groupon with its cloners in china

Groupon's deal-a-day group discount business model has been copied around the world but nowhere more vigorously than in China. Meituan was among the first.

GROUPON (FROM "GROUP COUPON")

Founder: Andrew Mason, 30, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Employees: 6,000.

Projected coupon sales for 2011: $3 billion to $4 billion.

Revenue share from coupon sales: 30% to 50%.

Recent deal: Bus ride from New York to Washington, D.C. for $10, valued at $20.

MEITUAN (MEANING "BEAUTIFUL GROUP")

Founder: Wang Xing, 32, born in Longyan, Fujian Province.

Employees: 1,400, plus 300 franchised sales agents throughout China.

Projected coupon sales for 2011: $150 million to $230 million.

Revenue share from coupon sales: Less than 10%.

Recent deal: Japanese meal for two in Beijing for $26, valued at $106.

The cooperation between the biggest group purchase website in the US and Chinese Internet giant Tencent is expected to energize competition in the domestic market for group purchases. It plans to increase its staff to 1,000 people within three months. Many of its Chinese peers say their employees have received job offers with better pay from Groupon. Reports say some local websites have even reached an agreement that they would not hire people who have worked for Groupon. While confidence by overseas companies in their China ventures often comes from their well-established brands, ample capital and global management expertise, domestic websites have advantages in offline services, cooperation with online sellers and customer loyalty, as well as their familiarity with the local business environment.

The group-buying marketplace is rife with scandal stories about exaggerated sales or, worse, dissatisfied customers. Big names like Lashou and Meituan take the brunt of the bad publicity, including a national television expose on "consumer day" in March that attacked both. Keeping original operation mode is not a long term strategy. They are looking forward the next transformation because cloning businesses is far too easy in China, but cloning success is no sure thing.

@Shuwen Zhao

I know the economy sucks but c'mon...

Since early 2008 the economy took a turn for the worst, with a major national deficit in the trillions the United States as well as other countries suffered a major blow economically, leading to the loss of jobs in multiple industries.  I understand how many individuals began to spend less money and become more aware of their shopping habits all together, but when it comes to dining out there still should remain some old traditional aspects that pertain to areas of etiquette and manners.  Recently I was asked by my professor if I were to get offended if I was having lunch with a future employer and at the end of the meal used a coupon to pay for our luncheon.  I am not a girl of high maintenance or status value but if I am treated to a lunch, especially a formal one, please do not disrespect our time together by pulling out a buy one get one free coupon.  You are simply showing to me that I am not fully worth your time and effort, and what is going to happen when promotion time comes around, will I be receiving coupons to pay for my cell-phone bill?  The bottom line in my argument towards these undeceive acts is that if my future employer does not want to invest in my well-being, no matter if that is my 401 k plan or my lunch, than what business do I have working my butt of for the company?  Readers, I want you to think about these things when encountering future friends, lovers, and employers.  You know what you have to offer, make sure the other half is carrying their weight as well.



-Anastasia Mantzaris

Super Bowl with Asian Society

Hi,

I’ve been busy this whole week because of school works. I just got a chance to post information about how the Super Bowl attracts Asian people as a task in class. I finally found the interesting forum on one site, which talked about Super Bowl broadcast in Asia. Moreover, this site allows members to share personal opinions about the topic. So, this site should attract you guys.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/asia/780255-super-bowl-broadcast-asia.html

~ Guntapon Suranikom

Student’s video resume has Wall Street howling

http://video.forbes.com/fvn/misc/ab_alexi101206

Advices on video resume, avoiding humiliation:

1 Don’t talk about yourself, have others talk about you

2 Focus on your strengths

3 Video should target job position

This is a story happened around five years ago.

Vayner, an aspiring investment banker, sent a video entitled "Impossible is Nothing" along with an 11-page resume and glamour shot to financial services powerhouse UBS. Within hours scores of investment banks noticed his application, as bankers e-mailed the seven-minute video and turned Vayner into the biggest joke on Wall Street.

As long as there have been job applicants, there have been application gaffes. Today, with e-mail as the preferred mode of corporate communication, that embarrassing camera phone picture or salacious IM to a coworker quickly travels far beyond company walls. So too can a boastful resume or cover letter.

That’s certainly what happened to Vayner. UBS is launching an internal investigation to figure who, if anyone, within the company leaked Vayner’s cover letter, over-the-top resume and video. Regardless of how it ended up in the Internet, Vayner's video has been passed from Bain Consulting, to Barclay's Capital, to Bank of America, even into Congress. The video quickly went viral, traveling from several blogs and onto YouTube, which eventually removed it from its sight, reportedly at Vayner's request.

In his video, Vayner shows off his varied skills: lifting a 495-pound weight, ballroom dancing to Latin musak, serving a tennis ball at 140 miles an hour, and, as a dramatic conclusion, breaking seven bricks with a karate chop. "Ignore the losers, bring your A-game, your determination and your drive to the field and success will follow you," advised the budding management guru in his slight Russian accent. "If you want to dance, dance," he says, before expertly waltzing a scantily clad woman around the room.

Vayner probably won't be hired on Wall Street any time soon, but e-embarrassment doesn't have to be career ending, says hiring experts. "You certainly have a reputation," says Richard Castellini Vice President of Consumer Marketing at CareerBuilder.com, "but still being young, someone might take a chance on you."

Younger employees, often devotees on MySpace and reality TV, are predisposed to online missteps in the workplace, says Castellini. "Voyeurism is an aspect of their lives," he says, "and they don't understand the ramifications of it." Employers often check out potential hires on social networking sites, so consider deleting that picture of you funneling beer or flashing the camera. "What we tend to tell our students about using new technologies," says University of Pennsylvania Career Services Director Patricia Rose, "is beware."

