Self-evaluation is never the easiest exercise to complete. Aside from the obvious bias, the act of looking at oneself from the outside in can be difficult because we are our worst critic. No one ever thinks they sound “right” when they hear themselves in an audio recording. Seldom do you hear someone say: “hey, that’s a great picture of me!” Finally, when was the last time the camera really took off 10 pounds? That’s right, never! So, evaluating the blog creations of my fellow classmates was easy; evaluating my own is akin to cheating. In any event, the course requires us to take a peek at our blog creations and explain why we did what we did, so the following paragraphs will do just that.
The purpose of the blog was a difficult part for me. Understanding that it was a class requirement that we establish a professional presence on the web, I have to admit that I had to play around, a bit, with the style and content. What I ultimately settled on was a combination of lightheartedness and seriousness. Looking back, I could have devoted a little more time to the original title, which was “My 40 Year Degree.” The title was a reflection of (or tribute to, if you will) the fact that it took me almost 40 years of my life to achieve a college degree. Not that I’m ashamed of it because I have often questioned the value or necessity of a college degree. However, I wanted to say to the reader that, yes it took me 40 years, but I’ve made it. I’m only 37 years old, so it is not a literal 40 years of attempting to achieve a degree, but I think that, in a way, I wanted to reveal a bit of sarcasm towards the fact that after being alive for nearly 40 years, and being successful without one, that I’m finally going to officially be recognized by the world as a college graduate. As the class moved along, my contributions have reflected more closely the mood and intent of the class, even though I did make a deliberate attempt to keep the contributions informal.
The design of my blog was simple to achieve. I have a long time experience designing web sites, so choosing how my blog was going to look was not difficult. My approach wasn’t so much how I wanted my blog to look, but how I didn’t want it to look, so I made it a point to stay away from anything one of my other classmates had designed. The book rack background was appropriate since the blog was a class assignment. I also felt compelled to include a picture of myself so that my audience could put a face to the name. By the way, this is something I have always felt was a drawback of the online classroom environment. I think Ashford should include a picture of each student’s face along with their name, especially in the online discussion posts. Hopefully, future improvements will allow for pictures. In regards to the picture I picked to post on the blog, I wanted something that reflected who I am, and that was a significant moment in my life. I’m sure many of the readers don’t realize the irony of the picture, but if you notice closely, the caption says that it was taken as Hurricane Katrina was making landfall. It was still early, and many of the news reports were saying that New Orleans had escaped the worst of the storm. At that point in time, everyone figured that Katrina would come and go, and we would all be returning home, as in years past. This is evident in our smiles. How wrong we were.
As I stated in the previous paragraphs, I attempted to maintain an informal atmosphere to my blog. Informal certainly does not mean crude, so the contributions were professional, but were also easy to read and entertaining. And this played well to my audience: my classmates. The folks who were kind enough to evaluate my blog were very encouraging and complimentary. Their comments reassured me that I had accomplished my goal of recognizing my audience, getting their attention, and successfully conveying my message. One of my critics did recommend that I spread out my writing a little more; that the large paragraphs were a slight distraction. I will certainly heed the advice in the future.
Without a doubt, this course has been one of the most innovative of all. The content and goal of this course indicates to me that higher education recognizes the current wave of technology as being legitimate and necessary to success in future careers. This is especially true of the communications field, where communicating effectively can be achieved in so many different ways. Some of the new mediums were not even conceivable a few years ago. The need to be able to adapt quickly to new technologies is crucial to success in our careers as communicators.
Band of Brothers
Taken the day Katrina made landfall. We had no idea how bad it was going to be. I'm the tall (handsome) one in the middle.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Making House (and Senate) Calls
I am very fortunate to have a job that I truly enjoy. I love to help people. I love to imporve other's lives. I love to make a difference. My current position allows me to do all three.A couple of weeks ago, my collegue and I were roaming the halls of power up on Capitol Hill. We made our way through sleet and snow, going from one scheduled meeting to another, in order to pitch our proposed legislation to several Members of Congreess who we hope will champion our causes.
Needless to say, communicating effectively is key in this environment. Getting in the door is just the first step. What you actually say when you're in there is a whole other story. You have to come prepared to effectively communicate your cause in a very short period of time, and you'd better be ready to answer every question asked. This is true of any setting that involves communicating a message to an audience, especially when you need that audience to do something for you, or on your behalf. Regardless of who your audience is, or what the subject matter may be, you need to always remeber what you learned during your studies in regards to having a clear message, a clear understanding of your audience, and an interesting presentation.
