This is the end... for now !

For our last blog posted in this class we have the chance to pick our own topic. I would like to focus on just how important it is to realize that marketing, public relations and advertising is constantly evolving and changing. It is crucial to continue to update your tactics and practices. You inevitably will fall behind if you stick to the traditional rules.
This semester in this New Media-New Markets class we studied how social media has grown rapidly over the past couple of years. Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Blogger - all of these sites are blazing a new path in the world of marketing and pr. With each new media age you must follow new marketing strategies.

The book we read during this semester was by David Meerman Scott titled The New Rules of Marketing and PR. His book is a great guide to getting adjusted to the new rules! It is easy to follow and quite informative. In chapter 2 he listed the new rules for marketing and pr - including:

1) Marketing is more than just advertising
2) PR is for more than just mainstream media audience
3) You are what you publish
4) People want authenticity, not spin
5) People want participation, not propaganda
6) Instead of causing one-way interruption, marketing is about delivering content that at just the precise moment your audience needs it
7) Marketers must shift their thinking from mainstream marketing to the masses to a strategy of reaching vast numbers of undeserved audience via the web.
8) PR is not about your boss seeing your company on TV. It's about your buyers seeing your company on the web.
9) Marketing in not about your agency winning awards. It's about your organization winning business
10) The Internet has made public relations public again, after years of almost exclusive focus on the media.
11) Companies must drive people into purchasing process with great online content
12) Blogs, online video, e-books, news releases, and other forms of online content let organization communicate directly with buyers in a form they appreciate
13) Social networks allow people all over the world to share content and connect with people and companies they do business with
14) On the web, the lines between marketing and PR have blurred
(Scott, 2011)

Read these rules, learn them and practice them. But do remember that these will most likely be updated and changed over the next few years.

I myself have set a goal of working in the music public relations field once I graduate. Its a difficult field to break into, but its not impossible. With the relationships I build and the people I work with here at the House of Blues I'm hoping to make connections and get the experience needed.
Public Relations, in music specifically, has a massive focus on social media. Bands have set up band pages on facebook and myspace. You can stream music, post photos, make major announcements and reach all of your fans all with the click of a button. The amount of social media use may directly relate to your success. People have become accustomed to looking for new music online. It is an effective andcost worthy and decision to build yourself an online profile.
With my current job, we have a facebook page for our Foundation Room which is managed by myself and the manager of the space. We use the site to build events, announce new shows and gain interest in our location. It is important to always be updating the site, listing information people want to see and keeping the site fresh. We also have a company wide twitter account that hold ticket giveaways and find out what shows people want to see come to the area.
The course has also taught us how to build a sturdy website, what sort of content is required and the key behind using HTML codes. Dreamweaver and photoshop do make the process one million times easier but it never hurts to be able to write code and its a great resume booster. The extra time in class to work on our websites was great as I do not have access to that specific computer software anywhere else. Being able to ask questions and being shown the process is the best way for me to learn.
When i check back in on this blog in about a year I hope to have the good news that I am the director of public relations for a major band, touring the world...hey a girl can dream ...right ?

e market paper

Contiki vs. Topdeck

http://contiki.com/  vs.  http://www.topdeck.travel/

After I graduated from college in 2004 all I wanted to do was see the world, it was a time to travel, explore and experience other cultures. A friend and I decided to pick up our lives and move to Sydney, Australia for a few months and that is just what we did. I believe that everyone should have the experience of traveling, it really opens up your eyes and you learn so much from visiting another country. As exciting as it is, traveling can also be stressful, expensive, time consuming and all around nerve-racking. That is when you turn to travel companies; those that will help plan your itinerary, book your flights and secure accommodations.

            Topdeck and Contiki are both travel companies that help their customer’s book vacations all over the world. They are each other’s top competition in the travel industry. Both have quite a specific target market; 18-35 year olds. Contiki’s visitors mostly range from 25-34 year olds, have graduated from college or graduate school, typically females, do not have any children and browse the site from work (Alexa.com, 2011). The majority of those who visit the site in the United States are Asian and make between $30,000 - $36,000 per year (Quancast.com, 2011). Topdeck has very similar statistics. Their audience average age range is 25-34 year olds, college and graduate school graduates, female, no children, however they do most of their browsing from school (Alexa.com, 2011). The site does not have enough traffic for Quancast to survey so there is no information regarding average income and nationality. Contiki has the most traffic coming from Pakistan where Topdeck is most popular in Australia.

According to the 2010 Digital Marketer: Benchman and trend report, adults 18-34 prefer social sites as their main source of information. Approximately 75% of 18-34 year olds research products online before they make a purchase and 65% of that segment go to the internet first when looking for travel information (Experian.com, 2011). Many of both Contiki's and Topdeck's consumers are online, using the internet quite often. 87%-95% of internet users fall between the age of 18 and 49 years old. 78% of all women use the internet. 89%-94% users have graduated from college of graduate school and 50% of all Americans on the internet buy or make travel arrangement online (PewInternet.com, 2011).Their customers are most certainly plugged in and are online, but do the companies have the ability to sufficiently reach each of their very important potential buyers?