Avoiding embarrassment completely is better than a hundred apologies. So tailor your application to the industry, says Rose. Some fields, like advertising, fashion or entertainment, are more tolerant of creative applications. Vayner's video would be great, if he was applying to write satire for The Onion. But for banks, it's a flop. "The more conventional the industry, the more they want more conservative business practices demonstrated," says Choy. Before you apply, learn about the company and talk to alumni so you understand the industry.

Fortunately for Vayner, e-errors have a built-in delete button. The fall-out, while permanently archived on the Internet, doesn’t last as long with employers. "People have short memories," says Rose, "Wait until the smoke clears, and then you'll realize that people have relatively short attention spans."

@shuwen zhao

Ex-Employees Can Be A Company's Worst Nightmare

The power of social media has grown at an alarming rate over the past few years. It is becoming easier and easier for anyone to spread any information to almost anyone in the world. Many people use the Internet and social media as outlets to express anger as well as thoughts and ideas. When it comes to disgruntled employees however, this can become a serious matter that can possibly hurt a company.

I came across an article about a situation in which a former employee of the restaurant Florindo's posted on Facebook that he had been a chef at the restaurant and had disregarded customers' requests for gluten-free meals. Because of this post, angry customers began posting negative reviews of the restaurant on the internet and it is said that it will most likely cause considerable damage to Florindo's.

Business owners can take action through several review sites by verifying their business with the site and by signing up with Google alerts that will let owners know whenever their company's name comes up on the Internet.

At this point, there is no real way to completely prevent former employees from bashing their employers on their personal social media sites. The real action that can be taken is to stay on top of your company's online reputation so if something comes up, you can be prepared to deal with it and save your company's reputation. Regardless if a claim is true or not, it can hurt your company when it is put out on the Internet.

Source: http://www.postindependent.com/article/20110406/VALLEYNEWS/110409941/1083&ParentProfile=1074

- Lauren Cochrane

Could this be your company on YouTube?

According to reputation damaged advertising on social networks, Facebook is one of the social network services that may get attack from negative viewers. That is not only one site which is risking to get attack. Since I’ve been visiting many sites on the Internet, I realized that another social network which risk to get attack by negative persons or negative companies is YouTube. Persons or companies have negative opinions to another may post videos which create by themselves, and post on the YouTube site in order to parody their enemies. Check out this site http://www.bnet.com/blog/management/shocking-viral-videos-could-this-be-your-company-on-youtube/3864. It provides examples of reputation damaged on advertisements. In my opinion, if I owned a company, and get attack on a website, all opinions from viewers will be an idea for improving my company, and I may deal with them in a good way.

~Guntapon Suranikom

 

Facebook Reputation Damaged Ads

Most people around the world use Facebook as the social network. Facebook is a social network service. Users are able to create their own profile add other users as friends, and exchange messages, including automatic notifications when they update their profile. However, some users post their information as an advertisement on their Facebook pages, so other users may see what he or she have posted. Some users have negative opinions. They may use rude words, and post them on the Facebook page. Some users may get attack from other reasons. For example, the Facebook owner, Mark Zuckerberg, gets legal attack over the authorship of Facebook. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/8445711/Facebook-Mark-Zuckerbergs-reputation-damaged.html

~ Guntapon Suranikom 

New Careers Paying Less?

With all this talk of growth in the labor market and the economy, there is now a new report showing that jobs created in the coming years will not pay enough for average American families to get by. The article goes on to say that less than half of the jobs that are will be added by 2018, will pay less than the average salary. Which is predicted by the U.S. Department of Labor. Lower paying jobs such as construction workers, food prep worker, and in some states registered nurses are expected to increase in ranks in the coming years. But reports find that they will pay less than one needs to maintain economic security. Wider Opportunities for Women (W.O.W.) came up with some interesting data in the article. They found that a single adult with no children would need to earn an average of $30,012 a yr, or nearly twice the minimum wage to be considered financially stable. A household with two working adults and two children would need to $67,920 annually.

So what does this mean for us as students who haven't gotten into our career of choose as of yet? Should we now start looking for jobs that will put at the average level or above that level? I wondering if those jobs that are "looking for experienced individuals only" will take this into consideration.


-Kamilah

Internationals! Get into the ring!

Once I got my bachelor, it was time to know which way my life would follow. So scary! How can you ask someone who just turned 18 what job he would like to do for the rest of his life? I felt too young and not experienced enough to answer this question and I envied people who did know. As I thought communication was everywhere, I decided to study it. 

Four years later and after doing internships in many different communication fields (journalism, multimedia, internal communication…) it finally hit me and it was such a relief. Now I know. I want to be an advertising copywriter in an advertising agency. So I did an internship in an important advertising agency in France and it worked pretty well for me. Generating ideas for advertising campaigns, writing editorial and radio spots, finding name products and slogans, assisting graphic designers, that is what I was good at and more important what I was deeply passionate about.

Currently studying at NYIT and because I don’t want to go back to France, I am trying to find a job here in NYC. Unfortunately, there is a big problem I have to deal with if I want to purchase my dreams and I didn’t really think about it before coming to the USA. Even if I speak English fluently, I am not and will never be a native. Language is so important if you want to be an advertising copywriter and here is the point : even if I understand and speak English, I will never be as good as a native American can be. Ideas are internationals, they don’t belong to a nation or a specific place but language does.

As I really wanted to stay in the USA, I decided not to give up. I needed to know more about internationals students who have already tried to get into this field. So I created a Meetup account and joined the A.D agency group which commit to encouraging, teaching and equipping those working in advertising, commercial design, and public relations. The members are art directors, copywriters, designers, animators and photographers. Chatting with them and asking for advices, I finally realized my situation was not doomed. Some of them did it so why couldn’t I? 

