Michael Allison's Blog

Month: September, 2009

Re-purposing Content for 'The Blog'

Since I’ve started work, I’ve naturally been working. Which doesn’t mean I see myself as too special to update ‘the blog’, but it’s a matter of priorities.

I still have one more interview with Professor Gilbert Vanburen Wilkes IV, but until I get around to putting it up, here is photo content I post on a regular basis elsewhere. I re-purpose it here, for you, reader(s). And you may or may not care on a sliding scale from ‘not much’ to ‘what a waste’. They are Twitpics from my sometimes-impulsive sometimes-planned picture taking.

2010 Winter Olympic Count-Down Clock

2010 Winter Olympic Count-Down Clock

Someone May Be Searching For This

Someone May Be Searching For This

View From The Office

View From The Office

Victorias Masonic Lodge

Victoria's Masonic Lodge

The Breakwater in Victoria BC

The Breakwater in Victoria BC

Summer Reading

Summer Reading

All photos under some form of Creative Commons License.

No Comments by Michael on September 23, 2009
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Back to Work

Just a quick note to say I’m back to work! After eight months and eight days of freelancing, hunting down projects and writing up a storm on my own, I’ve been hired by Wilcox Group in Vancouver. I start Wednesday.

I’m humbled to have been chosen by such a stellar company with an impeccable reputation and am equally as excited to be working with what I hear is a superior team.

You couldn’t have wiped the smile off my face last month when I was offered the job. I’m happy to be back in Vancouver. I’m happy to be back in the full-time workforce.

And to those still “doing your thing” (a euphemism offered by one of my freelance clients), all I can propose is when things get dark, and it feels like there’s a black hole in your chest that sucks a little bit from every breath you take, don’t give up. Just don’t.

3 Comments by Michael on September 14, 2009
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Interview with Professor Wilkes from RRU Part 3 of 4

In part 3 of my interview, I ask Wilkes about politics and social media. He discusses Sarah Palin’s use of Facebook, and Obama’s leveraging of social media for his Presidential campaign.

Wilkes also offers his analysis of #HST on Twitter and the grassroots organization around the issue of Harmonized Sales Tax in BC.

About the interview subject:

During my Master’s degree in professional communication at Royal Roads University, I took a course called Human-Computer Interaction. To make a long story short, it’s what got me involved in the systematic exploration and use of social media.

On August 26, 2009, I sat down with my professor from that course, Gilbert Vanburen Wilkes IV, PhD. He is an Assistant Professor in RRU’s School of Communication and Culture and Program Head for the BA in Professional Communication. He holds a BA in English Literature from Butler University in Indianapolis, IN; an MA in English with a concentration in Rhetoric from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA; and a PhD in Rhetoric also from Carnegie Mellon.

You can follow him on Twitter (@casuist) or read his blog, liber.rhetoricae.

Look for part four in the series next week.

No Comments by Michael on September 10, 2009
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Interview with Professor Wilkes from RRU Part 2 of 4

In part 2 of my interview with Royal Roads Assistant Professor Gilbert Vanburen Wilkes IV, I ask about the social media courses he teaches.

Wilkes teaches a hands-on digital communications class requiring learners to reproduce the role of an online community manager. They must to maintain a community and develop metrics to monitor their performance as well as that of their communities. They must cultivate and hold an audience:

1. Develop a personal manifesto, creating a research trajectory

2. Use tagging engines to discover content

3. Evaluate the quality of findings using  BlogPulse, Google Analytics and PostRank

4. Sort and share the information in a way that provides value to followers.

Wilkes says that developing problem solving skills are key to success in this area. Learners must analyze and diagnose problems on the fly in order to manage communities.

He also teaches a rhetoric class whereby learners must organize a messaging campaign for a social media environment. They must develop a communications plan consistent with how social media operates and use performance metrics consistent with their audience.

About the interview subject:

During my Master’s degree in professional communication at Royal Roads University, I took a course called Human-Computer Interaction. To make a long story short, it’s what got me involved in the systematic exploration and use of social media.

On August 26, 2009, I sat down with my professor from that course, Gilbert Vanburen Wilkes IV, PhD. He is an Assistant Professor in RRU’s School of Communication and Culture and Program Head for the BA in Professional Communication. He holds a BA in English Literature from Butler University in Indianapolis, IN; an MA in English with a concentration in Rhetoric from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA; and a PhD in Rhetoric also from Carnegie Mellon.

You can follow him on Twitter (@casuist) or read his blog, liber.rhetoricae.

Look for part three in the series next week.

No Comments by Michael on September 2, 2009
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