            The 18-34 target segment is a very lucrative and profitable demographic. There are two key facts about this desirable market: 1) they are tech savvy and 2) they spend a significant amount of time online (Sun, 2006). It is crucial that both Contiki and Topdeck have efficient, resourceful and easy to navigate websites. They should follow the RAVE method which was developed by Experience, Inc. RAVE stands for;

R- Relevant: Make advertising relevant to the market segment.

A- Action: Require users to take action and interact with the brand.

V- Value: Deliver values to users.

E- Entertaining: Entertain them and have fun.

(Sun, 2011)

Each company has a brief overview of who they are on their main page. It is with this short description you can get a sense of just how similar these companies are.

Contiki.com

Contiki creates eye-opening experiences for young travelers around the globe. Traveling with us isn’t about ticking boxes, but about those moments in time that stay with you for life. (contiki.com, 2011)

Topdeck.travel.com

At Topdeck our passion is providing unforgettable travel experience for 18 to 30 something’s. Extended trips, festivals, ski and sailing in Europe, breathtaking holidays in Egypt, Morocco, Jordan and Israel, safaris in Africa and now amazing adventures in Australia and New Zealand: your choice of great trips with like-minded travelers is huge! Travel with Topdeck and Share the Experience. (topdeck.com, 2011)

They also combine their main target audience with their logos:

                                     

With me personally, first impression is everything when it comes to legitimacy on the internet. Both sites have a very profession look and have simple yet very informational cover pages. Topdeck looks like it’s a bit more focused on a younger demographic, with the brown background color and a revolving main photo which tends to be a young female skiing, surfing or drinking beer the majority of the time. Contiki has a much cleaner, white back round with scrolling photos at the top. Both have very easy to use navigation bars. The navigation tabs have dropdown menus so you can better filter what sort of trip you are looking for. Both sites provide an easy to use search box where you can input the destination, type and date of the trip you are looking to take. They also offer “featured tours” if your just browsing, in hopes that one may catch your eye. Topdeck offers trips to Europe, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East, however they exclude North and South America which is eliminating many people who may want to travel to the America’s. Contiki covers Europe, Asia, South America, North America, Australia, New Zealand, Egypt and Mexico. Both extend beyond the traditional trip and offer packages including certain festivals and world events.

People visiting these sites are obviously interested in traveling; both companies have a deep focus on their product and the types of trips they are promoting. The information is aligned with what the consumer are looking for. All of their data is relevant to their product. Both sites have easy to find contact information. Contiki has a scrolling sidebar with information on how to book by phone, where they give you a phone number to call or provide a feedback box where you can insert your information and they will contact you. They also provide an online booking tab which is a great idea but after I selected a date there were no further instructions on how to move forward. Topdeck also provides a phone number and easy to follow step by step online booking process. Contiki gives a price option and will automatically filters out the trips that are out of your budget. Topdeck follows the same process. Both sites provide photos, comments, and reviews which help to keep you on the site longer. They also use video’s which is a great advertising tool. I myself, as a full time worker who has traveled quite a bit would much rather go with the crisp, clean and to the point Contiki site.  Contiki is an interactive site where they have their twitter feed connected to their home page with a “What’s being said” section. Contiki uses social media to their advantage and provides links to a Flickr page, a youtube page, twitter and their blog. Topdeck provides links to twitter, facebook and flickr. Each page stays consistent so you are instantly aware when you leave the site. The name of the company and contact phone number has strong presence on the top of each page. There is a lot of information both companies are trying to provide but they have successfully formatted the site so it is not overwhelming. Both take you step by step and guide you through the booking process.

            Contiki uses a descriptive tag in their html code so when you Google their name a brief description of the site is described under the title:

Contiki
contiki.com/

Contiki is the worldwide leader in tours 18-25s. Offering an unbeatable mix of

sightseeing and culture in over 40 countries across 6 continents, we create…

While they have a very straight forward title, it doesn’t look like they use any keywords in their coding to assist with the search engine. Topdeck also has a descriptive tag:

Topdeck Travel  Europe, Africa, Australia and NZ Trips and Tours…

www.topdeck.travel/

Topdeck are Experts in 18-39’s Travel we are committed to deliver outstanding

travel experience for young people Europe Trips, African Safaris, Australia…

Topdeck takes it one step further and uses keywords. These keywords include top

deck, topdecktravel, tour Europe, tours for young people etc which is inserted into their

HTML coding.

