For some strange reason I actually had a little bit of down time this weekend. As I was cleaning my condo, I realized that I hadn’t read some of the magazines that I had on my coffee table. I grabbed my alumni magazine and read about Nicholas Negroponte. He was the commencement speaker at Northeastern University’s graduation this year. Here’s a couple of links if anyone is interested in reading more.

www.northeastern.edu/commencement/speakersm.html

www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/05/06/scholar_tells_nu_students_to_go_for_it/

This week’s readings focused on the different dynamics of teams and ways to be a successful one. The article, “Working Smart A Web Book for Virtual Teams,” by Lipnack & Stamps spoke on how to make the most of working on a team that mainly communicates through the web and has limited face to face interaction. “On a whole, a virtual team must be smarter than a conventional collocated team just to survive” (Lipnack, Stamps pg 189). Although I understand why teams of this nature exist, I don’t know how successful it is. I have yet to have an experience with a virtual team and would be interested to see which of the two people prefer.

Building A High Performance Project Team by Verzuh was an article that I could clearly relate to more due to past experiences at work and in school. A team is, “a group of people working interdependently to produce an outcome for which they hold themselves mutually accountable” (Verzuh pg 1). In an ideal setting I believe that definition to be accurate but I am sure that we can all attest to bad experiences with groups at some point or another in our lives. The last team that I worked on was filled with a great group of people but unfortunately, not everyone was able to commit to the team fully. Most of us that are attending grad school are busy finding a way to balance working full-time and school. It is not an easy task. Without going in to full detail of the situation, one of the members was unable to meet the deadlines that we had set for our project and as the weeks progressed, no longer was involved in our group calls/meetings. Everyone else picked up the slack and I think in a way that it helped bond us together to get the task done. Despite the fact that we were down one person, I think the rest of us rose to the occasion to ensure that we presented our project in the best possible way. “The team knows the strengths and contributions of each member. Each of us brings technical expertise, customer knowledge, business savy, and a range of other talents to the project team This awareness enables us to increase our reliance on each other” (Verzuh pg 17).

Dynasty

When I think of what exemplifies a team, I can’t help but think of the Chicago Bulls led by Michael Jordan. They won the NBA championship 3 years in a row 1990-1993 and were able to accomplish another 3 peat from 1995-1998. Jordan was mvp of all championship games. The irony in this, is that Jordan wasn’t initially a team player but learned that he had to be one in order for the team to move forward. In my opinion, he clearly knew how to be a great leader but also a team player. “No team will reach its potential without one or more people consciously attending to the health of the team” (Verzuh pg 4).  Those guys had an amazing dynamic and chemistry. They all worked together to not only achieve their goal but exceed any and all expectations that they may have had for themselves.

I enjoyed reading Wikinomics by Tapscott and Williams. I guess I must have been living under a rock because I knew nothing about it. Of course, I have heard people mention wikipedia but to be quite honest, I didn’t really know too much about it. The authors believe so much in this idea that they have used it to write their book. The concept entails soliciting thoughts and ideas from all kinds of groups by engaging in an open discussion online. Essentially through wiki’s, people like you and me have the opportunity to re-write a book and offer their feedback.  “This new mode of innovation and value creation is called ‘peer production’, or peering-which describes what happens when masses of people and firms collaborate openly to drive innovation and growth in their industries” (Tapscott, Williams pg 11).  Examples of peer production as mentioned by the authors are myspace and facebook. Myspace and facebook are online networking sites that allows the user to create an individual page about themselves.  The users page includes their interests and background information about them.  Members of these communities can post comments and send messages to each other.

I started using myspace because a lot of my friends at work have a page. Now I don’t know what I would do without it. Myspace is a site that I check on a daily basis and thanks to it, I was able to reconnect with several friends from high school that I lost contact with. Some of my friends live outside of the state and who wants to have a ridiculously huge phone bill. “It is much less costly (in money, time and effort) to maintain personal ties via email than by paying personal visits” (Donath pg 5). Now, once I go on their page, I can send them a message and then go to another friend’s page and check in on them. ”

Experiments in this process have proven to be successful for several companies. Many people today are driven by money so why not offer contests that would appease both parties involved. If a submission for an idea would be accepted, the person would be rewarded a monetary gift. The best example of this was that of GoldCorp Inc., although many companies today are using this tactic in order to further their research. After reading this article, I am in support of mass collaboration and wikinomics. In my opinion, I think the positives outweigh the negatives. What do you believe? Do you think wikinomics is the future? Do you find benefits to this service?