I encourage you to check out the web site I maintain as part of my regular job. It's located at http://www.liuna-ngdc.org. I update the site often so that the folks I represent stay informed on the latest issues affecting their employment. I welcome your comments. Thanks!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Blog Evaluations
Evaluating the blog creations of my fellow classmates revealed that blogs are reflections of the very people who put them together. Regardless of the individual’s experience or their tech-savvy, each person’s characteristics, especially their writing style, eventually emerges from within their tiny piece of cyberspace. As I evaluated each of my classmates, I couldn’t help to engage in an ongoing subconscious comparison of their product versus mine, and to pick certain qualities of their blogs that I wish to incorporate into mine, and others that I would prefer to steer clear from. As required by the assignment, I evaluated each blog for purpose, design, content, audience, and then made recommendations on those criteria.
The first blog that I evaluated was that of Andrea Alpin, located at http://andrea-ridingthecommunicationwave.blogspot.com/. I have shared a few classes with Andrea during my time here at Ashford, so I was a little familiar with her style. Based on Andrea’s bio, and on the content of her blog, I could tell that she’s not a novice when it comes to social applications like blogs. I felt her to be an experienced blogger who, by her own admission, has a “a taste for communications.” Her confidence and free use of different fonts and colors leads one to believe that she has used blogs in the past. She indicated as much in her profile, and stated that she has used blogs to promote herself, and several other different kinds of events or businesses, such as concerts and real estate. Her approach to blogging is very personal. She has a casual writing style, and is not averse to sharing personal stories. Even though her casual style reflects her primary audience (her classmates and professor), I also believe Andrea would easily adjust to writing more seriously or professionally, if the situation called for it.
The second blog that I evaluated belongs to Tisha Daniels, located at http://growingup-tdl.blogspot.com/. Tisha has no profile, so it was hard to gauge the purpose of her blog. Obviously, her blog is required by the course, but were it not for this first-hand knowledge, I would be hard-pressed to understand why she was authoring a blog. However, what Tisha lacks in background, she more than makes-up for it in style and design. Tisha, by far, has the best looking background and design. Granted, Google provided her the template, but Tisha beat everyone to the punch, and had I gotten there first, I would have picked the same template for I feel it is the most visually appealing one of all. As with Andrea, the content is based on the class assignments, but her contributions are thorough and well thought out. Her design and writing style reeks of professionalism. Tisha’s audience is her classmates and her professor, and while she has several followers, she has only received one comment in the past 4 weeks. My recommendations to Tisha would be to include a more detailed profile or bio, and perhaps a picture. Both would add character to an already eye appealing blog. Other than that, I think Tisha is doing a good job.
The last blog I evaluated was Johnny Goolsby’s contribution, located at http://johnnieshope.blogspot.com/. Johnny appears to be a seasoned blogger and web user. She has a very clearly stated purpose, which is “to bring hope to those that dream big!” She identifies herself as a “Christian author and motivational speaker” who uses her blog to promote her values and beliefs. Her blog has the feel of a periodical publication, such as a web magazine. The layout is simple, yet full of information. Her full bio is complimented with a picture, so you can “put a face with the name,” sort of speaking. I think this adds personality to a blog; a quality that allows a reader to get closer with the author. Johnny’s blog even has Google Advertisements on the right side column, which provides a more professional touch to the blog. She also provides links to her own personal web site, and other links of interest. As with Andrea and Tisha, Johnny’s audience is her classmates and professor, but I have a feeling that Johnny is using this blog for more than just her course requirements. With Google Adds and a link to her personal site, she is obviously interested in parlaying this assignment into increased traffic to her web site; a simple way of self promoting your web based presence. Johnny enjoys four followers, and has received two comments in the past four weeks. It’s obvious that Johnny is taking advantage of the full spectrum of blog offerings. Other than some minor cosmetic improvements, I would not change much else. If Johnny is happy, and she’s generating hits, then her blog is working just fine.
The first blog that I evaluated was that of Andrea Alpin, located at http://andrea-ridingthecommunicationwave.blogspot.com/. I have shared a few classes with Andrea during my time here at Ashford, so I was a little familiar with her style. Based on Andrea’s bio, and on the content of her blog, I could tell that she’s not a novice when it comes to social applications like blogs. I felt her to be an experienced blogger who, by her own admission, has a “a taste for communications.” Her confidence and free use of different fonts and colors leads one to believe that she has used blogs in the past. She indicated as much in her profile, and stated that she has used blogs to promote herself, and several other different kinds of events or businesses, such as concerts and real estate. Her approach to blogging is very personal. She has a casual writing style, and is not averse to sharing personal stories. Even though her casual style reflects her primary audience (her classmates and professor), I also believe Andrea would easily adjust to writing more seriously or professionally, if the situation called for it.
The second blog that I evaluated belongs to Tisha Daniels, located at http://growingup-tdl.blogspot.com/. Tisha has no profile, so it was hard to gauge the purpose of her blog. Obviously, her blog is required by the course, but were it not for this first-hand knowledge, I would be hard-pressed to understand why she was authoring a blog. However, what Tisha lacks in background, she more than makes-up for it in style and design. Tisha, by far, has the best looking background and design. Granted, Google provided her the template, but Tisha beat everyone to the punch, and had I gotten there first, I would have picked the same template for I feel it is the most visually appealing one of all. As with Andrea, the content is based on the class assignments, but her contributions are thorough and well thought out. Her design and writing style reeks of professionalism. Tisha’s audience is her classmates and her professor, and while she has several followers, she has only received one comment in the past 4 weeks. My recommendations to Tisha would be to include a more detailed profile or bio, and perhaps a picture. Both would add character to an already eye appealing blog. Other than that, I think Tisha is doing a good job.
