LinkedIn

If you are anything like me, you are overwhelmed with all of the social media sites that everyone seems to have accounts on. Twitter, Tumblr, Blogger, Facebook and now LinkedIn...how do people do it and are they all necessary?
My most recent online endeavor has been LinkedIn, "the place" for business people to network. Just like every other soon-to-be college graduate, I signed up for an account, made a profile and badgered a few people into signing up so I would have some connections. After that...I pretty much left it alone.
Maybe the joke is on me, but recently I have been hearing about the "joys" of being a LinkedIn user. Needless to say, I logged back into my measly profile and started to try to find what all the buzz was about. Now, maybe I am not the only one who feels this way, but is LinkedIn the Skipper to Facebook's Barbie? These new features, like LinkedIn Events and advertising space, seem to be...well, kind of lame.
Now, introducing attendees to an event beforehand, or making the events list available for all those who have RSVP-ed is a smart tool for the LinkedIn team to bring on. But when do these social networking sites begin to look the same? Friending them on Facebook, connecting with them on LinkedIn...how much should we be connected to a person that we don't really know? Is that business appropriate? And whatever happened to the awkward first meetings? Will we all eventually greet each other by saying "Oh, yes! Hi...I just friended you..and yes, haha, we are connections. What was your last name again?" or "Hey! Saw you are going to Florida this weekend on your Twitter, I'm Lauren...its great to meet you."
Where is that line of social networking overload and are we quickly approaching it?

Experimental Marketing

Taylor Herring is the super swanky London-based PR firm that I dream of working for. Their clientele is incredible. They have their hands involved in everything and anything someone may think is "cool." And their blog is nothing short of indulgent.
In a recent post on the Taylor Herring blog, a post was made about an experimental marketing strategy for prime time TV show, Mad Man. To promote the upcoming season premiere of Mad Men in New Zealand, cleverly places decals were placed on the sides of skyscrapers. These decals play tribute to the opening sequence of the show and have become not only eye-catching, but completely iconic.


The firm in charge of these adventurous decals is Draftfcb based out of New Zealand. What do you think?
Does the falling suited silhouette catch your attention and peak your interest? Or does it miss the mark?

What Makes a Good Blog...Good?

I came across an article via the Public Relations Society of America's website talking about the various aspects of what makes a blog good. We have all read blogs and we all know that some of them, well, maybe their authors should find other hobbies. This article by Sherrie Bakshi helps combat that misty-eyed blogger fears.

Step One: Work Your Blog!
Sherrie encourages bloggers to take pride in their art. Spend time fashioning each post and watch your style evolve. That said, make sure to let your friends on Facebook and Twitter know that you've posted! And hey, it never hurts to participate on other blogs. That way your sphere of influence branches out past just your "friends" or "followers."

Step Two: Love Mean Commitment.
WRITE ABOUT WHAT YOU LOVE! No one wants to read a blog about something by a half-hearted blogger. I happen to know very little about football, I like watching the sport, but I could never write a blog about it (unless we wanted to talk about how a particular..asset happens to look in football uniforms).
But, as we all know, the things we love take up time and effort. Commit to your blog. Set a posting schedule for yourself and mark your calendar. No matter if you've got a great following or stellar content, no one wants to read a sporadic blog. Blogs have become a regular part of our computer time habits...don't disappoint those fans!

Step Three: Keep Calm & Be Patient
All good things take time...blogs included. Don't be discouraged! Everyone will love your blog.

Social Media Meltdown

As much as I avoid those famed "five ways to..." or "three reasons why..." this article by Dorie Clark (CEO for Clark Strategic Communications) for The Huffington Post on ways to avoid the soon-to-be social media burnout is a gem.
Clark suggests (and rightfully so) to avoid being the greedy "early adopter." The trigger happy techie that spends his or her day finding and mastering every new hyped phenomenon on the internet. Clark begs us to remember Second Life, the "design your own avatar and live in the virtual world" that turned out to be...well, kind of weird. Save your time for the "must-haves" or those designed to stick around.
That said, the marketing strategy consultant guru encourages social media users to be familiar with the most used/famed internet tools (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc.). Create an account, play around, pick up a copy of Wired Magazine, get to know the programs a bit and how they can be beneficial for you and your needs.
Above all else, do not let social media intimidate or scare you. Who cares is @LNLHoldsworth posts 8 times a minute? Her blog may be terrible. Social media is designed to be user friendly, to help connect, to build relationships and spread information. You are the user. Have FUN!
For the complete article by Dorie Clark, visit http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dorie-clark/how-to-avoid-social-media_b_815116.html

100cameras, the most creative way to share stories

When you go to 100camera's homepage, this is the first thing you read: 100cameras is a nonprofit organization that identifies children living in unjust conditions and gives them cameras to document their lives. Their photo narratives are used to raise awareness and capital to meet physical needs and empower sustainable growth within their community. When you purchase one of the children's photos, 100percent of that money is given back to the partner organization.
This group gives cameras to underprivelaged children. In hopes that by seeing the lives they live, the organization can better serve them.
Cameras to children to see their lives through their lenses.
Brilliant.
According to their website, this is how it works:
it's simple, really.

we give a camera to jackson.

jackson snaps a photo.

then you buy his photo.

your money goes back to jackson.

and jackson is empowered.



Watch the video. Get inspired. Visit the website (100cameras.org)

From Neoclassicism to Expressionism

Hello Hello My Little Artsies,
I found this wonderful article in the Arts section of the New York Times titled "Odd Faces, Strange in Their Day, but Familiar in Our Time" today. It starts of with Proust, calls on da Vinci and ends up in Vienna. The article is a wonderfully exploratory trip through the works of Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, an 18th-century German sculptor. Messerschmidt manifested his "artistic-disturbances" through a series of, what he called, character heads. This busts are crafted with bizarre, exaggerated expressions that intrigue even the least experienced art critic.

The article goes on to catalog the artists life from his youth in Germany to his final days in Vienna. 19 of Messerschmidt's character heads have been brought together for the show “Franz Xaver Messerschmidt 1736-1783: From Neoclassicism to Expressionism,” which has been organized in collaboration with the Louvre and travels to Paris from New York.
For the full article please visit NYTimes.com

Happy findings!

lost & FFFFOUND

Hello!
Today has been another manic one. How about some happy findings to distract you?


They say happiness is the changing of seasons...


So Happy.


Lovely, no?

All of these wonderful images were discovered on FFFFOUND.com; the fantastic web service that not only allows the users to post and share their favorite images found on the web, but also suggests other images that the user may like (based on what s/he has clicked on previously). MAGIC!

Please go visit.
You may very well get lost.

Muckraking for the Modern Man

Hello, hello.
I hope you are having a lovely Monday.
This week Collective wants to focus your attention to an insanely artistic approach to journalism. "News21 is a national project that encourages and supports new forms of investigative reporting and storytelling," reports NPR's Coburn Dukehart. "The venture — funded by a Carnegie and Knight initiative — includes eight “incubator” universities, where students hone their reporting and digital skills in the classroom, then follow up with hands-on reporting in the field"
This project has fused the art of film, audio, storytelling & reporting into one power-house of a hybrid. The full article (found at: http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2010/08/17/129258578/journalism-for-the-21st-century) highlights Syracuse University's News21 student and her story of Jerry Middleton, a former driver in the Vietnam war. The final product can be seen viewed on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/13764307). To see more of the students work check out News21.com.