Excellence in journalism 2011
This week, me and 5 other Humphrey fellows attended Excellence in journalism 2011 conference in New Orleans, so I would like to share with you some of the highlights and useful links.
One of the biggest highlights was New Orleans itself, but I think I will write a separate blog about that one later 
Conference began with the very inspiring session with CNN reporter Soledad O’Brien, who reports about minor communities, as she herself is a daughter of two immigrants. During the discussion she offered a lot of important advice for reporters.
Monday morning was a great opportunity to see 60 Minutes Executive Producer Jeff Fager speaking about the iconic TV news magazine.
Later I have attended very interesting session about creating multiplatform stories with ”Queen of Convergence,” Victoria Lim. She has shared her experience and advised how to make people “read us, watch us and surf us” at the same time, what kind of information is important for different type of media and how can we multitask while working on one story.
One of the most attended lectures was the one about “the new Facebook”. Vadim Lavrusik, Journalist Program Manager at Facebook introduced us to the new features such as “subscribe option” and “timeline”, which I’m sure you already all know about. He explained how can we use the new tools as journalists and if you would like to know more about it, you can check it here.
The session that I personally enjoyed the most was the one with the “google guy”. He was extremely funny and he showed us some useful tricks that we can do with Google. We all laughed when he presented the Insights for search option where you can search for “the most searched” word ( I promise I won’t use the word “search” in this sentence again) in any period of time and entered a word “hangover”. The results were surprising:)
The most moving part of the day came during the Paul White Award Ceremony where two outstanding female journalists received their awards. One of them was Lara Logan – an CBS News Chief Foreign Correspondent who was sexually assaulted while reporting in Egypt earlier this year. Second one was “broadcasting pioneer” Linda Ellerbee whose acceptance speech lasted for almost half an hour, but you really didn’t want it to stop. She has talked about her beginnings in the broadcasting, her very unique style (of fashion and also performance) and her bold way to through her professional and private life. It was one of the most inspiring speeches I have ever seen – humorous and funny, but on the other hand full of wisdom and experience. At the end, she (the survivor of breast cancer) said: ”A good time to laugh is any time you can.” This speech brought all the people to long standing ovation and it was a great end of a great day. More about the New Orleans conference in the next blog…
The 66th Annual National Conference on Citizenship, NCOC: Learned Lessons, Facts and Numbers
Taking the theme “Redefining America’s Social Compact”, the NCOC, took place in Phoenix for the first time out of Washington D.C on Sep., 22 – 23, 2011, delved into several important topics and mainly on the revised roles of the citizenry, business, nonprofits, and government in a 21st Century democracy. The conference was a unique opportunity to meet leading representatives of all these sectors and to earn remarkable learned lessons. Along with the data I knew during the conference, I learned a lesson on how to think critically and how to raise questions that lead, actually to the development of our societies, such as: How to lead people to come together? How to make the people involve in “Civic Engagement”? Who is responsible for public good? How far do we need to take advantage of each other? What are the “Great communities”? How “Servant Leadership” can be achieved? What do you want to teach? What do you want to learn? Who is responsible for ”Public Good”? How to act as a leader while you are leading, also, “leaders”?
(photos of Professor Lattie Coor, CEO and Chairman, Center for the Future of Arizona)
Actions that Build community: How Arizonans compare to the Nation and rank to other states?
Among several publications, the attendees of the NCOC received a thorough and comprehensive index, published by the Center for the Future of Arizona. Among the indicators that are revealed by “2011 Arizona Civic Health Index”, there are some that reflect actions that build community such as, how Arizonans (families, friends and neighbors) are connected together and how far they participate in Civic life. “The more connected people are, the more likely they are to participate in civic life..”