The last blog I evaluated was Johnny Goolsby’s contribution, located at http://johnnieshope.blogspot.com/. Johnny appears to be a seasoned blogger and web user. She has a very clearly stated purpose, which is “to bring hope to those that dream big!” She identifies herself as a “Christian author and motivational speaker” who uses her blog to promote her values and beliefs. Her blog has the feel of a periodical publication, such as a web magazine. The layout is simple, yet full of information. Her full bio is complimented with a picture, so you can “put a face with the name,” sort of speaking. I think this adds personality to a blog; a quality that allows a reader to get closer with the author. Johnny’s blog even has Google Advertisements on the right side column, which provides a more professional touch to the blog. She also provides links to her own personal web site, and other links of interest. As with Andrea and Tisha, Johnny’s audience is her classmates and professor, but I have a feeling that Johnny is using this blog for more than just her course requirements. With Google Adds and a link to her personal site, she is obviously interested in parlaying this assignment into increased traffic to her web site; a simple way of self promoting your web based presence. Johnny enjoys four followers, and has received two comments in the past four weeks. It’s obvious that Johnny is taking advantage of the full spectrum of blog offerings. Other than some minor cosmetic improvements, I would not change much else. If Johnny is happy, and she’s generating hits, then her blog is working just fine.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Delivering Bad News Tactfully and Effectively
Confronting an underperforming and insubordinate employee can be daunting. Of all the roles that supervisors perform on a daily basis, telling someone that they are either doing a poor job, or that discipline may be in order, can be an overwhelming experience. So overwhelming, in fact, that many supervisors will avoid confronting an employee until the situation has gotten well out of hand. Sometimes they will even transfer the employee to another functional area, which rids them of the responsibility to correct the behavior, but does nothing to address the problem. Furthermore, a transfer only burdens the new supervisor with the task of correcting behavior that has gone unchecked for so long that the problem becomes twice as hard to fix.
It doesn’t have to be this way. The key to effectively addressing subpar performance and/or behavior is to be consistent and prompt. Performance management is often the most difficult portion of a supervisor’s career. While confronting problems is often something we avoid, supervisors should be trained that the benefits of confronting problem employees far outweigh ignoring them. In the example provided, a supervisor of a mid-sized tech-support company is dealing with an employee who’s received numerous complaints from both customers and coworkers. The employee further shows signs of hostility towards others. A supervisor confronted with this scenario needs to act promptly and decisively. I prefer to invite the employee into my office at the first sign of trouble and confront them directly about their behavior. I would begin with the performance issues. These seem to be the least serious, considering that the employee has demonstrated hostility. Specific instances where his/her performance feel short need to be brought to the employee’s attention, and then provide them an opportunity to explain why they did or didn’t do what they were supposed to do. I would make sure that the employee has the proper training, and if not, I would recommend that they be sent to training. Sometimes a lack of training can overwhelm an employee, and this causes subpar performance and lashing out due to stress. Once the employee has had an opportunity to explain themselves, I would review, in detail, the company’s policy and/or expectations regarding each area in which the employee is not meeting the standards, explaining that this meeting should serve as a counseling, and that further instances of subpar performance will be handled by more serious means, including suspension, and/or termination.
Once I addressed the performance issues, I would deal with the behavior problems. I would explain to them that, unlike performance issues that can be addressed with perhaps more training, disciplinary issues will not be tolerated, especially any direct confrontation or intimidation of other employees and/or customers. It’s important to determine if outside factors are affecting the employee’s behavior. This would be a good opportunity to ask the employee if everything is alright, and if they are dealing with stressful life events, perhaps this would be a good opportunity to offer them the help through a company assistance program. In any event, whether the behavior is justified or not, the employee should leave the supervisor’s office with a clear understanding that underperformance and disciplinary issues will be address, promptly.
It doesn’t have to be this way. The key to effectively addressing subpar performance and/or behavior is to be consistent and prompt. Performance management is often the most difficult portion of a supervisor’s career. While confronting problems is often something we avoid, supervisors should be trained that the benefits of confronting problem employees far outweigh ignoring them. In the example provided, a supervisor of a mid-sized tech-support company is dealing with an employee who’s received numerous complaints from both customers and coworkers. The employee further shows signs of hostility towards others. A supervisor confronted with this scenario needs to act promptly and decisively. I prefer to invite the employee into my office at the first sign of trouble and confront them directly about their behavior. I would begin with the performance issues. These seem to be the least serious, considering that the employee has demonstrated hostility. Specific instances where his/her performance feel short need to be brought to the employee’s attention, and then provide them an opportunity to explain why they did or didn’t do what they were supposed to do. I would make sure that the employee has the proper training, and if not, I would recommend that they be sent to training. Sometimes a lack of training can overwhelm an employee, and this causes subpar performance and lashing out due to stress. Once the employee has had an opportunity to explain themselves, I would review, in detail, the company’s policy and/or expectations regarding each area in which the employee is not meeting the standards, explaining that this meeting should serve as a counseling, and that further instances of subpar performance will be handled by more serious means, including suspension, and/or termination.
