College | Caffeinated

Wow. Haven’t seen one of these around here for awhile. Are they becoming extinct? No, they’re just busy being turned into papers, projects, or ideas for various orgs. A ton of exciting personal news to update, but that’s for another day. Now, for the main attraction:

Note: This post isn’t an attack on Brian Brooks, the person. This is an opinion of the decisions he made and how I see them as indicative of problems within the J-School.

Now, if you look to your left, you’ll see the major debacle over the Brian S. Brooks, the Associate Dean at the Missouri School of Journalism, e-mail(s). Depending on who you talk to, Brooks effed up big time with the first e-mail, and even the second e-mail, according to some. I’ll let Justin Scott explain. Or you can check out his screenshots – e-mail 1; e-mail 2. Short summary? Brooks pissed off a bunch of people by using an unfortunate incident at the Black Culture Center (BCC) as a handjob for the Journalism School and it’s students. In the first e-mail, he uses “sexual…preference” and “tolerance”, which many found offensive (read Justin’s post for more). The second e-mail, an apology (I use that in the loosest sense of the term), also ruffled feathers. He stated the first e-mail was to “support MU’s African American students” (it didn’t), apologized, turned the handjob on himself, apologized again, then took the hand back towards the students (that sounds wrong – no more handjobs in this post).

If you want my opinion on this incident directly, read Justin’s post – it’s a pretty good mirror of my thoughts.

This is a post on the larger impact. How does this incident affect the Journalism School beyond the here-and-now.

These e-mails represent the overarching mentality of J-School administration – that the norm is fine. There is no rallying cry from our “leader”. There is no call-to-action, no plan or steps to make things better for our School or the University. Both e-mails have a “we’re fine as we are” theme. Brooks does not put anything out there to say, “hey, here is why this will never happen at the Journalism School…”, instead, he just says, “hey, don’t do this shit. I don’t want to be embarrassed.”

Apply that sentiment to other situations within the School. Over the past year, there have been a number of events, groups, and student out-cries for innovation and change in the Journalism School’s curriculum and the way it approaches things. However, outside of a few individual professors, change seems to be nonexistent. We keep hearing that we’ll “be fine”, while other schools aren’t settling for “fine” – their administration is gunning for unchallenged best. Frankly, I don’t see that in the Mizzou Journalism School administration, and this e-mail dictates that.

Many Mizzou J-School students are already ‘elitist’. Brian Brooks did nothing to help this. Actually, he did quite the opposite. In an e-mail that should have been about bringing people together, Brooks chose to segregate, using terms like, “…the best students at MU are Journalism students.” Is that a joke? I know plenty of Journalism students who suck at journalism, and at being a student, in general. Why? E-mails like these two make them think that simply by having “University of Missouri Journalism” on their degree means they’re set for life. These are the writers who “just really want to be Bill Simmons”, but without the work ethic. These are the broadcast students who think Anderson Cooper’s job is cushy. These are the StratComm students that left Broadcast for StratComm because they “want to make more money”, are “really creative”, or are “really, really good at talking to people!” (barf).

The administration is not in tune with the students. This point ties back to the first, but it deserves it’s own recognition. Simply put, the students and the administration are usually on entirely different wavelengths – in entirely different galaxies. Brooks will pop up every so often, get some face-time and maybe even make the obligatory “we’re working on it” statement. That’s it. Not once have I seen Brooks reach out to students on a personal, unforced basis. Many students see him, but feel like he is unapproachable. How difficult would it be to do a lap around the J-School and RJI every so often, talking with students and asking what they think of such-n-such.

Yes, this is a two-way road. Next week, I am going to e-mail Dean Brooks asking to meet with him, preferably over a casual lunch. Maybe in the J-Cafe. I’ll student charge it. You know, nbd. Not to grill him, not to harp (or even mention) this incident, but to talk about journalism and my beloved (if occasionally misguided) Journalism School.

These three things are what I immediately picked from the e-mails.  There is a lot to disagree with, sure, but what happened… happened. I know it’s cliché, but college is one big cliché so far.

