Claire Social Media Profile

My name is Claire Childs and I am a student at Georgia College & State University. I am a Mass Communication major with my concentration being in Advertising. I am currently the Ad Manager for the Colonnade. So far, it has been a challenge but I'm very excited to take it to the next level! If you have any questions you can email me at c.childs19@ymail.com!! To see what I'm doing you can follow me on:

Twitter

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Blogger ( you're here! )

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My Resume

Claire Childs Phone: 478-986-0723

120 West Campus Dr. Apt 2204 Email: Claire_Childs@ecats.gcsu

Milledgeville, Ga 31061

Education

Jones County High School - College Prep Diploma - May 2007 - GPA: 3.7

Georgia College and State University -3 years - GPA: 3.4

Major: Mass Communication

Concentration(s): Advertising

Work Experience

GEICO May-August 2009

Associate for the Billing and Payments department

Responsibilities

· Exhibited excellent customer service skills to GEICO policy holders

· Moderated payment transactions

· Quickly negotiated payment related issues

· Worked with complex data entry payment systems

Bass Pro Shop May-July 2008

Sales Associate

Responsibilities

· Provided excellent customer service

· Maintained and recovered department

· Fashioned creative and attractive displays

· Answered calls from customers and affiliate stores

· Facilitated merchandise orders by phone

Skills

Computer

· Accomplished Adobe PhotoShop ( editing photographs and fashioning ads)

· Experienced in Adobe InDesign ( developing brochures, flyers, ads, posters )

· Excellent at Microsoft PowerPoint ( designing and delivering detailed presentations)

· Knowledgeable in Microsoft Excel ( creating charts)

· Proficient at Microsoft Word and Works

· Adept at Adobe Dreamweaver ( creating multiple page websites )

· Capable of using Mac and PC operating systems

Activities and Organizations

· WGUR 88.9 (broadcasting weekly radio show) - 2 semesters

· The Colonnade – Assistant Ad Manager – 1 year

· Graphic Designer for The Outdoor Center at Georgia College

· The Colonnade- Advertising Manager

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Social Media Profiles

Colonnade Advertising

Website

Blog

Twitter

Facebook

Youtube

podcast

living without and trying to function with

My day without modern technology was odd to say the very least. I felt as if half of myself was missing. The first thing I learned was that it is very unnerving to have no idea when its going to stop raining, especially when the rest of ones day depends solely on the weather. I found myself returning to earlier days. I went to the movies with a friend that I called on my " apartment" phone. Which brings me to my second discovery: I have no idea how to use a regular phone, especially one that involves dialing out. Through trial and error, I ultimately discovered that the magic number was nine. It still eludes me as to WHY the phone will not let me call some numbers and not others, and why even though I dialed a 1 or 0 in front of the number the call would NOT go through, as the very annoying operator voice had promised. Normal phones proved to be a problem at work as well as at home. During break at work I could not figure out how to call out either, and I have too much pride to ask. As a result with no cell phone or games to keep me busy, I occupied myself with eating an exact serving size of teddy grahams , which is 47 cookies. Needless to say, it was a depressing break. This trouble led me to the conclusion that ,since I never needed to use these phones, I never learned how to use them. Which is really sad, during an actual emergency if i did not have my cell phone I would be very much in danger because I simply never educated myself on the ins and outs of older technology. In my defense, no one ever told me either. There is no instruction on my apartment phone about how to use it!

As mentioned above the weather proved to be an issue as well, with no phone or Internet to consult, I finally remembered that back in the old days people got the weather from the t.v. I was able to gather enough information to know that the pool was not an option. However I longed for the hour by hour of weather.com.

When I got back to my apartment I resigned to doing what women of yesteryear did to keep themselves busy: bake. The women of yesteryear probably did not eat their baked deserts for dinner though. After "dinner " I caught up on some much needed reading, which was bittersweet. The computer was staring at me mournfully, as it knew that I had several episodes of Gossip Girl to watch online. Finally I decided the get in bed and watch Dirty Dancing on T.V.

All in all the day wasn't as hard as I had expected, but I did realize all the things that we think we have to do actually seem to keep us busier. It was a relaxing day where I was able to do things that I have been meaning to do for quite some time. I just felt restrained and very alone without my phone.

