Semester In Review

Writing for Multimedia was definitely an interesting class, and it taught me a lot about the social media scene on the web. Its something that everyone should have basic knowledge about, since most companies and organizations use these sorts of mediums now to communicate with the public. I will use Writing for Multimedia to make sure I be careful about what I post online, since I thought that was the most important we learned this semester. Every action you take defines what your online persona becomes, so you have to mold it into what you want others to see about you.

I definitely think using twitter will apply to my future job. In the gaming industry, most companies have to constantly post updates on their games and release new info about them to the public, and the fastest way to do that is twitter and the social media sphere in general.

I don’t really think we had to add any assignments to the class, since all the assignments we did encompassed everything I could think of within the multimedia world.

My favorite assignment was the YouTube PSA we had to make for the UW-Whitewater Communications Department. It allowed us to be creative and make something completely on our own (even though the subject matter was boring). It was definitely the hardest assignment, since it had to include so many multimedia elements in addition to a PSA script, but it was worth it in the end.

I liked Kelly Ambrose’s blog the best because it had an attractive visual layout and the blog posts were interesting and full of personality.

Links:

928 Eurogroup Facebook Fanpage

UW-Whitewater Communications PSA

Online Profile

LinkedIn Profile

CometBranding Writing for the Web

Sarah Meaney of CometBranding gave a speech today about social media and how writing for the web is much different from normal print writing. It was quite an interesting speech, showing how people on the web barely even read text on webpages. Instead most online readers scan headlines and look at pictures, especially on the left side. Keywords, short paragraphs, and imagery are all important things to consider when writing anything for the web to make sure your readers read what you want them to, and get your message out there. I thought it was a very interesting speech, and was relavent to anyones success on the web. Always remember to use numericals without writing them out, as people retain numbers much better than text. My favorite point that she made was to use the inverted pyramid style of writing, where all your bang and importance should be done right away with your least important information written last.

The CometBranding website is pretty poorly laid out. The design is definitely nice and it is pleasant to look at, but the layout and information seems to be lost within the pages. They need to make different categories so they can lay out their bullet points in more defined categories, like seen here. I do love the buttons links to all their social media outlets on the right hand side, they are easily identified and are crispy designed. One thing that absolutely breaks the site is how the 2 menu links on the right starting with newsroom go to entirely different webpages, which breaks the immersion and ruins the sites cohesiveness.

She said they were redesigning it though, which is very good to know since the current version seems incomplete or disorganized.

Nestle’s Palm Oil Debacle

Apparently, Nestle has been having a huge public relations issue with its facebook fanpage recently. Greenpeace, who is know to be extreme in its ways of getting attention, produced a video parody of Nestles KitKat Bar. In this parody, they state how a key ingredient in making the KitKat is Palm Oil, which is causing the destruction of rainforests and the endangered species within. The video itself is pretty disgusting and doesn’t hide its distaste. It was soon removed from Youtube, but then soon became viral as users spread it everywhere.

I honestly don’t really know who to blame here, if anyone. Greenpeace is all about saving things, I know that, but to make a video as extreme as that and post it online might have been going a bit too far. The outrage that can be seen on the facebook page is almost ridiculous. People are attacking Nestle at an ungodly rate, and they are having an extremely hard time controlling the situation.

I think the facebook page has now gotten out of hand and the people attacking Nestle are becoming irresponsible. Nestle seems to be doing all it can to control the PR situation, but its now snowballing with the backlash they are receiving. Anything they post on the page is getting torn to shreds. It seems to me that Nestle got attacked by Greenpeace out of the blue, and even though they want to be doing the right thing, this is really a bad move because it makes them seem bad in my eyes as well as Nestle. I feel that Nestle was almost victimized by the Greenpeace video.

I hope in the future they will be more careful about how they handle their PR, and more importantly have a plan to deal with this sort of thing the next time it comes around.

Article Links:

The Facebook Nestle Mess: When Social Media Goes Anti-Social

Nestlé Takes a Beating on Social-Media Sites

Nestle’s Facebook Page: How a Company Can Really Screw Up Social Media

Nestle mess shows sticky side of Facebook pages

Nestle Official Facebook Fanpage

“What Happens in Vegas stays on Facebook” Impressions

I recently attended a presentation led by Emily Lenard from Wired Wisconsin and Katie Felten from MKE Live that talked about the effects of social media on how we present ourselves to the world, especially in regards to employers looking at our online presence.

The presentation started off with Emily Lenard talking about how we should beware of what we post on facebook, and she showed us many different ways to manage our privacy settings within the facebook interface. Everything from what groups you join, to what pictures you’re tagged in all have to be closely monitored because of employers looking at your account.I thought the bit about false tagging in photos was pretty important, since just about anyone could falsely tag you as someone else to ruin your reputation.

