Week 7 EOC

LinkedIn is an online social network for business professionals. It's different than other social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook because it's designed specifically for professional networking -- finding a job, discovering sales leads, connecting with potential business partners -- rather than simply making friends or sharing media like photos, videos and music.

Online social networking has exploded in recent years, largely due to the massive popularity of MySpace and Facebook. In August 2007 alone, MySpace had more than 60 million unique visitors and Facebook attracted 19 million, a growth rate of 23 percent and 117 percent, respectively, from a year earlier [source: Mashable].

Online social networks are web sites where users create personal profiles, search for "friends" or "contacts," and create extensive networks of connections. There are more than 300 social networking sites in existence built around many different themes: video-sharing sites, photo-sharing sites, social bookmarking sites, music-sharing sites, blogging communities, all-purpose community sites like MySpace and professional networking sites like LinkedIn.
LinkedIn was co-founded in May 2003 by Reid Hoffman, Allen Blue, Jean-Luc Vaillant and Konstantin Guericke. The site was the brainchild of Hoffman and Guericke, Stanford graduates who began planning their online professional network in the late 1990s [source: USA Today].

With more than 15 million members by October 2007, LinkedIn is one of the fastest-growing online social networks in the world. Traffic rose 323 percent from July 2006 to July 2007, making the site the No. 1 online destination for professional networking [source: Tech Crunch]. Average users typically collect two or three dozen connections, while a handful of "superusers" have amassed as many as 34,000 [source: Entrepreneur]

Seduction of the Online Web Surfer

How am I planning to pull people in to view my site and interact? To start with I am looking to attract audio industry professionals. I honestly do not care who else views my site other than them. As an audio professional there are three keys to attract us to anything.

First is new technology. As audio professionals we are all suckers to the newest gadgets and software on the market. Weather it is a new compressor plug-in, what’s hot in microphone technology, or any new thing that makes our lives better, more efficient, or our productions higher quality.

Next is competence. Audio professionals want to see my work and know that I am capable to deliver a high quality product in a reasonable timeframe. We most definitely value quality over quantity. Also it’s the little details that count. Audio is all about the subtle things. Adding extra foley to make a project pop and come alive. These are qualities audio professionals look for and I want to demonstrate in my demo and gallery.

Finally, no bullshit. This may sound humorous but it is very true. As audio professionals we don’t have any time to waste on frivolous endeavors or ideas. Therefore I am attempting to build my website to be to the point, easy to navigate, and no nonsense. I want my visitors to be able to access any information they require quickly and efficiently with very little effort. Cluttering my site with social media is going to be a big turn-off for most audio professionals. They don’t care about what I say on twitter or facebook. They simply want to see my skills and determine weather I am a good match for what they need.

So in conclusion I am aiming to make my website easy and simple. My site will be a striped down approach where all information is easily accessed and there are few distractions and clutter on my page.

Week 5 EOC

I plan to organize my job search time by attending AES and NAB along with any other audio trade show I can find. I will continue to have refine my skills and resume with additional experiences. I will constantly be researching my career field to keep on the cutting edge of technology and technique.
I will plan to follow up on job leads by getting a business card and calling prospective employers. I will also make my resume available along with my website.

Deeper Meaning of "Swingers"

The ideas about networking in the film “Swingers” are somewhat hidden but when studied closely I was able to pull a few key concepts. First have some ice-breakers. Also, actually listening to what people are saying. Finally, practice everyday.

First off you need to plan how to break the ice for conversations. “Find out who will be at an event, and research the people you want to meet by looking them up on Google or LinkedIn.” This is important because you can then tailor what you say to people and if you come across interested they will be more likely to be interested in you.

Next it is important to be a good listener. “Put yourself in another person's shoes, and listen with the goal of learning something.” People like to know that you are actually paying attention to them and care about what they are saying. You will get much farther in a relationship or in business with this concept.

Finally, you need to practice networking everyday. It is said that practice makes perfect and that is very true. “The more you network, the easier it gets, but you have to keep doing it. Even during the course of every work day you can exercise this muscle by getting up, walking around, and starting brief conversations with co-workers.” It is not enough to go to an event on occasion. To get really good at networking you need to be doing it every day if possible. It can be simple and small things. You can find opportunities anywhere you go to network and make new contacts.

In conclusion the ideas in the film can very much be related to real life. There are many parallels between dating and business networking. So every time you go out remember it is an opportunity to network.

WEEK 1 EOC: NARRATIVE, VOICE, AND ELEVATOR INTRODUCTION

to be continued