Connect with family, friends and neighbors:
2011 Report (2010 Data) Nation Arizona Rank
Eat dinner together most days 88.1 % 87.4 % 34th
Talk with family, friends online Frequently 54.3% 58.3% 16th
Talk to neighbors frequently 42.3 % 43.9 % 22nd
Do favors for neighbors Frequently 15.2 % 17.9% 9th
Participate in Civic Life
2011 Report (2010 Data) Nation Arizona Rank
Belong to one or more groups 33.3 % 31.5 % 40th
Attend meetings about local Issues 9.2 % 9.4 % 29th
Volunteer 26.3 % 23.9 % 41th
Work with neighbors to Fix something 8.1 % 8.3 % 28th
Make charitable contributions
Of $25 or more 50 % 51.3% 29th
The very well-organized NCOC is truly one of the most important conferences I have ever attended for several reasons. They include, but not limited to, the important of the topics discussed, as mentioned above, the importance of the figures attended, the importance of the ceremonies it witnessed.
For one of the most important ceremonies took place during the NCOC, mainly the Naturalization Ceremony, I will dedicate one of my coming week’s blogs to cover such a unique event..
Finally, it is worth-mentioned that the Conference was organized by the NCOC in collaboration with the Center for the Future of Arizona and with support from the Case Foundation, the Bipartisan Policy Center and ASU.
Broadcast Production with Different Technology
I started my professional affiliation with channel 12 last week ,it was an exciting start;as it was my first start with an American Television Channel.It was a journey of astonishment as I started to experience a different phase of technological aspects of production.There were no cameramen in the studio ,the reason was that there were robotic cameras;there was a person operating the cameras just thinking myself in the Back to Future.
I have noticed in the USA,there is less manpower in the production as most reliance is on the technology which makes the need to appoint a person for the specific job irrelevant.Here the decisions are made in long term as its better to buy a robotic camera once forever in comparison to appoint three or four cameramen.While in my country if it happens then it will mount to losing jobs of studio cameramen which would invite different situation,no one likes to witness.
Another feature different from my studio is that the environment of studio is so calm that I never saw anyone yelling or creating panicky.The credit of the calmness goes to the prevalent situation in the country while the panicky in my studio can be attributed to the every day changing scene.
My take away:I have so much to share back in my country about different ways of production but the most important ones are management and calmness which are immensely needed in my studio.
I am so much impressed to see the kindness and patience of the Executive Producer of the show EVB Live on Channel 12 that I think its the traits a producer must have in order to not only run the show smoothly but to make the program successful
Google will fund the solar system for 3,000 households in the U.S.
In another action to promote their green side, Google announced last night that will fund the installation of solar power generation in three thousand U.S. households.The Internet giant will close a partnership with Clean Power Finance (CPF) in order to create a fund of 75 million dollars to finance residential solar energy projects. Google will own the photovoltaic panels to be installed on rooftops, and residents will pay for the energy they consume. See more details at Google Blog Official Webpage: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/taking-in-more-sun-with-clean-power.html
Future of Social Media in Pakistan
While I was attending the session on the power of Social Media in Excellence in Journalism,the conference for Journalists held this year in New Orleans,there were certain things started to click in my mind with reference to the future of Social Media in my country ‘Pakistan’.Comprising of 180 million population,Pakistan has 25 million internet users whereas 100 million use the moble phone,making Pakistan the biggest cellular market in Asia.Keeping these figures in mind,I have no doubt in saying that Pakistan will soon be expanding fastly in the field of Social Media.My argument has strong footings when I recalled the launching of our Program page on Facebook in April 2010.Within a year the fans reached to almost 80,000.Untill the time I handled our program page ,I can well remember the interactivity of the people in terms of comments,like ,polls and sharing new ideas for our program.Even though we came up with little new ideas to engage the public more,but even in our limited manoeuvering of playing with our facebook fan page,we attracted majority of the people,which helped to make our fan club the biggest in all talk show of Pakistan.
During the conference,I was flabbergested to hear the new tools which will be so helpful for my program that I think will not only they upgrade the standard of my program but also attract even bigger audience.I think it as a method to attract the youth especially the students who are the leading consumers of the social media.Not only that,but it can be a source to draw the Overseas Pakistanis who somehow or the other can’t convey their feedback or suggestions for the program.
The Social Media in Pakistan can be harbringer of so many positive changes if used with positive mind.It will be a start of the competitive world.
how new stories unfold via new media
One of the most interesting results of the Digital Information Age, to me, is how stories can play themselves out with all the major players having their own public online voice. The following example is ongoing & controversial, and I’m not asking anyone to take a side (nor will I).
