Success!

Well, the jitters were apparently for nothing because I got the job!

You're looking at the new advertising sales rep for four magazines published by the Tifton Gazette. My job will be to sell ads for each of the bi-monthly magazines, all the while maintaining relationships with existing customers as well as finding new ones. It's a big job for one person, but I'm excited and I know that I can handle it.

It's certainly satisfying to know that I have a steady job, benefits and a salary - and all before I graduate from college. My first day in the office is April 13, four days shy of a month before graduation.

It's been a tough but invigorating past four years. Five internships and countless hours of unpaid work later, I've achieved the ultimate goal of finding a stable job. But don't worry - my work doesn't stop here. You haven't heard the last of me yet...

Post-interview jitters

Just got done with my first ever job interview. I thought I would feel more confident afterward, not less.

I did fine. I had all of my answers prepared. I was ready for any question I was asked. I had questions for my interviewer. It being my first interview, I'd say I did pretty well. And it's an even better job than I expected - innovative, changing, groundbreaking.

However, I feel like I didn't sell myself. And since we're talking about an advertising job, that's certainly not a good thing. I had plenty of opportunities to assure my interviewer that I'm the perfect person for this job because everything - all of the qualities and expectations - applied to me. I thrive in a fast-paced environment. I'm organized and efficient. I love to learn, and I learn fast.

So then why do I feel like I failed some test that I didn't even know I was taking?

Pop goes the weasel

I knew this would happen eventually. I think we all did.

After a long hiring freeze, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution announced today that it's going to cut 30 percent of its newsroom staff in order to save money. With a large metro paper like the AJC, that's about 90 reporters out of a job - just like that.

It's interesting to think about who within the AJC wrote the article referencing the paper's impending doom. Was it a handful of metro editors who are safe from the mounting layoffs? Or was it a reporter who has yet to discover that he's on his way out?

Now what?

Day 35

The first session of the 2009-2010 legislative term is drawing to a close. With five legislative days left, there's a whole lot going on and not a lot at all. But there is cause for celebration!

Three of Representative McKillip's bills have made it through the assembly and another will soon pass the Senate. HB 434, HB 449, HB 98, and HB 502 are Rep. McKillip's first bills to make it through the entire assembly since his election three years ago. Similarly, these are the first bills I've ever had a hand in, so it's a personal victory to see them go so far.

While they're all local bills and most of them uncontroversial, they still endure a long process before they can be passed by both chambers. I had to converse with county leaders and Legislative Counsel for a few weeks before all parties agreed to the language of the bills. Then, I had to obtain an affidavit, or proof of publication in the local paper, for each bill. Rep. McKillip could then sign the bills and drop them, releasing them to the House in order to be assigned bill numbers. The bills were read aloud twice in the House before heading to their appropriate committees, where changes could be made if need be.

The next step was to obtain the signatures of the other representatives within our delegation. Luckily for Athens, there are only three. Atlanta delegations can have up to 20 representatives! As soon as the representatives within our delegation signed, I sent a letter to the chairman of the Intragovernmental Coordination committee asking for the bills to be released to the local calendar, and on the next legislative day, all of the bills on the calendar were passed by the House, including our four. Then, the process was repeated in the Senate and with our delegation of senators.

Looking back, I can remember feeling so confused and overwhelmed on the first day. Rep. McKillip was full of legislative jargon and expectations, and I wasn't sure if I could keep up. In addition to tending to his bills, he wanted me to write letters to constituents, return phone calls, prepare his schedule every day, and network with other legislators and aides. My job was basically to run his office - which I did and will continue to do for the next two weeks.

Rep. McKillip knew just what to do with me. He pushed me, then gave me space to rise to his expectations. There was no hovering, no babying, no checking in on me. As soon as I figured out a rhythm, I gained confidence as well as momentum. I'm not sure where the change happened, but now I take phone calls with ease. I write his letters and sign them. I have his schedule on his desk every morning. I followed through with his bills, and now I'm beginning to feel nostalgic for the energy that I had when I was under all of that pressure in January.

Part of me is ready for this whirlwind to come to an end, but I'm going to miss it when it does. Yet I know in my soul that this isn't the end of the political road for me. I'll be back. And with this foundation, maybe one day I'll have an office of my own, a delegation of my own and constituents of my own, and I can live the adventure all over again.

