Alert! Alert! My blog has moved!

My blog has moved!

Blogger went wacko on me so I am now on Wordpress.

Check out my new blog at sloanchouest.wordpress.com.

Can't wait to read your comments, there is a lot of new content waiting to be read.

Practice Makes Perfect

Ethnography: study of people in their natural or “native” environments


Through social media tools we are creating our own environment. An environment with fun activities such as iPhone applications, news alerts on our favorite topics (RSS), audio shows that fit our interests (podcasts), tabloids/magazines that fulfill our need for juicy information (blogs, and sharing information about our selves while learning about others (facebook, linedin, twitter, etc).


In his ebook, The Essential Guide to Social Media, Brian Solis states


Ethnographers are individuals who observe communities to learn the socio-cultural behavior and interaction to hopefully become accepted by the community and in turn, engage as a true member of the desired digital society


In this case- would we all be ethnographers? Observers of interactions through the digital world-- learning and practicing the norms, engaging in conversations, publishing our own work so that we may find acceptance within a certain digital community? My answer would have to be yes, to some extent we all practice ethnography. As do marketing research teams and public relations firms.


Marketers and PR people need to be aware of the environments of their audiences in order to communicate with them properly. If they want to achieve a certain level of success they have to rub elbows with their audiences, become one of them in a sense.


“People establish associations, friendships, and allegiances around content."


There is more work involved in the digital world for marketers and PR people. They can no longer “market at” people and expect them to jump on the bandwagon of fun- they have to become a part of the digital community and work for acceptance.


“You can’t manage a relationship, you need to be a part of it, fully engaged.”


This statement is one for everyone to read and re-read over and over again in order to understand their involvement and their place in the digital world. We all must be willing to put in the time, work, and effort to stay engaged. We all must bring value to our participation.

Kristine Gloria Featured on Quad 3 Podcast

Below are the show notes for the Quad 3 podcast featuring Kristine Gloria from Waggener Edstrom.

0:00 Intro

0:35 Describe Waggener Edstrom and your role at the firm?

a. Wagenner Edstrom (WagEd) specializes in technology and is incredibly relationship oriented. Specifically, WagEd has a long track record with Microsoft.

b. Kristine Gloria is the liaison with account work and digital strategies.

1:17 How has social media evolved and what is your role?

a. Social media has grown from social networks such as Facebook, to micro blogging on Twitter, and has developed into a tool for both personal and professional purposes.

WagEd often uses LinkedIn to do bio searches on their clients and future employees.

b. Kristine's role has been to implement these tools in the business. She is not an early adopter, but watches the space closely.

2:27 How did you gain an initial awareness of social media and how have you implemented it at Waggener Edstrom?

a. SXSW 2007: Sarah Lacy/Mark Zuckerberg Interview and the importance of Twitter

b. Took this momentum to the office.

i. Began a WE Digital Think Tank

4:06 What forms of social media do you use and how does it benefit you as a P.R. firm?

a. Twitter: "Everyday, every hour"

i. Relationships with reporters

b. Facebook

c. LinkedIn: Bio searching specifically

5:11 Commercial

a. FriendorFollow.com

5:41 What is Waggener Edstrom's involvement with the blogosphere and how do you approach bloggers with pitches?

a. Active bloggers on external side of WagEd as marketing

b. Use of blogs internally

6:13 What do you think the relationship between bloggers and P.R. firms should be?

a. Understanding the avenue of communication is key

b. Building relationships is essential

c. Bloggers write what they want to write-it's not personal

6:50 What social media tools do you use on an everyday basis and how have these tools expanded your personal and professional relationships?

a. Keep things professional

b. Social media has helped expand Kristine's network

i. Helps others understand social media tools

7:41 You mentioned social media as a double-edged sword, can you elaborate on this?

a. Blurs personal and professional life

b. Social Media is extremely self-involved

c. You must be in tune to your own personal brand

i. Austin 3.0

9:12 Where do you see social media going in the future in both public relations and personal lives?

a. Kristine does not see blogging as taking over the journalistic venue

b. The public will begin to understand idea of the "double edged sword."

