“Opening my own ice cream shop is a very exciting step in my life, but I know there will be a lot of struggles before I can call it a success. To start off, money is of course an issue. In this day and age, when is it not though? People say to never let money be a problem to follow your dreams, but one can only do that through good planning and smart decisions. Before my Grand Opening Day, I need to promote my ice cream shop as much as possible to get the word out to the community so I will have people to serve on top of a start to a possible flow of income. I feel it is very important to establish customer relationships so that they feel like guests in my establishment. When you host someone in your home, you want them to feel comfortable and have a good time so they want to come back over again, and I feel that is the way a business should be run. This establishes a regular flow of customers, which provides me with steady income. In order to keep people coming back, I hope to provide the community with a fun loving and relaxing environment inviting to people of all ages in a convenient location. I need to introduce new original flavors at affordable prices to keep the people guessing, “What should I try this time?” In order to be successful, I need to please the public, but also please myself by running a shop that I would want to enter as a customer myself. I feel that I can appeal to most in the community as long as I keep a positive attitude and atmosphere as well as an open mind to new forms of marketing and through the help of others.”
Media Strategy
I’m going to write my paper on the strategy I can use to open my very own ice cream shop. To save money, I will be doing a lot of online marketing through free social media networks such as twitter and facebook, as well as investing a small amount of money in my own website.
I’m excited to write this paper due to the fact that I love local ice cream shops such as the new one Rhea’s Ice Cream on The Square in San Marcos. I have a true love/obsession for ice cream and really may consider opening my own shop in the future so this could really help me out!
Future of Social Media
From watching the video and reading the various articles about how much social media has changed over time, it’s kinda hard for me to imagine what it will be in the near, let alone far future. Some things such as the original dating site’s failure brought the idea for the successful MySpace which ideas were taken to produce different dating and social networking sites!
I myself used to use MySpace, but deleted that my senior year in HS when I got accepted into a university and made a Facebook (back when Facebook was only for college students). Facebook is easier to use because you don’t have the option to do things such as choose a song, background, different fonts, colors, etc. I’m an art major so I did enjoy getting to design my page on MySpace and sometimes wish we had the choice on Facebook to make it more personal, but I spent too much time consumed with making it look unique to even care about using it as a network. Now that I use a Mac which is much faster then the PC I used in HS maybe I’ll make a new one to show my artistic side. I also have a Twitter that I chose a personal color pallet and background picture which was very simple to do and I am learning how to widen my social network on twitter for hopefully things that could lead me further in my career. For social sites, there always has been, and will continue to be more and more I’m sure that people around the world use to connect to old, current, and new friends to stay in touch..we’ll just have to see what new ideas/layouts that come up with which people prefer.
LinkedIn is a media network strictly for business oriented things that I made an account for one of my other Mass Comm classes, but I haven’t even logged into it except for the first initial time I created it. I hope to explore and learn more about it now that I’m about to apply for some internships within the next year. LinkedIn is fairly new I believe, so it’s interesting to see how businesses are really starting to use the internet to find people, so I’m sure there will be more and more new sites for the working people world that are more specialty oriented such people in the design, marketing, restaurant, etc. fields of business.
For the dating side of the internet, I personally feel that is not “my cup of tea”. I do know many people that use them just for a random date/hook up reasons only on Match.com, and a few that have found their true love on other sites. The people that live next door to my parents met on EHarmoney.com and recommend it for anyone who is older but doesn’t feel like they are reaching out to meet new people. They said that if they passed each other on the street, they wouldn’t of taken a second look, but the fact they fell in love with each other based on personality traits made it so much better. If I move into a new city once I’ve graduated and can’t seem to make any new friends (which doesn’t worry me in the fact that I know a lot of people make social groups in their work) I may consider making one, but for now, I feel like if I’m meant to be with someone, I’ll meet them in my own time. I’ve heard of ridiculous other sites such as sugardaddy.com etc. that I can’t even imagine what other sites they will come up with for people to network ‘romantically’.
Craigslist.com is a site that I think is absolutely great. I put up an add to sublease my apartment last year and someone called me within three days of my post. It’s something so simple, yet genius. Sites that people can buy and sell on such is that, Amazon.com, and Ebay.com are all similar ideas that just vary a bit. Maybe in the future they’ll come up with something that’s possibly easier to browse through all the different items instead of having to scroll through pages and pages just reading various bits of text for the item.
Day to day we rapidly see new social media sites popping up that all give similar means of networking with others worldwide. There seems to always be something “bigger and better” and always will be, so it’s just a matter of time for the new site to come up with a ‘cooler’ way to communicate than the rest. The internet is turned into a scary, crazy thing that makes our world seem smaller than it already is!