Sociable Media 

“Sociable media are media that enhance communication and the formation of social ties among people” (Donath pg1).  The author speaks in great detail about the beginning of this idea and how it has progressed in different forms throughout the years. From letter writing to text messaging, now more than ever we are able to communicate using all different kinds of mediums. As we have previously discussed in class, we can choose to what extent we would like to interact with someone. Some of us agreed that we use texting in a lot of situations because it allows us to send a quick message or ask a question without having to engage in a long conversation. Through myspace and facebook, I am able to communicate with all my friends through one or two sites. In the current environment we are in, our lives are fast changing and now more than ever, technology allows us to stay connected to friends and family. 

Identity 

Our identity is who we are and what we have worked hard to accomplish. “Identity is at the core of all social interactions. We care about how others perceive us and devote considerable energy to conveying out own identity” (Donath pg 4).  I agree with this statement in most settings except for interactions that take place on the computer. I have found that when someone is mainly or only speaking to you through a blog or blackboard, they tend to be more forthcoming with their thoughts and opinions. “Anonymous communication allows people to talk freely about topics that they might otherwise be afraid to discuss, such as personal health issues or political criticism” (Donath pg4). When you are enrolled in a class on blackboard, do you find yourself being more critical or less critical of someone else’s work?

The first article, “Introduction: “Worship at the Altar of Convergence” by Nelson discusses media convergence, participatory culture and collective intelligence.  “Convergence is a word that manages to describe technological, industrial, cultural and social changes depending on who’s speaking and what they think they are talking about.” (Nelson pg 3.) The first example that the author gives is that of a high school student, who took an image of Bert from Sesame Street and merged it with a picture of Osama Bin Laden via photoshop. The image was seen across all media platforms and used by some anti-american protestors during the aftermath of September 11th.  It’s amazing to see how something that started in this kid’s house spread across the world to the point where it got so out of control, that he had to shut down his website.

Another example would be the text messaging craze. Text messaging has become so popular that cell phone companies are making commercials about them. A lot of people use text messaging as a means of communication and actually prefer that option as oppose to speaking on the telephone. It’s a quick way to get your point across or make plans without having to be tied to a phone conversation for a long period of time.

  Convergence is taking place through various forms of technology including television, computers, cell phones, etc. But as the author states “entertainment content isn’t the only thing that flows across multiple media platforms. Sometimes we tuck our kids in to bet at night and other times we instant message them from the other side of the globe.”  (Nelson pg 17)

 Dream Machines

 Theodore Nelson wrote in 1974, “From Computer Lib/Dream Machines”. He discusses new and exciting ways to improve the computer for educational purposes or just for the everyday person. It was amazing to see how dead on his was with  all of the predictions that he made.  Now 23 years later we see those dreams come to fruition.

Nelson’s arguement was that “the computer is as inhuman as we make it. The computer is no more cold and inhuman than a toaster, bathtub or automobile…Living teachers can be as inhuman as members of any people prodding profession, sometimes more so.” (Nelson pg 310.) Through this mind-set the author became an advocate for computer assisted instruction. In this day and age, we have the opportunity to take online classes. Where we no longer sit in a classroom but rather in front of a computer. We interact with our classmates through our posts. As well as the professor through e-mails and blackboard. I wonder what Nelson would think about online education and his thoughts in regards to where it is headed in the future.

Soft Architecture Machines 

“From Soft Architecture Machines” written by Negroponte, states that “each individual can be his own architect.” (pg 356). He also discusses different forms of user participation. User participation allows individuals to be involved in the design process and structural ideas.  Aren’t we all designers of our own destiny? Don’t we all map out a plan of what our next career, personal and educational move will be? Those are some of the questions that I thought about in relation to Negrogponte’s thesis.

 Any opportunity I get to talk about my favorite artist, I take it. Thursday night in class we briefly talked about mash ups and James gave an example of Linkin Park and Jay-Z. Ony my response paper this week, I happened to include a clip of the artists performing. I really started liking Linkin Park when they did an album with Jay-Z. I liked the mash up between these two artists so much that I went out an bought the album when it came out. Out of the two that I posted, the second one is my favorite.  I like how both styles of music are combined to make one song. Music mash ups, expose you to different kinds of music and I think that’s one of the best things about them.

Enjoy your weekend.

As I was reading, “How to Write a Better Weblog” by Dennis A. Mahoney, I felt as though Prof. Halavais was giving us a hint. The article goes in to detail on what rules to follow. For example, proper grammer spelling and punctuation. It also speaks on ways a blogger can write better and how to be aware of the audience that one is trying to attract.

The author states that “One complaint about weblogs is that they all link to the same sites, over and over and over. Sometimes that’s true and sometimes it isn’t. But if you do find yourself linking to a Wired article that’s already been noted on ten other sites, you might consider finding something else.” Mahoney pg 3.  This is my first experience with blogging so I was unaware of this common trend among users. It makes sense. When people check out your blog, they are going to it to find and learn something new. You can’t make your site stand out if you have something that everyone else does.