Once I addressed the performance issues, I would deal with the behavior problems. I would explain to them that, unlike performance issues that can be addressed with perhaps more training, disciplinary issues will not be tolerated, especially any direct confrontation or intimidation of other employees and/or customers. It’s important to determine if outside factors are affecting the employee’s behavior. This would be a good opportunity to ask the employee if everything is alright, and if they are dealing with stressful life events, perhaps this would be a good opportunity to offer them the help through a company assistance program. In any event, whether the behavior is justified or not, the employee should leave the supervisor’s office with a clear understanding that underperformance and disciplinary issues will be address, promptly.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Social Networks
MySpace may have gotten these off the ground, but Facebook, with all of its troubles, is the most vastly accepted form of social networking in the world. Facebook is now immortalized in film for future generations to see. I haven't seen the film because, in my opinion, Facebook is no more revolutionary than Google or Yahoo, but there it is for everyone to enjoy.
Social networking has a power and appeal unmatched by any other previous social interactive medium. Even at the height of chat-room popularity, nothing compares to the accessibility and appeal of MySpace, and now Facebook. Acceptance is reflected in that most every corporation now has a Facebook page, a move very similar to the late 90's when firms began to create a web presence, signalling the mainstream acceptance of the medium.
Facebook allows users to interact online with other users or entities, and allows the owners of the pages to get a small, un-scientific, gauge of how popular their company or product may be. A company can use the service to debut a new product, a politician can send campaign updates and interact with potential voters, and individuals can post pictures of a newborn baby and share with friends and family.
For all the good, social networking has it's bad points, as well. Some criticize the amount of exposure that children may have to predators. Others can seek to steal valuable personal information in an effort to steal your identity and ruin your credit. Cyberbullying is also made easier with these social networking application, a trend that has seen a spike in recent victims of peer-ridicule.
Like it or not, social networking is here to stay. For all it's bad points, the possibilities are endless. The usefulness as a communication tool is self-evident as more and more reputable companies utilize the medium to communicate with their target audiences.
Social networking has a power and appeal unmatched by any other previous social interactive medium. Even at the height of chat-room popularity, nothing compares to the accessibility and appeal of MySpace, and now Facebook. Acceptance is reflected in that most every corporation now has a Facebook page, a move very similar to the late 90's when firms began to create a web presence, signalling the mainstream acceptance of the medium.
Facebook allows users to interact online with other users or entities, and allows the owners of the pages to get a small, un-scientific, gauge of how popular their company or product may be. A company can use the service to debut a new product, a politician can send campaign updates and interact with potential voters, and individuals can post pictures of a newborn baby and share with friends and family.
For all the good, social networking has it's bad points, as well. Some criticize the amount of exposure that children may have to predators. Others can seek to steal valuable personal information in an effort to steal your identity and ruin your credit. Cyberbullying is also made easier with these social networking application, a trend that has seen a spike in recent victims of peer-ridicule.
Like it or not, social networking is here to stay. For all it's bad points, the possibilities are endless. The usefulness as a communication tool is self-evident as more and more reputable companies utilize the medium to communicate with their target audiences.
Extra, Extra!!! Online Newspapers Web-Magazines.
It was only a matter of time until the newspaper would migrate to the internet. With the broad acceptance of the web, more and more folks rely on the internet as their primary news source. Non-traditional news sources, such as blogs, are springing up all over the place, and traditional publishers like the New York Times, are scrambling to stay in the game. The migration to primarily web-based news has had a tremendously negative effect on print news sources. Circulation is down and some heavyweights from years past are either struggling or don't exists anymore.
As this April 26, 2010, NYT article confirms (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/business/media/27audit.html), "the reality facing many American newspaper publishers continues to look stark, as figures released Monday show deep circulation declines, with average weekday sales down almost 9 percent since the same time last year." Traditional print media is taking a beating, and readers are seeking out 24-news channels and web based publishers as their news outlets.
Companies that initially started out as mere search engines, such as Yahoo! and Google, began offering news as well. With the ability to post news instantaneously, and their free availability, these web giants have pulled the rug from underneath the big boys. Even the New York Times is making the transition to almost exclusively printing on the web, and driving their customers to use the web by charging higher prices for their print versions of the paper.
