Opinion pieces

I think Op/Ed pieces are the most interesting and crucial to read in any media outlet. Reading another persons opinion on a topic is intriguing and can sway a readers mind into a different direction. Op/Ed pieces aren't just filled with a writers opinion, but factual information. I am particularly a fan of opinion pieces found on the new york times website. It is always interesting to read about the current events and different opinions about it. These types of articles expand my way of thinking about certain issues.

Opinion pieces can be very important when searching about different products. By reading them, you will get the true outcome of the product from someone who has used it. According to someones opinion, you will then purchase the product or not. As an op/ed reader myself, I think these pieces can be helpful and should be read.

Nestle hot line

Call me a dork but, this article actually made me call Nestle just so I can listen to it. (I'm sure secretly some of you did this too) Anyway, I came to find that the Ad was no longer available anymore - I just received the regular call options.

The Ad definitely seems like a cool and humorous idea. It obviously seemed to win over the writer. Nestle always comes up with cool ways to connect with their customers. Even though the ad wouldn't really me run to the store, it definitely helps their brand image and makes me, as well as others, like them. If customers like them, they will support them. It's all about brand image these days.

The Bad Pitch Blog

I found the following blog to be humorous. Who continues to persist on speaking with a person whom they have blocked? That was quite the idiotic move. Before pursuing a reporter aggressively, the way this woman did, one should have known and checked to see if he was still under the "blocked" category. However, as the writer stated, I'm sure this mistake happens in PR all the time. An incident like this one could be embarrassing and create a negative outlook for a PR professional. Bad PR could put a potential damper on one's career. PR professionals, as well as HR, should always be on their so called "A" game so they don't make mistakes, such as this one, or possibly worse.

Kevin Smith vs. Southwest Airlines

I honestly can't believe this actually happened. Kevin Smith was tossed off an airline for his weight? They should have given him two seats on the flight and then let him pay afterwards instead of pulling a move like that. However, I believe the airline responded appropriately after the incident. They were aware of their mistake and handled it as carefully as they could stating that they "could have potentially handled our communication better". The airline made no mistake to apologize to the director, and the press, more than once. Southwest promises to train their employees more appropriately on how to handle a situation like this and to improve their policy. Considering that the airline has had the lowest complaints within the past year, I doubt that this incident will make customers stop using their service. The airline can only continue to apologize, acknowledge their mistake, and help to improve their services.

infamous balloon boy

October 15, 2009 everyone in the country was glued to their television sets for several hours. Why? A supposed 6 year-old boy was stuck in a homemade balloon that was floating above Fort Collins, CO. The country held their breath for the young boy in hopes that he will survive this unexpected and unfortunate event. After the police, international airports, and national guard became involved .. the balloon landed on the ground in one piece.

The verdict? well .. turns out, which I'm sure you ALL know .. no traces of the boy were found on the balloon, however, he was peacefully hiding in his lovely home with his moronic parents who thought it would be beyond genius to pull the following publicity stunt. After thinking they would receive great attention from the country and even gain their own television show, they were sadly mistaken. The only thing they deserved and got was some serious jail time for the hoax they put together.

In my opinion, if you want to get famous & catch attention there is thousands of other smart ways to do so. Pretending your 6-year old kid is in a life threatening situation to gain the countries eyes? That's seriously twisted. I feel really bad for this child for having such parents. People are probably going to joke about this for years to come. They gained some attention alright, but definitely not in the way they had hoped.

Twitter? really?

When I first heard about twitter, I thought it was an interesting concept. Never once did I think it was going to explode into such a phenomenon. After doing a little research on the website, I discovered that twitter is for people that basically live their lives through someone else's. Its quite sad actually. I personally find twitter to be not only life consuming, but also creepy. Who actually has the time to go online and post about every move they make in their lives? Worst of all, who actually has the time to "follow" what other people are doing? Shouldn't you be worried about the direction your own life is taking instead of someone else's?

"Interest was piqued after celebrities, athletes and other high-profile users signed on early last year, sharing their thoughts with the world in 140-character snippets."

I can agree and say that twitter has played a good and smart role in at least one way. Companies use twitter as a media outlet, as well as celebrities. I think following a celebrity or current brand name would be cool. Twitter comes in handy when trying to get a name or brand out there, especially in the entertainment field. It's a smart business and marketing tactic, due to the amount of people that use twitter.

I'm not really surprised that twitters usage base is slowly declining. Theres so many new forms of inter-webs coming out almost monthly nowadays. Every inter-web has reached a certain peak, become overly popular and then declined because people have either become bored or found some new form to move onto. Personally, I also think every new form is becoming even more stalker-ish and creepy.

This is me.

ook .. where to begin. I'm not very good at blogs .. it could be because I was never a fan of these online sharing websites. I tried to write a blog years ago but never got too far .. after about 2 days of writing I called it quits. I understand the whole concept of blogs being online journals or personal venting systems and what not but personally, I was never a fan of sharing my thoughts with the world via internet (power to those who can though!).

Anyway, about me? well .. my job basically consumes most of my life (yay full-time). However, its not a bad thing because I absolutely love my work life. I usually hang out and go out on weekends, if i'm not on some crazy business trip.

I travel A LOT. My friends have basically put it like this .. " you're like peter pan .. you stop in to tell us your stories and then fly off to never never land "

James Dean once quoted "Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today". A quote I take to heart.

I can go on stating random facts about myself, but I'll spare you the unnecessary details. I'm sure you'll be learning more about me through my blog throughout the semester and vice versa. I'm looking forward to it! See you all in class =]