Interview Questions

How do you plan on self-promoting yourself?

I plan on continuing to use Facebook and Twitter to promote myself and my writing. Most of my work is now online, so I can link it from social networks to build up a following. As long as keep producing quality writing pieces and putting them out there, I can build up a reputation and make my presence known.

Name three goals you have between now and graduation.

I want to continue doing freelance work for The Record and a couple of websites I currently write for. I aslo would like to apply for another internship in the spring semester and gain some more experience.

What employment goals do you have after graduation? Name three of them.

I want to keep writing for HockeyBuzz.com as a freelance writer, earning money by each page view. I plane on working on my own until finding something I really would like to do. Doing freelance work isn't bad, and I'm not sure what kind of job I'm looking to get after graduation.

Name three best-case scenario jobs you would like to have and why.

To have a position and reputation similar to Jim Kelley, who was a columnist for the sports section of the Buffalo News for numerous years. A position of this standard would also allow me to join the Sabres as they travel while writing for them.

Do you prefer to work professionally with a group or on your own and why?

I prefer to work independently, although does not mind working in groups. He feels as if writing on his own comes natural rather then having the interaction among other team members. When it comes to writing, it's easier for me to write an article on my own. I can still work in a group, but I usually like to work alone.

What contributions can you make to a group dynamic? Name three things.

I firmly believe that my role in a group is leading by example. I believe that a positive attitude and good work can reflect among other members in the group. I can come up with good ideas and I will share my thoughts with the other members, but I won't be the first to initiate the conversation. The finished product will be well done. I'll make sure that the final project turns out to be high-quality and I won't let other members bring down the rest of the group.

What contributions can you make working independently? Name three things.

I can come up with my own ideas and write something. I can get something done very quickly and at the last minute if I need to. I can have everything planned out and figure out how to do it on my own.

What are your pet peeves?

My biggest pet peeve is when an individual is watching me as I work. I believe that unfinished work should not be judged. The final product is what matters the most, a person over my shoulder does not help me when I'm working. It makes me nervous and since it's not done, it looks bad. I'd rather wait until something is completely finished before showing it.

Name three things you feel passionate about professionally - this could be school related, current job related, group or organizationally related - and outline why you feel passionate towards them.

In the past, I worked as the sports editor at Buffalo State College’s “The Record”. I was very passionate about making sure my section of the paper looked nice. It worked well while being in control of the layout of the section and shaping of the other writers.

I feel passionate about my writing in general. If I get frustrated and need something to calm down, I turn to writing. I can just sit down and write, whether it's just letting anger out or writing an article or story. Getting words down on paper (or on the screen) really eases my anger and calms me down. Perhaps it is the feeling of finishing an article that I look forward to. When I complete a piece of writing, I am proud of myself for it, so there is incentive for me to write, especially when I know it will be published.

How do you handle stress and pressure?

I'm very good at working under pressure. If something needs to be done quickly, I can complete the task at a rapid pace. As for stress, I don't handle it as well. I'm not the best planner and not the most organized, so I tend to push things off until they get real close. Then it becomes a whole list of things I need to do, putting myself under a bunch of stress. I have to just sit down and start working and keep going until I'm finished.

Name the last three jobs you had, and the best success and the worst failure you experienced at each of these jobs.

I currently work at Dash's bakery, which doesn't help my future writing career at all. I guess the worst failure I had there was when I first started, I called in sick a few times even though I wasn't. Since then, I was ranked as the bakery's top employee a few times.

I worked as sports editor of the record and the worst failure was seeing a typo in my section, which happened a couple of times. The best success was just improving the section overall, and having the executive editor notice.

How do you handle criticism?

Not well. Every comment I receive, whether it be verbal or written, I take to heart. I know that they can be constructive and improve my future writing, but they mean a lot to me. When I post an article online, I will read every single comment. They are not all good, and sometimes it's difficult to do that. You can't make every one happy. As long as I provide accurate stories with my opinion, I'll be fine.

Name two things that you can criticize about the interviewer and constructively criticize.

If Lynda could do anything better for the interview, it would be not jumping around so much with the questions. They could have flowed together more smoothly. Also, just physical things like playing with her hair could also be eliminated.

Outline three strengths you have in school.

I'm very good at getting assignments in on time and rarely forget or miss one of them. I'm very nice and have the ability to work in pairs or groups and can get along with just about anyone. I'm also on time for my classes, so tardiness is not a problem.

