Two months ago, I took part in a very special interview. No, it wasn’t the Portia De Rossi and Ellen Degeneres interview, which was amazing by the way, but it was still pretty cool.
As part of a class assignment, some friends and I interviewed a savvy social media connoisseur who told us all about blogs, web tracking, and the infuriatingly popular, Twitter. Let’s call our interviewee Blondie, since this post might embarrass them... well not them, me.
The interview took place in a cramped little office down at Bay and Front. Though there were five of us huddled together, and the sun beamed fiercely through the wall-sized window, Blondie was the only thing making me sweat.
Get your minds out of the gutter, I’m not talking about physical attributes here (well I kind of was, but this is not that kind of blog). Actually, I was mostly impressed by Blondie’s knowledge and enthusiasm throughout the interview. And from this spectacular creature I am now utterly obsessed with three incredible blogs that I firmly believe you should all know about.
Hype Machine: Okay let me ask you something, you know those hip indie kids that hang out at places like the Hideout, the Gladstone, or Rancho Relaxo every weekend? You know how they always know about some hip new DJ, band, mash-up, or remix? Don’t you hate them? Me too. No offense to readers who identify with this crowd. However, since I’ve discovered Hype Machine, I’ve learned that I didn’t hate these skinny- jeans-with-a-vest-wearing hipsters for who they are, I hated them for what they know. They know all the good songs that you never hear on the radio, and now I know where they’re finding it. See, this website monitors all kinds of blogs, music or otherwise, and posts the songs they post for your listening pleasure. Then, if you’re a crooked pirate downloader (a.k.a. thrifty music lover) you can download these songs so you own them too! You can also visit the different blogs and read what they’re saying about the songs if you want to know how it came about or the personal opinions of the fans. I think I could probably find another reason to hate hipsters (they’re so much skinnier than I’ll ever be) but at least I can cross their musical knowledge off my list. And maybe you will too.
i 09: Let me begin by saying that I hate sci-fi and fantasy. Actually, I hate anything and everything to do with sci-fi and fantasy. I once dated someone who was obsessed with this genre of game, video, and film and spent two years of my life being dragged from one aggravating movie to the next. And if I ever voiced an opinion, oh my god, the wrath that would fall upon me. I’m so glad things like siths and hoodoo doesn’t exist because I’m pretty sure my biopsy would list something like that as my cause of death. However, for a sci-fi site i09, is pretty damn cool. What’s great about it is that you don’t necessarily have to be into the genre to be interested in some of their posts. A lot of their stories have to do with symbolism, or philosophy, and even some science fact that was originally thought to be fiction. I’ve always considered myself a realist, which might be why I never got into the fantasy genre, so stories about science are actually really intriguing and for the first time, I am endorsing a sci-fi product. It’s that good.
Trash Menagerie: I know what you’re thinking, “Um Kurt, another music blog? Broaden your horizons fool.” You’d be sort of right if you said that. I mean, it is a music blog that has many of the same qualities as Hype Machine: you can listen, download and post new music that is not necessarily mainstream, and you can learn more about the artists behind the music as well. However, Trash Menagerie has additional features and topics that you can’t find on Hype Machine and that’s what keeps me going back. Art, design, fashion, film and technology are just a feature of the other features that I like to look over on this blog and I have to tell, I have yet to be disappointed. Unlike other blogs about these topics that can be fairly restrictive in terms of the city the writer lives in, Trash Menagerie’s blog seems fairly international and covers a lot of ground.
I’m not going to lie, Blondie is a fox. My whole group agrees with me. But more than looks, Blondie has some really cool interests and since our meeting, I have yet to find a reason to quit reading these blogs.
If you ever find yourself bored at home, in class, on the train or on a plane, have a look at one of these blogs. I guarantee you’ll pass the time just fine.
Friday, April 3, 2009
My Brand... or Lack thereof
What is my brand? I think I have been asked this question in almost every one of my classes since I started my post-grad in September, and honestly, I don’t have a real answer. Well I do, but it involves words like fierce, tranny, fabulosity. And I don’t think that’s exactly appropriate in this context.
I mean, I know that I am being branded. Employers, co-workers, friends, classmates, teachers, even family members brand me. Of course not all of them call it branding, to some of them it’s just good old fashion judging. Which, I’m not totally against. I mean, if you don’t judge people right away, how will you know if you should hate them? I kid, I kid.