((P.S. Cindy, sorry it’s late I didn’t know it was saved under just a draft rather than me pressing publish))
Online Business
First, I’d like to ask if anyone else’s videos would randomly stop playing? Mine did that several times and so I’m not sure if I missed any information, but I think I got a good overview of it all.
First of all, I’m not sure how he is describing internet as a ‘bubble’. The internet opens people up to loads and loads of information so it’s kinda crazy for me to think that people get engulfed into it. Ya sure there are those ‘computer geeks’ that can spend hours in the day just on the internet with no contact in the outside world, but the closest thing on the videos I got from that are the day traders for the stock market that watch CNNBC all day in order to make multiple buys and sells throughout a single day. Maybe that in fact is the bubble, the fact that such a big business boom happened from the creation of the internet and changed how that business was ran! But do I really understand it? I’m not sure.
As for online businesses, I think it’s very evident that they can be successful. Amazon and Ebay are both excellent examples the video used to prove this. If it wasn’t for the internet, millions of people would be trying to sell useless items in their local newspapers or in a garage sell which doesn’t reach to a great amount of the public at all. Ebay allows one single person to reach millions of people that could possibly be interested in purchasing their random object that could vary from a used tissue by a celebrity, clothing, car parts, or a toy. Pretty much everything you could ever want is posted on Ebay from around the world, you just have to take the time to search to find the exact objet you want. Amazon is similar to Ebay as well, but is very popular selling books. I personally have purchased two textbooks for different college classes using Amazon and it was very helpful. I purchased one used book for very inexpensive, and a new one for a fraction of the cost that it was selling for in the bookstores here in San Marcos. I think both of these sites are widely popular around the world with great proof in every day life. For example, my friends just Sunday night were speaking of “drunk ebaying”. Who would of thought? Getting drunk and searching Ebay to purchase random stuff. My guy friend could not stop bragging out his new shades he bought on his first drunk Ebay purchase, and my gal friend said she added Ebay as a app so she could access it easier after a few drinks. Talk about a money maker!
The video stated “internet gathers momentum as it goes” and described that the reach to number of people only gets greater and greater by each single person. If I were to start a business right now, I would definitely go online as well because it seems to get the most viewers/greatest reach than a single store could ever even try to get in a town. For instance, last summer after my vacation to Costa Rica I would of never thought to look for Costa Rican coffee if it wasn’t for the plantation we visited saying they had a website to reach to visitors from around the world. That’s where the probably get much of their profits from!
I’m not sure how the internet boom turned into a speculative bubble that people are nervous for it to pop..but I do think that online businesses have great profit and success which would not be the case if the internet wasn’t such a popular way of life.
iPhone Application Idea
I am not an owner of an iPhone myself, so this was a little difficult because a lot of ideas I had were in fact already applications. So I had to think outside of the box and come up with something that isn’t necessarily practical in the since of just a computer program.
Lots of people listen to music when they work out, and iPhones are used as iPods to do this often. We all know that when one works out (if they actually push themselves) one works up a good sweat. Also, living in Texas, we all go through the awful summer heat that at times is absolutely unbearable. In order to stay cool some people bring out the battery powered fans on those hot days to get a feel of a breeze on their faces. With all the many things people carry on them on a daily basis, especially women with big purses, portable fans is not always a priority on the list. This would not be a problem anymore if the iPhone had a built in fan application!
The application name “Breeze” is just what it is, a breeze. Cool air would shoot out from the wide charging port hole of the bottom of the phone and would feel as if in fact a cool breeze was going through the air.
“Breeze” could help people cool down after a work out, get a break from the heat during the hot summer days, and possibly help eliminate health things such as heat stroke.
Good idea? I think so!
A nice two-step may start out the night..
Last Tuesday, February 16th, the wonderful Josh Abbott Band graced San Marcos with their presence at Cheatham Street. I believe the last time I saw him play was at Hills Cafe this summer during the free concert series..but I must admit his performance was way better this time.
Josh Abbott isn’t as popular as some Texas Country artists, but I feel his fame is growing rapidly. I’m a big fan of his and have yet to come across a song I haven’t liked! Most people have heard of his song “Taste” which is naturally one of my all time favorites (it’s what the bad quality sounding videos is) and a few other good ones such as “I’ll Trust You” (another fave) and “She’s Like Texas”. I am a fan of pretty much all of his songs because I feel like they have a little variety of beats and meanings.
The turnout was much better than what I expected for a Tuesday night and it lasted steadily until towards the very very end of the concert. It wasn’t jam packed like at Randy Rogers last semester (his was sold out) but we didn’t get their early so we were standing instead of a more empty show where you could sit at at table. The majority of the people there seemed to be pretty loyal fans, some on different levels than others including both me and my roommates along with a fellow guy friend. I actually was surprised at the amount of songs I sang along to, I think the free CD I received over the summer helped open me up to so many great songs!
