Secret Word

Week 9 EOC: Conventions for the Audio Industry

There are numerous conventions out there for the audio industry, which makes sense because audio deals with sound and sound is all around us. One of the biggest conventions for the audio industry would be the NAB show (http://www.nabshow.com/). The show brings all parts of the audio industry together under one roof to provide one insane trade show to show off the latest and greatest audio technology. "Attendees representing every sector of the industry will be there. Broadcast, Digital Media, Film, Entertainment, Telecom, Post-Production, Education, Houses of Worship, Advertising, Military/Government, Retail, Security, Sports, IT and more converge in Las Vegas for six days to feed the need of next-generation content (http://www.nabshow.com/attend/show-overview)." Another convention for the audio industry is The NAMM Show 2015 (http://www.namm.org/thenammshow/2015). At this convention it "is your chance to build your company's brand and reach the most important music products buyers and decision makers in the world. (http://www.namm.org/thenammshow/2015)." It mostly deals with the music side of the audio industry. What makes this a big convention is that it is the first one of the year starting in January. The Audio Engineering Society also holds conventions across the world (http://www.aes.org/). The Audio Engineering Society is a group of dedicated audio engineers that hold conferences to introduce new studies and give out knowledge of the ever changing audio industry. The international consumer electronics show is another convention held in Las Vegas. CES, "howcases more than 3,500 exhibitors, including manufacturers, developers and suppliers of consumer technology hardware, content, technology delivery systems and more; a conference programwith 250 sessions; and more than 150,000 attendees from more than 140 countries (http://www.cesweb.org/about-us)." Cedia Expo is another audio industry convention located in Dallas, TX (http://expo.cedia.net/why-cedia-expo/why-attend). At Cedia Expo they offer a wide variety things like, "The chance to explore hundreds of new audio, video, control, networking, and lighting products and meet with manufacturers, opportunity to update and/or receive new certifications, Advanced training on systems integration and networking, training that provides executable result, exposure to groundbreaking new product launches, connections to thousands of like-minded peers ready to talk shop and much more (http://expo.cedia.net/why-cedia-expo/why-attend)." These are just some of the conventions that they hold for the professional audio industry that people can attend.

Week 7 EOC: LinkedIn

The social networking site LinkedIn is a way for small business owners to help expand their company by "linking" up with potential employees. LinkedIn can be considered the professional side of social networking. As a user of LinkedIn, you can join different groups of interest to keep up with the latest updates in the industry/area of interest. Most of the news coming from these groups are from the companies themselves and as a user you are able to join threads and have discussions with other professionals in the industry of your choice. There is a lot of opportunity to connect with others in your area of interest through this social networking site. LinkedIn is also free; so what they give you access to can help businesses find potential employees, help people connect with other professionals in their area of industry, and keeps people up-to-date with the latest news of the biggest companies in their field. As good as that may sound to a lot of people, LinkedIn has a lot of other problematic things especially with the spamming. Here are some Pros of the social networking site, "Keeping up on the news- Users can access LinkedIn Today which organizes content from the web and categorizes it into certain industries. It can be a useful source for keeping up to date on topics in your field such as social media or marketing(https://sites.google.com/site/linkedintheprofessionalnetwork/home/pros-cons)." This is highly valuable to everyone because it keeps them up-to-date in the industry of their choice. "LinkedIn has the potential to help people move up in a job industry or potentially change careers (http://www.indianapolisrecorder.com/business/article_018e1ab4-0e5f-11e2-843b-0019bb2963f4.html)." This is another Pro of the social networking site LinkedIn, it has a lot of power to connect you with people within your industry leading to life changing careers and being able to move up in your field of choice. "anyone can search, find, and read the posts that you've written without being a connection.(http://socialmouths.com/blog/2014/03/11/linkedin-publishing-platform/)."This allows for people outside your network to see what you post which allows unlimited connection power between people. Now here are 3 cons of LinkedIn, "Spam- Spam always finds its way into social media sites and although can be filtered out, it is sometimes difficult to prevent it completely (https://sites.google.com/site/linkedintheprofessionalnetwork/home/pros-cons)." Just like any other social networking site, spam is inevitable and their is quite a bit on LinkedIn. "LinkedIn paid subscription is quite expensive and may not be affordable to small business owners (http://www.corpmagazine.com/technology/digital/the-pros-and-cons-of-linkedin-for-a-business/)."  Another down side to LinkedIn is that in order to get the full experience of LinkedIn you need to pay for all the extra features. "LinkedIn’s “request to be linked” process is cumbersome and not as real-time as a connection request on a Facebook Fan page or on Twitter (http://www.corpmagazine.com/technology/digital/the-pros-and-cons-of-linkedin-for-a-business/)." When you request to connect to someone it can take some time for that person to accept your connection and isn't as fast as people may want it to be. LinkedIn has some good strengths especially if your a small business that is starting out. You have a good amount of access to people who are in your industry. 