Reflecting on Jenkins

Henry Jenkins is a truly intelligent individual that I and my Social Media class had the pleasure of conferring with today. Through reading his book, my eyes were opened to tons of different collective intelligence, brand communities and microsegments. I now feel more aware of the world I am living in, but feel more intimidated my the idea of its vastness, interconnectivity and complexites. Our visit from Henry Jenkins helped to ease some of my apprehension, however my brain is now full of possiblities and realizations.
Dr. Jenkins first talked to us about collective intelligence. We now live in a world where information is readily acessible to everyone, and it is our responsibility to work together to figure out survivor, or the health care bill, new imperialism or who Jennifer Anniston is dating. The fact is: we want to talk to each other. From " ask Jeeves" to Twitter, Yahoo! answers, and Wikipedia its all about figuring it out together. Although some things that we do may seem trivial, nothing is without meaning. The question itself may be trivial, but the means that we go about answering it, that is what is changing evolving growing.
With this growth comes power, as active partipants, we not longer let news fall into our laps, we respond to it. question it. reshape it. News and information are not the only things that we are taking for our own. Brand Communities are all around us, and I am proud the say that I am a member of several. I am the person that is loyal to a product to the very end. Henry Jenkins and Bert Dumars both spoke to us about the importance of taking these brand communities as apprecaiting them as they are the most loyal, important, and influential.
In talking about appreciation for the community we are lead to the idea of spreadablility as apposed to stickyness and viral topics. When advertsers move away from just grabbing their audience for long enough period of time to brain wash them and they move into the idea that existing customers are really the greatest tools then progress has been made. At this point in time this kind of advertising campaign is still in its infancy. Jenkins taught us the importance of spreading information and generating buzz, as in the case of the comicom convention.
Another game changer for me was the Ipad, which may very well be the black box or the bones of what the ultimate black box may be like. Technology is hurling forward all around us and we struggle to keep up. But it is comforting to know that fans can finally be able to exert the ultimate kind of power. They can scream ENCORE. In the case of the television shows being cancelled due to lack to veiwers, a microsegment may soon rein supreme and still be able to watch the show. This kind of power, is something unknown to us, but we have been doing similar things for years, just illegally.
In conclusion, the interconnectivity and responsibiity that we have is almost overwhelming. But is may be the best thing since sliced bread.

Question for Henry Jenkins

In the book you talk of convergence culture to be the future and of our responsibility to be FULL participants. At what point is someone a full enough participant in convergence culture, because as we saw in the case of Heather Lawver and those who wished to fully immerse in the fandom of Star Wars, backlash is often encountered. At what point does a person become a dangerously active participant and a threat to the norms of grass roots versus corporation?

Plan of Action

Create Blog for the Colonnade advertising department

This blog will contain information pertinent to clients as well as information that readers of the colonnade might appreciate. Also all specials will be highlighted and any offers that the ads for the week are promoting. i.e special offers. Each week a different ad will be featured. The blog will be an added incentive for clients to buy ad space, and a source for information and a place for conversation.

Create a twitter page for the colonnade advertising department

A twitter page will be established that will be updated alongside the blog with similar information as well posts generating excitement for the colonnade at large.

Create a Facebook Page

The Facebook page will reflect the information posted on the twitter and blog and be easily linked to both. It will have profiles of the advertsing reps, and provide a wealth of information about how to advertise with the colonnade and why, and our rate card.

I may create a website, that is bascially the rate card in an online, easy to read document. This will be linked to all other media outlets and referenced as well.

AddThis - Get Your Button

AddThis - Get Your Button

share button

Add this allows you to put a share button on any website, blogger blog, or myspace. It is most helpful to put on websites. The share buttons come with various prefrence types that the webiste moderator can choose from. These vary from the toolbox functions to the ability to share to over 265 portals.

Reflection on Bert DuMars

One idea that really resonated with me was the importance of recognizing your customers through the use of social media outlets. The customers will then feel appreciated and be loyal as well as brand advocates that prove helpful whenever recalls or other issues arise with the product. The worst thing that a company could ever due in one of these situations is NOTHING. The company should be answering all questions and comforting consumers rather than running away from them.

From an advertising standpoint it was interesting to see the value of shelf space and the large role that it plays in the marketing strategy. Ads will not be effective if there is nowhere for consumers to buy the products. Shelf space is really the heart of the process and the one most linked to the market directly.

I also liked the YouTube video the anonymity project that really educated me as to the way our society has evolved into so much of a sharing society via social media. We all have a desire to be listened to, liked and appreciated.

Upon Bert telling us that we should have a brief bio about ourselves on our twitter, I felt immediately abashed. However I do see the importance of having actual information about youself on twitter, because it allows people to know that you are a real person and to find out things other than your favorite T.V. gossip, retweeted ideas, or facts of your day

Questions for Bert DuMars

When redsigning a website or remarketing a product what steps do you take to ensure that the existing audience will not be dissappointed? what steps do you take to ensure that new consumers will become intersted in the product?

How do you create a distinct personality for an inatinmate object using the online media sources available?

In the next 3 years how do you think that social media will impact the advertsing industry and what ways will marketers have to adapt to these changes?