We all want our weblog’s to be read and to receive comments or feedback from our classmates in regards to what we have discussed. I found this article to be very helpful and I plan on referencing it throughout this course as I prep for our weekly assignments.

The second article “The Long Tail” by Chris Anderson discusses the different services offered such as i tunes, rhapsody, netflix and the long tail. These services allow the consumer to purchase that hard to find documentary or the cd that produced a “one hit wonder.” That you can’t get out of your head. You no longer have to be disappointed after leaving the video store without that dvd you wanted to watch that was only released in theatres for limited release. Now, all you have to do is log on to the computer and browse thousands of titles. Everything is accessible to you.  Initially, before these services were offered, you could only find what was deemed popular or in demand by executives at your local stores.

I’m not familiar with rhapsody but I absolutely love itunes. I can listen to and enjoy almost all kinds of music. Although, you won’t see me in a mosh pit anytime soon. Services like itunes, let’s me purchase that Pearl Jam or Stone Temple Pilots song and then buy an entire Jay-Z’s album.  The author states “unlimited selection is revealing truths about what consumers want and how they want to get it in service after service.” “And the more they find, the more they like.” ” As they wander further from the beaten path, they discover their taste is not as maintstream as they thought.” Anderson pg 1.  The possibilities are endless.  I look forward to the extension of these sites and what they have in store for us in the future.

The third article “Community: From Neighborhood to Network” by Barry Wellman talks about the new definition of communities and networks as well as how we interact in this day and age. “Community is becoming defined socially and not spatially.” Wellman pg 53.  In the past before the big emergence of computers, our community was the people that surrounded us. The blogs we are writing for class and facebook are perfect examples of how our ways of communicating with one another are changing. Not only can our classmates read this blog but anyone in the world can have access to it. Facebook and myspace are social networking sites that allow users to stay connected with friends, classmates and co-workers and one of the best parts about it is, you can do this from the comfort of your own home. But the author brings up an important question, “Are online relationships as good as face-to-face relationships where people can see, hear and touch someone? I think that might be up for debate. If I don’t have time to sit on the phone, I can send you a quick text or if I didn’t get a chance to reply to that e-mail, I can send you an im.  As our lives continue to become more complicated, the internet in my opinion allows us more options to keep in touch with loved ones.

“Networks, Netwars, and the fight for the future” by David Ronfeldt and John Arquilla, discusses how networking groups are using the internet to reach larger audiences and expand. There are pros and cons to this but it is contingent on what organization the author is speaking about. I personally had trouble reading this article on the anniversary of 9/11. Osama Bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network was mentioned frequently throughout the article. The article was published in 2001 so I couldn’t help but think about what is being done six years later to take down organizations that’s sole intent is to harm innocent people.

I initially chose bloglines as my choice for an aggregator because we discussed that one in class but I had a little trouble with it and switched over to google reader. I absolutely love it. As some of my other classmates have stated, it is very easy to read and navigate through. I also liked the layout of the page and the option to subscribe to feeds in bundles. Since I opted to use this service, I signed up for more than four feeds. I will just mention a few.

Technology

http://www.techcrunch.com

http://www.slashdot.com

http://www.digg.com

I thought it was important to stay abreast of all of the changes in technology and current trends. That is the reason I chose the above blogs.

Sports

http://www.deadspin.com

http://www.espn.com

http://www.si.com

http://www.sportsbusinessnews.com

I work at a sports station and I think it’s important in my job to know sports and be aware of what’s making headlines in that field. Okay, and yes, I am a huge sports fan. Go Pats!

News

http://www.google.com

http://www.cnn.com

http://www.perezhilton.com

These are kind of self-explanatory except for the last one. I wanted to be able to know what’s going on in the world and keep up to date with breaking news. Perez hilton is my guilty pleasure. I enjoy reading the gossip so I had to add that one on there.

I just wanted to thank everyone for listening and being involved in our discussion last week. I was a little nervous about presenting in front of 24 people but I appreciate the comments made and questions raised.

Have a good week everyone.

Hi all,

My name is Candice Manning and I’m -cough 31-cough. . I’m having a hard time with the age thing. I usually look forward to my birthday every year but September can come and go and I’ll be alright with that.

I got my bachelor’s degree from Northeastern University in Boston. My major was Communications with a concentration in Radio and Television. My minor was Human Services. I started at ESPN right after graduation. I work in the Commercial Operations department. We are in charge of all of the commercials that air domestically and internationally on all of the different networks.  I work with an extremely talented and hard working group and feel fortunate to be able to call most of my co-workers, my second family.

This is my second semester at Quinnipiac University. I am excited about the program and looking forward to expanding my knowledge about the communications field. 

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