David Meerman Scott teaches us to” build content specifically for these nitch audiences and tell them an online story about your product, a story that is created especially for them” (Scott, 2011). Contiki offers a review section where recent customers can tell their travel stories. You can ask specific people who shared their stories questions directly. The site is focused on two way communication which makes you feel like they are your personal travel agent. Topdeck has a community section which provides links to their social media sites. They also have a community forum and a travel blog. All of these social media aspects help the company hear what their clients are saying, they present and area for open and honest feedback and help travelers with common interests connect.

Topdeck US ranking online is 351,245 where Contiki is 45,097 (Alexa.com, 2011). Contiki has quite a head start and that could be due to the fact that they include North and South America as tour destinations. Many times in class we have discussed the fact that consumers have a specific agenda, they need to find a solution to a problem. In this case, buyers want to go on vacation and Contiki and Topdeck are there to present you with the best get away options and the easiest way to book that adventure, therefore solving your problem. Both sites align closely to the new rules of marketing and PR that are listed in the Scott book, however I believe that Contiki does a better job at reaching the infinite potential audience members out in the world. They have a better presence on social media sites and provide more authentic, direct and organized content to their users. The look of the sites comes off as being more professional, legitimate and specialized. When traveling overseas you want to make sure you have somewhere to turn in case of an emergency. Contiki makes you feel as if you are part of a traveling “family”. When you have the ability to personally connect with someone and make them feel like you are devising a special individualized itinerary just for them, the consumer gains a sense of control, that they hold the power. After researching both sites, I know that I would book my next trip with Contiki.

References & Links

Evaluating Website Hand Out

Alexa.com. (2011). Contiki [ Data file]. Retrieved on November 5, 2011 from,

http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/contiki.com

Alexa.com. (2011) Topdeck.Travel [ Data file]. Retrieved on November 5, 2011 from

http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/topdeck.travel

Contiki.com. (2011). Retrived on November 15, 2011 from http://contiki.com/

Experien.com(2010). The 2010 digital marketer: Benchmark and trend report. Retrieved

on November 4, 2011 from www.experian.com/.../reports/EMS_2010_​Digital_Marketer.pdf

PewInternet.com. (2011) Trend Data. Retrieved November 4, 2011 from,

http://pewinternet.com/Static-Pages/Trend-Data.aspx

Quantcast.com. (2001) Contiki [ Data file]. Retrieved on November 5, 2011 from,

http://www.quantcast.com/contiki.com

Scott, D. M. (2011) The New Rules of Marketing & PR.Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley &

Sons, Inc.

Sun, J. (2006) Online and On Target: 18-34 Year Olds. iMedia Connection. Retrieved

from http://www.imediaconnection.com/printpage/printpage.aspx?id=8796

Topdeck.travel.com. (2011) Retrieved on November 15, 2011 from,

http://www.topdeck.travel/

How do those down under use the internet ??

Sydney, Australia - it seems so far away, but with the click of the button on your computer you could be there before you know it.

Because it is such a long flight to Australia, the country must provide us with reasons to make such a trip. Sydney, along with other major cities around the world, has taken to the Internet to try to entice us to visit.
Just visit the official Sydney website you there you can find a million and one reason to visit.
They use there website to list of their top attractions, restaurants, accommodations, upcoming events and maps for different areas.
The tabs include:
*Destinations
        additional links to different areas in the area.
* Things to Do
         Arts and Culture
         Food and Wine
         Nature and Parks
         Fashion & Shopping
         Beach Life
         Family Holidays
* Accommodations
* Events
* Special Deals
The site even directs you to download their latest ipad and iphone app. They provide a newsletter that you can sign up for and even have a link to the Sydney Facebook site.
Their facebook site displays photos, videos and status updates about what is happening around town. The city also has a twitter account and a youtube page.
The cite caters to all cultures as they have many different versions of the site. This includes UK, Singapore, Middle East, Japan, Italy, India and  France. When you click on a particular country site, all of the information is translated into their language. The site also has active links linking to the tourism Australia page, destination NSW and the NSW government homepage.
A very interesting aspect I found on the page is the "link to us " tab. The site provides way for you to easily share someting you see on the site with your facebook page or twitter account. You can also link a banner on your own website to information you find interesting.
Over the past few years the amount of American students studying and traveling in Australia has grown. The website also focuses on those looking to study abroad or visit the country by posting helpful links and different ideas on how to get around. They also have helpful information for those looking to get a job in Sydney.
The website is the cities way to show themselves off. Its a way to reach those who normally would not have access to a place so far away.
They may be across the globe but with the use of the Internet, Sydney has brought their city right into my living room.

How the non profit organization ASPCA uses online blogs.