Notes on American idol and the Matrix: Branding Methods

As I mentioned in my earlier posts I am reading the book Convergence Culture by Henry Jenkins. Chapter one centered mainly around the online community of spoilers whose main goal was to figure out the T.V. show Survivor before each season even aired. The next two chapters focused on the marketing motivations and subsequent research behind America Idol. American Idol has been criticized for its blatant use of product placement and its concept of commercializing real people into the American idol brand. While these may be true statements about American idol, idol makes no attempts to hide its motives. In this way it has returned to the advertising of the beginning of the television era in which only one product sponsored a show and was given total exposure. Coca-cola has done the same with American Idol. Idol creates a family friendly atmosphere that allows for that gossip and collective intelligence to be employed. It is an interesting strategy for a show to take, instead of trying for the method of subliminal product placement where the viewer thinks " they were wearing American eagle shirts weren't they?", reality TV has taken a new route and decided to scream the product into our ears and faces. I believe that shows like idol are valuable to have in our lives and I did buy into their program, but as a loyalist that was my job.

The Matrix is similar to the Survivor Spoilers in that another community has developed as a result of a Media product. While the survivor spoilers were not intended by its producers the opposite is true for the Matrix. The creators of the Matrix wanted to create an ever expanding world that its fan could have co authorship of. The movie was a cult classic because it was created to be understood on different levels and have different meanings and facets to pretty much every aspect. This creates a never ending series of holes for fan to fill in. Due to its complexities, fans must go to each other to put together the pieces through the use of collective intelligence.

bethenny frankel

all about Bethenny Frankel:
Bethenny Frankel is the daughter of horse trainer Robert Frankel and is now the darlin of the Bravo Television series Real Housewives of New York. The show is only in its third season but Bethenny has already been awarded a spinoff series called Bethenny getting Married. The spinoff will start on june 10, 2010. Along with being a star of two shows as she will reportedly not leave the RHONY, bethenny got married to Jason Hoppy, who is described as a business man, frankel is also the face of skinny girl a natural foods brand where she makes meals for the elite. she has also written sereval books and appeared on the early show as a featured chef. Bethenny also gave birth on May, 8th at 12:30 to a baby girl that is 4 lbs and 11 ounces named Bryn Hoppy. Bryn is a welsh names that reflects Bethenny's Welsh heritage. Growing up Bethenny was Jewish as well. There was some dispute over the birth of her daughter as gossip sites speculated that Bethenny went into premature labor. Bethenny is 40 and as women over 30 run the risk of more health complications from labor, if bethenny did indeed got into labor several weeks eary this may have been the cause. Allthough Frankel is now a housewife of NY she graduated from Pine Crest High School which is a private institution with campuses in Florida and Boca Raton. She returned to NYU for college.

places for info on bethenny frankel from real housewives NY:

bethenny's twitter

website for her business

bethenny has a baby

Premature labor??

Bethenny's Facebook

gotcha! bethenny on vacation!

http://blogs.babble.com/famecrawler/tag/bethenny-frankel-vs-jill-zarin/ bethen

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/03/06/earlyshow/saturday/main6272540.shtml

http://www.bettyconfidential.com/ar/ld/a/Bethenny-Frankel-I-Am-Not-Leaving-Housewives.html

http://www.lipstickalley.com/f213/real-housewives-nyc-season-3-official-thread-217909/

http://perezhilton.com/2010-05-08-its-a-girl-for-bethenny

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethenny_Frankel

the spoiling survivor society

In the first chapter of Henry Jenkins Convergence Culture we learn of an extraordinary group of individuals who have an obsession with spoiling survivor. They are a group like any other, as they consist of a heirarchy of elites. But their system is rocked whenever a person with serious intel intrudes into their systematic world. I found the principle of spoiling to be extremely interesting as it takes our consumption of media and the water cooler mentaility to its very limits with the use of todays techonolgy.

social media and theories

Social Media is any form of media that people use to communicate ideas to one another with the use of technology that breaks down the barriers of distance and inconvenience, social media was popularized by the dawning of the age of social networking sites. Lisa Gitelman helps us to define social media as any technology that enables communication, as mentioned above, secondly media is a set of social practices that have become synonymous with that technology. The three concepts of media convergence, participatory culture and collective intelligence are all primary parts of Social Media that have shaped the way that people communicate with one another. The next step to deciding the path for social media may depend on the Black Box theory in which we must determine which black box, be it the T.V., laptop, Smartphone or Xbox that will emerge as the champion of the boxes. Once the Black Box is determined we are left to struggle with the role of social media in our lives. Will it all but replace human interaction or be the binding glue between strangers, neighbors,friends and family, husbands and wives?