Outline three strengths you have in your workplace.

I can work with anyone. I don't like to create problems or drama in the workplace and can work with whoever I have to. I'm very good with customer service, and can keep them happy and help them effectively. By the end of the night, my job will have been done the right way.

Name three things - graphically -that you want to have on your website.

I want to include a couple of photos of me just so that people can put a name with a face. I want to include some photos of my work. I want a few journalism photos as well at the top as well.

Twitter

Microblogging is exactly what it sounds. Rather than posting entries that can be hundreds or thousands of words long, microblogging is a much smaller form of posts. Twitter is a perfect example of this.

People’s updates are limited to 140 characters, so the small amount of space has to be used wisely in order to fit the entire message into the update. Submitting a post is a short, complete thought or description of something.

Many social network sites use microblogging, such as Facebook, which allows people to update their own status while seeing their friends’ as well.

Facebook is much more than those statuses and has things like chats, games, applications, profiles, and messages. Facebook is much different, where most users are connected with just their friends and family members.

Twitter is almost purely for microblogging, with a few actual friend connections here and there. When I first heard about it, I thought it was a pointless idea and wouldn’t be successful. Now, I use it everyday and it has become a main source for finding news and information.

When I first joined, it seemed that people were just posting regular things about their day and what they were doing, which is what I thought it was going to be. I thought of it as Facebook minus all of the other things except statuses, which is basically what it is.

However, I found that I could control my own feed by following people and organizations that I am interested in. It became more than learning about my friends’ typical day. Instead, I can follow other people that I am interested in. I can quickly get the latest updates as to who is injured for the Sabres or when one of my favorite writers posts a new article.

Another nice thing about Twitter is the chance you have the ability to connect with more well-known people.

I think this can apply to many people when I say that it’s an exciting feeling when a well-known person or celebrity re-tweets you or replies to you. I have had a couple of NHL players tweet me, and I have Anna Graceman, one of the top 10 contestants from America’s Got Talent, following me.

Twitter is like a whole different world, where most of the people I talk to on there, I rarely see in person. I tend to follow a lot of sports writers and NHL players, broadcasters, and public relations people, so my actual friends are limited on there.

If I want to talk to my actual friends and people I know a little better, they are all on Facebook.

Twitter has become so much more than just socializing and talking to people. It works very well for microblogging about live events. I usually use it during Sabres games, updating people on the score or what I think about a specific player or team.

Twitter has also become a tool for news organizations and reporters can spread the news by posting a quick, simple update.

“Reporters now routinely tweet from all kinds of events — speeches, meetings and conferences, sports events. In February, a federal judge gave his blessing to Ron Sylvester of the Wichita Eagle to use Twitter to report on a trial of six suspected gang members, the first time tweeting had been permitted inside a federal courtroom. Sylvester tweeted frequently from the trial, providing a nearly contemporaneous account.” https://bscangel.sln.suny.edu/section/default.asp?id=201130-COM336-1977

I’m a daily user of Twitter and I use it more than just for socializing. I use it to help promote my own works of writing as well as posting updates about my life.

It’s a good tool to help promote my own blog and Twitter has accounted for 14% of my traffic. In other words, I’ve got a couple thousand views from Twitter just by linking my blog posts on it.

I think it’s a great way to help promote my writing. Being an aspiring journalist, I have already built up a following because of Twitter (just less than 500 followers) and my readers can connect with me through the site.

The best part of it is they do not have my entire profile to see, like they would on Facebook. They can only see my Tweets, along with any links or photos I put up.

If I do want to engage in a conversation with someone, Twitter is great for that to. I can reply to another user publicly or direct message them in order for privacy.

With Twitter, anyone can become a citizen journalist, and act as a reporter. With access to the internet now in our pockets, anybody can submit a status or report something as news.

There are problems that come with that. It hurts real reporters when everyone else is basically taking their job and posting the news first.

However, anyone can post anything, and they don’t even have to have a name associated with them. They can be completely anonymous. These people may not even post accurate, true information, leading others into a dangerous situation.

I have seen on Twitter, that people have posted news that isn’t true. Seeing that, some people and organizations jumped the gun, retweeting what that person said. Turns out that the news wasn’t true all along, and all of those who failed to verify it have now hurt their credibility.

No one can stop the citizen journalism from happening but it isn’t a bad thing, either. Twitter can be used as a call for help if someone is in a situation. Others have tweeted at events or in court rooms, letting their followers know in real time, what is developing.

