Gabriel Dance

These vids are pretty inspirational. Crazy to think that such a young guy has the position that he does. I found the “transparency” idea interesting. I personally think it’s a reporters job to be invisible. It’s best to let the subjects or stories do the talking through a journalist as a medium. The idea of using the internet to erase the journalist is pretty awesome.

Questions:

1. How do you feel about social media as a way of mass communication?

2. You mentioned that failure lets you know you’re on the right track or doing something new that’s not in a comfort zone while in college. Do you still fail? How much?

mr. dance

Gabriel Dance pointed out so many things in all his projects that it made me notice the details. When I got to a The New York Times Web site, I basically just look around at what pops at me and smacks me in the face. It has to really catch my attention for me to finally click on it to find out what it is. What I am trying to get at, is that the usability is so easy but I had not realized what made it so easy to use until Dance pointed out the two big buttons on the page, or the links that popped at you as you kept playing the video. I definitely have to agree with Dance when he says things have to be really easy to use for people to get involved in the stories. Usability also involves consistency which helps users know what the buttons or links do. I think consistency helps people navigate through pieces a lot more easily because people already have an idea of what the button does or the where the link takes you.

I would ask Dance, 1) how does the team decide what to make something interactive, or turn it into a multi-media story? Does it always have to be linked up to a story a reporter is working on? 2) At this point, if you were given enough time to do a project, would you be able to do it on your own, with no one’s help? Meaning, have you learned all the skills necessary to do this kind of stuff on your own?

The whole thing was pretty interesting. It was hard to see one video and not continue on to the next one to see what else Dance had to say.

 

 

Dance

This is why Web design should be a mandatory class! It’s great that we’re all learning to be better writers, but if we can’t present our writing in a way that the audience can use and wants to use, we might as well be writing it in a locked up diary on the shelf. Students need to stop being told that new media is destroying journalism and need to start being told how to use it to make their content more appealing and accesable.

Questions:

What is the most useful too on the internet?

Technology allows students to do more, but costs so much. How can a ramen-dependant  student keep up without breaking the bank?

Dance and Innovation

Gabriel Dance had some great information and advice for journalism students. I enjoyed his ideas on innovation and his uses of technology in presenting the news. I think he would be an awesome addition to Mass Comm Week 2010!
1. What advice would you give to journalism students to help prepare them for life after graduation?
2. Do you ever see yourself pursuing a career outside the New York Times?

Big and Few buttons

Gabriel Dance had great things to say about using multimedia in journalism. I especially liked how he stressed the importance of being knowledgeable in different skills. It makes you more accessible and desired. I agreed with him when he said to pay attention to other people’s work. Critique it, pick out what you like about it and make it better. Don’t straight up copy it. Lead the pack. His idea of simple usability and transparency were right on target. People don’t want to bogged down on how to navigate a site. They want to find the information they are looking for quickly and engage in the content. So as Gabriel said, drive the audience into the story and get out of the way of the content. If the user gets frustrated on how your things work you failed, and you have failed the people who have created your content.

You talked about exploring at the university level because there are less restrictions, students have more time and not so much responsibility.

1) What was your favorite project in grad school?

2) What projects or ideas do you wish you would have explored?

Just Dance

We have so many tools as a university that we can use to be on top of this social media explosion.  Let’s use them! We have no restrictions. Dance said a lot of these social media tools aren’t used to their full potential even at news stations. We have a one-up on everyone being apart of this social media generation. If you rest, you rust. Let’s get to work Texas State!

We need to be involved in our community and what other people are developing. Think about our pitch and sell it. Develope skills that are well-rounded. It makes yourself more marketable. Project management skills are important too.  We need to focus on transparency and gain the trust of our audience.  It’s an exciting time to be a journalist!

two questions:

1. What would be your motto in this period of your life?

2. What would you encourage us as students to get our hands on first using social media?

Cuban and Vaynerchuk

Today was  epic for Texas State University’s Mass Comm Week. Brain Cuban and Gary Vaynerchuk both spoke today at back to back panels, and boy were they interesting.

Cuban’s speech advocating the fight against hate speech was excellent. He himself admitted to being bias because he was Jewish, but urged those to step up against hate speech on social media. Even though social media is a revolution for our society Today, Cuban urged to take precaution and use it correctly.  Networks like Facebook, Youtube and various blogs hype up hate speech, which can lead to violence.

Gary Vaynerchuk was a whole other story. The eccentric, outspoken, funny man gave students advice for their future. Vaynerchuk was hilarious and entertaining but very knowledgeable at the same time. Its great to see such a successful person interact with the audience, and have a great time while he is doing. He offered great advice to students with questions about social media-and even gave fifteen dollars to two students. What I liked most about Vaynerchuk is that he is a real person. He built his empire from the bottom up,and does not care about the money or the luxuries  in life. He urges students to find their niche, and to stick to what they are good at.

New Media

It is amazing to me how Social Media has helped many individuals in promoting and expanding their carriers. If used correctly, one can be very successful. At the Today’s panel Joe Ruiz from KSAT.com, Dee Kapila from KUT  and  Chelsea Stark from KEYE-TV spoke about their carriers in web design and web producer.

I still have much to learn about social media and how it can benefit me. These three individuals were very encouraging about the future of young professionals.

Grant Ewing Band

For my project, I am going to do a Web site for the Grant Ewing Band. I am their publicist and I have been wanting to do a Web site for them since I now know how to. I definitely want to have pictures, a bio and show dates on the site.

Long Term Evolution

I, like so many other people, love reading the news and especially love reading about new technologies. I will be creating a Web site about a new wireless technology that will be rolling out next year called “Long Term Evolution,” but most people will know it as 4G. I thought this would be interesting and also beneficial.