It’s your move – student, faculty, and administration alike. We can continue to look backward and use this as an excuse, or move forward and us it as a catalyst.

I’m moving forward. Are you?

“Priorities!” is officially my rallying cry of the semester. As numerous people have pointed out, I haven’t slept much recently. This can be tracked by three things; the redness of my eyes, the unkept facial hair, or my tweet stream (seriously, a few people have used Twitter as their evidence). I’m really testing my limits this semester, and it’s entirely intentional. I have a full class load. I have a job with deadlines (weird, huh?). I am the New Media Director for AAF Mizzou, Assistant Director of Rocket Science Student Advertising Agency, Public Relations Manager for Operation Smile, on Mizzou For Malawi’s Steering Committee, and active in Alpha Kappa Psi. Those who have known me for awhile, especially in high school, know that this is new for me. If I typed that four years ago, I’d be all, “WTF Mate?!?!”

Now? I’m friggin’ stoked. I found a passion and I am grateful to have an employer and awesome organizations that allow me to work with and teach my passion.

This is new to me though. After talking to some of the busiest people I know, I learned it comes to one thing – prioritizing.

So here they are, in front of anyone wanting to read it. I figure there’s no better way to make myself accountable than to be transparent with what I’m doing, right?

My Priorities for Spring ‘10

1. Job – I’m extrememly lucky to be in the position I am in. I have a job that allows me to do what I love. I have a boss and clients that expect excellent and timely work from me. I won’t eff this opportunity up.

2. Organizations – Being on executive boards and steering committees for organizations and events put an entirely new spin on things. No longer are you just “a part of ____ organization.” Now, other people rely on you to get your shit done. Not only that, but if you’re lucky, you get to use your talent and passion to help others – others in the group and others you have never met. Cool, huh?

3. Classwork – Going back to the “if you knew me in high school” thing, well, I’ve never been the 4.0 type. I’m still not. I put in to my schoolwork what I expect to get out of it. In test preparations, if I feel I know something, I feel fine. If I get a B on that test? Big deal, I still have the knowledge I need to succeed.

4. Reading – This is where the majority of my education comes from, anyways. Books and Google Reader are my curriculum. Even though I’m more active now than I ever was, that doesn’t mean I’m done sponging up as much information as possible. Reading, outside of class, is probably the best way to do that.

5. Blogging - I’m still figuring this whole ‘blogging’ thing out, in case you haven’t noticed. Someday, I hope to be a well-oiled blogging machine like Matt Cheuvront, Lauren Fernandez, or Danny Brown. Until then, you’ll have to live with my inconsistent ramblings and questions, which are hopefully improving as time goes on.

Before you post your sentimental comment about how family and friends should be one and two, don’t worry – they always are. This list prioritizes my production output. To that end, I’m constantly revisiting Lauren’s post on time management. I highly recommend it.

What else is new? Well I’m trying to work with Mizzou Alumni Association on a video blog idea to recognize awesome students and promote our great university. Slowly but surely, I’m learning how to use my Nikon D80. I’ll be speaking to The Best of Missouri Hands, a Missouri Artisan Assocation, in March. Adobe InDesign and Illustrator are becoming easier to use. Finally, I’m working on a few projects for college students, centered around social media (contact me if you might be interested in helping).

Sorry for the off-the-beaten-path rant. This is my study break! I have two tests tomorrow and I need to start studying books and whatnot. On Thursday, I’m leaving for an epic weekend in Chicago and AKPsi’s PBLI conference (hey Michael Conley and Zack Zaban, I’m thinking a video post or two are in store?).

Obviously, I’m kind of excited right now.

Because ‘they’ say you should always end blog posts with questions, here are some: What are YOU excited about? If you choose to spurt awesomeness on your own blog, let me know so I can read it, get excited for you, and link it up. ALSO, What is your #1 time management trick? If you could catch one Pokémon, which one would it be and why?