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Long story short: The Dalai Lama of Tibetan Buddhism is getting old. Eventually he’ll die, and his next “reincarnation” will have to be searched out and groomed to lead the followers of his (her?) faith. The problem? The Dalai Lama and the Chinese government have different ideas of how to do that.
This problem has been getting talked about for some time now, but has really come to a head in the past month. Both the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Dalai Lama selected the Panchen Lama (the religion’s #2 leader) over a decade ago, causing an imbroglio that continues today. (See also, here). But now the battle is over who will select the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama himself. The CCP has stated that they are already beginning their search; the Dalai Lama responded in a long statement on his Web site two days ago. A spokesman from the Foreign Ministry has already countered.
It’s a complicated issue that I won’t try to elaborate or explain. Just check out the links for yourself if you have time. But one thing is certain: This issue is already causing further unrest in Tibet.
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I find this so interesting because here we have a conflict that’s both religious and political – and because it’s a conflict that probably would have taken place away from the public eye before the Digital Information Age. The CCP and the Dalai Lama are having a flame war! And we can read it as it happens … ah, this modern world of ours.
It also raises an interesting question about our role as journalists. The best way for us to cover this story (that is, contribute to people’s understanding of the story) is through aggregation and analysis, rather than simply report on what’s been said. Anyone who wants to know what the Dalai Lama or CCP has said can find and read it on their own. Our job is to make that reading more comprehensive and informed. This article does a rather good job. Notice that it’s also a non-traditional news source (though The Economist does a good job as well).
What should be the next step for “reporting” on a story such as this?
New Facebook Timeline
After a series of unexpected, frustrating (or exciting, depending on who you ask) changes of the Facebook layout this week, Mark Zuckerberg revealed at the f/8 conference of a new Facebook feature called Timeline. A redesigned version of the current profile, Timeline will show you everything you’ve done on the site since the beginning until now. It will be a real-time sharing experience showing you everything your friends are watching, doing, reading etc. even on outside sites.
Right now, I’m already put off by the constant and unnecessary information I’m seeing from my various Facebook friends whether it’s comments they have made on other people’s posts, events they have attended, people they have befriended or photos they’ve uploaded. Every website allows you to connect with Facebook and share your activity as well, but I believe there is a delicate balance between accessibility and overload. Facebook is a great time waster and stalking opportunity, but we don’t want it to be forced upon us. Facebook is trying to take our relationships to a completely different level and many people (me included) aren’t so ready for it.
So far, only some people have been able to preview what the Timeline looks like by being “developers” in a sort of Google+ beta testing mode. In a few weeks, everyone should be able to see Timeline and we’ll all be able to voice our opinions on whether we like it or not.
Zuckerberg said that “The next five years will be defined by apps and the depth of social engagement,” so clearly Facebook is doing its best to stay relevant and keep up with the changing social media landscape so it doesn’t end up like MySpace.
The problem is that confusion over privacy is still going to plague its progress and will turn people off of it. I wonder if Google+ will still have a chance now or if people will be happy with the new Facebook changes.
If you’re on Facebook, what do you think about the Timeline idea and its potential to change the social media user experience?
Larry King live – a stand up comedy in Slovakia
This week I discovered interesting news, that Larry King was coming to Slovakia. Of course, for us, it is a big deal. One of the most famous hosts in history of CNN came to our little country for whole 4 days! He accepted the invitation of Slovak news TV TA3 to be a part of their 10 year anniversary celebration. During his short visit, however, few funny things happened.
First of all, I was really amused by the fact that after finishing his career as a CNN host, he started to entertain people as a stand up comedian! At the age of 77! To me it seems even funnier as when I saw Bill Clinton playing saxophone. He said that he is more excited to make people laugh than to make an interview with the president.
When he came to Bratislava (capital of Slovakia if you still don’t know:), he said that the only Slovaks he knows are Vaclav Havel (former president of Czechoslovakia) and Jaromir Jagr (NHL ice-hockey player). The only problem is, that both of them are Czech. This was not his only faux pas on behalf of Slovaks. When our prime minister Mikulas Dzurinda visited his show in 2001, Larry King has mistaken him for Romanian prime minister. You can top that only with George Bush’s quote referring to Slovakia as Slovenia.