If you are an international student, you have to fight twice more than a native but this is the price I am willing to pay to reach my dreams.

Alexia Barat

How Social Media can help you anytime

My professional wish is to work in an advertising agency. I used to want to work as an account manager and now, my studies at NYIT, my lectures and my researches make me want to become a TV producer in an advertising agency. In boss cases, social medias have help me and can still help me. When I was looking for an internship last year back in france, i looked up on the internet what agencies could be interesting to get in. I found DDB worldwide. I explored their website, what medias say about the agency, its work etc. Then i found their page on Facebook and as soon as i sent them my resume to apply for an internship, i ask them as a friend on Facebook. I started to talk with a lot of students who were already doing an internship there or used to intern there and this contorted me in my decision to apply for an internship in this agency. 

It was very interesting for me not to read only magazines and articles on the web to judge on the agency but also to be able to get in touch with people who work there and who are able to talk about the agency organization from the inside. 

My studies are almost finished and in a few months i'll go back to France and look for a job. I am currently registering on professional social media networks to post my resume on line and get a chance to make professional connections that could be interesting for my future job. 

So, all along my professional project, social media represent a good help, in order to research information or who knows, in order to get a job ! 

Sarah Bensoussan. 

When Your Suffering from Socialitis

I find this cartoon all too true. When social networks have taking over. Haha

-Kamilah 

Found My Passion and I'm Sticking to It

Like any other child growing up, I had a million and one different occupations that I saw myself becoming once I became an adult. It first started out with me wanting to be a singer then a judge, which turned into becoming a police officer then an obstetrician/gynecologist. Growing up in a single parent house, youngest of three children (only girl), and pretty much the only child living at home with my mother. She always made sure that I was involved in a wide variety of activities from dance (my first love), to soccer, to playing the clarinet. This all allowed me to be able to travel and meet different people.

In my senior year in high school I was selected as a dancer for the then American Basketball Association (ABA), basketball team called the Rochester Razorsharks. Shortly after the first season had gotten underway, I had fallen in love with media and the idea of becoming a broadcast journalist. I was able to meet new people and sometimes traveled to away games. Being a part of the dance team allowed me to not only to do what I love, but also allowed me to experience public speaking. After finishing undergrad and now being in grad school, broadcast journalism still happens to be my career focus. With a little public relations mixed in.

Social media plays a major role in broadcast journalism.  For journalist that travel and report the news from either in the US or out the country use livecasting sources such as Skype, Ustream, and Podcast. There’s also Twitter, which we all know about. These few examples of social media allow reporters to communication with the world at anytime, whether during a natural disaster or the speech given by the president at the White House.

-Kamilah 

What to Tweet?

HAHA! Pretty much says it all. Some people's tweets are too much. Some tweet things that people wouldn't say out loud. If you are tweeting please refrain from what you are doing. Make it fun, I like it when people tweet news worthy things, new products, what goes on in the world, where is the new hot spot in town etc. I really don't like reading about your life or what problems your having or what you are doing at that exact moment! Be smart and tweet smart ; ).

-John

Can Big Companies Trust Their Employee's to Handle Their Social Media Accounts?

When designers like Marc Jacobs are on twitter their fans who follow him get to preview his new collections, projects, and what he is up to. CEO of Marc Jacobs who recently stepped down as the official twtter account handler gave this task to an intern of the company. Strangely enough the intern had a melt down on @marcjacobsintl twitter account. This is what he had to say about the company.

• A posting from an iPhone at midnight EST read: 'You guys and gals have no idea how difficult Robert is. I am only an intern. My last day is tomorrow. I wouldn't be tweeting this if not!'
• 'Good luck! I pray for you all. If you get the job! I'm out of here. See ya! Son't want to be ya! Roberts a tyrant! Seriously! He is tough!' another read.
• He continued: 'I can call him out! I'm out! Won't work in this town again! I know that! Learned a lot. But, I don't have the energy for what is expected!'
• Signing off, he added: 'Yea, walk in my MJ shoes! Don't judge me! I'm alone in this office having to try and entertain you all. This isn't easy. I have tried. Done!'
• According to The Daily Truffle, the tweets were deleted at approximately 4am EST.

Now, I love using Twitter and other social media outlets but if I were in the position of given the task to tweet for my boss, no matter the circumstance I would not let my frustration out on an account like Marc Jacobs.I wouldn't want to be 'blacklisted" from a world where I would possibly want to have a future career in. This makes Marc Jacobs company look back and also it can make companies like this and others to not trust their employees? If Robert Duffy thought about this more clearly he should have given this task to a trust worthy employee to deal with the twitter account. Companies should let their employers be trusted with social media accounts because this a new outlet to reach your audience/fans.That being said these type of accounts should be confidential with a team that deals with these outlets and protect the content on these sites and the passwords.


-JOHN

Solicitation for Luxury???

A few months ago a YouTube video was submitted by a New Yorker soliciting people on the subway for money to buy a new pair of very expensive boots.  The man began by introducing himself and stateing how he is currently employed and that he resides in the West Village.  Everybody from the beginning understands how this man is obviously in no dire need for a few extra dollars, but the man simply is not asking for money to eat or obtain a warm winter coat-no, this man flat out lets his audience know that he is financially stable, and just needs some extra money to buy himself designer shoes.  After watching this YouTube video I nearly rolled off of my chair in a fit of laughter, this man is BRILLIANT!!  He is simply mocking ideas such as poverty (which in no way is that humane or right) and the recession while incorporating social media trends to get his point across.

