Thursday, December 15, 2011

Week 15: Get it Out!

Thank goodness! We have finally reached the end of our Fall semester at CCV. Congratulations to us all! I have mixed feelings about this class and I don't wish to express them in full right now. I can say that I have found college to be a gigantic waste of time and money. The only good thing college has to offer is well written text books, but they are insanely overpriced. The constant tweaking of these books into new editions is unnecessary and ripping people off. I have learned that any moron can go to college and earn a degree. This breaks my heart. I had been led to believe that higher education was a real thing. I am retiring from college upon completion of this semester.

I enjoyed the easy access to online multimedia tools that were mostly free. I also really liked our instructor, Lisa. She was organized and thorough with her teaching methods. Lisa was very supportive throughout the class. I  just wanted to recognize her and let her know that she is appreciated.

I have already begun implementing things I have learned in this class in my everyday life. I am working on a website for my band, The Hitters™. I will post a link once the site goes live.

I need to go sew some gold vests for a long overdue band photo shoot. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.  Priorities are as follows.
1. My three children
2. My health
3. My job
4. My band
5. Keeping House/ leaving house
6. Moving to a tropical island
7. Passing this course before dancing the next number
8. Dropping "college" like a bad baby ( on it's head)

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Week 13: Employing Generation F

Gary Hamel, an author for New York Times wrote a fascinating article on 12 work relevant characteristics,  "Genteration F"-Facebook people will possess. The article compares the clashing views of the Fortune 500 generation and this new web driven generation. It was empowering to see how users control their environment. I loved reading about knowledge being freely given. "Think of all the articles contributed to Wikipedia, all the open source software created, all the advice freely given—add up the hours of volunteer time and it’s obvious that human beings will give generously of themselves when they’re given the chance to contribute to something they actually care about. Money’s great, but so is recognition and the joy of accomplishment."  click to read article
I'm not an advocate for the overall message from this article, which seemed to be; How are you, the corporations, going to buy out this new generation? That being said, the article is still a good read and offers a clearer view of the expectations of Generation F. 

Week 12: The Long Tail

In short, the Long Tail describes the narrowing of option with specification of search.
This idea can be quite useful for any business wishing to promote an obscure or unique item or service. If the searcher knows specific details or "key word" for what they are looking for, their chances of finding exactly what they want are greatly increased. Both business and consumer benefit immensely from the effects of the Long Tail.

An article by Chris Anderson gives some excellent examples of how the Long Tail works. The article highlights the importance of diverse entertainment and product options. Only a small number of people actually seek out mainstreamed items. Robbie Vann-Abdid, the CEO of a jukebox company which offers over 150,000 titles has incredible statistics that prove this point. Out of 10,000 top titles 99% of them are listened to at least once a month. This goes to show that variety and specificity are key elements to success in the ever expanding and abundant, new commerce we operate in.