The ASPCA was founded in 1866.  There mission is "to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States."(ASPCA.com)
ASPCA stands for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the organization is Headquartered in New York City. They are a privately funded 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation, and have more than 1 million supporters across the country.
It is increasingly more important for non profits to have a blog and Leyla Farah summarized the top 10 reasons in here blog, Cause & Effect.
1) To report back from an event of conference.
2) To involve staff and take advantage of their knowledge.
3) To involved volunteers and document their work.
4) To provide resources and information to constituents.
5) To provide resources and information from constituents.
6) To give constituents a place to voice their opinion.
7) To give constituents support.
8) To create media coverage
9) To give constituents the power and tools to create change
10) To reach potential donors.

The tab to their blog can be easily found right on their home page. Their blogs are quite information and posts are about fighting animal cruelty, stories or animal adoptions and information and follow ups to current legislation involving animal cruelty to name a few.
It is a way for those who donate to see where their funds go to. It is a way for the company to share their success stories and also for them to bring certain topics to attention.

There online advertising is mostly contained on their web page. They show chilling images of sad animals asking for help.They also use their blog as an advertising tool, sharing stories sad stories about animals and asking for donations to help. The site has a newsletter that, press room and you can also sign up for mobile alert. They make sure to keep their donor informed.

Their website is extermely informational. They also have a strong presence on social media including facebook and twitter. They supply donors and potential donors with as much information as they possibly can.
People are extremely passionate about thier pets and the ASPCA is there to stop those from harming animals. With all of their outreach work including their blogs and newsletter they have certainly given a sufficient enough reason why everyone should dontae to this cause.

Now THAT is an effective use of PR Online....

Before showing an example of effective Public Relations online, i thought we should go over what effective PR is. Today, almost everything and everyone is online. Its difficult to imagine a world without the Internet. As the Internet has evolved over the years so hasn't the field public relations. It has had to grow and evolve and find its place within the world wide web. Here are some strategies to approaching public relations online:

1) Identify your desired audience. Who are you trying to reach ? - create a customer "profile".

2) Define the goals you would like to achieve. What are you trying to say ?

3) You must be aware of the large masses of people you could potentially reach. The information that you 
    post is out there for most of the world to access.

4) Make sure you have a distinguished public website. Your company needs a home, a place where people
    know where to find information about you and your products.

5) Take advantage of social media. Use facebook, twitter, youtube, blogger and all other media sites you
    have access too.

Perez Hilton! Oh how i love Perez Hilton. Perez owns and operates his site perezhilton.com and he calls himself the Queen of All Media. He covers all the social & celebrity gossip out there. His site started out very small where he would write his blog daily from the coffee bean cafe in Los Angeles. You wont find him there anymore as Perez has built his brand over the years and is now a world wide phenomenon. His site receives thousands of visits per day equaling millions per year. I know I myself visit the site maybe 4-5 times a day.       (shhhhh, i shouldn't admit that)
Perez has expanded his blog to include other sub-blogs including CocoPerez (Fashion), FitPerez (Fitness), TeddyHilton (for animal lovers) and Perezitos (focuses on celebrity family and children).
Perez heavily uses social media, including his facebook and his twitter page.He posts videos, pictures and even creates full photo albums. He also has Perez TV which shows interviews he has conducted with celebrities , TV shows he has been in or skits he has created.
Perez is a great source of marketing as he will change the background of his site to promote an upcoming television show, event or upcoming movie. He also has a few advertisements that run down the side column of the site.Every once in a while he will have a pop up add, which most certainly can be annoying but they also do grab your attention.
Perez is the ultimate promoter. He gave Lady Gaga a kick start of her career by diligently following her and posting information about her career as she was trying to break into the music business. By posting photos, announcing shows, posting links to her new songs and constantly mentioning her people started to take notice.
He not only reports on celebrity news but he is a HUGE fan of Glee so he is constantly promoting that show. He has helped Oprah, Ellen and many day time and nigh time shows by posting clips of their shows and giving out "spoiler alerts" to get people to tune in.
Perez is a smart business man - yes he may spend his time reporting about other peoples lives but i would hire him as my PR agent in a jiffy if i could.

Did you just say 107 TRILLION E-mails ?

This week Prof Boone assigned us an article titled Communicative Informatics: An Active and Creative Audience Framework of Social Media written by Professor Boone herself and Professor Gallant from Emerson. The topic of this weeks class discussion was the role of social media in PR. We compared the new rules of PR to the old rules of PR.
It is most important to note that Social Media gives PR professionals the ability to directly communicate with their audience. So long are the days where PR agents must rely on the media to get the attention of their potential clients and current stakeholders. It is vital to practice a two way form of communication, where  not only do you give out information, but you also take some in. You listen to your customer and pay attention to any feedback they are offering.
While Social Media is paving a new path for those practicing Public Relations it is also opening the door for us to access more information than we could ever conceive. One line in the article listed above, Professor Boone specifically pointed out to us states; " Every two days now we create as much information as we did from the dawn of civilization up until 2003... pictures, instant messages, and tweets all add to this."
Do you have any idea how much information that is ??? Lets have a look at some of the numbers posted by pindom blog

in 2010:
107 Trillion - emails were sent on the Internet
255 Million - number of websites as of December 2010
1.97 Billion - internet users worldwide ( this is a 14% growth since last year)
152 Million - number of blogs on the Internet
25 Billion - number of tweets sent in 2010
600 Million - number of people on facebook at the end of 2010
30 Billion - pieces of content ( links,  notes, photos etc) shared just on Facebook along per month in 2010
2 Billion - the number of videos watched per day on YouTube
35 - hours of video uploaded to YouTube every hour.
5 Billion - photos hosted by Flickr