Ah Seinfeld. A show about nothing and everything at the same time. It’s a timeless classic, as social awkwardness will never go out of fashion.

Now we have The Office, Community, Parks and Recreation, and soon, Parenthood. When you think about it, these are modern-day Seinfeld’s. These shows are about absolutely nothing, but in various, broad social contexts. The thing is, everyone loves them (well, we don’t know about Parenthood, but it looks pretty funny).

Know what I’m excited for? University. I just made it up, but I think it would be hilarious. I’m sick of the college shows and movies with fratty keggers and seemingly no classes. Sure, college has those moments, but the best parts are in the everyday life. The random, the silly, the ridiculous, the embarrassing (oh the embarrassing), the awkward, and so much more.

What’s your Seinfeld? What would your TV show be called, who would be in it, would it really be about nothing, or everything?

photo via flickr user nesster

In the midst of creating a killer new resumé for a class assignment, I realized I had an hour left to get my daily post, errmm, posted. Which is convenient, because I have beef with the assignment I’m working on.

In the handout we received, we are strongly urged to stay traditional. Even students that will be using this resumé to apply for creative positions are instructed that to “keep your resumé straightforward and traditional… is the safest approach.” We are told that creative resumés are a “risky attempt”, and “certainly do not attempt it if you are not applying for creative jobs…”

Well, now that we have established that taking risks is a bad thing, I can get on with my life.

Wait, come again?

Naw, scratch that. My resumé is going to reflect me. I guess if an employer is looking for a “safe” and “traditional” employee, I won’t be hired. Then again, if an employer is looking for a “safe” and “traditional” employee, well, I’ll be honest – that probably isn’t an employer I want to work for.

Get off my back for a second, I’m not trying to position myself as a risky hire. I’m trying to position myself as myself. My theory for resumés, assuming one makes their own, is to put their personality into it. If that comes through in creative use of white space, great. If your personality shows in your writing style and use of action verbs, awesome. If you use some off-the-beaten-path fonts to encompass your spirit, more power to ya. Whatever works for you - because it’s your resumé.

Now I know the headhunters and HR people might tell me I’m wrong, and I respect that. They’re the pros at this and I always put a lot of weight behind their advice. I just want to try something new with this assignment. I would rather lose an ‘A’ because my theory sucks than lose a potentially awesome employer down the line.

But again, this is my theory. Now, to everyone else - professors, headhunters, and HR people be damned (but please comment ) - what would you like to do with your resumé?

photo via flickr use see-ming lee

Beginning March 20, 2010 at 6 p.m. and ending March 21, 2010 at 6 a.m., my teammates, representing AAF Mizzou, and I will be participating in Mizzou’s Relay For Life. Relay For Life is an event by The American Cancer Society to raise awareness of cancer, celebrate the survivors and fighters, remember, and fight back.

My Reason to Relay

For the early part of my life, I was blessed to not be affected by cancer – through myself, my family, or my friends. It was something I knew about, and that I knew was bad, but as a young child never experiencing it I never had a grasp for the seriousness of it. I was lucky. Cancer never had a face to me. It never held a personal connection.

In the recent years, that has changed. Slowly, cancer has made itself real to me. I’ve felt the impact. Thankfully not personally, but through family and close friends who have been diagnosed.

It’s scary. Watching my friends and family go through this has been terrifying to me. For myself, it’s made cancer real. It’s no longer a faceless ailment.

Cancer has many faces. It’s my grandpa. It’s my best friend’s brother. It’s another best friend’s mother. It could be in the mirror. It could be me. It could be you.

Please support my efforts by making a donation or by joining my Relay For Life team. Together, we can beat cancer. We can make cancer faceless, so no one has to face it ever again.

You can donate by clicking the box that the arrow points to, or just click here. Everything helps and any amount is appreciated. Thank you for your support.

If you’re too lazy to read, just vote here. That has the technical details. This post is the ‘why’- why do I want to do this? Why do I think this is important.

