Cancer Takes Another

Earlier this evening I received a message about a 42-year-old man who I had met once. A month ago, he and I were at a meeting together where he stood up and introduced himself. A few days ago, I got a e-mail about an urgent need for prayer for him. They had discovered a tumor in his brain and he was going to have surgery Friday (yesterday) morning. We were to pray for him, his wife and family. The tumor was cancerous and aggressive. He died this afternoon. No chance to undergo the chemotherapy and radiation therapy that would have followed in the weeks after the surgery. Why? It's 2009. As we (and trust me, I do worry about things such as "swine flu") worry about all flus, viruses, and other dreadful diseases, we need to ask ourselves -- WHY HASN'T A CURE BEEN FOUND?

This year alone, more than 500,000 Americans will die from cancer. 1.5 million will hear that they have cancer. Yes, cancer survival rates are increasing...more of us than ever are living with the disease. Despite the good, cancer still sucks. Cancer still kills -- in fact, just think about that 500,000 number. In the past 2 years, 1 MILLION people died (actually, the number is a little higher than a million).

So...my question is this -- have we just reached the stage that it just doesn't bother us anymore? Maybe we need to start planting small flags somewhere in the middle of America that represents each person that would die this year, maybe, just maybe someone would take notice and help end cancer.

My prayer is that you never hear those words: you have cancer.

At this moment, please keep the Griffin family in your prayers.

HOPE

Insight

Had a great class today. The "social media guru" of Texas Tech came and spoke to the Social Media class about the TTU strategy related to Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Flickr and others. It was interesting to learn about the challenges facing universities (and every other organization) when it comes to trying to figure out what to do, where to do it, how to do it, what resources you need to provide, who needs to be in charge, what type of content, etc...can you really strategize for all of the above contingencies? I just don't know. But, you should try. Currently, the Texas Tech University Facebook page has approximately 12,000 members/fans. Pretty amazing...

Been thinking about a few things related to this blog and what I might want it to turn in to. Should it be related to TTU, academics, Relay, giving people hope....just not sure. Would love some feedback.

tc

Blah Blah Blogs

As we continue to read Joel Postman's SocialCorps in the social media class, it is amazing to think about the lack of a social media strategy for ALOT of companies -- including firms that specialize in marketing and advertising. That being said, it almost isn't fair to criticize companies for not having a long-term strategy ready to go; however, after all of the strategic planning that has gone on in the corporate environment for the past 15 years, it's hard to believe that firms and organizations just can't get goals and objectives outlined.

Recent statistics published by the Pew Internet and American Life Project in January 2009(kind of makes you re-think 'recent') indicated that 75% of 18-24 year olds have a profile on a social network site. As age increases, the percentage decreases to almost no profiles for those 65+. According to statistics found at Facebook show dramatic increases in the number of Facebook users since January (increased to 200 million....and counting). Twitter has experienced an explosion since the first of the year.

All of these studies point to social media jumping through the diffusion curve and looking forward at all the companies who are missing the boat. There is still time....just make sure you use strategy > have a mission, goals and objectives for your social media plan. It might even mean that you allocate an employee to tackle your company's social media presence. (By the way, that doesn't mean to add responsibility to an 8 to 5 "techie"...it really means to pay them to do their job which would include developing social media for your organization. Just like you wouldn't give a video camera and expect your accountant to produce a television commercial, you shouldn't just tell your public relations director to blog and experience ROI. If that is the case, you get what you deserve.

Wow, what a mood. Better sign off for now...

Thinking about how quickly things change

I left the office heartbroken earlier today because I had heard about cancer invading the life of another young family. They'd been told Friday about a "benign" tumor, then today found out that it was a malignant tumor of the Stage 3 variety. I'm really tired of cancer. It sucks. At the same time, it provides a opportunity to see what people want to do -- and that is to help others in need. Already there are those who are lining up to help this family and others who are thinking about ways to help.

Fight Back.

Monday with too much on my plate

Have you ever wondered just why in the world you find yourself involved with way too many decisions to make. Life ain't that hard or that difficult, but today it sure seems that way. I feel like I'm drowning in the Sea of Way Too Much To Do. Oh well...life marches on.