Those are amazing, astonishing and scary numbers !
Now what is important is to find a way to differentiate your information and your story from the trillions of other posts added to the web each day. How will you make sure your company does not get lost in the shuffle ? You must get creative. One proposition listed in the Communicative Informatics article is that the Audience is Creative.
Each day new photos, videos, releases and articles are being published on line. We live in a creative world with the most imaginative, inventive and inspirational people.

The Internet has truly revolutionized our way of life and social media is right there as well. Social media has provided us with ways to reconnect, ways to  tell our story and share our ideas. It has introduced us to a new form of communication and with this ability to freely communicate you have endless opportunities at your finger tips.... now we just have figure out how to best apply these opportunities.

Websites that are indefinitely Under Construction

There are millions and millions of websites on the Internet, many we will never cross and some we visit everyday. However they are not all designed as well as they could be. Some websites are just plain awful. Poor design, difficult to read, unusable links, etc.
For a list of the worst top 15 websites from 2010, check out this link and just browse around a bit, Worst Web Sites of 2010, it will make you shake your head. Of check out the front runners for 2011. it, Worse Web Sites of 2010, it will make you shake your head. Or check out the front runners for 2011
I have chosen two websites in particular to showcase in this blog.

The first is the website of the band Manu Chao who is a French Singer. The link to his site is http://www.manuchao.net/

Manu Chao came to the House of Blues which was the reason why i originally went to his website. I had people asking me who he was, what sort of music he sang, what demographic of fans would he bring to the venue. When i first approached the page I was quite flustered. There is ALOT happening on the page.
* There are many colors on the page
* Small print
* Moving automated photos that are not fluent with one another
* Navigation system is very difficult to follow
* It is in a different language but the "busyness" of the site takes away from any information he is trying to get   across
* It is impossible to read the tour schedule that is posted on the home page.

All in all, the website is too busy. A bit too colorful ( in my opinion) and is quite ineffective of conveying information to his fans.

The Second Website that could use alot of work is the official site for recording artist MIA, which is located at http://www.miauk.com/

When you go to an artists site you are most likely looking for a blog, tour dates, merchandise, or photos. When you click on MIA's site you are brought to her 8 minute and 49 second video for Born Free. Born Free is a very graphic, disturbing music video she has recently released. 

There is no option to opt out of the video. The only information on the site is the actual video and the counter at the bottom of the page. Once the video is done, it just replays itself. You are not redirected to any other site. 

This is MIA's official site but you do not learn anything from the page. You do not take away any information other than siting through this awfully long violent music video. If she would like to promote this video she should at least give an option to opt out, a way to redirect yourself to a site that actually contain information on the artist. 

Having a website in this day and age is necessary to be successful, to connect with your fans, clients or consumers. If you are going to have a website, you must make sure you maintain it. Its a real turn off when you waste your time researching something to find a website that is carelessly put together.

So please excuse us, while some of these websites are still under construction!

I have chosen two websites in particular to showcase in this blog.

The first website belongs to the band Manu Chao who is a French Singer. The link to his site is

http://www.manuchao.net/

Manu Chao came to the House of Blues which was the reason why I originally went to his website. I had people asking me who he was, what sort of music he sand, what demographic of fans would he bring to the venue. When I first approached the page I was quite flustered. There is ALOT happening on the page.
* There are many colors on the page.
* Small print.
* Moving automated photos that are not fluent with one another.
* Navigation system is very difficult to follow.
* It is in a different language but the "busyness" on the site takes away from any information he is trying to get
   across.
* It is impossible to read the tour schedule that is posted on the home page.

All in all, the website is too busy. A bit too colorful ( in my opinion) and is quite ineffective of conveying information to his fans.

The second website that could use alot of work is the official site for recording artists MIA, which is located at http://miauk.com/.

