Live-Tweet Assignment

 Today, I did a live-tweeting event where I went to the Performing Arts Center and joyfully watched the Ohio Northern Symphony play. If you are interested in the play by play you can see it on my Twitter @THEMAXWEESE give me a follow when you get a chance. This was a very fun event because in all my years I have never been to a symphony. The Ohio Northern Symphony was a great choice for my first time because it was a beautiful and elegant display of great music. Through the entire performance, the audience was totally locked in and, in awe for how amazing the music was. Between all the different instruments and, added vocals this symphony was a must see. I also learned a thing or two about music in general. The first thing I learned was that a Sitar, which I have never seen before, is a string instrument that is commonly used in India. I also kind of learned when it is appropriate to clap and, when it isn’t. There were a few times when I thought that a song had ended and started to clap but in reality, the performers were just taking a little break from the action. After, I had clapped by mistake a few times I decided to just follow the crowd by clapping when they clapped to save myself the embarrassment. Overall, I had a great first time at the symphony and would recommend to anyone that they should go. Follow my Twitter so you can see what happened on this day of music, use #SMspring19 to get to the good stuff!

Chapter 3

Chapter 3 in Social Media for Strategic Communication was all about personal and professional branding. There are many different things to consider when making your brand and they can make or break your online profile. The important components of a personal brand consist of personality, consistency, and expertise. All three of these can help you keep a positive brand and make sure you look professional on your sites.

Bryan Kramer says that there are six different types of personal brands consisting of Altruist, Careerist, Early Adopter, Boomerang, Connector, and Selective. The Altruist brand depicts how the individuals are committed to helping others in the community and actions speak louder than words, an example of an Altruist is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. With a Careerist brand, you are more interested in professional advancement over personal achievements, an example of this type of bran is Gini Dietrich or Jay Baer. The Early Adopter brand is where individuals tend to be the first to share something to their followers and friends and are dedicated to being independent of each other, an example of this is Carlos Gil and Rosanna Pansino. Boomerang, the fourth type of personal brand focuses on individuals that share content to generate a reaction from others whether it be positive or negative, an example of this is Robert Scoble. The fifth type of personal brand is a Connector which are people who are the ultimate networkers and try to make sure everyone knows each other, an example of this is Deirdre Breankenridge. The final type of personal brand is Selective where individuals only share relevant information to a select group of people and are usually exclusive in their networking, an example of Selective is Jason Falls.

It is important to know what kind of personal brand you are shooting for because there are many benefits associated with establishing a strong personal brand.

3 Fast Ways To Get Good Press

The Green Entrepreneur states that there are many different ways to get good and bad press in the world of public relations, today I am going to headline three fast ways to get good press. With the current restrictions on paid media companies sometimes have to shift their focus towards earned media. The first way to get good press in public relation is to know who you are pitching to. It is important to form your publication or pitch to accommodate the target market you are presenting to, it is important to promote stories that are relevant to the writer’s needs. It is important to practice quality over quantity in order to target the people that can truly benefit from what you are putting out.

The second fast way to get good press is to be a valuable asset, it is important to make sure you have value in your leads so that you can make the job easier for your writer or promoter. You must scan your large network so that you can try to find someone with a valuable story to tell even if they are not a current client, in the field of public relations how large your network makes up how much you are actually worth. It is important to broaden your horizons and grow your network because it helps build strong relationships with other people and can help push you higher up at your organization.

The third and final way to get good press quickly is to tell a good story, a good press release can make or break a company in this growing world in public relations. In order to be effective in public relations it is important to have a strong understanding for your client or company in order to depict them in a positive manner. Knowing and understanding your client or company is critical in case you are in situation where you need to get a press release out very quickly. It is also important to send your releases to the right people, sending you stories to someone that can show off your good press release can help your client or company stand out and people will either gain some respect for your client or grow their interest in the company.

Dirty Franks Hot Dog Palace

Being a native of Columbus for 21 years I have had a few meals here and there and like to think I know some of the best spots to stop at whether you are a native of Columbus or just visiting the city. The place I will be highlighting today is a neighborhood hot dog joint called Dirty Franks Hot Dog Palace. It is located in 4^th street which is where there are a lot of different things to do day or night. As the name of the place implies this joint is all about the hot dogs.