My Dream

I have a lot of passions in life. Some more passionate passions than other passions, but all are passions nonetheless (passions!). Three of which are teaching, the power of social media, and helping others. Let’s remove the commas for a moment- teaching the power of social media and helping others. Oh, I also love good friends, meeting awesome people, and epic road trips.

Let’s do an epic road trip with good friends where we teach the power of social media to awesome people who are helping others.

I want to apply my ongoing education of social media marketing/PR strategy to local non-profit organizations (ones lacking a supporting national body). Social media holds a lot of power for social change, especially on the local level. I want to teach these organizations how to harness that power to improve participation, raise more funds, and increase awareness. Additionally, my friends and I will promote these organizations through our personal networks, shoot and produce a promotional video for them to use, and maintain contact with them should they ever need more assistance. This isn’t a one-time thing. It’s a commitment to change.

This was a no brainer for me. I started mulling this idea sometime around last October. Something about candy corn, I guess. It was simmering on my mind, wondering how it would get out, when I read about the Pepsi Refresh Project (summary- they’re giving money to good people who want to make good things happen). My dream met an escape, and the rest is, and hopefully will be, history.

Our Opportunity

Through a $50,000 grant from the Refresh Project, I can make my dream a reality. However, I can’t do this alone. I need your help. I need your friends’ help. I need your mother’s sixth cousin’s mailcarrier’s help. I’m not an organization with a following. I’m a kid with a pipe dream. A pipe dream to improve one of America’s most valuable resources- local non-profit organizations.

How can you help? VOTE EVERY DAY. Tell your friends to VOTE EVERY DAY.

Every day you get 10 votes. You can vote for 10 different ideas (no voting for one idea 10 times). Obviously, I’m writing this post to encourage, neigh, plead you to vote for my idea. Even if you think this idea sucks, vote for something. I’m not the only one with a dream. If mine doesn’t come true, someone else’s will. You can be a part of that.

But seriously, vote for my idea, please. If you have any questions or hesitations about it, post them in the comments. I am working on a page for this idea where I will lay out the specifics, and answer the questions you ask. If you have an idea on how to improve this idea, let me know. Interested in helping somehow? Let me know.

Helping Communities

The reality is, it’s a shitty time to be a localized, non-profit organization. Volunteers are lacking. Donations are down. Technology is moving so fast that it’s impossible for an ill-equipped organization to keep up.

This isn’t a plan that could be accomplished by simply sending the organizations Macbooks and video cameras. That’s like giving a landscaper the tools to build a house and expecting a nice little summer home. I want to be hands on with this project. We will spend time with the people of each organization and develop a social media strategy that’s specific to their needs.

The three key goals of every plan will be as follows: 1) improve community participation, 2) raise more funds, and 3) increase awareness. Some organizations will need help in other areas, some might be fine with participation but lack funding. Whatever each organization needs, we will tailor a strategy around that.

The Ultimate Goal

Change the way that communities interact with their local non-profit organizations. Set the standard, and an example, of change for local non-profits. Help great people to continue doing great things.

If you haven’t already, VOTE HERE. If you voted today, bookmark that and come back to it everyday. Like I said, I’m working on a special page to put up in the navigation bar, so please comment with any suggestions, criticisms, ideas, hesitations. If you are interested in helping, in any capacity, let me know in the comments.

Thank you.

So, that was 2009. It’s over. Let’s move on.

College | Caffeinated was down for all of the New Year’s Resolution posts, so I won’t make you suffer through another. Here’s the brief summary of my resolutions: work it harder, make it better, do it faster, makes us stronger. I’d like to thank Daft Punk for leaving us with such inspiring prose.

I head back to Mizzou tomorrow (scratch that, Monday now- damn snow), where I will start the core courses of my Strategic Communication degree this semester. Yes, I am a semester behind in my Journalism coursework. A combination of a poor showing freshman year and lack of faith in Mizzou’s J-School led me to take a semester off. The faith, and my grades, are restored. As a bonus, I finished a lot of courses towards my Sociology degree and took courses towards a Business minor.