Week 6 EOC: Seduction of the Online Web Surfer

One thing that is very important to a student of the arts is an appealing website.  An appealing website just like anything else has certain characteristics that help make web surfers keep coming back for more. "A site must be visually appealing, polished and professional. Remember, it's reflecting your company, your products and your services. Your website may be the first, and only, impression a potential customer receives of your company. (http://www.spritzweb.com/resources/good-website-characteristics.html)." Your website ultimately represents you. The way it looks is definitely the major player in if people decide to come back to your website and ultimately decided if they want to invest their time and money into your skills of trade. I will definitely have my website looking clean, neat, and inviting. The color scheme will be easy on the eyes and everything will stand out, while navigation of the website will be very easy. "Content is king in the web world. People visit websites for the primary purpose of finding content, so make sure you deliver. Website content should be unique and up to date. Fresh content will keep visitors and search engines coming back for more. (http://www.successdesigns.net/articles/entry/characteristics-of-a-good-website)." Another way to capture the attention of online web surfers is to constantly update your website with fresh, new daily content. If you don't do this, then your web page becomes another cobweb and it won't attract new people to your website. One way to do this is to link your social media profiles that show up on your home page of your website. As long as it's relevant to your company and what you do, you should upload it to your website. People of the internet are always looking for new, fresh content.    

Week 5 EOC: How will you organize your job search time and follow up to get results?

In order to successfully get a job, you need to make time and follow up with companies you have applied for.

Week 4 EOC: Deeper Meaning of Devil Wears Prada

In the first 20 minutes of the movie, The Devil Wears Prada, it has deeper meaning of how to interview for a job and what you should and shouldn't do. Something that stood out in the movie was when the main character Andy was going in for her interview and she knew nothing of the company for the position she was applying to. "The more you learn about your callback company, the better you're going to feel walking in that door. Knowledge is power. Knowledge will make you more confident in your attitude and your answers. (http://resumebycprw.com/resume-articles/resume_a24.htm)." It is definitely worth to do the research of the company that you are applying for and what they are involved in. A company doesn't want to hire someone who doesn't know anything about them, but they want someone who knows something about their company. Another thing that stood out in the movie is that you need to dress appropriately for the company. If they dress a certain way or have a certain style, you should definitely try to dress accordingly. "Know the dress-code of the firm, and dress accordingly (http://blog.chegg.com/2014/03/05/the-things-you-need-to-do-before-an-interview/)." The main character Andy, did not dress up to fit the part of the company for the interview. As she walked through the building you can tell that she didn't fit in from the start and it showed. Some of the characters would talk about her and her clothes. She doesn't belong in the fashion world at all. During the Andy's interview, she is very soft-spoken and she seems to fluster with her words quite a bit. "Don't be soft-spoken. A forceful voice projects confidence (http://www.quintcareers.com/interviewing-dos-donts.html)." You need to be confident in the things you say in your interview. Andy is very honest in giving her answers, but there is a lack of confidence in her voice.

Week 3 EOC: Deeper Meaning of Swingers

The movie Swingers is a great metaphor to finding a job in any creative industry, well any job for that matter. "Networking is nothing more than getting to know people. Whether you realize it or not, you’re already networking every day and everywhere you go." (http://www.helpguide.org/articles/work-career/job-networking-tips.htm) They show this a lot in the movie Swingers, the group of friends go out to bars and strike up conversations with random people, they listen, learn and see what they can take away from the experience they have. Of course, there are certain do's and do not's of networking. It is a process that takes a little bit to learn and that is seen through the course of the movie that can be related to what Mike does throughout the movie. "Join trade groups in your niche and then look for events they’re hosting that you can attend. These offer the opportunity to network with people who speak your industry language." (http://guides.wsj.com/careers/how-to-identify-job-opportunities/how-to-network-your-way-to-a-job/) The way that this was portrayed in the movie was the main group of characters would go out to parties where they would meet different people in the industry. In order to get out there and make contacts is to go to different business conferences of your industry and get as many business cards from the different people you meet. "To be successful, you have to be able to relate to people; they have to be satisfied with your personality to be able to do business with you and to build a relationship with mutual trust." (https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140306190715-397562-my-10-favorite-quotes-about-networking) During this entire film, Mike the main character was having a hard time being able to relate to people, he just gave off this socially awkward vibe with everyone that he met. He lacked confidence even though his whole group of friends referred to him as being "money." The very last girl that Mike meets is a girl named Lorraine who turned out to be in the same boat as him, just got out of a long relationship and moved away from home to do bigger and better things. This movie was definitely interesting to watch while keeping the view of networking and job hunting.