What makes this place special is not the hot dog but all the different things that can come on top of that warm lengthy meat. They have many different condiments, some are your regular well-known ones like relish, sauerkraut, and coleslaw. They also have some outlandish ones like mac and cheese, pretzel bites, and scallions. When you visit this place it is hard to just choose one dog because there are so many different options and so many different combinations. A few of the dogs I would recommend for a newbie are the Mike’s Mac Attack, The Real Man, and Tot-cho Dog. Mike’s Mac Attack comes with man and cheese bites, cheese sauce, and bacon bits. The Real Man comes with Coney sauce, sauerkraut, onion, and brown mustard. The Tot-cho Dog comes with tots, cheese sauce, jalapenos, and onion. Each one of these is a good choice for your first time at Dirty Franks because they really bring to light the creativity and deliciousness that each dog has.

Another aspect that makes Dirty Franks a great stop is its location. There are many places around the hot dog parlor that can keep you entertained after you get a great bite to eat. The best place to go after getting dogs, in my opinion, is the bar right next door. This is no ordinary bar but a video game and arcade game bar. 16-bit is a very popular destination because you can play as many videos games in this bar as you want as long as you have an open tab. The games range from classic arcade games like Galaga all the way to newer games that have just recently come out so you have a wide variety of entertainment. So whether you are a Columbus native or just visiting the city I would recommend these two hot spots to ensure you have a good time. 

Buffalo Chicken Sweet Potatoes

Today I will be talking about a great recipe that is a great sweet and savory dinner for you and your friends. Your first impression may a little taken back by this recipe because before I tried I thought it looked weird and was not a normal mash-up of good food. This recipe came to me by one of my roommate's moms and she prides herself on delivering fresh and delicious recipes every time she comes and visits us. This recipe is called buffalo chicken twice baked sweet potatoes, now sweet potatoes and buffalo chicken may sound a little off to you but trust me this meal is mouthwatering. 

This recipe combines some of my favorite foods and sides, most of my dinners consist of chicken because I am a college student currently on a budget and you can buy bulk amounts of chicken relatively cheap. The meal also incorporates hot sauce which I put on almost everything I eat, from breakfast to dinner. The sweet potato part was the part that concerned me a little bit because I do not eat sweet potatoes on a regular basis. But after eating this meal I was impressed to find out how well these foods worked together. This recipe can be used to feed a family for dinner, have a hearty midday lunch, or provide for your friends during a sporting event. No matter when you decide to make this recipe I know you will love it.

Ingredients:

4 medium sweet potatoes

2 cups shredded chicken

½ cup diced yellow onion

½ cup diced celery

½ cup shredded carrots

1/4^th cup chipotle mayo

1/4^th cup of buffalo sauce

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon smoked paprika

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

½ cup crumbled blue cheese

Instructions:

1.       Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place your sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and poke them with a fork. Bake for 45 mins

2.       While the sweet potatoes are cooking combine celery, onion, and carrots into a saucepan and sauté. Set aside once cooked

3.       When the sweet potatoes are done cooking cut them in half and scoop out the insides. Add the insides to the bowl you set aside with celery, onion, and carrots

4.       In the bowl add your shredded chicken, mayo, buffalo sauce, and spices. Mash all of these ingredients together and then scoop them back into the shells.

5.       Evenly distribute your blue cheese crumbles on top of the shells

6.       Turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake for 20 more mins

7.       Enjoy!

Coors Light #ToastToFarmers

Recently a lot of attack advertisements have been airing targeting different brewing companies. The first to do this was Bud Light, the company aired an advertisement during Super Bowl LIII slamming Miller Lite and Coors Light for including corn syrup in their ingredients. To combat Bud Light, the Coors Light marketing team decided they are going to do a “national toast to farmers” on February 15^th. The angle that Coors Light is taking against Bud Light is that the company did not just attack their brand but they attacked the hard-working American farmers who grow and care for the ingredients that are used in both the companies’ beers. The vice president of Coors had said that “we’re standing up for our beers, our ingredients, and the farmers who grow them.” The Coors Company has not released any details about what the actual toast to farmers will be but the anticipation for the event is growing. After the Bud Light advertisement had aired the National Corn Growers Association responded and expressed their disappointment in Bud Light on behalf of America’s corn farmers. Bud Light did not consider the kind of backlash they would receive due to the advertisement and this may cause them to lose some valued customers. This is a perfect opportunity for Coors to steal some market share from Bud Light by showing that they value the hard working farmers that help make their product. The hashtag #ToastToFarmers has quickly blown up on Twitter and many people are interested to see what is going to happen. If Coors can play their cards right here they should be able to steal some business from Bud Light by showing that they truly care for the people that not only drink their beers but also produce them. We will have to wait and see what happens this Friday and how Bud Light is going to rebuttal.