9:53 Outro

Kristine 3.0

A couple of weekends ago Ashley Brown, Adam Raven, and myself hosted an interview with Kristine Gloria for our podcast. At one point in her interview she mentioned Austin 3.0, but never really expanded on what that is exactly. Austin 3.0 is a website that Kristine and her friend Joey Lopez created as somewhat of a social website. They are interested in the "techie" and "geeky" things going on around Austin and want to know more. This description was taken from the website

Austin 3.0 is a website created by Kristine and Joey to give the younger Austin Geek a place to see what is going on in Austin. We hope to create more communication between the various geeky groups around town and help create a greater young Austin geek community

So who is Kristine and why does she consider herself an "Austin Geek?"

Kristine has been a geek since the earliest days of her first Juno account. Her geek background includes a vivid memory of receiving a Turbo C++ book in seventh grade from her father.She is approaching her sixth year in the live capital music of the world and is a relative newbie to the Austin tech scene. She now dabbles in the following: media/cultural studies, high tech public relations, outdoor adventures, impromptu swims, constantly reading and networking.

And what about her friend Joey?

Joseph Lopez has been in the Austin Tech Scene since 1999 when he arrived as a pimple faced freshmen at UT Austin. He would frequent Smartchip Computers back in the day (Pre-Fry’s era) and many other hardware shops that worked out of warehouses. His Current Ventures Include: Concert Sound (A local high-end audio store), Small Buisness Website Building, Personal Multimedia Production and many more roals with other fellow young austin entrepenures ventures.

So if any of you "Austin Geeks" want to know what's up, check out their website Austin 3.0.

Connecting With the Physically Absent

The Point of Connection, PRSA’s 2008 International Conference
October 25-28, 2008 Detriot, MI

The conference is already in full swing, on to Day 3 now, but what does it have to offer to those of us who are not in Detroit? How can we get in on the action? Luckily for us there is the PRSA blog, comprehension, that can be accessed through the PRSA website. Also, there was a free webcast of the keynote presentation by Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist available to PRSA members and nonmembers. Awesome, right? Well... there was one catch- the webcast could only be viewed within the time block of 12:45 to 2:30 pm, yesterday, October 26, 2008. Bummer... On a good note, the presentation will be available in three months.

So what exactly is going on that we would want to experience? How about 100+ workshops focused on branding, research, digital communications, media relations, transparency, etc. The list goes on and on. Here is information on each track of the conference taken from the PRSA website.

Track 1: Innovative Strategies - Sessions will address the latest strategies in leadership, management, planning, research, relationship, reputation, sustainability, communications and integrated communications.
Track 2: Effective Tactics and Techniques - Sessions will address proven tactics and techniques in core communications, media relations, green marketing, measurement and emerging technologies and social media.
Track 3: Specialization and Practice Areas - Targeted sessions, including Professional Interest Section sponsored programming, will focus on expertise specific to audiences, industries, emerging trends and multicultural communities.
Track 4: The Connected Profession - Sessions will address the vital components that connect public relations professionals and help them engage together as a community on ethics, diversity, education, current issues, advocacy and Accreditation.

Keynote Speakers:
Mitch Albom, Bob Lutz, Craig Newmark, and Penelope Trunk

We may not be there now, but don’t look at it as a lost opportunity. Keep your eye on the comprehension blog and stay up-to-the-minute with news on the conference.

Gary in the club with Rhianna and T.I. singing "Ma-ia-hii, Ma-ia-huu, Ma-ia-hoo, Ma-ia-haha"

So this is lightweight old news but I couldn't help myself from posting about it. As mentioned in Chapter 10 Going Viral of our text The New Influencers by Paul Gillin, 19-tear old Gary Brolsman became famous for his video "Numa Numa"in 2005.

Internship Angst: "How To...?"

St. Edward's University requires all Communications majors to have an internship before they can graduate. Last semester was my first attempt at making a resume, writing a cover letter, and searching for the internship that would be best for me. I did not really know how to go about doing any of those things except to search the internet for advice. I only applied for one internship and was unfortunately not called back. As I continue my search for an internship in the Spring 2009, I continue to seek advice. If anyone has any pointers for resume does and don'ts, cover letter writing, interview scores and flops, I am interested in hearing them all.
I found an article, How to Avoid Common Resume Mistakes from wikihow.com. For those of us still "out of the loop" I hope this helps.