The presentation then shifted gears when Katie Felten came on and started talking about how crucial Linkedin was in the professional world. I would go as far as to say that Linkedin is the business worlds facebook. She went in-depth on many of the features included in Linkedin, such as connections and groups, and gave us many tips on what we should and shouldn’t write on our portfolios. When she started talking about recommendations, I thought it was important to note that you have to be very careful who you request them from, because if you don’t know the person well they could lash back at you.

Students that are looking for a career need to really be thinking about what they are doing online, and they have to set themselves up to look like they have a unique personality without being a complete wacko. Keep it professional and don’t friend everyone!

I thought the presentation had good information on a whole. I could’ve gone without all the in-depth facebook demonstrations, she should have concentrated on the idea that facebook is looked upon by everyone. I liked the Linkedin part much better, and really thought it gave out good tips to creating your online persona. It was all relevant to the audience and a good choice of events.

Customer complains about theatre, hilarity ensues.

Recently, a customer attending the St. Croix Falls Cinema 8 near her home had an unpleasant experience at the theatre and decided to send a complaint email to the theatre upper management. The VP soon followed suit and sent an email back, and the whole affair ended up being caught by the news because of how aggravated and hateful the emails are. The VP said things like “Drive to White Bear Lake and also go fuck yourself”, which seems very inappropriate for a business response.

On that note though, the initial customer email was complaining about things that were mostly irrelevant and were complaints for the sake of complaints. The only logical complaint was how there was a ticket check while the movie was running. The rest about not accepting cash cards or credit cards just seems hateful, because there are still many establishments that don’t accept certain payments. I think the customer was out of line because of the way she stated her complaints. She could’ve been more constructive or just said “Be aware these affect your customer’s more then anything else.” The VP’s response was unorthodox as well, but its a response to the initial unorthodox email, and an apology was sent anyways.

I think things like this aren’t really acceptable use of facebook. Its meant to be a social network to connect with others, not a place to start a huge complaint/boycott group and get a mass following. Do these people think there special? Incidents such as this happen every day and they seem to just want some recognition, so they use facebook as there outlet. Its sad that groups or fanpages of this nature are even created. Frankly, facebook execs should review groups that are made and disapprove or filter out ones that are boycotts or complaints. They just aren’t constructive or network building in the end.

Links:

Customer Fanpage
VP Fanpage
What happened?
The emails

BMA Lightning Round – Impressions

I recently attended the BMA Lightning round at the Eisner Museum in Milwaukee. It was an event that was supposed to help people build there interviewing and resume skills to try and find a job better. I was impressed with how well the event ended up working as a whole. The resume reviews they held gave important pointers, and the social media reviews helped me sort out my online profiles. The only part I didn’t like was the speed, mock interviews. They just seemed too forced and on-the-spot to be of any real use to critic your true interviewing skills. They still gave good points to work on in a general basis though.

Over the course of the event, I met quite a few people, but the two that helped me the most were Laura Huaracha from Carthage College and Ben Olson from CGS Premier. Mrs. Huaracha gave me some important pointers on the interview, mainly that I was quite twitchy and looked nervous despite my great information given. Mr. Olson gave me awesome info about resumes, mainly that they have to be flashy (without being crazy) and rattle off bold points right away to catch the readers attention. They won’t read anything if you don’t get them right away!!

Overall the event is something that I would probably never go to on my actual free time, but it is definitely something I would recommend to those that are really in a rut when it comes to job interviews or resume building. They give good information that can be used no matter where you go, but it is also a little too general for my tastes since there isn’t much time to do the stations. If they allowed more time for each station or someone allowed more personal looks then it would have been much better.

Heres some links of the event:

Eisner Musuem – Where the BMA took place.

BMA – Organization that held the event.

People I met:

Carthage College – Laura Rodman Huaracha

CGS Premier – Ben Olson

Mashable Articles

Microsoft Outlook to Add MySpace and Facebook Integration

Microsoft Outlook, the age old email client designed by Microsoft, is finally adding Facebook and Myspace integration onto the interface. Using a new feature called Outlook social connector, Linkedin, Facebook, and Myspace feeds and messages can be received right into your Outlook email inbox.

I hope that they pursue this further, not only integrating social media but streamlining the interface overall as well. Social media really seems to be a necessity in almost all communication programs, so its nice to know Microsoft is staying current with these updates to its oldest programs.

5 Ways to Avoid Sabotaging Your Personal Brand Online

1. Don’t ignore brand mentions

Listen to what others say about you, and beware of the viral nature of the internet.

2. Don’t spread yourself too thin

With all the social media outlets out there, just remember to keep yourself focused and don’t overwhelm yourself by using too many social media websites.

3. Know your audience

Remember who your trying to impress or what your goals are. Don’t accept just anyone into your social network, make sure you make decisions based upon your future.

4. Limit self-promotion

Don’t over-promote yourself, you’ll seem self-centered and many people will start ignoring you completely.

5. Be consistent

Make sure you create a unified portfolio and image of yourself.