The funniest part of Larry King’ s Slovak trip came at the end, when the University of Skalica (have you heard about it? Me neither!) honored him with honorary doctorate. Just to let you know, the town of Skalica in Slovakia has a population of 15.000 and nobody has ever heard about any University there . It is a private school and most probably they just used King’ s name for their promotion. One of my friends / journalist of SME daily newspaper wrote on his Facebook status that watching this ‘ grotesque’ he feels like in a Kafka’ s novel.
I am just assuming, that Larry King does the stand-up comedian job pretty well!
Online News Association Conference ’2011
Today is the first day of the main session of the Online News Association Conference ’2011. Everybody is interested in Twitter; their rooms are the most popular and don’t fit all attendees. Surprised to meet elder people as online journalists; I perceived this field as totally occupied by younger; at least in my country it’s like this.
Extremely interesting topic discussed: 10 Techier, Trendier Tech Trends by Amy Webb. She’s a great speaker. For some essential excerpts follow this link.
It is raining in Boston for at least two days, since I arrived. Unusual after all-dry two months in Phoenix.
And traffic is just terrible here.
Leader as Role Model (?)
I don’t intend to weigh in too heavily on the whole “leadership vs. management” debate with this post. Just wanted to share one alternate interpretation of what it means to be a “leader” of others. It involves the service aspect of Leadership we talked about in class a couple weeks back, but takes it to another level. It’s imagining Leader as Role Model, pushing him/herself on the front lines of an organization or cause rather then elevating him/herself to the top.
[leader, role model, or both?]
Obama to Give Equal Hearing to Palestinian and Israeli Parties
The conflict in Israel and Palestine has been going on for centuries. While the United States has historically been a supporter of Israel, new developments could change that. President Obama has adopted a policy of “moral equivalency” which would give all parties, including “terrorist” factions, equal standing in talks. This position has been heavily criticized, mainly by Republicans, as an insult to a long-standing ally in the Middle East. Presidential aide, Anthony Blinken, combated this criticism in light of the upcoming elections, saying “What could actually harm US-Israeli relations, and the security of the Jewish state, is subjecting either to the vagaries of partisan politics or turning them into election-year talking points.”
The American-Jewish population as well as the leading lobby, AIPAC, hold a shockingly high impact on American foreign policy. By some estimates, the demographic holds control over 89% of the most important electoral votes (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8083171.stm, 6 Nov 2010).
The Sense of Humor
I used to crack jokes and laugh so much with my colleagues back in Geo Television,Pakistan.Even though most of the times due to the pressure of work and seriousness of job,we had had not this environment of sense of humor at the work place.If I did it,it was personal endeavor with the least output or sometimes even reaction from my colleagues.The sense of humor was not reciprocal rather sometimes it was the I who shared a joke and usually I was the one out of 3 people to laugh at it with an exception of my Non Linear Editor Faisal whose sense of humor I still miss.Rest all were too serious to talk to,though I used to drag them forcibly to laugh.
After coming to the USA and during my three months of stay I have realized that Americans have good sense of humor.This I witness not only at informal but formal level too.I really enjoyed one day when I went to see him and so far I also know now his other colleagues so we started to exchange jokes in such a manner that I later on realized that how such environment can make the difficult things easy to say.How such interaction can make the life easy.
I really like this sense of humour aspect in Americans,as I also enjoy it.
Google+ as a New Social Media Contender
After 10 weeks of closed testing, Google+ is now open to the masses. With this new social media tool, Google hopes to not only increase it’s base of users but to make the online experience easier and more convenient. Google+ has already shown innovation with its use of separate “circles” of friends which allow you to interact differently with college friends versus your family, for example, as well as a FaceTime-like feature where you and up to 10 friends can live video chat. They also intend to combine elements of googlemaps, youtube and customizable search.
This strategic expansion into the social media realm will likely re-solidify Google’s already firm hold on the individual’s web experience.
