper

This is the year of cloud computing according to a Forrester Forrsights Hardware Survey from the third quarter of 2012. More businesses are adding a line for cloud computing in their budgets, with 46 percent of those surveyed said they plan to invest in it in 2013.

Two of the biggest concerns that come with the cloud are security and cost. It was often assumed that to get a highly secure infrastructure, the more money it costs a business. If a business didn’t invest in that infrastructure, then it was at a high security risk. However, this is no longer the case.

ReliaCloud is an Infrastructure-as-a-Service cloud offering, provided by TDS Hosted and Managed Services. This company provides security from multiple angles. It has what it calls nine-pillared security measures focusing on physical and digital protection methods. Each customer is given a specific virtual local area network and firewall. In addition to its electronic protection, its data centers have various zones, 24-hour guards and check-in requirements.

ReliaCloud manages various aspects for a business so that they can focus on their core needs. For example, ReliaCloud handles databases, routers and firewalls so their customers don’t have to. In addition, customers experience zero downtime during upgrades, power outages or when other issues arise.

For businesses to understand how much the cloud is going to take up in their 2013 budgets, it’s important for them to understand how they plan to use it and monitor that over time. According to James Staten, Forrester Research in his blog from December, businesses “need to actively model the cost profile of applications, monitor their resource use and adjust accordingly.”

The only successful way for a business to use the cloud is to understand how they are using it in the first place. ReliaCloud understands the importance of this information and provides its customers with audits. “We recognize that customers need visibility into our control practices and to be allowed to audit our practices themselves,” according to ReliaCloud’s website. ReliaCloud offers three options: public, private and hybrid cloud computing.

How do you use cloud computing? Do you plan to invest in the cloud in 2013?

, , , , Comments Off more...

10
Jan/13

How much is too much information on social media?

by under social networking

Photo: Maureen Alley

I often second guess how much information I share online to keep myself and my family safe. When I take photos, I make sure to crop them so there isn’t too much personal detail showing – such as my TV, or the look of my living room, etc. I rarely post pictures of my son because I want to maintain his privacy – though as he gets older it’s getting harder for me to keep his cuteness to myself. Lately, I’ve been reflecting on the act of privacy/staying safe and how women approach social media.

I don’t want to delete my accounts or stop using them because I’ve made such valuable connections – both personally and professionally. I’ve met new moms, other teachers, journalists, and more because of Twitter. I’ve learned a lot; I’ve been offered gigs because of my connections that I wouldn’t have otherwise been able to develop. The value of my Twitter connections is invaluable to me. But at the same time, where’s the line of sharing too much information? I wanted to find out how other women handle their social media, specifically women who are doing social media right. So I turned to Sarah Evans, Kate Gardiner, Krista Ledbetter and Abby Draper. Check out what they have to say about using social media and staying safe. They give some great tips.

What practices do you follow to keep yourself safe?

, , , 2 Comments more...

11
Dec/12

Reflecting on another semester

by under journalism

Source: Dodge & Burn

I always find myself reflecting on the semester this time of the year. There are two weeks left in the semester – but my students are focused completely on their final projects now. This week and next is dedicated to their final project presentations. I am very much looking forward to these presentations.

This semester I taught Feature Writing at Madison College (formerly Madison Area Technical College) in Madison, Wis. I immensely enjoyed teaching this course and seeing the passion for journalism come out of my students throughout these past four months. I had amazing guest speakers: David Douglas (broadcast journalist), Kim Schmidt (business-to-business print journalist), and Lauren Furhmann (investigative journalist). Each of these speakers gave interesting and different perspectives on the journalism field. It was fun to see my students get excited about the field after each speaker. Shout out to David, Kim and Lauren for taking the time to talk to my students.

The course is four credits and required a lot of the students this semester. I warned them on day one: This class is four credits, it’s a lot of work with high expectations. Now near the end of the semester, it’s so great to see how invested the students were with their research. The topics they came up with for the various articles was fun to see and even more enjoyable to read. I wish I owned a publication so I could publish them all.

I’ve said it before but I absolutely and utterly love teaching. I’ve never done anything in my career that has been so rewarding as teaching. I feel honored to do something that I love and to work with such talented students. The education goes both ways as I learn a lot from my students as well. I often leave assignments somewhat open to interpretation for a few reasons. I want to encourage my students to make the assignment their own – to do something with it that they will enjoy. I also want to encourage creative and critical thinking about assignments. And what often is the results is me learning something from them. For example, a handful of my students made Tumblrs for their online components to the profile articles they wrote. It’s cool to see them come up with tools that enhance their reporting – especially online since so many publications are struggling how to incorporate the web in their properties.

So here’s to another great semester. Cheers!

, , , , , Comments Off more...

19
Oct/12

Stop the outrage that PRINT IS DYING

by under journalism, New Media, social networking

This week Newsweek announced that it was moving to a digital-only format. With the news came tons of freakout within the media and journalism industries that “PRINT IS DYING.” And my response, “So what?” [Disclosure: This post is in response to the freakout, not the back story behind why Newsweek is moving to digital-only.]

Publishers have been freaking out and yelling this saying for years. But again, the media industry just doesn’t get it. Why is moving away from print a bad thing? Why does it mean consumers will stop demanding good journalism? This comes from the same people who don’t get social media, digital practices, and the benefits of the Web in general.

