Value add at Humber PR at #futurecamp

Humber PR got together this past week to discuss some issues on our minds.

Future Camp on Prezi

How do we add value? How do we stay connected? What advice to you have to future Humber PR students? And perhaps most importantly, what DID we learn this year?

There are so many platforms available to the public these days. You can tweet, blog, facebook, comment, post videos anything you little heart desires!

But how do you add value? Caitlin has compiled a collection of videos that address how some people add value!

Keeping connected in the future is also vastly important. The connections that you make, particularly in school, have the potential to benefit you in the most. Personally I think it is important to be connected and Kiel has a great suggestion for his section! This could be implemented well with 1C as well I think.

What are some of the things that you can do to ensure your contribution is not just noise?!

Well you can contribute authentically for one thing. Make sure that the things that you are saying matter.

Don't talk just for the sake of talking.
That's just silly!

This is one of the biggest things that I learned this semester, it is important to value add, not noise add. Sometimes is it hard to do, you have to be sure to remain authentic to your brand. It seems like I'm not the only one who learned these things, Andrew has some really good things to say about what he learned this year.

We learned so much this past term from our profs and from our classmates, we talked about it and made #futurecamp a trending topic. For some really great people to talk to, follow, tweet check out @shelleyburgoyne, @h_farb, @ZoyaMcGroarty @greenjenschultz or any of my fab #humberpr colleagues.

Diesel Dumbos

"No one should be asked to trade public health for public transit" David Mckeown

Unfortunately we are. The government wants more loud, polluting and antiquated trains ripping through our city.

Why?

The simple answer is public transit. But there are always more issues at heart. There are the Pan Am Games, a direct link to Pearson of Airport, and some politics. Lets not forget the politics.

At the end of the day Diesel is not a nice thing. The emissions are harmful effecting air quality as a start. Ripping through neighborhoods where young families take the dog for a walk. Brampton is home to a large community of elderly people. It makes you wonder what will happen to these lungs. Things the CTC recognizes as a HUGE problem.

Why spend the money on an electrification study when its already there? Why not take that money and do something about it, instead of just thinking about it.

I had the opportunity to attend the public meeting at City Hall some weeks back and many issues were brought up. Emotions were palpable in the room as each camp stood firmly on their desires. No one was really willing to give, or to talk. It was an "us vs. them" evening that left me feeling slightly unsatisfied.


What struck me was that the majority of those people sitting in that room would not have the opportunity to take a trip on this $20-$30 a ride train. I sure know I won't. The people who Metrolinx wants to bull dose are not the people who serve to benefit from this service.

There is so much information and so much about this issue that needs to be discussed. The point is that these trains are not environmentally friendly, they are not universally accessible and they will do nothing to elevate the city of Toronto. Progress report is important if you want to know.


Getting people on board with eliminating the Diesel from these trains should check out and sign the petition here!!. Check out the web, there is information everywhere about this plan and discussions available from both sides. Educate yourself!!

I don't think eliminating this addition to transit infrastructure is the way to go. I think electrification is. Something that is cleaner, quieter and overall better for the environment and public would do everything these trains do, and more. CTC and the CTSC have Facebook pages and twitter accounts, CTC has a blog Railroaded by Metrolinx that is a good resource, and places to join the conversation, this is not an issue that is going to go away.

This is the only planet we have, shouldn't we take care of it?

Broadband connects us all

Public Relations is evolving.
Right now.
This very minute.
And the super cool thing is that right now, this very minute you are a part of it!
Yes you are!
Good for you!!!

Long long ago, in the days of fax machines and snail mail there was Mr. PR. He was a vehicle for discussion and communication he represented the company. He was the a communicator and image maker.

Well not anymore my friends. With the arrival of broadband not only have we lost that funny dial up noise, we have developed into highly connected human beings. So long six degrees of separation hello Six Pixels! The evolution of the Internet has forced us to evolve. And so MR. PR2.0, master of social media, was born.