Super Bowl

Over the weekend as many of you know, the Super Bowl happened between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams. This was predicted to be a high scoring game with two powerhouse offenses facing each other. It turned out to be the exact opposite, this game was decided by the defenses of both teams stepping up when their offenses were not producing. With a low scoring game ending at 13-3 in favor of the New England Patriots, a lot of fans felt cheated out of their entertainment. The Super Bowl is usually where fans can sit back and watch two teams clash at each other in a very intense matchup but this year with such a low scoring game fans felt as if this game was a waste of their time.

A big reason as to why people watch the Super Bowl besides for their love of football is the commercials that are aired during the game. These commercials are usually unique, funny, and outrageous. It is very important for these commercials to have an impact on the people that watch them and encourage people to buy the product they are putting out. A 30-second ad during the commercial costs around 5 million, this is an insane amount of money to be giving up for just 30 seconds of exposure. With around 98 million people watching the game it may be safe to say that throwing out 5 million dollars may be worth it to get your brand name out there. The expensive airtime and the number of people watching the game lead to companies and brands needing to make their product stand out to the average American, this is why so many commercials are so outrageous so more people may get intrigued by the product.

One of the biggest commercials that stood out to me during the game was the commercial that had a crossover between Bud Light and the TV series Game of Thrones. This commercial stuck out to me for a few different reasons, the first being that it gave us a preview of the new season of Game of Thrones which so many people are excited about, including myself, and it showed one of my favorite characters in the show “The Mountain”. I found it an interesting concept that the Bud Light corporation was willing to let their own brand be beaten and destroyed in a matchup between The Mountain and an armored knight for Bud Light, from my perspective I feel like if I was advertising my brand I would not want my brand to be defeated in battle but be the one to be victorious.

Chapters 11 and 12 reading

For this week’s reading, we dove into chapters 11 and 12, the final chapters of the book. The 11th chapter of the book focused on how you can optimize the individual platforms that you use. The chapter first talks about how Facebook uses something called “EdgeRank” to determine which posts your followers see. I found this interesting because I have never heard of this and feel like if someone follows you, then they should be able to see all the content you put out not just the stuff that gets the most interaction. 

The next Social Media platform Guy had touched on was Instagram, he talked about how you should keep things short and to the point. This was an important piece of information because I follow some people that post stories with hundreds of hashtags on them and I get easily distracted and do not bother reading the whole thing, I learned to now start keeping my posts short and sweet and to the point. Another solid point Guy had made was, to share your Instagram posts on Twitter and other Social Media sites. This will lead to ultimate exposure time and can cause people that may follow you on one site to start following you on another.

 The next big Social Media platform he had talked about was LinkedIn this one I paid the most attention to because I use this platform on a regular basis because I am starting to look for jobs after graduation. The biggest thing that stood out to me was how Guy had talked about making a personalized request when you are trying to connect with someone cause that can help you stand out in front of possible employers because you look like you are actually interested in them instead of just sending them the automated message.

The last of the Social Media platforms that I use and Guy had talked about was Twitter. Guy had talked about how the use of a graphic can cause more attention to your post. I find this true because whenever I am scrolling through my Twitter feed I usually just scroll not really paying attention to what the words are saying but a picture attached to words always grabs my attention and makes me want to read what it is all about.

The 12^th chapter of the book was about how to put everything together. This chapter talked about how you should build the foundation, amass your digital assets, and go to market. Guy had given an example for a book launch and had emphasized that this technique was to only be used by amateurs and not experts in the field.

Podcast

This week for my blog I decided to do a podcast about the use of Social Media for the Ohio Northern Men's Lacrosse team. We talked to head Coach Nat St. Laurent and his assistant Coach Rossie and found out how they use Social Media.