Well, anyway, I can’t speak for everyone I know, but if I could, I would probably say this:
As a brand, Kurt Mungal represents three dominant and overreaching qualities: diversity, creativity, and reliability. As a relatively new brand on the market, Kurt recognizes that there is a lot that he still has to learn. However, he makes up for his lack of work experience in three distinct ways. Through his creativity, Kurt is able to develop original ideas to put into practise which has lead to his success as both a writer and event coordination. Through his reliability, Kurt has maintained two fantastic part-time jobs and earned the respect and accolades of both of his employers. Finally, Kurt has embraced a diverse lifestyle and heritage whole-heartedly which has equipped him with a valuable perspective in a variety of areas. Yes, Kurt is not a veteran in the market; however, he has the qualities to not only breakthrough—but to last.
Let me just say, that if you read that all the way through with a straight face, you deserve to be branded a STAR. I mean it is kind of ridiculous to read something like that right? But honestly, there’s no way I would ride the hater train when I’m the destination. But I will keep it a little more real for my SWOT analysis of myself:
Strengths: Enthusiasm, detail-oriented, strong communications skills (written and oral), diverse work and volunteer experience, committed, excellent time management skills
Weaknesses: Limited hands-on experience, basic understanding of different Microsoft programs including Excel and Power Point, limited graphic design skills
Opportunities: Learn a variety of graphic design programs including InDesign and Photoshop, practise Microsoft office programs, volunteer in a variety of sectors for increased hands-on experience in the field
Threats: Economic situation (i.e. hiring freeze, layoffs), volunteer jobs that do not provide sufficient experience (i.e. coat hanger), peers with advanced knowledge in my areas of weakness
See, that’s a little more accurate. But it’s still weird for me to brand myself. I mean, I know what qualities about me are good: my humour, my kindness, my love of mediocre television programming aimed at a tiny niche market (thank you Karen Walker), and I know which qualities are bad: my limited world knowledge and my irrational fear of koalas. But again, none of these qualities mean squat to employers. But I know what might:
In my portfolio, there is one item that quite explicitly captures the qualities of my brand and that is my YorkFest 2008 partnership brochure. YorkFest is an annual back-to-school festival that I was very fortunate to be a part of. My role as sponsorship coordinator forced me to use my creative when drafting personalized pitch letter to potential sponsors, get in touch with my knack for communicating with a diverse audience when maintaining relationship with past and current partners, and exercise my reliability by constantly being available to my manager who would often require my services on evenings and weekends to meet with a potential/official sponsor. The actual execution of the event certainly captured all of my strengths, specifically my strong attention to detail, time management skills, and enthusiasm—especially during those 16 hour days.
I look forward to being a part of future YorkFest events, not only to further develop the strengths I already have, but also to take advantage of the opportunities that await me, specifically in terms of graphic design and increased hands-on experience in event coordination.
Okay, that’s my brand in a nutshell. I can’t imagine this was a riveting read, but you know what is riveting? An additional 10 per cent added on to my final mark. Holla!
I mean, I know that I am being branded. Employers, co-workers, friends, classmates, teachers, even family members brand me. Of course not all of them call it branding, to some of them it’s just good old fashion judging. Which, I’m not totally against. I mean, if you don’t judge people right away, how will you know if you should hate them? I kid, I kid.
Well, anyway, I can’t speak for everyone I know, but if I could, I would probably say this:
As a brand, Kurt Mungal represents three dominant and overreaching qualities: diversity, creativity, and reliability. As a relatively new brand on the market, Kurt recognizes that there is a lot that he still has to learn. However, he makes up for his lack of work experience in three distinct ways. Through his creativity, Kurt is able to develop original ideas to put into practise which has lead to his success as both a writer and event coordination. Through his reliability, Kurt has maintained two fantastic part-time jobs and earned the respect and accolades of both of his employers. Finally, Kurt has embraced a diverse lifestyle and heritage whole-heartedly which has equipped him with a valuable perspective in a variety of areas. Yes, Kurt is not a veteran in the market; however, he has the qualities to not only breakthrough—but to last.