Reflecting on the Afghan radio producers’ visit
I was really fascinated by the visiting Afghan radio producers in the Humphrey seminar class yesterday from Afghan Media Management and Entrepreneurship Program.
Some quotes from the producers that I wanted to highlight
- “We should get public opinion about freedom of media, once they understand the importance of it, they will support it.”
- “With time, government will bow to pressure of people and they will agree with us. The most important thing is to work with people.”
- “Professionalism and patience is needed.”
Africa Phantom aid
I came across an email that I sent to my office a few years back when i was on a Journalism seminar in Belgium:
One quarter of Global fund aid provided by rich governments is used to fund expensive and often ineffective Western consultants, research and training, rather than targeting the issue of the eradication of poverty. According to Action Aid, an international development agency, many poverty stricken countries receive Aid, with the aim of eradicating poverty. There are even promises to increase global aid , of which half of the increase is promised to Africa, the region which lacks behind in the achievement of the 2015 millennium development goals. However, it was found that a lot of money which is supposed to help eradicate poverty is lost to poor countries due to ineffective technical assistance from donor countries. Overseas Development Aid was not targeted to poverty reduction as it was supposed to be, but rather used in the form of ‘phantom’ aid. This is aid was poorly allocated, spent on over-prized and ineffective technical assistance, double counted as debt relief or spent on refugees, as well as administration spending in the donor country amongst others.People should keep in mind that Aid needs to help the poor and not line pockets of western consultants. There is a need for a radical change in the way assistance is provided, in order to stop donors from trying to control poor countries and rather let them determine their own ways to development and be allowed to speak rather than being ignored. People should also stop assuming that western experts have better ideas than those who are actually experiencing it.
****Its been four years and I have discovered that not much have changed. Efforts are still done to help people in developing countries.In most cases, countries that are well known are benefiting from the Aid…but Africa? I wonder. I think Africa is still just viewed as that poor continent with starving children and people running around in bushes and no brains at all. Just another passive brain with no idea that needs to be ignored, because there are better countries that needs to be listened to.This is really the center of Phantom Aid. People should forget about the money that is donated to the continent and start paying attention to what Africans have to say, rather than to ignore them.There are lots of ideas in those African brains, that can make the entire purpose effective. It is not enough to show the world a bunch of professional photographs about hungry people, wars and schools under trees. That is just another way of blinding the world that Africa is being helped. We need to be involved in solving the problems in our continent and given the necessary support.
Surely it is absurd to give those who are already advanced, a bigger push than those who are still at the bottom.Luckily there are a few people who really pay attention and have real curiosity about the affairs on the continent. With that, I guess there is a tiny light of hope shining somewhere for Africa.
Facebook for successful personal branding
How many times you posted message on Facebook and nobody reacted on it? Or change the status and did not get feedback? I think it is happening. Something went wrong. In order to avoid these situation, you have to be sure that people will see your message. Change your profile photo! It almost allways work. I am used to change my profile photos very often, specially when I wan to to get feedback on something. And, changing photo in the time when most people are not on Facebook is a good strategy. Because, as fast as they connect themselves to Facebook, theey will bi notified that you changed your photo and probably, their human curiosity will lead them to look at your profile. That means you’re your message is highlighted.
Consinuously or unconisnuosly you are trying to influence your friends, who might be in wider context considererate as your audience.But what ‘s really make the difference between you and other people on Facebook. Where is that distinction? Personal branding is all about giving a likeable face to your business. Using social media networks like Facebook is great marketing and branding strategy, however in order to be successful you have to know how navigate through it.
Be fully aware of things you are posting on Facebook. If you want to present yourself as a expert from particular field maybe you should think about making two Facebook profiles: one should be your private and another one professional. Why is this good? Firstly, professionals who are your friends of Facebook don’t need to be interested in your private issues and you definitely should not share that kind of things. If I decide to post some private photos, such are family gatherings and etc I should ask myself: Why I think it could be interesting for someone else except of me and few close friends or relatives. So if you have time to update two profile in the same time that could be a perfect solution.