When you go to an artist site you are most likely looking for a blog, tour dates, merchandise or photos. When you click on MIA's site you are brought to her 8 minute and 49 second video for Born Free. Born Free is a very graphic, disturbing music video she has recently released. There is no option to opt out of the video. The only information on the site is the actual video and the guest counter at the bottom of the page. Once the video is done, it just replays itself. You are not redirected to any other site or even given the option. This is MIA's official site but you do not learn anything from the page. You do not take away any information other than sitting through this awfully long violent music video. If she would like to promote this video she should at least give an option to opt out, a way to redirect yourself to a site that actually contains information about the artists.
Having a website in this day and age is necessary to be successful, to connect with your fans, clients of consumers. If you are going to have a website, you must make sure you maintain it. Its a real turn off when you waste your time researching something to find a website that is carelessly put together.
So please excuse us, while some of these websites are still under construction!

When Music Met The Internet

Many technologies have been modernized by being diffused with the Internet. We can now listen to the radio online, watch a movie, upload pictures, have a live conversation using Skype, go shopping, book a trip and the list goes on and on and on.

Remember growing up when you had piles and piles of cassette tapes lying around, or your huge collection of records? How about your walk-man or the newest cd ?
Music has officially gone digital. No more bulky collection to lug around. We now have i-pods and mp3's.

In 1987 the first MP3 was produced by Karlheinz Brandenburg who chose the song “Tom’s Diner” by Suzanne Vega. The first portable mp3 devise would not come along until 11 years later, but with the combination of the two- music has never been the same.

First people were "burning" cd and sharing songs by copying their cd's on line. I cant tell you the amount of home made cds i have from high school when we would compile our favorite songs onto a blank cd. From there, Napster appeared onto the scene and caused quite a stir. Today we have Apple and the mammoth iTunes program.

Unfortunately this revolution of music has destroyed many record stores including Tower Records, Virgin Megstore, Sam Goody's and HMV. It has caused issues for record companies from Capital Records to Jive Records. Having access to digital music not only makes it easier to get ahold of new music, it makes it easier for musicians to produce their music much cheaper.

iTunes was introduced to the world by Apple in 2001. It is an online site used to purchase and play digital songs. You can now purchase "single songs" rather than a whole album. The iTunes system helps you organize and easily manage your catalog of songs. In February of 2010 iTunes sold their 10 billionth digital song ! That is an enormous number for something being sold online.

No longer are the days we carry crates of vinyl records around. Music has diffused with the Internet and has changed the whole course of the music industry.

Spam !!! Its taking over the Internet....

The Internet has grown immensely over the years and as with anything else, with growth comes certain challenges. Along with security, identity theft and annoying pop up ads, SPAM has taken over our e-mail accounts. On a daily basis I open my yahoo e-mail account and have countless spam e-mails. They are annoying, they take up space and waste my time. How can we get rid of or prevent these pesky e-mails from reaching us ?

About.Com  has provided tips and tricks to avoiding this useless junk mail.

1.  When it is necessary to send out group e-mails or comment on a blog or a forum, make your e-mail address anonymous.

2. It may be helpful when creating a new e-mail address to make it more complex.

3. A good Anti-Spam Program is a must. There are many different options out there from POPFile, BullGuard Spam Filter or Spam Bully. This is just a very small list of the hundreds of different sites available.

4. When you receive these e-mails, you can always unsubscribe as there should be an option at the bottom to take your e-mail off of their distribution list.

5. Be careful when signing up for raffles, contests or anything where you leave your e-mail address. They will e-mail you!

6. Never click on an unknown or suspicious link in an e-mail. It may be from a friend but if the topic is odd you are better to be safe than sorry.

7. Set up your anti spam folders or spam filter in your e-mail accounts.

8. Dont be afraid to report Spam. You can always forward your spam e-mails to spam@uce.gov . This is the Spam box for the FTC.

Whether you like it or not spam is all around us, its just not as bad if you don't see it. There are certain steps you can take to ensure your e-mail account wont be overtaken by these worthless e-mails.
Be aware, be cautious and guard your e-mail address for all its worth....

The Internet has been around for how long ??

The Internet was invented in the late 1960's and of course many important events have happened along the Internet timeline. But if you had to choose one, one important date on that timeline which would you be most interested in?

July 2001: A federal judge rules Napster must remain offline until it can prevent copyrighted material from being shared by its users

We have all heard of Napster. Napster was created by Shawn Fanning and his uncle John Fanning in 1999 while Shawn attended Northeastern University. Its was originally set up as a peer- to - peer file sharing service where people could share music.....for free. After running into massive legal battles regarding copyright violations the site was forced to shut down.
The site made it easy to exchange MP3 files which musicians viewed as "stealing". The band Metallica ignited the legal battles when they discovered their song "I Disappear" was being downloaded on the site before it was even released. After being sued by musician such as Metallica, Dr. Dre and organizations as the RIAA the site officially shut down in July of 2001.
In 2002, Roxio acquired the company and in September of 2008 the site was purchased by Best Buy for $121 million who is the current parent company of the site. The site currently exists as an online music store which requires a paid online subscription.
Napster.com
Napster may have run into major difficulties over the past few years, but it opened the doors for music share and music purchase sites.