I chose to follow the Buffalo State Men’s Hockey team because that is something that isn’t on Twitter. They have an overall athletic’s Facebook and Twitter account, but that fills up my feed and tells me about many of the other sports I don’t really care about. By doing just the hockey team, people will know what to expect and get information purely about the team, rather than the whole athletics department.

Web Design Evaluation for the Final

Worst websites:

http://www.gordonwaynewatts.com/ - This has to be one of the ugliest sites I have ever seen. As soon as the page loaded, I almost puked. My eyes hurt and had no idea where to go as there was text all over the place.

I still don’t know what it is about so it obviously isn’t successful. The colors clash and there is almost no organization at all.

Trying to scroll down to the bottom of the page would take me a few minutes. There is music that is set to auto play, which is annoying. The photo is blurry and looks like it was taken 15 years ago.

http://www.tnteventsinc.com/ - At least this one has a limited amount of information on the home page, OR SO I THOUGHT! There are random, hidden links that are in the background. Whenever I hover over certain parts, there are images, links and text popping up all over.

The colors in the background are gross and I’m really concerned as to who thought those looked nice while making the site.

At least I can tell that these people hosts events. Other than that, it would take some work to figure out any more.

http://www.pandminc.com/ - Who doest this?! I’m so frustrated looking through these websites. This page has an intro page with symbols spinning? After actually entering the site, it loads again, with more spinning symbols. It takes about 10-15 seconds before everything is fully loaded.

I can tell what the product is, but there is too much movement going on. It wouldn’t be too bad of a side if they simplified this.

http://webpagesthatsuck.smugmug.com/Other/Bad-Web-Design/6837311_tyvTi#752104126_zng6F-O-LB - So many different colors and boxes on this home page, I don’t know where the focus point is. It looks like a whole bunch of random things thrown on the page. They actually have some nice images on here, but didn’t use them well.

The menu on the left is helpful, but it doesn’t need to be so large. It blends right in with the unnecessary colorful boxes.

http://webpagesthatsuck.smugmug.com/gallery/6837311_tyvTi#440032429_6bJAm-O-LB - This one is just laughable. There is just way too much here. It looks like a million puzzle pieces and I have no idea what the product or message is. The page scrolls down forever, and the colors are all random, too.

This was really aggravating for me to see these horrible sites. Since I run my own Sabres blog, I like to see how others put their sites together, but these are horrible.

On to the best websites :)

http://www.grantland.com/ - This is a simple, nice way to provide articles to the reader. Everything is nicely organized and the title is right across the top of the page. The menu is easy to use and there are two even columns going down the sides. The colors go together nicely and the text is not cluttered and is easy to read.

http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/ - I really like the layout and colors of the Business first website. There is a lot of information on this page, but it is a news organization, so there is going to be.

I think the blue color at the top and bottom makes it look really professional as it matches well and is appealing to the eye.

The site is easy to use and interactive. There is a menu across the top and a poll on the right, along with the ability to use social networks to subscribe to this site.

http://www.hbo.com/ - It will take a couple of seconds to load, but it is worth it. It’s a smooth layout well done as there is a bunch of information to display. It’s very easy to use and the menus are well-sized and very helpful. It’s an overall very nice layout.

http://www.sageflyfish.com/ - I really like the colors and the style of this site. I think the green and blue go together well. It’s a simple layout with a couple of photos. There is a basic menu and search bar at the top, and more information below the content slider.

It definitely makes me aware of the product, but it is so well organized. The photos flow to one another nicely, and it’s a very calm site.

http://sabreshockeycentral.com/2011/11/05/sabres-knock-off-senators-in-shootout/ - Of course I’m going to evaluate my own website. I try to keep mine simple and easy to read while adding some photos and vidoes. The colors all go well together and there isn’t an overload of text.

On the home page, there are two columns going down the side with more information. When you click a post, it opens and is full screen, like the link above. My title is at the top and the menu is there for simple navigation.

Necessity of Communication on Facebook

Trying to get people together for an event used to be a much more difficult task. Sending out invitations or emails and having them respond likely took days, or even weeks.

With events on Facebook, the entire process became so much better, and more detailed. A couple of years ago, me and a few others, organized a walk for diabetes event, in honor of my brother, who was diagnosed about 10 years ago.