The web has also provided an outlet for non-traditional news reporting, with private citizens maintaining personal blogs that, sometimes, are more informative and complete than regular news providers. These independent, often non-compensated bloggers, are not constrained by editorial review or an employer. While bloggers enjoy more latitude, they also suffer from a lack of credibility, especially when they write from the fringe of the political or social spectrum.
As this April 26, 2010, NYT article confirms (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/business/media/27audit.html), "the reality facing many American newspaper publishers continues to look stark, as figures released Monday show deep circulation declines, with average weekday sales down almost 9 percent since the same time last year." Traditional print media is taking a beating, and readers are seeking out 24-news channels and web based publishers as their news outlets.
Companies that initially started out as mere search engines, such as Yahoo! and Google, began offering news as well. With the ability to post news instantaneously, and their free availability, these web giants have pulled the rug from underneath the big boys. Even the New York Times is making the transition to almost exclusively printing on the web, and driving their customers to use the web by charging higher prices for their print versions of the paper.
The web has also provided an outlet for non-traditional news reporting, with private citizens maintaining personal blogs that, sometimes, are more informative and complete than regular news providers. These independent, often non-compensated bloggers, are not constrained by editorial review or an employer. While bloggers enjoy more latitude, they also suffer from a lack of credibility, especially when they write from the fringe of the political or social spectrum.
"You've Got Mail"
Remeber how exciting it was to hit "Connect" on the screen prompt, then listen as your computer's modem came to life, smartly dialing the local access number for America On Line (AOL), then the crazy squish-squish-ding noises start to chime as the modem goes into it's "handshake" mode, and then you hear that little message "You've Got Mail." It was all so fun and new. Then spam started to flood your inbox, and you had more erectile dysfunction offers than you could handle, not to mention the "other stuff" that you would get that made you wonder who in the hell got your email address, and why would they think you would be interested in such filth!
The ability to correspond electronically revolutionized instant communication in a way that had never been experienced before. There had been inventions dating back over 100 years that could, technically, be considered instant, such as the telegraph, and the telephone. In fact, the telephone can be credited as the first true "instant" comunicator that was available to the masses. Email, however, took it to a whole other level. Almost a hundred years passed between the telephone and email becoming accepted as a communications means, and nothing in between the two has had the same impact that electronic mail has had on modern communication.
Why is email so popular? Because it managed to make instant communication official and personal. Beleive it or not, it's much more personal when it's written. That's why greeting cards are so popular. When someone actually takes the time to write something, that something has meaning. Mom likes a phone call on Mother's Day, but a card written by someone you don't even know, and sent in the mail just says "I Love You!" Email allows the written word to travel for free and in seconds, unlike the the US Postal service which takes a few days and cost you at least 40 cents to do.
While you can certainly email and just say hi, electronic mail has grown to be accepted as an official form of communicating in the workplace and in the world. It's also had an adverse effect on traditional stamped mail. Almost every professional entity in the world, today, utilizes email as one of their two official methods of communication. Most employers also require their staff to have a work email account, and they utilize email to inform their workforce via Help-desk messages, and mass email bulletins. Email is also accepted as a primary form of contact. Most people will now include their email address and telephone on their business cards, rather than a physical address, because so much of our business is web-based, thanks to the internet. This is true, also, in our private lives when more and more people have a working email address. Those personal email addresses are becoming a sort of social security number. Many web sites will utilize your email address as an identifier and a way to validate that you are, in fact, a real person, and not a spam application. As with the internet, the more wide acceptance these new technologies receive, the more and more you will find people with email addresses. The question is will another technology, like IM or text messaging, ever replace email as the standard-bearer in electronic communication. We'll just have to wait and see.
The ability to correspond electronically revolutionized instant communication in a way that had never been experienced before. There had been inventions dating back over 100 years that could, technically, be considered instant, such as the telegraph, and the telephone. In fact, the telephone can be credited as the first true "instant" comunicator that was available to the masses. Email, however, took it to a whole other level. Almost a hundred years passed between the telephone and email becoming accepted as a communications means, and nothing in between the two has had the same impact that electronic mail has had on modern communication.
Why is email so popular? Because it managed to make instant communication official and personal. Beleive it or not, it's much more personal when it's written. That's why greeting cards are so popular. When someone actually takes the time to write something, that something has meaning. Mom likes a phone call on Mother's Day, but a card written by someone you don't even know, and sent in the mail just says "I Love You!" Email allows the written word to travel for free and in seconds, unlike the the US Postal service which takes a few days and cost you at least 40 cents to do.
While you can certainly email and just say hi, electronic mail has grown to be accepted as an official form of communicating in the workplace and in the world. It's also had an adverse effect on traditional stamped mail. Almost every professional entity in the world, today, utilizes email as one of their two official methods of communication. Most employers also require their staff to have a work email account, and they utilize email to inform their workforce via Help-desk messages, and mass email bulletins. Email is also accepted as a primary form of contact. Most people will now include their email address and telephone on their business cards, rather than a physical address, because so much of our business is web-based, thanks to the internet. This is true, also, in our private lives when more and more people have a working email address. Those personal email addresses are becoming a sort of social security number. Many web sites will utilize your email address as an identifier and a way to validate that you are, in fact, a real person, and not a spam application. As with the internet, the more wide acceptance these new technologies receive, the more and more you will find people with email addresses. The question is will another technology, like IM or text messaging, ever replace email as the standard-bearer in electronic communication. We'll just have to wait and see.
