Class Assignment: Seth Godin and Standing Out

Recently students in my News Reporting class practiced taking notes and writing a speech story. Their speaker was marketing maven Seth Godin, and the speech was a talk he gave way back in 2003 at a conference sponsored by TED - Technology, Education, Design.

The talk is about standing out, being remarkable, and the topic is every bit as relevant today as it was when he first delivered this talk.

It's worth 18 minutes of your time if you've never seen it before. I learn something new every time I watch it.

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Critical Literacies for the Information Age

How does somebody become a "savvy media consumer," wading through all the media muck to determine "the truth"? Or is the truth unattainable?

I'll explore these questions when I join three other speakers -- Richenda Hawkins, Callie Palmer and and Gary Westford -- in addressing "Critical Literacies for the Information Age" at 12:15 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30, in the Diversity Achievement Center at LBCC.

While I try to tackle media literacy, my colleagues will examine:

• Information Literacy (Richenda Hawkins)
• The Fine Arts (Gary Westford)
• Cultural Competency (Callie Palmer)

The event, organized by Bryan Miyagishima, is part of recognizing "National Information Literacy Month." The brown bag panel discussion is hosted by the LBCC Library.

Brief opening remarks will be followed by a Q&A session for the entire panel. It runs until about 1:15 p.m.

All LBCC faculty, staff, students and others are invited to attend.

"Who should come?" Miyagishima asks, "anyone interested in how technology, society, and culture are shaping the lives and education of the LBCC community. This is meant to be an informative, engaging, and thought-provoking hour..."

And if the discussion doesn't sound inviting enough, "We're providing desserts!" Miyagishima promises.

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(Photo credit: "Information Overload" by DeaPeaJay, courtesy of Flickr.com/Creative Commons)

Harrower Leads Writing, Editing, Design Workshop

Design guy and journalism textbook author Tim Harrower is leading a workshop on newswriting, editing and news design Saturday, Nov. 14, in Wilsonville, Ore. The deadline to sign up is Friday, Oct. 30.

The daylong workshop, "Futurizing Your Newspaper," will feature sessions focusing on writing "tighter and smarter," thinking like a digital journalist, upgrading your Web site, planning bigger and better packages, and crafting stronger headlines.

Advance registration is $50 for the day, $30 for a half day (and $10 off for students). It runs from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Best Western Willamette Inn, 30800 S.W. Parkway Blvd., in Wilsonville, just south of Portland off of Interstate 5.

For more information or to sign up, go to http://timharrower.com/oregonworkshop.html.

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SPJ Offers Training for Journalists, Students

Journalists, both the professional and the student variety, have an outstanding opportunity to learn from other experts this Saturday, Oct. 24, at the University of Oregon.

The Oregon and Southwest Washington chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists will host the third annual "Building at Better Journalist" conference in UO's School of Journalism and Communication (Allen Hall). Registration opens at 8 a.m., with the keynote talk at 9 a.m.

On the agenda are sessions on writing, mobile reporting, producing video for the Web, covering business before and after a crisis, and career-building. Speakers include reporters, editors and photojournalists from the Oregonian, Investigate West, Willamette Week, KGW Media Group, ReadWriteWeb and the New York Times.

Click here for more details...

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Facebook "Fan" Sites Drive News Views

Ben McConnell put it this way: "Facebook fan pages are the future."

He was talking specifically about marketing, networking, serving customers. I'm thinking, "Facebook fan pages are the future ... of media?"

What gets me thinking about this is the fact that the college newspaper I advise, The Commuter, attracted more than a hundred fans in less than a week. The students were surprised, having no idea that many people might care what the newspaper says or does online. What's most surprising is how fast the number of fans can expand. Naturally, you'd assume that it's because you're giving them something interesting and engaging to read and interactive with.

And that's the key. They can interact. Facebook makes it easy to "like" what you see, comment or interact with others who share your interests.

As McConnell notes:

Facebook fan pages are the future for three reasons: They're free, easy to create and build a nearly instantaneous pathway to evangelists, prospects or the curious.

When fans interact with a fan page on Facebook, that interaction is sent through the fan's news feed, which goes to all their friends, practically daring a chunk of them to see what the page is about.

Compared to Twitter, Facebook fan pages rule. You're not limited by Twitter's 140-character posts, plus it's far easier for fan page members to preview a photo, video or weblink than what Twitter offers.

The Commuter staff made a renewed commitment this summer to more fully integrate social networking into their news delivery mix, along with "thinking Web-first" in covering news and making it available ASAP to their readers and "fans."

It seems to be paying off.

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How to Blog Every Day - Tips From a Pro

One of the biggest challenges that young writers face is simply getting into the habit of writing. In my classes at Linn-Benton Community College, I require my students to start a blog (to see some of the results, look to the right). Why do I do this? Because it forces them to come up with new stories and photos each week. It forces them into the writing or creativity habit.

In "How to Blog Almost Every Day," Chris Brogan describes some of the tools he uses to maintain the habit. These include:

• Read something new every day.
• Talk with people every day.
• Find 20-40 minutes in every day to sit still and type.
• Find useful and interesting pictures.

And my favorite: "Get the post up fast, not perfect. You can edit if you have to, later. Perfectionism kills good habits."

I couldn't agree more.

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p.s. I'm about halfway through Brogan's new book, "Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust," and recommend it highly.

VentureBeat Explores Changes at Facebook

A new story in VentureBeat looks behind the scenes at Facebook and recent decisions by its chief, Mark Zuckerberg. The article by Matt Marshall considers whether all the leadership changes at Facebook reflect chaos or a maturing enterprise (and a maturing 25-year-old billionaire CEO).

Among the juicier nuggets:

If you look closely enough at Facebook, for all the chaos that still reigns at the company amid the frantic product launches, there is emerging a paradoxical appreciation for order and process. The company’s new digs exemplify this: Zuckerberg has placed his desk at the geometric center of the new building — located at the shortest walking distance form any point in the building.

and

Despite the signs of Zuckerberg’s personal development, insiders say he has always displayed qualities that make him a leader. He is relentlessly competitive. Last month, he and other engineers challenged each other to do 5,000 pushups in a week. Zuckerberg vowed he could do it, but others doubted him, placing 30-to-1 odds against it. ... Zuckerberg insisted the goal was easily attainable. He took regular breaks throughout the day to do 10-15 pushups, even if he was in the middle of a meeting with visitors. He completed the 5,000.

Recently I had a chance to read "The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook - A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal" by Ben Mezrich. It echoes many of the observations in the VentureBeat article, especially Zuckerberg's unpredictable yet mercurial nature. Although less insightful than I had hoped (lack of access to Zuckerberg being the primary shortcoming) it's a fast read and interesting enough to recommend to students in my Media & Society class.

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