We simply created the event, put in the info, and invited our friends. Then the event was linked from the walk for diabetes website, and a few hundred people became part of the online event.

All the information was listed on the event page, and people commented with their thoughts and how great of a day that was planned.

As for the group page, or fan pages, they can really help people stay up to date. I created a page for the Men's hockey team at Buffalo State. The Bengals already have an athletics page on Facebook, but that is for all sports. If you're only interested in one or two sports, the athletics page will fill your news feed with every single update.

The fan pages are a good way to let fans know the most recent news and information. I can put up the schedule and results and players who scored, and people can find that out right from Facebook. Any recaps will be linked directly to the Buffalo State website, which is a great tool for helping to promote Bengals sports.

Facebook and its use in social media

I remember the day when I first found out about Facebook and where I was. I was at my dad’s house on the day we were celebrating my high school graduation. One of my friends from school told me that I should get a Facebook. “I should get a what?”

Her and a couple others had a fun time setting me up with this Facebook thing. I had no idea that I was getting into this addicting social network.

So now, of course I’m on Facebook and I can’t help it. It’s such an easy way to stay in touch with people that I don’t see very often. I’ve found friends old friends from my elementary school in Pennsylvania that I went to school with when I was a kid.

The “stalker feed”, as I like to call it, is something everyone secretly likes. It’s nice to know what your “friends” are up to.

Facebook has changed many times since I activated my account six years ago. I still like having an account, but it has died down over the past year or so for me. I find myself not using it as often as I once did.

I usually use if more for promotional and business purposes than anything. I have a facebook page for my website, and everything I write is linked through there. I started my site in January 2010, and since then, a total of 13,840 visitors have come from the Facebook links I’ve posted. That makes up for about 15 percent of the total views I’ve had, so it’s a good tool for promotion...and it’s free.

As for my personal profile, I usually fill up other people’s feeds with Sabres and hockey statuses when there are games going on. I use it to keep an eye on others in my family and friends as well.

That’s mainly what I use Facebook for, but other people utilize it for many different ways. Hosting events, playing games, chatting and promoting their business seem to be the most common.

There’s a ton of information about me on Facebook, and probably more that I don’t know of. I don’t feel that it is private, but it doesn’t bother me that much. It may not be the safest to have that kind of attitude, but it really doesn’t phase me.

If someone wants to find out information on me, they can type my name into Google. I’ve written so many articles and for so many websites, that when you look me up, that’s all you’re going to see. There will be pages of articles I’ve wrote for websites, newspapers and magazines.

There’s plenty of information about me on the internet. Whether or not I put it on Facebook doesn’t really matter to me.

Being a Facebook user for so long has made me realize that there are rules for it. There are many unwritten rules that users have created over the past few years.

Making something “Facebook official” seems to have become THE most important step for some people when it comes to relationships. Once it’s confirmed on Facebook, everyone else can see that, which is why it has become so important.

Posting “happy birthday” on someone’s wall has seemed to carry some important matter as well. Many people view this as the final step to un-friending someone they no longer talk to. If you don’t talk to them and wouldn’t write “happy birthday” on their wall, they probably aren’t your friend.

A big thing I’ve noticed is that you need to think about what you’re posting. I’ve posted a couple of political things that really offended some of my close friends and others. It started some online fights and is something to stay away from in the future. Posting your views on your profile is fine, but don’t put them to put down others’ views.

I’ve had some awkward situations because of Facebook, but not because I posted something. I’m sure others do this, but sometimes I like to have a friend deleting party and I just go through my list and un-friend people I never talk to.

I did that once and saw one of those people the next day. I didn’t say anything to them and eye contact occurred, but we both ignored each other. I’ve also played the “Oh, I thought we were friends on Facebook” game. We know how that works. You dig yourself out of the hole, even though you both know you deleted the other person.

One of my favorite quotes I saw (I can’t remember where) about Facebook was this one:

“Facebook is a place where you can hate your friends. Twitter is a place where you can love complete strangers.”

Video Comments

Time - I think everybody in this group used time in different ways, but they all made sense. The overall goal of the video was to show how each member used their time, and they did a good job of illustrating that. Devon began by showing how time went by as she lost a sibling. She included some slow motion and speeding up effects, but the story itself did the job already. The music and photos made it emotional, but she, and the entire group, met the goal of the video.

The next video showed how Taniqua spent her day, from waking up, going to work, school, all the way to sleep. The entire video consisted of high quality shots where it was easy to see what was going on.