February 2007: Apple Surpasses one billion iTunes downloads

Today if you want to purchase music online, most people automatically think of the site iTunes. iTunes was established in  January of 2001. Of course with this site you pay for the files that you download but without the presence of Napster, do you think 1 billion songs would have been downloaded in 6 years !

One Billion Songs - now that is alot of music.......

New Semester, New Class, Same Internet

Today marks the beginning of the Fall 2011 Semester at Suffolk University. Its hard to believe that summer vacation is over. One of the courses i am taking this semester is New Media and New Markets which of course focuses on the Internet, marketing, web design and new media. Millions and Millions of people use the Internet. An estimate of 2,095,006,005 people are estimated to use the Internet as of March 2011. But how do you use the Internet ?

If i had to guess why people use the Internet i would have to guess... 1) Social Networking 2) Communication 3) Research 4) Entertainment 5) Marketing.

I know i personally use the Internet for social networking and for communication purposes at work.
I of course am a member of facebook and as sad as it is, i cant remember life before facebook ( i know i know - don't judge) I use facebook to keep in touch with friends, make plans, see what everyone is up to, etc.
My job 100% relys on the Internet. You learn the hard way when Internet goes down for a day and i cant get anything done - only left to play major catch up when the system is back up and running. I am constantly e-mailing, sending out reminders, logging ticket requests, setting reservation, making travel plans. Every aspect of my job relies om the world wide web. To be honest, i don't think my job could exist ( or at least function properly) without the web.
My friends and family do not rely on the Internet when it comes to work as much as i do. My mom uses it to play bejeweled, forward us those silly e-mails or check up on us on facebook ( there should be a rule that a mother cannot be friends with her daughters on any social networking sites) My father uses it to watch comedy videos before going to bed or catch an early new segment when he wakes up. My sister is always logged onto facebook catching up with friends.
There are quite a lot of people using the Internet right now -but each for a different purpose.
Why are you logging on ?

The Pope and Twitter ? What could they possibly have in common ???

On Tuesday, June 28, 2011 Pope Benedict XVI tweeted for the first time using an Ipod, announcing the launch of a new Vatican news website.
His tweet read " Dear Friends, I just launched News.va. Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI"

The Vatican has been attempting to share its messages to greater Internet-savvy audiences. This follows their use of facebook and youtube.

I cant wait to see who may join the Internet revolution next!

Augumented Reality ? Now this is some cool stuff.

Augmented Reality

Sounds funny doesn't it -  So what is it ? Is is a term for a live direct or an indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input, such as sound or graphics. (wikipedia, 2001)
How how is it being used:

Hotels.com - hotels.com aims to drive bookings by offering 3-D virtual views.

Magic Tee - This is a kids clothing company. Its a t-shirt that comes to life on screen. For an example, check out this youtube video.

Museum of London:  by using google maps and geotagging you get a look at what London used to look at. Click here for a more detailed explanation

Tattoos: A company called ThinkAnApp has made the first Augmented reality tattoo. The tattoo looks like a square barcode, but when viewed through a webcam an animated figure appears.

Ray Bans: Ray Ban has developed a "Virtual Mirror" on line that allows you to try on Ray Ban Sunglasses.

These are just a few examples of how Augmented Reality is being used. It is quite fascinating if you really think about. For more information, details or examples check out this very informative slide show.

Do you know who Gene Sharp is ? You certainly should!

I have never heard of Gene Sharp but after covering him in my social media course last night, i was left very interested in finding out more.
Gene was born in 1928 in Ohio. He received a BA in Social Sciences in 1949 from Ohio State, where he also received his MA in Sociology in 1951.  In 1968 he received his Doctor of Philosophy in political theory from Oxford. He is currently a professor of political science at Umass Dartmouth, where he has been since 1972.
In 1983, Sharp founded the Albert Einstein Institution.  The Albert Einstein Institution in dedicated to studying and promoting the use of nonviolent action in conflicts around the world. He is well-know for his non-violent methods " 198 Methods of Nonviolent Action" which were first published in his 1973 book, the Politics of Nonviolent Action, Vol. 2: the Methods of Nonviolent Action.

Some of these methods include ( but are not limited to)
Public Speeches
Signed Public Speeches
Newspapers and journals
Picketing
Wearing of symbols
Vigils
Singing
Parades
Walk-Outs
Silence

Today, Social Media is being used to share Sharps methods and idea. This is causing a major threat to those ddictatorships who are fighting with their people. The world is turing to these non-violent methods.
"Peaceful protest is best, he says — not for any moral reason, but because violence provokes autocrats to crack down. “If you fight with violence,” Mr. Sharp said, “you are fighting with your enemy’s best weapon, and you may be a brave but dead hero.” - Gene Sharp 

Interesting Social Media Facts

Social Media is still growing, and growing fast at that. However here are a few intersesting facts i found on social media..

