Make up work for Writing for New Media class

Over the course of this semester, I have noticed one large fact about this class, and that is that it is very similar to Social Media Campaigns, except in the fact that we A) Are focusing less on the tools and more on the writing, and B) We are inventing our own non-profit, which is 900% harder than writing up a strategy for another organization.

I really liked that we were using an established company and writing a plan in the other class, rather than spending time designing the corporation and the sites them self. As a whole, I preferred the planning stage and getting all that on paper, more than actually designing it. While it didn't necessarily give first hand experience using the sites, the class periods themselves allowed for more than enough practice, and the homework too.

I just liked it better really.

Some questions I still have... Well, not any really. A lot of the class is review, as I am interested in Social Media and Writing, and everything new is simple enough.

I think I am doing fine in the class, paying attention and listening to others and their experiences, as well as meeting most deadlines (whether or not the teacher notices), as well as keeping up with others blogs.

I think the class is progressing well, and that I will learn more int he future.

Writing for New Media, Social Campaign (for makebelieve non-profit)

Ahh, here we are again, a final about a Social Media Project. How exciting.

My non-profit will be known as "No Shirts, No Bueno." The basic mission statement will be, "if you're cold, we're not doing our job."

Primarily, my non-profit would operate majorly on donations of cash and supplies, working with local organizations (churches, government owned places, etc) in order to help cloth every person in Madison.

The plan would be to start small, but eventually expand to other areas of Wisconsin.

The 4 main forms of Social media that I intend to use are Facebook, Twitter, Google Alerts and Google Blogger.

Google Blogger would primarily be run by service staff (perhaps a social media volunteer from the local technical college), where the primary goals would include:

-Connecting with the populace on a more personal level.
-Keeping those involved or invested in the company about the various projects being run by the corporation.
-Allowing (and even inviting) area residents for feedback on all aspects of the workplace, and opening forums to all levels of feedback.

Google Alerts will be charged with keeping up with local news, or any other, types of mentions for the company, as well as keeping track of investors and people of interest. Likewise, the tool would be used to watch for any local residents that need help, updating daily in an attempt to keep up with the world and the news.

NSNB will run a Facebook Fan Page, which will likewise run a number of campaigns to target those that are in the Madison area, unemployed or looking for, and need help. Advertisements will be used constantly, bringing in a larger customer base, and will also be used to attract donators to the cause. The Page itself will be used to interact with users, post daily short updates, and shed light on events the company intends to host.

Likewise with Twitter, simply using another tool to reach a larger user base.

This is Dan Schott, Controlling Interest of No Shirt, No Bueno.

Writing for New Media, a Library Experience

For the Jan. 20th class of Writing for New Media (brought to you by Natasha Kassulke), we had a casual visit to the Madison Area Technical College -- Truax Library, which was not an entire waste of time. A presentation, by our Library Services Planner Matt Coan, was brought to us, with the main focus being on the new Social Media world.

As a whole, his presentation offered a great look at the various tools and habits of this new world. However, the majority of the presentation seemed to be targeting at the "new" social media writer, and those with experience could take very little out of it that they didn't already realize.

A few good key things that were presented included the examples using the MATC Libraries Facebook Page. The presentation of this page allowed those with no actual experience to see how this knowledge is used in the real world, and at the same time showed people currently with their wrists deep in the world to see other examples of how social media is utilized.

MATC Libraries Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/MadisonCollegeLibraries

Another site that was presented would be the main MATC Library Page, which showed how other tools can not only be utilized, but embedded straight into the websites themselves. This showed how others could design their own websites.

MATC Libraries Main Site: http://library.matcmadison.edu/

Lastly, the ideas flowing around the use of correct grammar and punctuation on the internet were intriguing, however, I find that everyone has their own truths when it comes to such issues. For me, whether it be texting, blogging, twitter'ing (which I call Twiting, ya Twits) or Facebook'ing, I will always find myself using grammar fully, to the best of my ability. The reasoning behind this is that, while it may be simpler to write "lik dis 4 da net" and take a little less time, I find that each and everything I publish online is a reflection of me. Since I am not majorlly mentally impaired or in high school, I will continue to write my best, utilizing my grammar and punctuation to the best of my ability.

Writing for New Media, homework

School - The webiste for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is one of many sites designed to facilitate the needs of past, present and future students to the school. Unlike some others though, the site itself is quite well put together, easily navigable and using plain english. Other websites like to use larger words, in an attempt to make themselves look smarter, but only wind up looking pompus and like douchebags, with their site beingt harder to navigate as a result.

Overall, the site is well thought out and plain, the language used being at just the right level of intelligence to not seem too intimidating for first time users and yet still command the same amount of respect.

http://www.wisc.edu/

News - A combination of two seperate newspapers, the website for the Capital Times and Wisconsins State Journal offers an amazing site, seperated clearly into widely acknowledged catagories for newspapers, easily navigable and well thought out design schemes. Furthermore, the fact that it is mobile, and offers a wide array of multicultural articles and subjects, makes this site an amazing one.

http://host.madison.com/

Business - As a whole, the overture center has been a place for many controversies over the last few years, from debt problems to production difficulties. However, their website is not one that has any need for improvement, with a soft background that allows for people to enjoy the page without too hard of a look, with interesting art galleries flashing through the front homepage and clearly defined tabs for different neccessities for any user. Furthermore, the page allows for easy "business," as the page clearly shows shows, times and availability for purchases, causing it to be a decent source of income for the site.

http://www.overturecenter.com/

Non-profit - The non-profit, Madison Children's Museum, has a website that seems to be primarily focused on children, as the color scheme and design has been made to appear that it was designed by one of them. Despite the asethtic outline, however, the website is easy to navigate and find what you're looking for.

http://www.madisonchildrensmuseum.org/