I have to admit, this little skit left an impression on me and still like to click back to it once in awhile, it is sometimes nice to see what truly is on people's minds and thoughts.  This man clearly was in no desperate need for money of any kind, just a few laughs and hits on YouTube to spruce up his social life.  What a great way to enhance your social life than with social media eh?  Not only are we utilizing these media outlets for business, pleasure, etc.  We are using social media to make a statement and open up a little creativity in the world.  Hey, I am all for it! 

-Anastasia Mantzaris

Give Rocky a Run for His Money!

I have always had a good eye for conquering puzzles and fixing things.  I always attempt to readjust various things from physical items to concepts and ideas.  For my future plans I have dreams of possibly joining a brand strategy team or participating in a conceptual branding company.  The economy is on the rise, but we are still struggling to fill out these kinds of positions where most companies have been tossing out the window throughout the past three years.  I believe with the help of heavy research and current trends like social media, we graduate students can and will be able to piece the "puzzle" back together again.  We must allow our creative juices to flow and fight until we get what we want out of the media, the industry of our choice, and our future employers.

 We all are instilled with a passion for something whether it be building toys or building computers, we are all in the same boat so to speak.  All this energy that has been accumulated throughout our education must go into something that we care about and love, because if we do not push ourselves in the right direction it would be a waste of precious time and energy.  Now in the mean time we all must suffer through the dull aching classes, ridiculous weekend work schedules and pathetic internship assignments, but that is the essence of young adult-hood.  Someone once told me that you must suffer in order to understand who you truly are, and that if you fight for what you love you will eventually see the greener grass on the other side!

Good Luck  Class of 2011, WE CAN DO IT!

-Anastasia Mantzaris

Photography

Photography

In my opinion, nowadays photographers are busy people. They have many clients more than ever have before they have an abundance of information available to us at the click of a mouse. It’s always evolving; full of opportunity and at times. As you can see, the modern day photographer is a busy one indeed. Running a successful photography business has always been about much more than just taking great photos. As shown in the diagram above, the skills we need as a photographer in 2010 are much more diverse. The list could go on, but, I think you will see the most notable change in skills is the web such as website, blogs, facebook, twitter.

The website and blog combination is great for photography. Website is presenting your services and blog have active order to attract people and keep clients come back. Facebook also have a lot of very active photographers groups. There is a lot of trust in the photographer/client relationship and to think about that when developing your marketing strategy.

Many photographers can not make money from taking photos; they need to know about Photoshop, marketing, twitters. That is a new opportunity for them to add more clients and make a lot of money.

According to Todd Owyoung, He is a professional music photographer based in St. Louis, Missouri. His website is ishootshows.com

1. What are the elements used in your social media strategy? Which do you feel is the most effective?

The main social media elements I use for engagement are my blog, Flickr and Twitter. For me, they act as the perfect compliment to one another.

A blog allows for rich content, while Twitter gives me a quick and light way to engage with people working in the music industry, other photographers and readers of my blog. Flickr acts as a supplemental way of putting my work in front of eyeballs and offers dialogue through their discussion groups.

2. Do you feel the effort is worthwhile? Does it pay for itself? Can you describe any sales successes directly tied to social media?

I think one of the beautiful things about social media is that it's an organic, fresh way of presenting your work. For clients, this translates into an extension to a portfolio and photo archive.

In addition, photo buyers aren't just looking on Getty Images or Corbis. These days, Flickr, photo posts via Google Images and more are all fair game.

The funny thing about blogging is that, short of monetization, it doesn't pay, but there's no mistake that it pays off. I can't tell you how many clients I've talked to who said they found my blog through Google by searching for "concert photographer" or "music photographer."

According to Kendrick Brinson, He is an Atlanta, Georgia-based photojournalist, and member of the prestigious Luceo images photographer cooperative.

1. What are the elements used in your social media strategy? Which do you feel is the most effective?

Blogs are completely intertwined with Facebook and Twitter in LUCEO's social media networking. You have to have new material to post on those networking sites in order to draw in traffic. You can't successfully market your photography without content-- fresh new, always changing, always engaging content. That's why we wanted a site that changed everyday-- once you've seen a portfolio site, you never go back; we wanted LUCEO's site to become a destination that you check several times a day to see what's new.

Part of LUCEO's mission is giving back to the photographic community so we have regular columns and blog posts that explain how a shoot went, for example, or Matt Slaby's column that explains common legal issues for photographers. If readers know you will have a From the Archive column every Thursday, they'll check your site every Thursday, for example. Give them reasons to come back. Our regular viewers, I think, truly enjoy watching LUCEO's photographers' work grow and expand and the process that goes along with that. We want our "fans" and "followers" to get to know us through our words and images. A lot of photographers don't disclose how they got to where they are and we are an open book.

Of course we also promote other photographers' work and photo news on Facebook and especially Twitter. I try to stay up to date by reading lots of photo blogs and following photo industry news feeds on Twitter. I want people to hear news from us first and rely on us for keeping up to date.

Again, though, no content means nothing to post on Facebook and Twitter and no hits on your blog, archive, or site. New content is crucial.

2.Do you feel the effort is worthwhile? Does it pay for itself? Can you describe any sales successes directly tied to social media?

My social media marketing efforts on the behalf of all of the LUCEO photographers is without a doubt worth it. We could potentially sell ad-space on our site if our traffic rates continue climbing as they have been. Specifically, this is just one for example; I got a phone call from a photo editor at The Wall Street Journal after I wrote on Facebook that I was doing a shoot in Alabama for a client. That editor wanted someone in Alabama and passed the job on to me. If he hadn't seen that in his Facebook livefeed, he would have given the job to a local photographer. Right there, social networking put money in my pocket. This happens often.