You’re probably wondering, “what does this have to do with anything?” Well, doubtful person, as a reader of this blog, I’m sure you’re interested to know where my thoughts are coming from.

This is an important aspect for every blogger- personal, business, educational, whatever. Nothing is context-independent. We do not live in a vacuum. The best bloggers are not the ones that share awesome ideas, information, and stories, but the ones that share what inspired their awesome ideas, why they found certain information useful, and how their stories relate to the overall mission of the blog, and ultimately, the blogger.

I encourage you to check out my revamped ‘The Author’ page, where I briefly explain myself and why I chose the path I’m on, and ‘The Blog’ page, which details why I chose this simple theme and what I like to write about.

As you do that, consider your own context, especially if you write. Even if you don’t write, it’s an important thing to consider in any communication. How can you expect someone to understand the message if they don’t know where it’s coming from?

Make sure you swing by Food Week at The Next Great Generation. Today, I talk about my stomach’s infidelity, Matt Nolet thinks Food Network is killing the cookbook, and Kristen Fritz discusses the real risks of real foods.

Don’t forget to come back- there will be new posts every day this week. Actually, you should do yourself a favor and subscribe to The Next Great Generation. Who doesn’t want morsels of awesome delivered to them on a regular basis? That’s what I thought.

Marty gone fishin'. Summer '07. pastel effect.

I’m not actually gone fishin’. It’s the thought that counts.

If you follow me on Twitter or are friends with me on Facebook, you may have noticed that earlier today, I posted about disconnecting for a few days. I’m thinking until Monday. But who knows. My roommate changed my Facebook password and I’m practicing a little self-restraint to stay away from Twitter (not to mention breaking the habit of opening Tweetdeck before I do anything else).

Nothing bad happened, so don’t fret (and for those who texted or e-mailed me with concern, thanks for caring, but it’s all gravy). I didn’t have my heart broken by a foxy lady. I’m not cracked out on study candies and tweaking about finals. I don’t really know what spurned this. I just had that feeling. At first I thought it might’ve been the buffalo wings from last night, but no, it was more (in a Thoreau-esque way). This feeling lead me to four objectives: Detoxify, Purify, Simplify, Refocus.

Detoxify & Purify

When a college kid mentions detox, images of hospitals, creaky machines, and people in white lab coats running around are conjured up. That’s not what I’m talking about, though. Well, kinda. But this isn’t motivated by an addiction to the rock or the bottle (I swear, mom). It’s motivated by the enjoyment I get from feeling refreshed. I’m eating only organic, natural, or healthy foods, and drinking plenty of juices and waters. This is going to last longer than the disconnect. If you’ve never done something like this, I highly recommend it. Last time I did it for a week, I’ve never felt better.

Simplify

I have a lot of stuff. Like, a lot a lot. People tell me this all the time, and I am aware (so stfu, please). One thing that most people don’t know is that I don’t have a bedroom at my parents’ house anymore. Or closet. Or attic storage. Everything I own, I currently have with me.

That said, I want less stuff. So tomorrow is going to be a day of decisions between “will need in future” and “will need in future but don’t know that now and will be mad at myself for this later”. I am also clearing out my computer, organizing everything, and just making things simpler. Beauty is in the simplicity, which is something I have forgotten.

Refocus

So much has happened to me in the past year. Like, so so much. It’s great. But 2010 is going to be better. I need to make sure that I’m focused on kicking ass and taking names (figuratively), and reach for the stars (literally, I’d like to hit 6′0″. Pipe dream, I know).

That’s it. I’ll be back Monday with a new post. Hopefully, one that will define this blog, and me, for the next year. Enjoy your weekend.

While I was back in Minnesota for some turkey-to-mouth action, my mother and father managed to get my little sister, Casey, and I to play nice (sorta) and take some picture for our Christmas cards. Then I got ahold of them and, well, you’ll see what happened.

If you’re wondering, the Space Case is Casey, the Cheese is me (like Colby Cheese! no…), and the camera is self-explanatory. Enjoy.

photos by our father, touch-ups by me