Or, just use privacy settings. Unfortunately, many people don’t realize how much control Facebook provides you with privacy settings tool. Organizing friends into the groups, naming it with different names, providing not fully visibility even when you are online, and controlling how friends from different groups you created can see your profile.
For example, I did not make two separate profiles (don’t have enough time to handle two profile) but I did create separate groups of people (my boss and my ex bosses are also into these groups) and as I consider that they should not be interested in my private things, my full profile (including status posts, comments of my friends, my photos and tags) are hidden from them. So it is very simple to protect youself and things you want or you don’t want to share with other people. I am really enjoying when I can fully controle who is going to see me when I am online. Just one click and some people are forever offline for me as well as I am for them.
Additionally, Facebook is considered as one of the most popular social media platforms. And even many people consider Facebook as a social network site, they are forgetting that Facebook falls in the category of social media. An accent is on media. Like a channel that provides you to launch your messages. So, be aware of all negative sides that can make an impact on the way how you present yourself to the world.
Journalism-Then and Now?
Stephen Levy, senior writer for Wired magazine, today held very interesting lecture on our Hubert Humphrey Seminar. It was about future of journalism by using digital technologies. And I then I heard something what was quite interesting. About decreasing income for print media in United States. About decreasing its power and popularity? What is the future of newpapers?
50 years back nobody could imaginethat this kind of journalism revolution will happen right now shaping the way of creating news and its huge impact on public. Internet and new media totally transformed concept of news. Media never were faster when it comes to news publishing. Media never were more interactive then today are. But, there is still question mark about new media ethics, about way how journalists treat news and about news credibility in the sphere of digital technologies? In the time when some people thing that anyone can be journalist (more and more popular concept of citizen journalism) how you can be sure whom you believe? How you can filter information?
I remember when I was younger and when digital media as a tools for journalism did not exist I can remember what was meant when you read some article from favourite nd more important trusted newspaper? Specially, if that article was written by journalist who is your authority? You could trust to him. Some of you will agree that old school journalists during the time when I was younger were real opinion makers. Mostly, because of fact that other communication channels did not exist or ate laest they were not available as they are today. But on the other side, digital media have an incredible opportunity for reaching huge number of audience, enabling them interactivity what traditional media never could. And probably, among many other things, that is receipt for success. My opinion is that audience is attracted with opportunity that they can participate in news process. They can say what they think, they are in the great extend shapers of public opinion and new media provides them with an opportunity that their voice can be heard. What future of journalism might be? Dominant citizen journalism by using digital technology? I think for sure!
Greenpeace Multimedia Webpage and Barbie
I’d like to share a great webpage that is Greenpeace Multimedia Webpage which has many videos, reporting, audio, photographies, e-cards etc, all about environment causes around the world. My post now is about a very funny animation in that page that says how Barbie is destroying the rainforest around the world. Actually, this is part a Greenpeace awareness campaign regard to the toys that somehow are harmful to the environment.
To go the Greenpeace Multmedia copy the link in your browser and enjoy: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/multimedia/videos/Barbies-rainforest-destruction-habit-REVEALED/
Welcome to BiH!
I really love my country, but I am very, very sad when I read this:
Welcome to BiH: one country, two entities, three presidents, 10 cantons, 14 governments, 183 of the Ministry, 85 political parties, 50 veterans’ associations, 13 unions, 2 police department, 3 Academy of Sciences, two pension funds, 3 educational system, three national phone providers, three electrical utilities , 550 000 unemployed, 630 000 retired persons, 450 000 displaced, 75% poor people, 65 000 state employees and an undetermined NUMBER OF CRIMINALS … Welcome!
But I still trully beleive that young educated people have to do some changes in order to make life in Bosnia and Herzegovina better for everyone. Besides this negative sides, B&H is country with amazing people, natural beauties, wonderful cities, great food, great music and movie art and Sarajevo, as one of the five most unique cities in the Europe.
Building an emotional connection with brand
Building an emotional relationship between brands and its consumers is considered probably as one of the most important features in the concept of the modern public relations practice. This practice usually follow the principle of the integrated public relations and integrated marketing communications.