The Internet
Sit back for a second and imagine your life without the internet. Whoa, whoa, whoa, it's ok, it's just an exercise! It's not really gone, I just wanted you to imagine life as you know it without the capabilities of your smartphone, without email, IM, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo!, Google, Wiki-whatever, iTunes, you get the point. The world as we know it in 2011 is much much different than even in 1991, when I graduated from high school. At that time beepers were the thing. Yes, beepers! And then there was the Sony Discman,which was a portable CD player that had replaced the Sony Walkman as the portable music medium of the day! Nowadays, thanks to the internet, you don't even need to physically store music on a handheld device. If you have the Pandora app for your iPhone, you can stream music directly off of the internet and into your ears, so long as you have a connection available - and at least 3 bars!
Most people don't realize that the concept of the internet was around long before it became popular and mainstream, and well before Al Gore tried to claim it as his. Conceived at DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and dubbed ARPANET, Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, it didn't really get traction with the public until the mid 90's when AOL was all the rave. The internet was originally intended so that universities could share research across a network of computers that was connected using a common communications protocol. Now, everyone in the world has access to this technology. The internet not only makes communication possible and more efficient, but it also changes lives by allowing even the most remote location on earth to communicate with the masses. It has to be the most revolutionizing invention of the 20th Century, maybe #2 after the airplane.
Flashback to the first paragraph. The internet is no longer a luxury or novelty. As we get further into the 21st Cebtury, the internet will become a greater and more necessary part of our lives. As education has shown, internet-based applications will become more accepted in the world. Corporations will exploit the far reaching arm of the internet for things that no one has trusted before like voting, medical care, child care, elderly care, self-driving cars, self-piloting airplanes, and many other applications that we have not inherently trusted to computers in the past. This will also lead to huge leaps forward in technology that is used to secure communications and prevent hackers from disabling these systems. In a few years, the internet will be an afterthought that's widely taken for granted - much like electricity, the telephone, television, radio, the airplane, and space travel have become the most revolutionary and underappreciated inventions of the 20th Century.
http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.shtml
Most people don't realize that the concept of the internet was around long before it became popular and mainstream, and well before Al Gore tried to claim it as his. Conceived at DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and dubbed ARPANET, Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, it didn't really get traction with the public until the mid 90's when AOL was all the rave. The internet was originally intended so that universities could share research across a network of computers that was connected using a common communications protocol. Now, everyone in the world has access to this technology. The internet not only makes communication possible and more efficient, but it also changes lives by allowing even the most remote location on earth to communicate with the masses. It has to be the most revolutionizing invention of the 20th Century, maybe #2 after the airplane.
Flashback to the first paragraph. The internet is no longer a luxury or novelty. As we get further into the 21st Cebtury, the internet will become a greater and more necessary part of our lives. As education has shown, internet-based applications will become more accepted in the world. Corporations will exploit the far reaching arm of the internet for things that no one has trusted before like voting, medical care, child care, elderly care, self-driving cars, self-piloting airplanes, and many other applications that we have not inherently trusted to computers in the past. This will also lead to huge leaps forward in technology that is used to secure communications and prevent hackers from disabling these systems. In a few years, the internet will be an afterthought that's widely taken for granted - much like electricity, the telephone, television, radio, the airplane, and space travel have become the most revolutionary and underappreciated inventions of the 20th Century.
http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.shtml
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Communicating Effectively
"In 250 – 300 words describe the essential principles of communication and provide examples of its benefits, forms, and purposes." But, can you really? Can you really fully describe essential communication in such a short span? Maybe not, but I'm not going to complain. Honestly, I haven't always been the best conveyor of messages, and it's not because I lack verbal skills, or that I'm shy, or that I don't have a firm grasp of who my audience is. For me, it's always been about delivery and approach. For a while now I have been involved in the intriguing world or labor relations. There's two sides, you see: there's management, and they don't want to budge one inch; and there's the union, and they're asking for the moon and offering little in return. Of course, each side is fully convinced that they are either right or entitled, and then they all crowd into a room, each side making sure to have as many as the other, and off they go playing an intricate game of "gotcha!" And I fit right in because, well, I enjoy the tension, and I'm good at the "not backing down," and in the end, not much is accomplished. But that was the old me, right? Sort of. I'm getting older, wiser, and less fond of the kill shot. What get's lost in that poor communication setting is the intent of the exchange; we're there to try and come to an agreement in an effort to improve the lives of the workers we represent, and the employees that work for us, and in between the tugging back and forth, the people we're trying to help end up with the short end of the stick. Was it worth it? Not really.