He’s actually doing his CD release tour right now, so it is pretty neat getting to hear all his new stuff (which is awesome!). If there are any “Texas Travelers” like myself who always enjoy a good road trip, I highly recommend catching one of their next shows such as in Huntsville on February 27th. That one will be at the Jolly Fox which is a really neat bar that has been there forever and is known to many Texas Country artists just like Cheatham Street (except we got George Strait!!!). I actually thought about going to visit friends this weekend to see him again, which some may say is a little obsessive, but I feel it would be well worth it if it wasn’t a friends birthday here.
Whether you like to be up dancing on your feat singing along or enjoying the tunes drinking a nice bear, Josh Abbott Band is very pleasing to the ear! You can check out their site for tour dates and check out some videos/songs: http://www.joshabbottband.com
Texas Country
“Texas country is known for sing traditionalist root sounds with the outspoken care-free views of ‘outlaw country’.” -Wikipedia.com
I’ve grown up listening to country music since I was born. My dad was raised tending the farm in Oklahoma and now works for an agriculture company and is the epitome of a hick. So naturally, me growing up during my childhood years in rural country Kansas raising pigs and cows to show, I have been around it and will be throughout my life.
Upon moving to Texas, I was introduced to a ‘new’ kind of country music, Texas Country. At first I was confused at what the difference could be, country music is country music right? Well in some aspects, yes, I still agree that the genre of country music has all around similar characteristics. However, Texas Country seemed to be much more exciting then my old favorites such as Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Shania Twain, Garth Brooks, etc. Pretty soon my favorites turned into Randy Rogers, Wade Bowen, Casey Donahew, Cross Canadian Ragweed, and many other ‘small town’ bands that were trying to become big.
Starting around junior year of HS I started going to all the Texas Country music concerts around the town my parents live in. I went to them at fairgrounds, the Sam Houston Racetrack, parks, bars, and other random places. I didn’t care if it was $5-$25, my friends and I would all pile in someone’s car/truck and be on our way for a night of singing and dancing to the fun beat country tunes. This continued throughout my senior year all the way into my college life.
I used to go to Texas A&M and Blinn in College Station where everyone knows of the hick town reputation. With Huntsville just 45 min away, my concert attending was easily carried on at the bars such as Hurricane Harrys, The Jolly Fox, and sometimes at local festivals in some parks/fields such as ZiegFest. My love for Texas Country grew so much just learning to appreciate the bands even if it was the 10th time I’d seen them live with no new songs out, it just made if more fun because that meant I knew all the words!
Moving to San Marcos has only increased opportunities to see my favorite Texas Country bands, but also has increased my listening reach since Austin produces so many local bands. The Hill Country is written and sang a lot about so it’s neat to actually be in the area of which you are hearing about. I’ve seen concerts at places ranging from The Hills Cafe, Cowboys, White Water, Cheatam Street and many more I can’t think of at the moment and introduced to bands such as Texas Renegades, Bobby Duncan, South Side Union, Aaron Watson, and others (some of which I’d heard of and some I had not).
I’m so excited to share with you the Texas Country concert experiences as I continue to go over and over again!
My name is Hope and I’m a Mac.
Graduation of HS for a good amount of people results in receiving money from various people involved in your life. My family isn’t big on the gift of money, but I happen to receive a good amount from a family friend. Knowing all the things I would want my parents to get me to go off to college with, I decided to use all my gifts to buy myself my very first personal computer, and naturally I convinced myself it absolutely HAD to be a laptop.
My family’s computer used to be a Compaq, and now is a Dell. I believe we’ve only had two that we were allowed to use, my dad gets the “cool” computers for work. But either way, we’ve always been PC people. When graduation in 2007 rolled around, the Mac store in our mall had opened and ipods were everywhere to be seen, so my ‘Apple awareness’ was growing and growing, making the great debate on which computer I would purchase even more difficult. Without much knowledge about Mac’s, my parents first instinct was to definitely go with a Dell. Dell offered cool colors and had programs that we were all familiar with to use making my life “easier” to do homework with a familiar system. After playing on all the gadgets in the Apple store, I was convinced that I NEEDED a Mac. Why, I had no clue except I wanted to be able to take the weird pics on PhotoBooth, but none the less, I had valid reason. Convincing my parents to come into the store and talk to the ‘specialists’ about it, they were very interested in the reputations of Macs having automatic virus protections (since our PC always caught something making it run slow) and realizing I could still get and use things such as Microsoft Office. It honestly didn’t take them too long to be convinced that my choice in spending my money on a Mac was a good one, not one that we all would regret. So right then and there I chose the cheapest MacBook so I would have extra money to spend on the printer and ipod until the rebates came back. Now, I wish I could of at least gone one step up, but none the less, I’m not upset at my choice because I’ve enjoyed my Mac fully and want another, neater one.