According to the Wikipedia definition of integrated marketing communications, communications are driving force for “managing customer relationship that drive brand value”. And brand value is principle that helps in building long term relations with customers. Coca Cola, no matter how it seems as a stereotype is an amazing example of creating people’s emotional connection with brand.
According the http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/2009-09-17-coke-brand_N.htm, value of Coca Cola brand is estimated to $68.73 billion.
Every brand stands for something…at least every brand that has a chance of survival and success. Companies invest heavily to create awareness, understanding and to position those brand values in the hearts and minds of their target audience. But what is the brand actually?
According to Steve McNamara, of AdRacker.com,” the brand is the sum of all feelings, thoughts and recognitions – positive and negative – that people in the target audience have about a company, a product or service.”
Brands are constantly seeking to win people’s wallets by way of their hearts. The role of Public Relations should be the way of teaching us how particular brand is supposed to make us feel.
According the research conducted in psychology, it is proved that emotions play the critical role in human being existence. The way how we perceive, process and express our feeling stands in human being brain, and emotions stands in the core of our decisions and behaviours. People who has created most successful brands are aware that they should act in the way that will help in creating add value to people’s lives. The brand or product has to be able to initiate the emotion and build the trust. How many times you were buying some brands no matter what their price was. You were bying certain brands because you trusted it and you knew what benefits you will get.
The USA Todays is reporting that “a well-honed brand evokes in consumers an emotion and a promise of what it will deliver, without the consumer having to do much — if any — research, said Allen Adamson, managing director at branding firm Landor Associates. Brands are important for all businesses, and critical in categories that have direct consumer contact, like autos, he said”.
And where is secret? Communication messages should be created that will have an impact on human’s emotions. Also, you have to be sure that you are going to create very simple, recogniziable message which will be consistent all the time. Just do it! You love this phrase and when you hear it you know what is about. And also you know what you can expect if you decide to buy Nike. In one moment brand is becoming also your life style. But It is not about name or just about message. Brand that evoke emotional feeling merge a lot of different apperaneces. Color, logo, tagline. So that mean, if you want to create campaign which will be focused on creating emotional feel about certain brand your campaign should be focused to communication messages that will prove that brand stands for something that is importat to people. You have to show that your brand is unique and to make people feel good when they own it. Also, it is important to show that people can trust to your brand. When you fulfill all this prerequsities, building the trust into the certain brand, in the long term you can expect that people will start to have positive feelings to it. Ultimately, emotional connection will come from positive shared experiences with the brand over time. While this trust is built over time, offering an unconditional guarantee is a quick way to reduce the risk of a new unknown brand and to generate some minimum level of trust immediately.
That is the moment-of-truth when you connect with a customer, and you either become an exclamation point of personalizing the brand.
Helping Tourism Get Through ‘Hard Times’
As the economy slows down and the next global crisis emerges, public relations may adjust to these situations by changing its messaging. Many companies once in the business of selling luxury products are now starting to re-focus on affordability. The meaning of “luxury” that has always represented something expensive, many times snobbish, is being transformed. ”Affordable luxury” is becoming the message that companies are trying to convey to their customers. Some companies are trying to pitch the idea with emotional messaging instead of focusing on a high-end product. Starwood hotel group, for instance, has launched a new campaign for their luxury collection, claiming: “Life is a collection of experiences. Let us be your guide.”
In the tourism industry, this message is more important than ever. Since the global financial crisis in 2008, tourism has declined two to four percent. In fact, the last three years has seen a new form of tourism called “recession tourism” develop. This trend was first identified by American entepreneur Matt Landau
and is defined by low-cost, high-value experiences taking the place of once-popular generic retreats. Enteprenuers generating revenue from tourism should try to attract their costumers with positive messages of high-quality experience for affordable prices. However, according to experts, enterpreneurs shouldn’ t just cut the prices, as this creates a negative impression on customers. Instead, they should focus on creating a positive environment that resonates in a negative situation. It is important to continue to use marketing and advertising so the customers don’ t forget about the particular product or destination. They should have open communication with their customers – most importantly through social media, which is an effective and low-cost tool for attracting an audience. According to the survey, most of the customers are likely to pay the same price when they know the value of a product and communication with them is strong.