Then 2 years ago I had the privilege of attending a week long course in becoming a certified neutral, commonly know as a mediator. And this wonderful group of 5 people really changed my outlook. These folks took communicating effectively to a whole other level. Not only did they teach me to communicate better, they helped me help others do so, as well. And it was really simple. The mediation process is all about facilitating communication between two parties that have reached an impasse. The most common roadblock to effectively communicating is emotion. Sometimes the parties are extremely passionate about the subject and are entrenched in their point of view. Other times it's a matter of poor communication. Sometimes cultural differences can even be obstacles to communicating effectively, especially when one person does not understand or tolerate the other.
Diane Cohen writes in her weekly blog (http://www.mediate.com/blogs/):
In a recent mediation, it became clear that there was a miscommunication between the parties about an important matter. I asked the listener how he had heard the statement made by the speaker, and asked the speaker what he had meant to say. I then asked each whether they would have changed the way they had expressed themselves or reacted if they had known what the other party meant to say or how the other would hear what they said. The parties suggested and agreed upon ways to avoid such misunderstandings in the future.
The bottom line is that effective communication is the same in every setting: you have to have a source that is sending a clear, coherent, relevant, and interesting message, and you have to have receivers who are actively listening to that message, understand what is being sent, and are interested in the content of the message. That's it. Without those ingredients, no technology in the world will help you communicate. Everything else should take care of itself. This is true whether it's face to face, or via email, or over the telephone.
I've had the opportunity to speak in front of people on many different occasions. The sending and receiving aspects are pretty simple to understand, so I want to concentrate on the relevant and interesting parts. I think these are the most important ingredients in the mix. Perhaps the most important is whether the message you're sending is interesting to your audience. You've all been there, in that boring meeting or class that everyone is playing bobble head, and you're feeling like the end of life as we know it can't come soon enough. I've been there too, on the receiving and the giving end, and I can tell you, it's not pleasant, especially if you're someone like me who's a crowd pleaser. I would rather send it in an email than bore folks to death. Even if it's relevant, and you're audience HAS TO BE THERE, you have to make it interesting. Know your audience. Are they dazzled by fancy PowerPoint slides? Do they like the occasional joke? Are they all about statistics? Whatever it is, play to them. If your presentation is boring, you might as well read them the back of a mayonnaise jar because, let me tell you, they are not listening.
This brings me to what I consider to be one of the greatest speeches in the history of the United States. Picture the setting: Hitler is running rampant through Europe; our ships are getting their butts kicked by the Nazi Wolfpack subs in the Atlantic; our bomber boys are losing more men on daylight bombing raids over Germany than the Marines are losing to ground combat; and you, a young man of barely 20, who otherwise would have his whole life ahead of him; is about to storm the beaches of some place dubbed Omaha Beach, not even knowing if you'll make it off the landing craft ramp, much less up the 100 foot cliffs. And then, the man himself, General George "Old Blood and Guts" Patton, is about to speak, and tell you why you want to go on that beach, and up that cliff, and that you would rather be nothing if you were to miss this opportunity to serve your country. If you've never read the speech, please click. If you've seen the movie Patton, where George C. Scott portrayed the famous General, then you might appreciate it just a bit more. This is effective communication. Here it is: http://www.pattonhq.com/speech.html.
Then 2 years ago I had the privilege of attending a week long course in becoming a certified neutral, commonly know as a mediator. And this wonderful group of 5 people really changed my outlook. These folks took communicating effectively to a whole other level. Not only did they teach me to communicate better, they helped me help others do so, as well. And it was really simple. The mediation process is all about facilitating communication between two parties that have reached an impasse. The most common roadblock to effectively communicating is emotion. Sometimes the parties are extremely passionate about the subject and are entrenched in their point of view. Other times it's a matter of poor communication. Sometimes cultural differences can even be obstacles to communicating effectively, especially when one person does not understand or tolerate the other.
Diane Cohen writes in her weekly blog (http://www.mediate.com/blogs/):
In a recent mediation, it became clear that there was a miscommunication between the parties about an important matter. I asked the listener how he had heard the statement made by the speaker, and asked the speaker what he had meant to say. I then asked each whether they would have changed the way they had expressed themselves or reacted if they had known what the other party meant to say or how the other would hear what they said. The parties suggested and agreed upon ways to avoid such misunderstandings in the future.
The bottom line is that effective communication is the same in every setting: you have to have a source that is sending a clear, coherent, relevant, and interesting message, and you have to have receivers who are actively listening to that message, understand what is being sent, and are interested in the content of the message. That's it. Without those ingredients, no technology in the world will help you communicate. Everything else should take care of itself. This is true whether it's face to face, or via email, or over the telephone.