Bradbury's 2009

"I remember the newspapers dying like huge moths. No one wanted them back. No one missed them."

I find it fascinating that Ray Bradbury predicted the "fall of newspapers" in 1953 with the publication of Fahrenheit 451. In his futuristic world, reading a book comes with the punishment of having your house burned. Living rooms are four-walled TVs that hold captive the mental capacities of adults and children alike. And when families aren't glued to their parlor screens, they're listening to earplugs that feed them constant entertainment in the form of music, stories and social broadcasts.

"People don't talk about anything."
"Oh, they must!"
"No, not anything. They name a lot of cars or clothes or swimming pools mostly and say how swell! But they all say the same things and nobody says anything different from anyone else."

Bradbury was a wise, wise man. If you were to talk to him today, I'm sure he would be horrified by how near-accurate his futuristic society has become. While I don't think we're headed for disaster and newspapers certainly aren't going anywhere just yet, we, as a society, should heed his warnings and take a look at the world around us every now and then.

Literally, a book of faces

If you think Facebook has been stirring up enough trouble lately, wait until you see what's in store for us next.

What better place for a facial recognition application than the Facebook?

As unbelievable as it sounds, Face.com has introduced a new application on Facebook called Photo Finder. Photo Finder takes your untagged photos on Facebook and automatically tags them for you - with surprising accuracy. It's capable of finding that crazy couple you met in the bar last week as well as finding pictures of you that you never knew existed on Facebook. And it does all of this with a picture of your face.

Creepy? Potentially. However, Face.com has its bases covered. The application poses no threat to you unless you allow it to access your account. If the idea of pictures of you on your 21st resurfacing doesn't appeal to you, don't add the application and no one will ever know.

Photo Finder also recreates your Facebook privacy settings within the application so that if you want everyone to see your pictures, they can. And if you want no one to see them, you can do that, too.

Having just re-read Fahrenheit 451 (my favorite book of all time), I have to say that we need to be cautious and aware of the things going on around us. I fully support technology and its uses today, even Face.com's new application thanks to the care they've taken to protect users' privacy. However, I also believe that there are limits to the use of technology in our lives and we should be vigilant in keeping technology in check.

Social media, a newborn industry

Mashable asked us yesterday, "Is social media an industry?"



It's crazy to think that a new industry could just emerge out of thin air. According to Mashable's graph, the term "social media" didn't establish common usage until late 2006. I created my Facebook account in early 2005. I got into Gmail in 2007, and Twitter and blogging in 2008. Social media happened very, very fast, and it's still growing.



According to Indeed.com's Job Trends, social media jobs have been rapidly increasing since 2006. And where there's a steady increase in jobs with a common theme, there's a rising new industry.

The most likely reason that social media is growing so fast is that anyone can start a social network. Especially with the aide of sites like Ning, you don't need an PhD, MBA or even a bachelor's to get in the game. All you really need is basic knowledge of web design, Java and marketing. And as these starter sites grow, they're steadily creating jobs - a scarce phenomenon in today's economy.

While social media may not have quite reached industry status yet, it's well on its way to becoming one. If we want to benefit from social media, we shouldn't underestimate its newborn position in our society, but learn to embrace it.

Prescription drugs, social media style

The Internet is a beautiful thing.

Observe RateADrug.com.

RateADrug.com allows people to give their two cents about the overall effectiveness of the medications that they're taking or have taken in the past.

Each drug on the website contains an overall effectiveness rating. People can also rate positive and negative side effects, number of side effects and number of benefits. Then, each side effect and/or benefit is broken down into percentages of people who have experienced each effect.

This is definitely a step in the right direction. Consumer education is becoming easier and easier with the growth of the Internet and social media. Being able to see for yourself the effectiveness of a drug you're about to take based on your peers' experiences is a valuable form of education.

However, RateADrug.com also leaves room for error. Currently, not many users are contributing to the ratings, meaning the polling area is limited and results could be skewed. Also, until doctors and pharmacists get in on the action, the site lacks the credibility of sites like WebMD.

Like any source, I would use RateADrug.com as a supplement to whatever other research you're doing about a drug. The more you know, whether it's a doctor's advice or a user's personal experience, the easier and safer your decision-making process will be.

State of the media? Not so bleak, IMO.

The State of the News Media for 2009 was released today. However, I'm still reluctant to jump on the we're-headed-for-disaster bandwagon.