I think these 5 tips are important in realizing that people look at your online presence for work and on a daily basis. Just be careful how you create yourself online.

HOW TO: Use Social Media to Find Black Friday Deals

Using twitter, facebook, and other social media to find black friday deals has never been easier. Companies are uploading flyers like crazy over all the different social media networks, so you no longer have to wait for snail mail or email. Make sure to follow them at #blackfriday on twitter or watch your facebook feeds if your following any companies.

I actually used this myself to find many black friday ads last year and its such a huge benefit to receive the quick updates. You’ll find lots of sweet deals!

Case Study – Dell Hell

“Welcome to Dell Hell” used to be one of the common expressions regarding Dell’s company and quality back in 2005. Online forum posts, blogs, and emails were going around about how Dell’s awful customer support and unreliable computers were disappointing thousands of customers. “Dell shut its general customer forums… which should be the place for customers to help each other” (Jarvis 2005). This obviously did not bode well for Dell, as consumers were swiftly getting a severe negative brand perception. It was getting to a point where the company was suffering greatly from the blogs and other social media that were bashing their products. The problem is that most companies do not realize that these online rants about the products are usually based upon truth. Dell smartly realized that ignoring social media was not the correct route to take. Instead, Dell began embracing their community, and Dell Hell soon faded away as the consumer base grew fiercely loyal once again.

Dell then created Direct2Dell and Ideastorm, two blogs dedicated only to customer support and feedback. This allowed Dell to access consumer thoughts and complaints quickly and directly. Using social media, specifically blogging, as a means to reach their consumer base, they can see all the issues their products are having in there true form. I honestly think Dell was extremely intelligent for accepting the way the world works now and using blogging to their advantage. This fact alone allowed their company to turn around and create on of the most loyal fan bases around. If they hadn’t acted quickly to the negative perception they were getting, Dell could’ve been a thing of the past. Its surprising just how much social media can affect a company on the sole basis that consumers can speak freely.

Heres some articles that talk about Dell’s turnaround.

http://nowisgone.com/2007/10/18/dells-incredible-turnaround/

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/oct2007/db20071017_277576.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_top+story

http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/direct2dell/archive/2007/06/16/18397.aspx

The new “Apple Tablet” could change how we read

If anyone reading this wasn’t aware, Apple just revealed its newest project, the Apple Tablet. Its essentially a enlarged version of the Ipod Touch, but with more power and capabilities closely relating to the Mac OSX.

Well recently in an article at Gizmondo, word got out that Steve Jobs was getting in touch with certain newspaper publishings, specifically the NYTimes, and magazines in what might be an effort to bring these reading materials on the go through the Apple Tablet. It was mentioned that certain textbook publishers such as McGraw Hill and Oberlin Press were working with Apple to even get school textbooks onto their new device.

I think this has incredible potential. Even though the Apple Tablet could be seen as pointless because of devices like the Amazon Kindle, you have to remember that the multi-touch environment that the Apple Tablet brings to the table would make it easier to become an extremely mainstream product. Knowing Apple, their marketing on this new beast will be intensive and appeal to the masses, so its all the more interesting to see how something of this magnitude will turn out.

I honestly think that something like this would benefit students and teachers alike. It would make acquiring textbooks much easier, with much less paper waste and easier portability since every textbook would be on one device. Obviously its a little early to be making these assessments, but its entirely possible that Apple could be the one to pull this kind of project off. We’ll have to wait and see how this will evolve as more announcements are made regarding the Apple Tablet.

Who am I? No Really…

I, Nicolas Picouet, have quite the dilemma. As I currently move through college to try and pave my future, I can’t help but think that even though I know what I want to do with my Multimedia Major and Advertising Minor, I still feel that unforeseen consequences will arise once I’ve finished my studies. Nevertheless I still press on through the peaks and valleys of college as I try to find my place in life.

Most recently I’ve had much success with my Actionscript 3.0 programming for Adobe Flash. I have actually developed a few successful games, the one most recently being The Gun Game, with a sequel now in production. My partner Chaz, from FlashChaz.com, and I have been working diligently on The Gun Game 2, and are very excited with its progress. Developing games has always been a dream of mine, and I’m glad to be working with such a talented artist to finally create things that others can enjoy. Its funny how much criticism you get online when the games themselves are free, but I take it all as feedback so that I can make future projects that much better.

Other then my actionscript projects, I do play many games on my free time. While I enjoy playing games, I also play a variety of them because I love to see all the different concepts and ideas that are out there, and it allows me to see how things are done when professionals are behind the wheel. I love watching movies, and am into many different types of anime such as Samurai Champloo or Cowboy Bebop.

As you can tell I love all forms of interactive media and entertainment, so most of my time outside of school is spent immersing myself in these elements. Hopefully my college studies can lead me into a career in one of these fields.

For more information on The Gun Game 2, check out www.flashchaz.com.

If you have any comments or questions, just use the comments section below.