I own a smartphone, iPad, nook and laptop. I consume all my information on these products. I still want articles that include good reporting and research. I still have outrage when an article is badly reported and/or written. The way I’m consuming content has changed, not the type of content I want. And that’s where the industry misses the point. People want to consume information in different ways.  You have to deliver content where people consume it, which is ever changing.

Consuming content in education

I’m taking a continuing education course at Madison College to maintain my teaching certification. In this course, the discussion about using social media in class has become a hot topic among many of the teachers. The discussion recently turned to how do you get social media assignments/discussions to be successful with students. The same concept I mention above applies here too.

In my experience, not many of my students are on Twitter, however I’ve seen this number increase over the past two years. The ones who are on the site, prefer to interact with me there vs. email.

In my approach, I use Twitter as another way to provide information to my students. While there’s a lot of talk about younger generations using social media, it’s still mostly used by people in their late 20s – 40s. You have to provide information in many different areas so your students can consume it how they prefer to consume it.

Move beyond the outrage that PRINT IS DYING, and focus on providing your content where you users are and where they want to receive your content. It’s actually exciting when you get rid of the outdated outrage. Embrace it!

, , , Comments Off more...


27
Sep/12

How to know when freelancing isn’t for you

by under Working

A handful of happy and successful freelancers shared the secret to their successes in Fast Company’s latest article “How to be a Successful and Happy Creative Freelancer.” The Fast Co. article has some great quotes including this one by Tom Christmann: “I’d say don’t start freelancing until you’ve done at least five years in the business you’re freelancing in.” While I consider myself a happy and successful freelancer, there needs to be more talk about who is right for freelancing.

Many people get caught up in the idea of freelancing – the working from home, in your jammies, at your own schedule, etc. Yes, those are great perks. But that’s not what freelancing is about. If you go into freelancing for those reasons, you will not succeed. You will succeed however, if you:

… easily and smoothly transition from one task to another, back to the first task. Those who need to stay on one task without shifting gears until it is complete will have a hard time juggling all the projects you need to maintain a reliable income.

… but aren’t distracted by household duties. If the dirty dishes on the counter bug you so much that you can’t concentrate, then this gig is not for you.

… aren’t reliable on in-person, face-to-face interaction to get through the day. This often includes people in the public relations industry who thrive on working closely with people in person. As a freelancer, you can go days if not weeks without meeting with a colleague in person.

… feel energized by the challenge of finding work

… organized and detail oriented. Bookkeeping, invoicing, tracking, filing, and basic office management sometimes take up more time than the actual work.

… know how to promote yourself as a brand, and believe in your work. No one will be your cheerleader more than yourself.

… want to learn and are proactive about learning new skills. No one will make you learn new skills since you are the boss so you have to be aware of latest technology and trends. You will continue to be in-demand by clients if your skills are current.

If you meet all these criteria, then you have a great chance at being happy and successful.

, , , 2 Comments more...

17
Aug/12

Sometimes You Have to Take a Risk

by under journalism, New Media

I’ve been in my new routine for two months now, and I’m loving it. I spend most of my days as Content Manager for WoodIQ.com, CountertopIQ.com and FinishingIQ.com, but I also do other consulting/freelance as well as teaching this fall. I have to say, I love that most of my time is managing web editorial instead of being tied to print. There is so much more freedom with the web. Even though I’ve been a web/content geek for a while, I’m really seeing this more as I am much more focused on it in my daily tasks.

When I started with the NueMedia’s brands, I was taking over for a colleague who decided to pursue other business opportunities. It was a huge risk on my part. I was leaving a full-time pay check to jump over to a privately-owned venture that is relatively new (been around for two years).  This was going to be a big change. All I could think about was the risk involved.

I have an eight month old who I still send to daycare a few hours every day because I believe it’s important for him to socialize and learn in that setting. But that also means, I have the expense of an eight month old, plus daycare expense. Which if you saw the news this morning, daycare costs more than the average rent expense. It’s not cheap that’s for sure.

But with this risk, came the possibility of something very exciting. And I kept thinking about that too. I would be able to work part-time, allowing me to spend more time with my son. Instead of seeing him three hours a day because I was working full-time, I could now spend my afternoons with him. I could actually get the house clean, keep food stocked in the house, and do laundry. Who knew that was possible?!

In addition to the perks, I was excited to be part of something that was new, growing and positive. After speaking with the president and CEO a few times, I quickly realized we see the world and media the same way. This is the future. We were no longer tied down by print pages. We could adjust content based on what our readers are ACTUALLY reading because we can see the clicks. We can provide concrete, accurate information on what our advertisers are generating by our visitors. It’s just smart business. And to top it off, this industry is very technical with very smart people writing for the properties. I love B2B because it’s all about business, learning, growing and succeeding. I could learn so much by jumping to this property.

But then again, it was a huge risk. Huge. I’ve had a few bad experiences in the past where I accepted positions that I thought were going to be exciting, and allow me to grow. And then it ended up being a train wreck. The bosses were horrible, the atmosphere was extremely constricting, the management sucked, and I quickly regretted my decision.

I could not have this happen again. For one, I didn’t want to go through that experience again. I had been there twice in my career and it sucks. And two, I had my son and my family to think about. I wanted to move somewhere I would be for a while, that I could grow, learn and succeed.

So for me, I had to seriously consider the risks, the opportunities, and the possible rewards. Two months in and I’m glad I took a risk.

, , , Comments Off more...

Copyright Maureen Alley
iDream theme by Templates Next | Powered by WordPress