Broadband burst onto the scene promoting tools such as Blogger and Twitter and Picnik. Everything was accessible, and much easier to use. The people didn't need Mr. PR to communicate the message. They could get the message, or comment on the message, or write the message, sitting on the couch at home. And social involvement keeps growing.

Rise up citizen journalist!! We are listening!

PR2.0 is here and is a discussion the likes of which we have never seen. Deirdre Breakenridge puts into words the importance and relevance of broadband connectivity. It isn't enough to be online, you have to communicate online!!



Or your could ignore it. Your choice.

In order to not drown in social media tools, you need Mr. PR2.0. He can plug you in and turn you on and all together save you because he understands. GenY doesn't want to listen to advertising noise. Just give us the message, or we will write it for you.

And there it is. Broadband has enabled the masses to claim information production and transfer as their own. Mr PR2.0 is there to promote this exchange. Unlike his predecessor , Mr. PR2.0 wants to talk to everyone, all the time, he has social capital. His network is vast and far reaching your probably connected to him right now.

Are you on FarmVille?

Do you have something that distracts you? Something that you can justify wasting time on because it “helps you relax?” For my mom it was Tetris. She plunked down in front of the computer on a trip to Florida and played for the better part of a morning.

She is not alone. I have battled addictions to solitaire and checkers. Facebook was responsible for at least one paper being handed in late in college. Now, it’s FarmVille and I’m not the only one.

FarmVille is an application on Facebook where you plant, grow and harvest your farm. It involves little more than a point and click level of participation and it is HIGHLY addictive. So addictive in fact that Dr. Phil berated a woman his show about her addiction.

Everyone is talking about FarmVille. Facebook has a fan page and hosts the application, Twitter has a thread and there are countless videos on YouTube. Bloggers everywhere are posting hints, cheats and opinions. Gamespot.com posted on the subject. With almost 78 million users FarmVille is the fastest growing application on Facebook. Billions of man hours have been lost to this game.

Most reviews , and there are many, describe FarmVille as a simple game. By requiring very little brain power, FarmVille provides the user with a distraction from life. Just point and click your way to a more attractive and crop filled existence.

What I want to know is this. What is it about FarmVille, The Sims, celebrities and movies that is more attractive than our actual lives? Are we really so boring ourselves?

I don't know about you, but I would like an answer.

Just not right now, my crops need harvesting.

Vimeo a community for artists by artists

Vimeo is a community created for artists by artists. Enabling like minded people to share their creative juices in a cool and interactive way.

New users can chose from two account types, one that costs and one that is free. You can easily link up your Vimeo account to your Facebook account. Making the site user friendly and exciting all at the same time!

It's bright, friendly and the opening page lays it all out with Quality, Community and Plus tabs front and centre. Right away the creators invite you to take a look into their world. With tabs titled "Videos we like", "Explore" and "Right now" even your average Internet surfer will find something on here to peak their interest.

The Usability of this site, as outlined above is simple and direct. There are features that you would want to use right away that you cant find or learn about through a simple click from the homepage.

Particularly useful is the "Explore" tab. Click on it and you will see all the different communities that exist. Making reaching your target audience easier to reach. Generally they are all in the same place!! Alma won a bunch of awards and I didn't know about it before I clicked on the art link.

Alma from Rodrigo Blaas on Vimeo.

As a sharing site Vimeo increases the visibility of many different groups. There are 'communities' for artists, not for profits and on and on. Its application for business and entertainment. Use it to launch a new artist or search for new talent!!

This is a global community dedicated to sharing, though not necessarily a game changer Vimeo does provide a forum, similar to youtube in its sharing capacity but dissimilar in the content and overall goal of the people involved.

Now that you have a better understanding of Vimeo's Usability and Utility to go Jordana's Blog to see her critique of the Community itself. After all, sites like this are built on their community and can only survive if they are able to maintain a viable user base.