Planning My Wedding Using Social Media

 Planning a wedding is not easy to do.  There are a lot of small details that you need to remember.  There are also a lot of big money decisions that you need to make.  It doesn’t help that I am the first in my family to be getting marry.  If it wasn’t for the Social Media, I would be at a lost.

Two sites that I have been using are TheKnot.com and WeddingWire.com.  They have great ideas for invitations, cakes, dresses and locations.  They bring the vendors to one location and split them up into states.  They also have a section for real brides to share their personal wedding ideas.

After looking a bunch of banquet halls, I put a deposit on Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, NY.  Crest Hollow gave me a list of recommended vendors for DJ, photography, limo and florist.  We don’t have to use their recommended vendors, except for the florist.  We had to pick the florist from their list.  They recommended one florist but after reading reviews from other brides in a couple of forums we picked someone else.  Good thing we searched the forums because all the reviews for that they were very rude.  There are many forums out there that helped me.  I did a search for “Crest Hollow Country Club Brides” and I found links to forums where former brides commented on Crest Hollow and their recommended vendors.  Some brides used the recommended vendors and others didn’t.  That opened my search list. 

Since I am the first in my family to get marry, I don’t have a realistic idea of a budget or timeline.  Thanks to WeddingWire.com, I was able to create a budget and timeline sheet.  I just punched in the total budget and number of guest and they broken the budget down accordingly.  They also give me the flexibility to make my own changes and additions.  Plus they have an iPhone app so I can look at my budget and timeline on the go.

Social media has had a great impact on the wedding industry.  We no longer have to rely on what the banquet managers tell us.  I can get first hand experience from people who have been in my shoes.  These forums can make or break a company.  I had all intentions on visiting the florist that the banquet manager recommended.  But after reading the reviews from other Crest Hollow brides, I canceled my appointment.  Social media helps bring more importance to customer service and customer satisfaction.  You make one bride upset and thousands will know about it.

~ Michelle Martinez

Psychological problems brought by social network

Social network will lead to some psychological problems but I would like to emphasize the fact that if we wisely use social network to distribute information and express ourselves, we will not have any psychological problems

1We can compare us to others through social network. Our sense of self and individual values will be partly based on others’ opinion rather than ours. We find people who are better or worse than us by reading their blogs and watching their albums. In fact, people would like to show their positive side to the public.

2 it’s easier to find solutions to our doubts. We ask some trivial things on Twitter and Facebook when we need some help. We get instant feedback. We are losing our problem-solving ability by rely on others’ viewpoint. Actually, other persons cannot give you accurate answer depending on your context and circumstances. More resources and information make us more confident but more ignorant.

3 We easily friend strangers and get followers but our online popularity cannot prove our real interpersonal skills. We might mistake digital life for true life. We experience the rush of attention and focus like famous persons. Some people will feel depressed when they face truths in reality.

4 we feel anxiety when we lose control on something. Items we post online will likely be accessible forever or for a very long time. Sometimes we post some articles and poor judgments without giving consideration to outcomes. Sometimes we post some photos that we may feel regret and shame about them.

@Shuwen Zhao

http://shop.ebay.com/alipinkpink/m.html?_trksid=p4340.l2562

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_7?url=search-alias%3Djewelry&field-keywords=vintage&x=0&y=0&sprefix=vintage

http://newyork.craigslist.org/search/?areaID=3&subAreaID=&query=vintage+jewelry&catAbb=sss

These are online auction and shopping websites in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide. All these links are selling the same items which are vintage jewelries. However, there are little differences in three of them.

The first one is an eBay. This link is go directly to my items that are selling, which are the vintage jewelries. People who are interesting in the items can visit eBay site to watch them and ask any questions such as details about an item, shipping, and payment via seller’s email on eBay. Next one is Amazon.com. This website is the largest online retailer in the United States. There are communications between sellers and buyers like eBay, but Amazon.com is the most popular website for buying and selling books and textbooks. The last one is Craigslist, the most famous website for finding jobs and rental apartments. Moreover, sellers and buyers are also contacting each other by sending an email like eBay and Amazon.com. Indeed, people can make their own businesses as a career via these websites, and they can probably earn lots of money depending on what they sell.

Guntapon Suranikom

Social Media Cartoon

This picture of a social media cartoon is so funny. The guy is twittering in front of tanks, and he doesn’t care about anything even he is in serious situation as in the picture. I don’t think it will happen in real life. I like this picture because it shows that the social media seems the part of people’s life recently. People communicate mostly by using websites on the Internet such as twitter or Facebook, and they chat all the time even in the serious situation as in this cartoon. Pretty cool!

Guntapon Suranikom

Cartoon

a. It sets in a residence. Some buildings on the background. Two men talk on the street.

b. One character is a security guard. And the other one is a young man who supposed as a phisher.

c. The event is about putting the virtual network into a community. The phisher tried to bride the security guard to enter to the residence as a fake name or identity.

Security guard is a boss because he has to protect facebook system for people who want to use social media network. That is positive for people who like to use facebook because that cans safe people who don’t want to show his or her profile to public.

             Nowadays people addict facebook. They always update information all times. Some issues that they use facebook because they want to stay in touch with friend meet new people and read and share interesting article. The network of prevention and security of the user.

Jareerat Jaibun

The Truth About Being A Meteorologist

By Elisa Cervone

I always had an admiration for the weather and dreamed that one day I would become an on air meteorologist. When I was just about eight years old, I would watch the formation of clouds and enjoy looking at the multiple colors in the sky during a sunset. All of these fascinations led me to me to think that maybe I can do more than just watch. As I grew older, I found myself watching the Weather Channel religiously and grew to love meteorologist, Jim Cantore. I admire this man, mostly because he is fearless when it comes to reporting the weather.