I thought the driving shots really helped the video, especially in Matt’s video. It was a good way to show time speeding up and kept me engaged because it’s not something you every day.

Wale’s video illustrated how everything had to do with time and how he is always late to everything. It was interesting to see how each student took the theme of time and applied it to a different situation.

Communication -

The group tied these videos together really well and showed some good and bad examples of communication, or lack thereof. There were uses of email and Facebook in the video, which is how most college students talk to one another, but a lack of talking face-to-face, which is probably true in today’s world.

I though the idea of having the class canceled and the students not telling each other was a very effective way of showing failure to communicate. They didn’t even say anything to each other or hold the doors open, and it was very effective.

The alphabet magnets on the fridge were just another little illustration of a way to communicate.

I thought the music transitioned very nicely throughout the video. I couldn’t tell you how many times it changed, because most of the time I didn’t even notice. The music fit in good with the video.

They related the video to today’s world by constantly being on their cell phones and using electronics, and it was something I could relate to.

Abstract -

I thought the traffic light was a perfect idea for this group. It’s too bad the other member didn’t get to finish it out, but the video

The song couldn’t fit in any better with the yellow part of the video. It went smoothly with the footage and the green one went in well, also.

The concept came together by using the traffic light, even though each group member represented a different color, and story.

I liked how the screens were filtered to show the different colors. There could have been so more footage that actually had those colors in them, but it worked well by using the effects. I also liked the idea of using the filmstrip to switch to different shots.

Vimeo vs. Youtube

Two of the top video hosting services, Youtube and Vimeo, are often compared and one can be better to use than the other.

Youtube is more widely used and is often the first video source that people will go to. The community it has supporting it is rather large, allowing it to have more potential exposure. One of the bigger highlights it has, in my mind, is that a user has unlimited high definition uploading 1 GB size.

However, there are a few downfalls with using and embedding Youtube videos. You need to know where to put them on your site, and make sure they are relevant. If the video is not embedded and just on the Youtube side, it’s an easy way to lose your visitors. There is a list of related videos on the side that can take the viewer away instantaneously.

Advertisements can become another little, annoying problem. With Youtube so large, it has allowed for others to advertise on videos. Either a 15-30 second ad will appear before actually playing the video, or a pop up will show up a few seconds into the video. It may not be a huge issue, but it can drive some impatient visitors away.

Vimeo has its pros and cons as well, but is not as popular as Youtube and money becomes involved later on.

Only one high definition upload per week is allowed with the free account that Vimeo offers, along with a 500 MB limit. Upgrading the account costs just under $60 per year, and that’s not including the HD “tickets” when you run out.

Despite the fact that it costs money and has less exposure than Youtube, Vimeo has a crisp, clean look to it and good quality videos. A big feature that can help keep visitors on your site is the fact that no related videos show up anywhere with Vimeo.

This becomes extremely beneficial when trying to keep visitors on your site. Embedding the relevant video in between paragraphs is a good way to keep the visitor on your site for an extra few minutes.

Vimeo is more attractive to businesses than personal accounts. With priority uploading, complete customization, and the ability to have your own logo and branding into the player, the pros outweigh the cons.

Vimeo allows for a much more engaged audience, while keeping a professional, clean look.

The Internet has become the number one source for many people when it comes to finding out the news. Web 2.0 has become a primary reason that news has spread so quickly.

Youtube, Dailymotion and Metacafe are all popular and allow for social networking and content sharing. Anyone can register, upload, and share videos using these services.

Many news organizations have used the services for their websites, to engage the audience, rather than just putting text on the page. When used at the right time, they can enhance the and improve the look of their website.

When a story comes out, or something happens, many people are not going to wait until the evening news is broadcasted on their television.

News organizations can put up a video recap of the story that is one to two minutes, while including a story around it. This information becomes available much faster than the scheduled broadcast.

Users of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are often the first to begin the chain of sharing those videos.

In my opinion, if I were looking to present my videos, I would upload them to Youtube. It has a larger audience, plays in high definition, and, it’s free. Also, if I wanted to upload many videos in short period of time, Youtube is the better option.

As a college student, I have a tough time affording things and am not willing to spend the 60 plus dollars a year just to have a cleaner look.

However, if I’m using one of these services as a business, I would consider using Vimeo first, as it has a more professional look, and is an easier way to keep the audience engaged.