Watching the videos in class about the history of Apple intrigued me on the thought process behind the people who created this computer I am currently typing on. Apple appeared to me a mix of crazy minded people, some stuck in their who ways (who I don’t know if I could work well with) and others with very creative minds. The original Apple computers were confusing to me because I couldn’t tell what it was except for the keyboards themselves, but the fact that they created their own processes aside from the great success of the PC was neat that they just went for it. That’s something I try to do with tasks in life, even if other people have done it and probably can do it better, if I want my own original way, I will try to achieve it.
Something I never thought of needing a creative process behind was the what I thought was a simple stupid noise as the start up when you turned on a Mac. When they said how it changed over time just never crossed my mind of being an issue, I mean it’s only a short little sound that most people probably don’t even notice. But then again, I feel like it would be weird if the little chime wasn’t there. Just little things like that play such a huge role in the technology process of computers that it really puts in perspective how many people and how many ideas it takes to create something so great!
On the PC side, everyone has heard of Bill Gates. Watching the YouTube videos of his life made me realize he was a more complex man than just a ‘computer nerd’. From having a love for computers and a drive to create something some technologically advanced was where his mind was, but he also had time to get an education (of course he got to go to Harvard), start a family, care for friends, and spend time traveling. Of course he’s a person just like the rest of us are, it’s just hard to picture someone that created such a rich company to live a “normal life”, if there’s even such thing as one. PC’s have been popularly used from the time they started, and will still continue I’m sure in the world of none Mac users, so one has to respect them and their founders just like we do of the minds behind Apple.
Being able to use both PC and Mac’s I feel is a necessary thing in today’s world when needing to access computers on campus, at work, and at home where they all can’t be of your personal choice. I would never turn into a collector of Apple products like some people were shown to be on the video, but I probably will stick with a Mac especially as I continue in my computer graphic art classes.
It’s just another stereotypical separation in the world, Mac or PC?
Hi my name is…I don’t know much about the internet.
Blogging. I did this when I was a ‘teeny bopper’ pre MySpace time that would share the ‘interesting and complex’ life I thought I had at the time. I wouldn’t of thought that that hobby would come back to me later on in life to benefit me in the adult working world, but there seems to be great surprises in my life on a daily basis! So here I am, 20 years old, a college student, making a new blog to better my future. My roommate blogs so maybe I should of caught on to her journalism side of my Mass Communications minor and started earlier, but better late then never!
The videos we watched in class over the history of internet were hard for me to focus on because it’s hard for me to want to retain information on things that I know are outdated (which I mainly could just tell by the way the computers looked). However, there were a few interesting things that sparked my attention to find out a little bit more information on some things since I’m not very technologically intelligent especially over the topics concerning the internet.
Email is something I use on a daily basis to keep in touch with my parents with financial stuff as well as updates on my life from time to time, important dates and information from organizations I’m involved with on campus, updates to and from my professors, and other various things such as cooking and decorating information. It’s so crazy to me that Ray Tomlinson just happen to create the actual first email just on his spare time because I feel like some days I barely have time to even read, let alone respond to an email that I don’t have to have any knowledge about how it actually gets sent! It makes me feel like I could use my time more wisely to invent a nifty process of communication or create any idea in general that could better even just one person if not completely change the world! (I know, I can get carried away and dream big at times because I doubt any idea of mine is very practical.)
The huge jump of the amount of actual websites over 10 years didn’t surprise me except for the fact that over 70 million is just a large number in general. Since it has become so easily accessible to create your own site in many different ways, why wouldn’t there be such a wide selection for people to view?! Just last night while Skyping (a great invention by the way) with my friend Joel he told me about the web site www.stumbleupon.com which I had never heard of, not that that is saying much, but it totally blew my mind! You have the choice of choosing from a group of categories of things that interest you, or you and just click the button that ‘Starts Stumbling’ and you can “Stumble” from website to website of such interesting and neat things! We would get led to different sites and would send different links to each other and saw an arrangement of things from trick quizzes, random facts, beautiful pictures, education facts about the government, silly animal pictures, gaming information, and anything and everything you pretty much could, or couldn’t, imagine! I absolutely cannot wait to go back and visit the site over and over to see all the things it could lead me to!
Overall, the videos helped justify to myself the fact that I don’t know much about the internet that I use for several hours on pretty much a daily basis. It’s good to be well informed over things that you do and use often in your life so I’m eager to retain information and be able to feel knowledgeable throughout the semester and continue for years to come!