This man will be reporting in Kansas City while a hurricane is within a mile away from his stand-up. He shows true dedication to the job and is one of the few who really look like they totally enjoy their career.

In this day and age, to be a meteorologist is not quite as simple as people tend to think. When you’re finally done with high school, you have no other choice but to attend a college with a good meteorology program (i.e. Florida State, Penn State, and Oneota). During those four years you are living and breathing meteorology and let me tell you it’s not easy. Majority of the classes are math related and require a lot of problem solving and formulas. This was my weakness, since math is not my forte.

During your college years professors will tell you the fundamentals you need in order to obtain a successful meteorology career, but they always forget to mention a few things. If you have a desire, like I did, and wanted to be one of the meteorologists that go on camera, great! Although, I will tell you, it’s not what you know, it’s how you look.

When it comes to any on air work, people are very attentive when it comes to looks. If an anchor changes her hair color or get glasses, viewers immediately pick up on that change. Also, researchers have shown that certain networks have higher ratings due to the particular types of people they have reporting on their station.

Truth of the matter is sex sells.  Sorry guys, no one really cares all that much about the male anchors. Women mainly take the center stage when it comes to on air work because viewers like how they report and especially like how they look. If you are the reason why your station is getting extra viewers to watch the 6 o’clock news, then you’re not going anywhere.

When I interned for a local news station, I spoke to the female meteorologists. They all told me how competitive and cut throat this career is. The one female meteorologist had mentioned to me how her boss favored her co-worker over her because she had more sex appeal. They considered her more “homely” looking and claimed she was the reason why ratings weren’t doing so well. She had also mentioned to me that weight, ethnicity and hair color are the three big factors producers look out for when hiring freelancers and such.

What’s in?

Ÿ  Blondes

Ÿ  Women of ethnicity (i.e.: Asian, African American, Indian)

Ÿ  Have a slender body (preferably sizes 4-8)

The qualifications I mentioned above are the characteristics that producers are looking for besides being a good speaker, confident, and knowledgeable. Now, if you are two out of the three, I say you have a good chance of becoming a meteorologist. If your one out of the three, maybe you might be doing some behind the scenes work depending where you apply.

However, when you go into this career you can’t be so discourage and doubt yourself right away. There are some meteorologists who break the mold of what an on air meteorologist ought to look like such as Elise Finch. This African American woman is considered to be “plus-size” and is a brunette that is a weather anchor for CBS. People love her because she is accurate and has a certain appeal to her. She has been on this station for quite a while and I think since hiring Elise, she has opened the doors for the rest of us who aren’t the typical cookie-cutter anchor.

 Disregarding what some professionals might say, if you don’t know what you’re talking about and report fictional information, you will eventually lose your audience. People don’t want to watch a talking head. They want to watch someone who knows their stuff and has charisma, especially when it comes to the weather. Let’s face it, everyone revolves their life and plans around how the weather is going to be for the day. Hence the reason why it is vital to not only have a meteorologist who is appealing but who also knows their stuff (i.e. Bills Evans, Elise Finch, and Sam Champion).

Check out this link below to see a video of Sam Champion. It’s his farewell video ABC had produced for him. Look out for some interesting quotes certain professionals say about him. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-JPGVdRycw&playnext=1&list=PLC8C729D9CA842FDF

www.sarahneedsajob.com

This week end I went to watch the pillow fight at Union Square. While walking to find a nice café to get something to drink, I saw a big pink poster saying “Sarah needs a job”. I instantly think about our class and what people are willing to do to get a job. The first thing I did when I arrived home was checking this website. It is so cool, this girl made a website with her resume, and she posts each time she gets an interview. I think it is a very humorous way to tell the whole city “Hey!!! I am looking for a job,” might copy her soon….http://sarahneedsajob.com/

Social Media, protecting our children from its abuse

My four year old son is an avid fan of the Disney movie, “Cars”. His enthusiasm is magnetic as I too have become quiet engulfed with purchasing all of the movie’s paraphernalia. So it wasn’t unusual that my son would like to see videos of other children playing with their collection of Cars on YouTube.  As a mother, I’ve read countless articles on how to protect our children while they are on their internet. I followed many of the advices given which I practice with setting up my son’s computer. First, I made sure that he had access to only the sites he was allowed to visit. I made a list of all his favorite children shows and sites under his “favorites” listing. One of the save sites was the You Tube video clips of anything related to Disney’s Cars. I thought I had it all figured out until they day my husband found my son hysterically laughing watching a video clip of 10 naked Asian men. Although a funny story, I was horrified that such a video clip had snuck into our home.

Like this little video clip, is the threat social media presents. There are so many good things social media does provide that is unfortunate we see bad things sneaking into our children’s lives. We’ve seen some very disturbing incidents of cyberbullying, sexting and stalking.  So how are we to protect our children and prevent such incidents from occurring?

Here are some things we need to do with regards to Social Media and our children

·         Open Communication with children. Tell them of the threats that exist and to never be afraid to discuss something with you.

·         Set time limits on Social Media usage – For e.g. not during dinner or while doing homework

·         Place your child computer in a family room or area you can easily view when entering

·         Password / Access – If your child is of the permitted age, don’t be afraid to ask them for their password to check in on their profile

·         Set security levels high on your child’s profile

·         Parents keep up with the latest social media trends. Knowledge is power.

·         Check your child’s friends list and make sure they are indeed a friend.

As many parenting magazines and articles have said, talking to our children is where it all begins. The more communication we have with them the more confident they will feel when they encounter any type of social media problems.