As far as social media goes, I'm pumped to have Lisa Low from the Office of Communications and Marketing at Texas Tech showing up to class next week -- she's going to bring some enthusiasm and provide an idea of TTU's social media presence.

Topics for today: diffusion of innovations, social media strategies and a mini-case study about two grocery store companies.

Could be fun.
tc

All Star Break

I always dread the All Star Break. The Rangers are either rocking and rolling before but not after or vice versa. They look great this year, but time will tell.

As far as the weekend goes, pretty interesting thoughts on a Sunday evening related to what is happening in the College of Mass Communications this week. First, we've got about 15 junior high school students in for the second annual "Video Tech" workshop. Josh Robinson, one of our staff members in the college, is putting this thing together with the help of Dr. Dennis Harp, Rob Peinert and others from our college community.

The second event this week will be finalizing some technology purchases for the college -- all with the idea of benefiting all of our majors. It's kind of exciting to think about what the fall semester is going to bring about -- all majors working together on projects (we are putting together a group with students who might be interested in working on projects related for submission to contests -- all types of contests).

Finally, this week in social media, we will be dealing with figuring out the mechanics of how all these social media work and wrapping up the week with virtual tours of blogs. Kind of cool.

Have a good night.



tc

Some early Saturday ramblings

Wow...my bid for sleeping in lasted until 8. How I miss the days of high school -- when there wasn't work or something else going on -- when you slept until 12 noon or 1 in the afternoon! Now, well, it's time to play catch-up on some things around the house.

After going through some news this morning, some things caught my attention:
-New way of thinking about baseball statistics from the NY Times. A new system is being developed that will be able to measure exact distances for hitting, throwing, etc... (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/10/sports/baseball/10cameras.html?em)
-The "UFC" was front page on the LA Times this morning (http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-ufc-fertitta11-2009jul11,0,3089419.story)
-by the way, for movie fans, LA Times also has a piece about The Blair Witch Project turning 10 years old (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-witch11-2009jul11,0,4594569.story)
-The fact that there were some Picassos hanging in Austin is amazing. Story discusses the theft of 8 Picassos from a home in Austin of a former gallery owner. http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/2009/07/11/0711stolenart.html

Hope you have a good Saturday. Enjoy.
tc

The Social Media Economy

As we are living in a new era of media economics, I'm struck by fundamental changes in the overall media economy. From pricing structures for advertising on the local radio station to participating in one of the auctions available through Google, new media is totally changing the structure of the "media economy." Obviously, others much smarter than I have been writing, researching and talking about this for some time now. For example, Bob Garfield unleashed his "Chaos Scenario" all the way back in the old days of 2005 (http://adage.com/article?article_id=45561). Chaos 2.0 was released in 2007. Around the same time, Chris Anderson was researching and writing "The Long Tail" (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail.html). These essays and opinions cemented the industry's recognition that new forms of media were and had been eating away at traditional media consumption patterns and, more importantly, shifting available advertising revenue into different avenues.

Media life has changed. The audience isn't just sitting in front of a television waiting for the next program to appear. The entire advertising industry has changed. None of this is new or novel, but it is time to re-think how we approach the economy of media.

Social Media and College Sports

I am a HUGE fan of college sports -- especially college football. If I had to list my probably would watch instead of regular television, my rankings would be college football, MLB, NFL, college basketball then college baseball. A student in the social media class I'm teaching sent me the following links that I think are extremely relevant in today's world of college and professional athletics. Check out the four-part series at ESPN:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=4308218

Have a great day!

Some Readings For Summer II

Hello there. This summer we will definitely be spending alot of time talking about social media. Here are some extra resources that you really need to check out (in fact, we will definitely spend time talking about these):

Some Reading Extras Part I:
Anderson, C. (2009, May 22). The new, new economy: more startups, fewer giants, infinite opportunity. Wired: http://www.wired.com/culture/culturereviews/magazine/17-06/nep_essay

Anderson, C. (2004, October). The long tail. Wired: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail.html

Kelly, K. (2009, May 22). The new socialism: global collectivist society is coming online. Wired: http://www.wired.com/culture/culturereviews/magazine/17-06/nep_newsocialism

Levy, S. (2009, May 22). Secret of googlenomics: data-fueled recipe brews profitability. Wired: http://www.wired.com/culture/culturereviews/magazine/17-06/nep_googlenomics