marci466

Final Project

Marci M — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 16:43:21 +0000

My final project (done with Stephanie Long) is called How Much is that Doggie in the Window and I wanted to bring awareness to the costs of having an animal that many people don’t realize. I also am a pet advocate and want to offer people resources for people who want to donate to animals or adopt them. You will see many tabs across the top for easy navigation of my site. It includes SoundCloud, SlideShare, Twitter, still photos, YouTube video with audio interview, box.net, donate link, polls and links to ways to help.

Final Who To Follow!

Marci M — Sat, 28 May 2011 00:01:12 +0000

I picked these 5 to follow this week, because they are journalists that cover hot topics that interest me!

Piers Morgan @piersmorgan Amazing British jounalist career now on CNN, great interviewer, always gets hot topics to cover

Nancy ODell @nancyodell tv host, entertainment journalist, beauty and brains!

Larry King @kingsthings TV and radio host, has interviewed celebrities, royalty, presidents – amazing career at 7 @6 still working

Katie Couric Journalist, author, news anchor, amazing mom, can dish it out and take it too

Erin Moriarty @EFMoriarty 48 Hours Mystery correspondent, reporter, radio talk show host, social and legal issues attorney

Twitterverse – My Twitter Experience

Marci M — Wed, 25 May 2011 06:16:13 +0000

Twitter is a real-time social and information network used in a multitude of ways by millions of people and businesses, but there are still quite a few stragglers out there still on the island of excuses. When I first heard the term “abstwainers” (a clever neologism for those who completely abstain from Twitter as found in the Twictionary) I could easily identify because I once too avoided Twitter because of the fear of the unknown (aka twitterphobe) .Today, after ten weeks of being shown the ropes of basic functions, commands and uses and tweeting regularly, I feel much more competent and knowledgeable! It’s not hard, but like anything, there is a learning curve. And let’s be honest, any UW Communication major should be fairly competent in most forms of new media by graduation, right?

I had been actively using Facebook as my preferred social media tool and honestly felt intimidated by Twitter’s “@, RT, #words and short links when reading others’ tweets as if it was insider codes far above me. Fortunately, this Digital Journalism course gave me the perfect opportunity to dive in, learn and use!

What I liked immediately about Twitter was the ability to establish a 1-click, one-way “follow” relationship with anyone you choose and you automatically get a stream of desired tweets. Unfollowing is just as easy and no one’s feelings get hurt. I learned to set up my account and customize it, use topic #hashtags, direct tweets, retweets, how to shorten URLs ( I love how easy Bit.ly is) and how to find people specific to follow and to identify why this person would be worthy. Making creative tweets to promote interest in my #FF Friday Follows and projects were challenging but a great way to draw reader curiosity and attention. On my own, I investigated top Trends and how they actually become topics of the most interest.

The future of Twitter is unlimited! I believe as newspapers phase out paper product they will have no choice but to find other ways of not losing their subscribers completely with new forms of media, especially because people are used to participating in topic discussions and letting their opinions be heard in response to the writer’s story. Twitter is just one way to do that! Along with websites that include multi-media stories, the public is now expecting a richer experience when consuming media messages. Photo and video stories offer so much more depth to how news is reported and experienced.

Media professionals like journalists are building their own followers using Twitter and engaging their readers in a new way. ReadWriteWeb suggests scoffers that Twitter is journalist’s tool for getting in early on breaking news, obtaining more information quicker from Twiterviews and a great way to promote online articles to drive traffic back to the web article.

Citizens have benefited greatly from Twitter, especially evident when the news of Osama Bin Laden was killed. The poll Kathy Gill posted from our classroom participants showed a good result (15%) heard it first on Twitter and . Top results showed up from Facebook and telephone calls, but the Tweets per second chart reflected a big jump in tweet traffic during Obama’s speech so it is clearly a way people spread news quickly.

Overall, my experience using Twitter has been excellent! I will likely continue on using Twitter to follow many of the people I discovered during this course. There are a few I will weed out that I have discovered offer little to no information via tweets. As a celebrity watcher, I will likely continue to those follows but will attempt to continue following many of the professional connections I have established to learn best practices of people who have gone before me. Facebook will continue to be my first choice in social media because the two-way interaction with people I know and have personal relationships with is much more interesting and satisfying to me.

So, what’s new in YOUR Twitterverse??

Elements of a Good Video Story

Marci M — Mon, 23 May 2011 02:53:54 +0000

Too Fat To Fly (MSN)This story is about a “customer of size” was told she was too fat to fly and was humiliated and embarrased in public.

What elements I liked about it: It’s an emotional story, viewer can feel how upsetting this was. There was a policy change after this situation occured with Southwest Airlines so I felt something good resulted by the end of the story. Visually I could see she was a large woman when sitting on the couch to be interviewed so I could get an idea of how she many need more room in a standar airplane seat. The story had a beginning (how it started), middle(what happened) and end (result).

Devastated Joplin (MSNBC) A story about the recent Missouri tornado.

What elements I liked about it: Wide visual pan to show how dark the sky was and damage, strong audio of wind, multiple shots to show different angles of the sky, emotion of emminent danger. An interview would have been inapropriate and too dangerous since they had asked residents to evacuate.

Fashion at the Festival (Telegraph UK) A story to promote the Investec Derby.

What elements I liked about it: This video had multiple clips with a variety of shots (zoom, pan) intermixed with interviews that made it very interesting to watch. The point of the video was clear, to promote the Investec Derby and to attract women who love fashion to come since racegoers include celebrities and fashionistas with fancy hats there to be “seen”. Even the Queen comes! The music and ambient sounds of laughter made this event appear fun and exciting!