So don't be afraid to speak their language. Send them a quick text message telling them you would love to have them join you for some family "talk” time.

-Adriana Muniz

A Comical Relief on Being Unemployed

So who says being unemployed is fun? Yes some people actually think its fun to be unemployed. It may be nice for a few days, and then you realize your income level has dropped significantly and your sense of getting up in the morning has suddenly shifted.

Now don’t get me wrong, there are many things you can do to keep your sanity and make you feel “happy” during these dire times.

Here are some examples of what you can do with your new found time:

·         Volunteering at a local school, nonprofit or charity organization

·         Pursue additional schooling or college degree

·         Learn a new hobby like knitting or sewing

·         Get to know your city by scheduling a day to visit cultural centers or museums

·         Write a book, screenplay or blog about your current situation or an industry you are interested in

·         Start your own company

As this humorous video reveals, the lack of activities can really make someone feel irrelevant and without any sense of purpose.

The Unemployment Rap Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WX0xcx8N2E&feature=related

So after realizing what things I can do during this time, I have discovered that volunteering at my son’s school has been a rewarding and fulfilling experience. Yes, I even dare to say… I am having a little fun.

-Adriana Muniz

Why Social Networking?

             Through social networking, people can use networks of online friends and group memberships to keep in touch with current friends, reconnect with old friends or create real–life friendships through similar interests or groups. Besides establishing important social relationships, social networking members can share their interests with other like–minded members by joining groups and forums. Some networking can also help members find a job or establish business contacts.

             Most social networking websites also offer additional features. In addition to blogs and forums, members can express themselves by designing their profile page to reflect their personality. The most popular extra features include music and video sections. Members can read bios of their favorite music artists from the artist's profile page as well as listen to their favorite songs and watch music videos. The video section can include everything from member–generated videos from hundreds of subjects to TV clips and movie trailers

Jareerat Jaibun

The Elevator Speech, yes prepare one!

We are all familiar with the classic cover letter. It’s an introduction to who you are with a quick summary of accomplishments and how those accomplishments can benefit the company you are seeking employment from.  The elevator speech is similar to that with the difference that you must be able to “perform” your speech in a blink of an eye.

So where does this elevator speech take place? You guess it. In an elevator! If you are wondering who you will be performing this speech to, the truth is, it could be anyone you may want to work with who happens to be on the same elevator.

Here are some easy steps in preparing your elevator speech.

1.      Your Present – share what you are currently doing. If you are student, mention what you are currently studying and what school you are attending. If you are employed, share what your responsibilities entail and show enthusiasm when discussing.

2.      Your Past - mention what other places you have worked or other activities you have been involved with.

3.      Your Future – give a quick future outlook and what road you would like to continue on.

I used my own “elevator speech” when visiting a friend at her job. On the same elevator was the VP of Human Resources of whom I was friendly with in a past job. She recognized me and greeted me very nicely. She proceeded to ask me what I was doing these days. I jumped into action with my elevator speech and I was pleasantly surprised when she invited me to her office for an impromptu interview.

When opportunity knocks, just remember it could be in an elevator.

-Adriana Muniz

Help Japan via Social Media

According to Tsunami attack in Japan, most people around the word have been trying to get a chance to give some help for Japanese who are suffering in pain form this brutal situation. For me, I’ve been looking the site where I can get information about helping people in Sendai via social media. I have found one way on the website which was helpful and it was easy way to spread information about person who was affected by Tsunami in Sendai. So, here it this

Google Person Finder

To help the friends and family of victims of the quake find out information about whether or not they are okay, Google launched a Person Finder App.  Through the app, you can search for a person or provide information about a person.  If you have received information about someone in Japan who was affected by the earthquake or tsunami, be it by phone, email, Twitter, Facebook or otherwise, take the time to add this information to Google’s Person Finder.  You never know who else may be trying to find out if that same person is okay.  Posting the information in as many places as possible is the best way to help others find out information about the victims.

Guntapon Suranikom

  

The Social Media Reputation, How This Revolution Could Damage Your Brand

I am amazed how people continue to post things on Facebook, twitter, my space and other social media that could be damaging to their reputation. If you think recruiters are not looking, think again. It is reported that 80% of companies use social media for recruitment. So how do you control what is being said via social media? Well, you can both never be part of the social media revolution and miss out on all the positive things or you can take control of your social media persona.

Some recommendations would be to limit the friends you connect with on social media outlets. For the friends you are connected with be open with them and ask them not to tag any photos of you unless you approve it. Maintain privacy levels high so that not everyone can view your profile or comment on your page. Since there are so many social media outlets, try and keep your personal friends on one social network and your business contacts on another. Personally, I keep friends on Facebook and business contacts on LinkedIn.

There are some positive things social media does provide while you are searching for a job. LinkedIn for example, provides space for former business associates to recommend you. This provides recruiters with a quick snapshot of your reliability and work ethics. Also, since LinkedIn allows users to see who your contacts are, many times a common acquaintance would also give you the creditability without you seeking an actual recommendation.

Always think of yourself as a brand. When you don’t think highly of a product, you spread the word. Social media has become the new way of spreading that word. A staggering 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations for brands while only 14% of consumers trust advertisements. Also, as the blogger world continues to grow, approximately 34% of these bloggers are commenting about products and brands. Just think how if you were brand, how one negative thing can ruin your reputation. It takes years to build a successful reputation (brand), but it takes seconds to ruin it with one viral negative posting.