The results certainly were "bleak." However, in today's economy, every business is struggling. Newspapers and other media just got a head start.

Newspapers, magazines and local TV are a few of the media that took the hardest hit. Understandable, considering they're some of the oldest media with quite a history - at least compared to the Internet, cable and social networks.

In the State of the News Media there is no in-between. While most media are currently floundering, cable TV and the Internet are flourishing. Heads above the rest, these two areas show inspiring growth and potential.

The results are to be expected, in my opinion. They only confirm what we all knew to be true. Print and long-established media are suffering while new technology enables other, newer media to rise above the rest.

The solution is simple: "old" media must mold and adapt to this new media environment in order to successfully compete with "new" media, which is definitely do-able. All we need are some dedicated journalists who will take this opportunity for evolution and run with it.

Crossover Day pride

It's going to be a long day at the Capitol. Today marks Day 30, or Crossover Day in legislative jargon.

This is the day when bills' fates are decided. After today, if a House bill doesn't pass the House or a Senate bill doesn't pass the Senate, it dies. Starting Tuesday, the House will only be debating Senate bills and the Senate will only be considering House bills. Thus, Crossover Day.



Luckily, most of our House Bills are already in the Senate - at least, the ones that matter. I've been tracking eight bills since Day 1, five of which directly affect Athens-Clarke County. Four of those are now in the Senate waiting to be put on the local calendar.

It's nice to be able to say that I've had a hand in their progress. I pushed them through the House, introduced them to the Senate, jostled them when they got stuck in Senate committees. According to Representative McKillip, this is the farthest his legislation has come in his three-year term. All along I've been sort of the invisible hand behind Rep. McKillip, and it feels good to know that this - getting four bills passed by the Georgia General Assembly - is a milestone, not just for me but also for him.

I'll give myself a quick pat on the back. Then, it's back to work.

YouTube - giving credit where credit is due

I realized today that I have a tendency to ignore YouTube.

In my lists of social networks, I always overlook the top provider of video on the Internet along with Hulu, Akamai and other video content providers. YouTube has been around longer than most established social networks and remains a steadfast contributer of video content.



The White House had initially decided to use YouTube as its medium for Obama's "fireside chats," but now they're going with Akamai instead. The videos will still be posted to YouTube, but the videos embedded on the White House website will be using the lesser known content delivery site.

However, a professor at an Australian university still supports the value of YouTube. He is currently posting videos of his lectures on YouTube in order to allow high school students unable to commute to the university the opportunity to obtain college credit if they so wish.

YouTube is far from its last cry, and I predict that it will continue to remain one of the strongest and best marketed social networks for years to come.

The ever elusive journalism career

I figured I'd compile the main sites that I'm conducting my job search with. They've been useful to me so far, and I'd like to share the wealth.

JournalismJobs.com - Self explanatory, I think. The best source so far.
mediabistro.com
Jobs in Social Media
A post from CyberJournalist.net
and last but not least bookjobs.com because I'm still a writer, after all

Good sites despite the fact that I've received hardly any responses back. But I'm not losing hope just yet...

Becoming a well oiled machine

After sifting through 500 or so articles on Google Reader today, Mindy McAdam's post on the Reporter’s Guide to Multimedia Proficiency caught my eye.

There's no doubt about it - the newspaper industry is changing. No longer is a print publication the only source for information. In today's world, information is available through audio clips, videos, online news, RSS feeds, social networks, blogs, microblogs and millions of other media that we have yet to even fathom.

Now, take a deep breath. You're not the only one feeling overwhelmed.

The current trend in journalists' attitudes toward this adjustment is sort of an "out with the old, in with the new" outlook on content as well as employees. However, I can attest to the fact that it's not just the "old farts" who are feeling a little behind. I'm hesitant to jump headfirst into some of this stuff myself, but it's all about forcing yourself out of your comfort zone and using your brain to its full capacity.

My advice? Start with the steps outlined in McAdams' RGMP:

"1: Read blogs and use RSS
2: Start a blog
3: Buy an audio recorder and learn to use it
4: Start editing audio
5: Listen to podcasts
6: Post an interview (or podcast) on your blog
7: Learn how to shoot decent photos
8: Learn how to crop, tone, and optimize photos
9: Add photos to your blog
10: Learn to use Soundslides"

Don't worry. I'm only on step four or so. Looks like I'm going to be taking my own advice in the next few months.