Do You Make A Difference To Someone? Rally and Relay!

Marci M — Fri, 20 May 2011 00:32:45 +0000

Marci and Hope at Relay For Life, May 2011.

If you ask most people what is the meaning of life, you’d get various answers but you would find that most people want to have meaningful relationship, be happy and to make a difference in the world with their life. The Relay For Life is a fundraiser that can do just that! When my best friend Hope was diagnosised at 37 years old with breast cancer, I couldn’t believe it could happen…to her, to someone so young, to a mom, wife, sister who was NOT done living. The words “you have cancer” changed her life forever. She has since beaten cancer and takes time to turn her journey and fight into giving hope and promise to others through her participation in Relay For Life, benefiting the American Cancer Society.

The Relay For Life, as told through my soundslide project, was held in Auburn, Washington May 13-14, 2011. What makes it different is that because it goes from 6pm on Friday through the night until Saturday at 11am, walkers must be on the track the whole time. Because of this, people form teams so people take turns walking and in between, share stories, nosh, laugh, cry and make new memories with friends, family and others that have survived cancer and those who honor those who didn’t.

Enjoy my Rally for Friends! Rally For Life! SoundSlides presentation!

Soundslides reflection

Marci M — Thu, 19 May 2011 01:06:39 +0000

The soundslides project really brought in all the things we have learned this quarter thus far; photography, audio capture and editing with Audacity, file conversion with Zamzar, writing captions and utilizing various download/uploads and finally learning the difference between a client and a server when uploading the final project to the web under my com466 file. I think the final project came out really great! I am happy with how it honors my friend Hope.

Relay For Friends! Relay for Life!

Marci M — Thu, 19 May 2011 00:38:51 +0000

My soundslides project was based on The Relay For Life walk I participated in last weekend in Auburn, Washington. When my good friend, Hope, was diagnosised five years ago with breast cancer at the age of 37, I couldn’t believe someone so young could get it. I went with her to her biopsy and held her hand and we cried together when the news came back she had a very agressive form of breast cancer. I went wig shopping for her and tried to help her find one that looked like “her”. I drove her to the hair appointment when her chemo-stricken hair was shaved off and replaced with her new hairpiece, holding back tears and reminding her that she will get through this. After months of surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation, Hope is in remission and considered cancer free. But not everyone has the same success story. My project also included an interview with her 13 year old daughter, Madison, that organized “Team Hope” for the Relay For Life walk, benefiting the American Cancer Society. This story is to encourage others and share the passion so many of us have for raising awarness and needed donations to find a cure for cancer.

Fantastic Ladies to Follow

Marci M — Sat, 14 May 2011 05:28:27 +0000

My 5 Follow Friday’s are fantastic, interesting, dynamic, successful ladies:

1) Sheri Salata: Executive Producer-Oprah President-Harpo. Because this brilliant lady will be working on interesting new projects VERY soon!

2) Aphrodite Jones : Her NEW book is “Michael Jackson Conspiracy” and at $31.95 I want to know more about this interesting lady and what she’s up to.

3)Ivanka Trump: Smart, savvy, loves travel like me, does not shrink behind her father!

4) Pink : She’s raw and ususally says something outrageous that everyone else is afraid to! A baby will soften her up I’m sure.

5) Lady Gaga: She’s smart, educated, talented, kind, and a hell of an artist!

Visual Photo Story – Almost Picture Perfect!

Marci M — Wed, 11 May 2011 19:23:34 +0000

The photo story was a much better experience for me than the audio story because I had less technical issues. The planning that went into this project was more organized and I had a clearer idea of what the final product would look like. The goals I had for the project were to really get good composition, high quality, nicely organized photos to use and I did.

Challenges I had were the difficulty narrowing down eight photos out of the 49 photos I took that I really liked. Also, trying to make a start, middle and end so it was a story was challenging. I learned how to crop using tools I found online that I feel made my photos more interesting.

If I were to do it over again, I would pick a story that had a more obvious timeline (like Stephanie’s baking of a cake) where the action is time sensitive. I may have gone sunrise to sunset for instance.

Got Green Lake? Put It On Your Must-Do List

Marci M — Wed, 11 May 2011 14:46:59 +0000

A day at Green Lake is a must-do for every visitor to Seattle because it represents so much of the qualities people value in the Pacific Northwest: fresh air, nature, environment and outdoor exercise! Neighbors and the community love Green Lake so much they have “friends of Green Lake” groups where people that care about the wellness and longevity of Green Lake’s park environment, safety, wildlife wellness of fish, birds, water quality to secure a great neighborhood recreation today and tomorrow.

Last Sunday, I took a walk at Green Lake and was reminded how wonderful it is for people of all ages, pets, exercise enthusiasts, photogrpahers, boaters and anyone! Plus, a visit to Green Lake is FREE, which in this economy is a great way to enjoy time with friends and family without putting yourself in debt! I’d love to show you what I saw so be sure to watch my photo story by reading on…

Welcome to Greenlake! This neighborhood park in north central Seattle is loved by it’s neighbors, community and visitors year-round
Green Lake is surrounded entirely by a very popular paved 2.8 mile, 2 lane path for walkers, runners, strollers and more.
Green Lake gets pretty busy on sunny days but parking and crosswalks are ample for easy access
Quacking happy ducks bring simple delight to young and old
Running free through the crisp green grass feels so good for dogs and people
Flowering plants and flowers thrive in this natural environment and add color spots along the lake
Large, open grassy areas make hula hooping fun recreation
Within the lake is an artificial island called “Duck Island” which many paddle boaters and canoers use their muscle power to circumnavigate
Exercise and serenity are two reasons people flock to Green Lake.
Credits