Let me just say, that if you read that all the way through with a straight face, you deserve to be branded a STAR. I mean it is kind of ridiculous to read something like that right? But honestly, there’s no way I would ride the hater train when I’m the destination. But I will keep it a little more real for my SWOT analysis of myself:
Strengths: Enthusiasm, detail-oriented, strong communications skills (written and oral), diverse work and volunteer experience, committed, excellent time management skills
Weaknesses: Limited hands-on experience, basic understanding of different Microsoft programs including Excel and Power Point, limited graphic design skills
Opportunities: Learn a variety of graphic design programs including InDesign and Photoshop, practise Microsoft office programs, volunteer in a variety of sectors for increased hands-on experience in the field
Threats: Economic situation (i.e. hiring freeze, layoffs), volunteer jobs that do not provide sufficient experience (i.e. coat hanger), peers with advanced knowledge in my areas of weakness
See, that’s a little more accurate. But it’s still weird for me to brand myself. I mean, I know what qualities about me are good: my humour, my kindness, my love of mediocre television programming aimed at a tiny niche market (thank you Karen Walker), and I know which qualities are bad: my limited world knowledge and my irrational fear of koalas. But again, none of these qualities mean squat to employers. But I know what might:
In my portfolio, there is one item that quite explicitly captures the qualities of my brand and that is my YorkFest 2008 partnership brochure. YorkFest is an annual back-to-school festival that I was very fortunate to be a part of. My role as sponsorship coordinator forced me to use my creative when drafting personalized pitch letter to potential sponsors, get in touch with my knack for communicating with a diverse audience when maintaining relationship with past and current partners, and exercise my reliability by constantly being available to my manager who would often require my services on evenings and weekends to meet with a potential/official sponsor. The actual execution of the event certainly captured all of my strengths, specifically my strong attention to detail, time management skills, and enthusiasm—especially during those 16 hour days.
I look forward to being a part of future YorkFest events, not only to further develop the strengths I already have, but also to take advantage of the opportunities that await me, specifically in terms of graphic design and increased hands-on experience in event coordination.
Okay, that’s my brand in a nutshell. I can’t imagine this was a riveting read, but you know what is riveting? An additional 10 per cent added on to my final mark. Holla!
The Real Beauty of Social Media
I had this friend once who is a hardcore feminist and she took female empowerment to a very irritating level. I mean don’t get me wrong, I would consider myself to be a feminist too. I believe in male and female equality, I feel that there are still some very oppressive systems in place that keep women feeling inferior, and I have all six seasons of the L word. I’m down with girl power.
Anyway, as expected, this friend of mine used to kick up a fuss every time she saw advertisements for beauty products saying how neglected the bodies of real women were in the media. Despite spending most of this conversation realizing I would rather drill hot screws into my eyeballs than talk to her, I had to agree.
I know a lot of beautiful women in my life and less than 10 percent of them look like the girls on TV. I mean, let’s be real, the girls on TV don’t even look like the girls on TV. I know what the right lighting and a couple of nose jobs can do for a girl.
Well wasn’t it a breath of fresh, unclenched air when Dove launched their Real Beauty campaign in 2004? The campaign aimed to show images of real women, with real curves, real blemishes, real age spots, and real breasts on print ads and commercials. In fact, probably the boldest advertisement to date was a billboard that featured several women, with various looks, in just their bra and underwear.
The ad made its way into the blogosphere, the news, and even popular talk shows like Oprah. And really, if Oprah is giving you props, nothing else in the world matters.
Edelman PR began Dove’s campaign in March of 2004, and it really is the most appropriate agency to handle the project. Edelman has an entire department dedicated to utilizing social media in PR initiatives and its success can be summed up with just one video: The Dove Evolution Video. If you haven’t seen this video, you need to watch it NOW! It really opens up your eyes to the illusion of beauty and should certainly make some woman feel a lot better next time they walk past an ad for make-up.
I mostly felt bad for the woman starring in the commercial who probably thought, “Oh I’m so fine, they want to style me up and place me on a billboard.” When really, someone should have pulled her aside and said, “You’re pretty much just the ‘before’ picture.”
Either way, the message of what true beauty is was delivered. Since its release this ad has been viewed over 15 million times on YouTube alone. And the social media extravaganza doesn’t stop there. If you visit their website, you’ll find several discussion forums aimed at all kinds of girls and women (mothers, teenage girls, educators etc...) polls, and the body and soul play which encourages women to embrace aging.
Of course, you can also find a Dove page on Facebook, as well as several fan pages dedicated to the brand.
In 2004, I would say the idea of showing real women with real bodies in all their glory was a pretty innovative idea. By now, I feel as though the concept of the ‘every day woman’ has more of a presence in the media, even with previously superficial brands like Cover Girl. But wherever this idea leads us, Dove can take credit with starting the trend, and the use of social media certainly made an impact with its success.
I don’t speak to my feminist friend anymore. I made a sarcastic comment about her hairy legs and she opted not to share her views with me anymore. However, wherever she is, I believe that she is only one of millions of women who finally feel somewhat recognized in the mainstream media, and even if it’s only a small step in some people’s eyes, I think we can all agree that it’s certainly a step forward.
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