No one knows the effect of future recessions on the tourism industry, but it is clear that PR will play an important role in maintaining customers and retaining positive name recognition.
Do We Need A Host Family?
Host family? When I heard this word for the first time, I was still in China, preparing for coming to the US. I received an email from Extension Center of UC Davis that told me I would stay in my host family at the first three weeks. “Why I have to stay in other people’s home? Do I really need a ‘family’ in the United States?” I wondered. Now, my answer is definitely “YES”and “as soon as possible”, but it’s really hard for me to understand four months ago.
What is host family? It is a new concept for me and most of the Humphrey Fellows. According to the University of Minnesota, the mission of the host family program is two-fold: “to assist the International Fellows in adjusting to life in the United States”, and ” to provide an opportunity for cultural sharing between the host families, the community, and the International Fellows.
My host family in Davis has five family members. They are my host father Eddie(55), host mother Kathy(48), host brother Kyle(19), host sister Tara(21) , and Cherry–a lovely one year old dog. I didn’t expect too much before I met them, but they gave me much more happiness than I can imagine. Kathy and Eddie are so kind and warm-hearted, treated me as their own family member. They helped me got my new mobile phone, rent my bicycle, bought my new charger for laptop on the first day, and show me around the city and the campus. It made me feel settle down on the very beginning. And also made me feel home.
Kathy, Eddie and I on Kyle's graduation ceremony on June 10th.
I’d rather call Kathy and Eddie as my host friends than host mother and father. We talked everyday after dinner. We shared our experience of the day, we compared the different culture between China and US, we shared our opinion on the hot issues from the TV, we talked about our families, like old friends. Every Tuesday night became our “Movie Night”, even after I moved to the dorm.
I think host family program is a very good idea for international students to emerge in the new culture and society very easily and quickly. And the host family also can get different experience and make new friends from other countries. But some of my fellows complained about their host families because of their different living habits and culture values. Maybe they were not as lucky as me. But, no matter how ‘lucky’ or ‘unlucky’ we are, I still think it is a good opportunity for us to know about the American family and society more deeply.
I miss Kathy and Eddie. They also miss me. In her email, Kathy wrote to me:” Eddie and I have been going to the movies every Tuesday and it has been fun. I don’t think we have seen so many movies since before we got married and had kids.” I feel happy, not only because I got happiness from my host family, but also because I gave happiness to them.
To our quotes book
Sometimes we are under stress and pressure and we don’t realized that a small thing does a great difference. One this small thing that I have found was a blessing fortune cook, that really answered my internal conflicts. I ate this cook today and it said: “Don’t take life too seriously; laugh and smile at it once in a while”… I couldn’t believe, it was for me. This was like my mother’s advices. After read, I took a deep breath and relaxed, and went out to see the beautiful sunset that we had this evening. In fact, the happiness doesn’t requite to much to do. The life can be simple and enjoyable if we desire. So, my dear fellows once again: “Don’t take life too seriously; laugh and smile at it once in a while”.
Lost and found
One week ago, I lost my wallet. After paying in a restaurant and walk few feet to where my rental car was parked, I found out my wallet was not with me. My first reaction was to go back to the restaurant and saw if it was there. I had no luck. Then, I reenact my short trip to the car looking carefully on the sidewalk. It was not there.
My hopes of finding it were gone with my credit cards, my driver’s license, my ASU ID and my insurance card. I called my banks in Costa Rica -and here- to cancel my cards. There was no chance to get them back, I thought. It was time to get Arizona’s driver’s license and get new documents, again.
On monday, when I told the story to the Humphrey program manager at ASU, Kristi Kappes, she said that hopefully someone may have found my wallet and will return it. “I hope so, but I don’t think that will happen”, I told her.
Fortunately, I was wrong. Three days later, Kristi called me with good news. A woman named Megan found my wallet, saw my ASU ID and tracked me down until she got her called transferred to our newsroom.
Megan didn’t ask for anything in return. She was happy to help. I was happy, too. Megan showed me that we are surrounded of good people.
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