1) Australia has the most number of established users of social media in the world, followed by USA and 
    UK.
2) If Facebook were a country, it would be the world’s 3rd largest country.
3) The most popular YouTube video – Justin Bieber, Baby ft. Ludacris has had over 374,403,983 views
4) YouTube receives over 2 billion viewers each day.
5) To watch all the videos currently on YouTube, a person has to live for around 1,000 years.
6) There are over 181 million blogs.
7) The 10 billionth Twitter’s tweet was posted in March 2010.
8) Of the 60 million users of LinkedIn half of them are from outside US.
9) Every second a new member joins LinkedIn.
10) If $1 was paid to you for every time an article was posted on Wikipedia, you would earn $156 per hour.

Just a little bit of information to get you thinking this morning. For more wild facts on social media visit Fascinating Social Media Facts of Year 2010

Do you think Obama has time to tweet ?

We are seeing more and more political figures using social media today, but why ? Why would taking the time to tweet, or manage a facebook page be beneficial to those in the world of politics ? There are a few reasons.
* It gives you a platform to explain your actions. So you voted one way or another on a bill, or you are against a certain law. People want to know why. Social Media is a way for you to explain your actions.

* Social Media is a very inexpensive way to promote yourself. The more advertising and marketing you have out there, the more people you are sure to reach.

* You have the ability to specifically target a certain audiece. You can choose who sees what and who can access what information on your pages.

* Social Media is a great way to present people who support you. By supportes leaving positive comments about you can only help your image.

* Social media can help politicians really connect with the people. Most are here to serve and protect out country. Speak with the public and see what they want !

Now That is Great Customer Service....

I knew there was a reason why i loved TJMaxx so much. Besides filling my closet, having reasonable prices they company has great customer service. The company takes the time to respond to almost every post posted on their facebook page.  Here are a few examples:

DC: Are TJX stores not getting in as many items ? The Store that i usually go to - I have not seen hardly anything new for the past month.....
TJ Maxx: Hi Diane, our buyers are always in the marketplace striking up last minute deals with designers, and thousands of new items arrive at each TJ. Maxx each week. Which location are you referring to?

OTF: Just had a horrible experience this afternoon (June 9) at the TJMaxx in Pinnacle, Rogers, AR. I slipped and fell on the floor not once but twice! At first I thought it was me but the second time around and in the same exact place made me wonder. Lo and behold there was some cream or lotion that spilled on the floor. I reported the incident to the store manager, Jim R. and had it put on record as a complaint. My knees are bruised and now hurting and bothering me. :(
TJ Maxx: Hi Odessa,
Thank you for reaching out about this issue at our Rogers store. If you need further assistance, please call our customer service team at 1-800-926-6299 M-F between 9-5 EST.

MW: I bought a carry on suitcase at my TJ Maxx yesterday, took it on a flight today and the handle that extends so you can roll it broke! The receipt is at home, but they have stores where I travelled too. Can I get I take it to a store here and exchange it or get store credit for a new bag or do I have to wait until I get back home and suffer again at the airport?
TJ Maxx: Hi Melanie,
Our customer service team can address this issue for you. Please give them a call at 1-800-926-6299 M-F between 9-5PM EST.

The company cares enough to reach out to all of their customers. They add their own personal touch...

Now if you will excuse me, this Maxxinista has some shopping to do....

Lost millions of friends, yet still taking over the world ?

That is exactly what facebook is doing. In a report posted on msnbc.com titled Facebook loses 6 million US users, continues to conquer globe it states that in May 2011 6 million users in the United States deleted their facebook accounts. Despite the amount of people who are not logging on, there are a few different reasons given for the decline in friends. One believes some may have just stopped logging into their account, they have forgotten or ditched certain accounts or there is an error with the tools used to calculate these statistics.

Even though millions of people have stopped updating their statuses, posting photos or commenting on friends pages, there are still a fair amount of new members each day. Facebook is still well on its way to reaching 700 million users. Now wouldn't I be taking over the world too if i had 700 million friends.

Imagine being worth $10 BILLION

You may not be too familiar with it, but trust me you will want to get involved.  Location Based Service is set be worth $10 Billion by 2016. So what exacly is Location Based Service (LBS), it is a service you can use through mobile devices to make use of your geographical position. It allows you to identify the location of a person or an object. Fedex can use LBS to track their packages or to track their delivery trucks. Websites such as DailyCandy send me their daily e-mail because i am located in Boston. My GPS has a "Points of interst" function on it so i can locate the closest ATM or gas station.  And the T is now using LBS in order to track their T and bus services.

According to a report in the LA Times due to popular demand of tracking locations on using maping, the LBS industry can reach $10 billion per year by 2016.

So, its time to go "check in" on my facebook page !