-Adriana Muniz

The Social Media Tsunami

In the past week or so, social media has been saving people's lives nationwide. As many of you know, there was a horrific 8.9 earthquake and tsunami that occurred in the heart of Japan. Many people have died and are still missing. Relatives and friends from all over the world have been trying to seek their loved ones but still are not able to reach them since many of the landlines are down. However, thanks to Facebook,Twitter, and Youtube people were able to reach out to others for help.When the earthquake first occurred many people logged onto their Twitter accounts and tweeted about what was going on. By mid-day there were tons of pages praying for Japan and leaving comments to those who were looking for their family. Two primary hashtags was #tsunami and #prayforjapan. These pages were getting at least a thousand tweets per second discussing about the topic.I guess Charlie Sheen has some competition on his hands.

Besides Twitter, people were constantly updating their statuses on Facebook and created multiple fan pages to show their support for the residents in Japan. Those who lived in Japan were also able to post a few comments about their experience and sometimes posted a clip of the earthquake. When 5 o'clock finally approached on Friday, the earthquake/tsunami became totally viral on the internet.

Other than for social network sites, Google joined in and made a Google Person Finder for people to either post comments or find their missing family and friends. The site is setup almost as a blog but it enables for us to try to communicate with those overseas. I happened to get in contact with someone from Japan because I had emailed them from this particular site.

We all bad-mouth social media constantly and say sometimes that it is a waste of time but when events like this occur, social media goes above and beyond. Without social media who knows if we would know half the stories that we know right now. Even media conglomerates are using this sites as their primary source of information since its recent and its right from the source's mouth.

If you want to try to find your loved one or friend from Japan, check out Google's site:

http://japan.person-finder.appspot.com/?lang=en

*Be advised some people are not from Japan and are trying to seek soul mates instead of trying to reconnect with Japan residents*

- Elisa Cervone

social network & your job

LinkedIn

It’s a site that allows you to connect to people you know. It also allows you to see profiles of anyone else on LinkedIn, and gives you ways to connect to them. There are a few ways you can use LinkedIn in a job search:

•Company Search - One of the best ways to use LinkedIn is if you have a very specific company you are interested in. You search on that company, and hopefully find people who are connected to other people you know. Then, you can ask your personal contact to connect you. Or, if you pay $30/month, you have the opportunity to email people who you don't have a contact in common with.

•Job Postings - LinkedIn allows employers to post jobs on the site. The jobs are usually high quality, professional jobs.

•Email - When I was first laid off, I sent a large email to everyone in my LinkedIn network, letting them know of my situation, and asking for any help or people they could put me in touch with them.

•Blog Link - LinkedIn now gives you the ability to link your blog post to your profile. So every time I post a new blog post, it updates on my profile, so anyone looking at my profile will see what I'm writing about. It also includes the updated post in the weekly update emails that go out to your connections.

•Twitter Link - Similar to Blog Link, LinkedIn also pulls your conversations from Twitter. So, anyone who is not on Twitter, can see what you are tweeting about.

LinkedIn Advice

•Recommendations - Warren suggested getting many more recommendations on my profile.

•Status Updates - Similar to Facebook, LinkedIn also has status updates. Warren suggests that it's a good idea to update your status, to better inform your connections what you've been up to.

•Headline - LinkedIn gives you a place to add a professional headline. I didn't realize that was really seen by anyone, so I had mine as "Consultant". Warren's advice is to make the more exciting and enticing. Mine now reads "Innovative marketer with a drive for results."

Twitter

The best part of Twitter is that it allows you to connect with people you don't know, based on common interests. What a great way to do some networking!

•Basic Networking - I am now much more connected to people who are involved in areas I'm interested in. Today I heard about jobs available at two companies. I tweeted two people I met on Twitter, and in minutes I had some information about the jobs.

•Job Postings - I am connected to a few people who know about jobs that I would not have otherwise known, i.e. @socialmediajob or other recruiters.

•Connecting - When someone follows me or I follow them, I read their bio thoroughly. If it looks like they work somewhere I might be interested in, or if I think they might be someone who could connect me to others, I get in touch with them. A few have said no or not responded at all, but for the most part, everyone is very open to meeting or talking.

•Companies - My new favorite Twitter tool is Twellow which actually searches people's bios and URLs on their bios. It's amazing! For example, I did a quick search on Shift Communications, a company I would love to work for and I could see that 13 people from Shift are on Twitter.

Twitter Advice

•What's Going On - Warren suggests I be more proactive in talking about what's going on in regards to my job search. So, mentioning things more often about interviews I have had, or people I have met with. This keeps it fresh in people's heads that I am looking for a job.

•Reaching Out - Warren also suggests just reaching out to people I want to network with and saying something like "Hi - I'm looking to break into social media. Is there anyone you can think of to refer me to?"

•Twitter Name - Warren's opinion is that your Twitter name should be your name, as it will help in your search engine results.

Facebook

•Notes - While I do know everyone I'm friends with on Facebook, I don't necessarily know or remember where each person works. And, I definitely don't know where each of their friends works. So, when I first was laid off, I posted a "note" on Facebook, explaining the situation, and what I was looking for. A note tends to stay on people's screens longer than a status update, and you can write much more.

•Status Update - I do frequently post status updates relating to my job search, to keep it top of mind that I'm still looking for a job. I'll say things like "I had a great interview this morning... keep your fingers crossed!" or "I have a networking meeting later today with a company I'm really interested in!". I also write a status update with a link when I write a new blog post.

Facebook Advice

•Notes for Blog Posts - Create a "note" for each blog post. As I mentioned above, notes stay on people's screen's longer. I think that some people may be more likely to read it if the text is right there on the screen rather than having to click through to the blog. Also, if they comment on it on Facebook, it becomes even more viral.

•Tag Your Friends - If you write a blog post that includes a reference to a friend on Facebook, tag them. That way, their friends will be alerted to your post, and your message will spread more quickly

@Shuwen Zhao