I've had the opportunity to speak in front of people on many different occasions. The sending and receiving aspects are pretty simple to understand, so I want to concentrate on the relevant and interesting parts. I think these are the most important ingredients in the mix. Perhaps the most important is whether the message you're sending is interesting to your audience. You've all been there, in that boring meeting or class that everyone is playing bobble head, and you're feeling like the end of life as we know it can't come soon enough. I've been there too, on the receiving and the giving end, and I can tell you, it's not pleasant, especially if you're someone like me who's a crowd pleaser. I would rather send it in an email than bore folks to death. Even if it's relevant, and you're audience HAS TO BE THERE, you have to make it interesting. Know your audience. Are they dazzled by fancy PowerPoint slides? Do they like the occasional joke? Are they all about statistics? Whatever it is, play to them. If your presentation is boring, you might as well read them the back of a mayonnaise jar because, let me tell you, they are not listening.
This brings me to what I consider to be one of the greatest speeches in the history of the United States. Picture the setting: Hitler is running rampant through Europe; our ships are getting their butts kicked by the Nazi Wolfpack subs in the Atlantic; our bomber boys are losing more men on daylight bombing raids over Germany than the Marines are losing to ground combat; and you, a young man of barely 20, who otherwise would have his whole life ahead of him; is about to storm the beaches of some place dubbed Omaha Beach, not even knowing if you'll make it off the landing craft ramp, much less up the 100 foot cliffs. And then, the man himself, General George "Old Blood and Guts" Patton, is about to speak, and tell you why you want to go on that beach, and up that cliff, and that you would rather be nothing if you were to miss this opportunity to serve your country. If you've never read the speech, please click. If you've seen the movie Patton, where George C. Scott portrayed the famous General, then you might appreciate it just a bit more. This is effective communication. Here it is: http://www.pattonhq.com/speech.html.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
I Almost Got Away Without Doing This
I never wanted to do it. I've always been puzzled by those that do, and just when I thought I was going to get away without doing this, whoop, there it is! I'm a blogger now. Not by choice or birthright, but because I have to be (if I want to graduate).
It's not that I don't have it in me. God only knows I can definitely type away, ad nauseum, about most anything, especially things that get me fired up like the War on Terror, for example. Over the past few years, I've had a few moments in class (on the boards of my on-line classroom) where my multiple replies to one or several individuals bordered on a shortened version of War and Peace, especially when the subject was emotionally charged. I've just been able to avoid the facebook-twitter-blog social media frenzy that's emerged over the the past few years of posting every single mindless thought or brain fart that comes to mind, that I thought I was Scott-Free. "I just ran out of toilet paper and I'm alone at home." Really?!?! Who cares! "On my way to school, oops just ran over a pedestrian because I was texting and driving... : P...LOLxoxoxo!!!" What? While blogging is the more legitimate and respected of the social media forms, the bloggosphere is still saturated with profane, mindless, immature, rabid, over-the-top wanna be's that bring discredit to the medium. There, I got it off my chest.
On a serious note, this is one of the most interesting assignments, so far, in my college career. As a Communications Major I can appreciate the value of a tool like this. To be able, in a few minutes, to click a few settings and suddenly have a medium by which you can communicate with the ENTIRE WORLD is simply amazing. I would have to wonder how Plato would react to this modern marvel. Even Benjamin Franklin would have blushed at the prospect of an instant world-wide edition of Poor Richard's Almanac, or The Pennsylvania Gazette. So, here's to never saying never. I'm a blogger now. I kind of feel like when I smoked my first cigarette: what's the big deal...cough, cough, yack...!
It's not that I don't have it in me. God only knows I can definitely type away, ad nauseum, about most anything, especially things that get me fired up like the War on Terror, for example. Over the past few years, I've had a few moments in class (on the boards of my on-line classroom) where my multiple replies to one or several individuals bordered on a shortened version of War and Peace, especially when the subject was emotionally charged. I've just been able to avoid the facebook-twitter-blog social media frenzy that's emerged over the the past few years of posting every single mindless thought or brain fart that comes to mind, that I thought I was Scott-Free. "I just ran out of toilet paper and I'm alone at home." Really?!?! Who cares! "On my way to school, oops just ran over a pedestrian because I was texting and driving... : P...LOLxoxoxo!!!" What? While blogging is the more legitimate and respected of the social media forms, the bloggosphere is still saturated with profane, mindless, immature, rabid, over-the-top wanna be's that bring discredit to the medium. There, I got it off my chest.
On a serious note, this is one of the most interesting assignments, so far, in my college career. As a Communications Major I can appreciate the value of a tool like this. To be able, in a few minutes, to click a few settings and suddenly have a medium by which you can communicate with the ENTIRE WORLD is simply amazing. I would have to wonder how Plato would react to this modern marvel. Even Benjamin Franklin would have blushed at the prospect of an instant world-wide edition of Poor Richard's Almanac, or The Pennsylvania Gazette. So, here's to never saying never. I'm a blogger now. I kind of feel like when I smoked my first cigarette: what's the big deal...cough, cough, yack...!
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