My Blogging Experience

My last blog !!! Well I don’t think it will be. I have really enjoyed writing these blogs. I found it really interesting and in a roundabout way it was a different form of education and a different way to learn. What I mean by that is I found that I read a lot more around the topics because I did not what to post something online that was incorrect.

I think that I will continue to write the blogs. It doesn’t bother me who reads the blogs (if anyone) or if they disagree with my opinion because as I said I found that it does benefit my learning.

 I have become more aware of other peoples blogs and have been reading them. Admittedly they all seem to be about beauty products and peoples experiences with different products.

The only recommendation I would have for next year’s group is that I think they should be given a topic to write about once week, starting from the beginning of the semester. The reason for this recommendation is that I truly believe it would have been nice to spend more time on writing these.

I am sure I can speak for all my classmates when I say the blogs may have gone on the back burner because of other assignment but if we had to have something posted every Monday morning then I believe that we would all be professional blogger at this stage  :P

The link I have attached really sums up blogging for me in 90 seconds.

Seth Godin & Tom Peters On Blogging

My Topic Choice : Cyberbullying

I gave a lot of thought of what to write about for this blog. I decided in the end to talk about something which is happening every day and which will probably increase sadly if not dealt with. We all know that the internet is a gift and is there for all of us to learn and to communicate but some people do use the internet to harass and pursue others. I am talking about cyber bullying.

Any kind of bullying is obviously horrible and evil but cyber bullying seems to be relentless as it can be 24/7 and can come from a number of individuals who use their mobiles technologies. But these online bullies can remain anonymous. They may never be found out because they can block mobile numbers and IP numbers.

Research conducted by the Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology, showed that 6.3% of Irish children have been bullied ‘once or twice’, in the past 2-3 months and 5.5% have been bullied at least once a week. This is a shocking statistic.

I recently heard of a new malicious craze going across the internet. It is called ‘Trolls’. These are people who surf the internet to intentionally provoke others. They enter forums and write comments to annoy and they find websites that are set up in memory of the loved one that passed away and hack the site to de-face photos are comments.

I think social media platforms need to learn to monitor negative comments more and combat this.

The bullies need to learn that all their actions have consequences and the ones being bullied need talk about their treatment and realize that it is not ok.

Below I have attached a link to a website watch campaigns to stop cyber bullying and we all need to be involved so things do not get any worse.

http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/

This link will take you to the article about the research conducted into cyber bullying.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/cyber-bullies-using-social-network-sites-104962.html#ixzz1tkfq4zav

Mobile Commerce

The development in mobile technologies such as 1G to 4G (which refers to the speed) allows for a wireless revolution. They are created for people on the go and the social media enthusiast. They provide high speed wireless access to the internet.

Businesses are using wireless more and more as it cuts costs because organised do not need to wire offices, saves time if they had to move, increases flexibility because you will always be able to connect them and allows businesses to create new products and services as they can purchase and sell online.

Research conducted by the International Telecommunications Union showed that there are more mobile phone subscribers than those with a fixed landline. I think that because of the amount of competition out there businesses need to be up to date and need to be able to stay in connect with customers, potential customers, suppliers and colleagues. Mobiles are filled with so many features which mean businesses can operate from a mobile platform and allows for mobile commerce.

Obviously mobile refers to anything that is moveable so this includes laptops and iPads also but I think they a mobile phone is the most popular choice because of all the features for people on the go and because it is easy to carry and operate.   

Total Media Exposure

Thinking about this blog just made me realize how much media exposure I subject myself to. I thought that I was exposed to the average amount of internet and other media. HOWEVER it would appear that Niamh Pentony has got a little problem with the internet.

Based across two days I noted that I go to the internet to search for jobs, news and article instead of the traditional newspaper. I think everyone is exposed to so much more because the internet is so handy and because it is accessible information can be updated in a second where as a newspaper or article is immediately out of date after a couple of days.

I would listen to the radio every morning and every time I am in the car but I realize that even the radio station is directing me back to the internet. Yes I can text in and have my say or request a song but they tell us to go and check out their Facebook page or to follow them on Twitter.

I am by no means knocking the internet, I love it!! But it is just making me think what did we ever do before it??

Hmmm I dont seem to be able to put in my pie chart in here. So anyways Ill just tell you.

Broken down I think my exposure is

Internet 35%

Radio 14%

Newpaper 14%

Nothing 37%

.......hmm yes issues. think I need to get a life ha

Assignment Overview- The Glencarn

The Glencarn Hotel is situated in Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan along the Dublin Road and just minutes walk from the town centre. It is conveniently located mere minutes from Concra Wood Golf club, one of the newest and best designed golf courses in the country. It is situated close to Lough Muckno which is renowned for its fishing; the lake is situated by Black and White Islands which have enjoyable walking tracks for nature lovers. It has two function rooms that can cater for events from 50 to 500 people. As a result of these features we decided that the hotels main target market is golf tours, leisure breaks and weddings.

We chose the Glencarn because it has been in the area for 25 years but does not use its full potential to generate business.

Our aims were to

§  To create a one voice, one look brand image for The Glencarn Hotel

§  To create top of mind awareness in the minds of the local leisure market, potential wedding clients and golf enthusiasts internationally

In the assignment we wanted the hotel to rebrand itself offline and online by using the SOSTAC model and CBBE model. Through these processes the hotel should have a fully integrated marketing plan.

We want them to update the website, use social media such as Facebook and Twitter. This way they can fully communicate with the proposed target market. We should monitor Google ad words and try A&B testing.  

For offline it is extremely important that all the printed documents are integrated with the information that will be online and should have the slogan and logo on them. All the employees should be seen as an internal customer and should be suited in matching uniforms and fully informed on all the information online and offline.

For a more in depth marketing plan please refer to our assignment and prezi.

I have attached the link to hotels website at the moment. Very dull and boring.

http://www.theglencarnhotel.ie/Home 

My Topic Choice - Nokia 3310 to iPhone!

I saw a photo on Facebook the other day that made me think about writing this blog. The photo was of an iPhone and a Nokia 3310. The capture underneath said that if you drop the iPhone on the floor you smash the screen, but if you drop the Nokia 3310 you smash the floor!

I remember clearly getting my first mobile phone which happened to be the solid Nokia 3310. It was the must have phone at the time and I thought that it was the be all and end all!! I was 13 and loved nothing more than downloading ring tones from TV ads! Can you imagine that… paying for music!! I also was a champion at playing the world’s greatest game, Snake.

But soon mobiles started to change. The tones got better, you had a little built in camera, then a little radio and then the biggest development ever…. The decline of talking and the rapid use of those little digitals we call thumbs which aided us with texting! I would also like to mention the changeable covers!!! You could a different one for every day of the week!

But we have come a long long way in a very short space of time. We have Apple to thank for that. They gave the world the iPhone. It is so much more than a phone; in fact the ability to make calls on it is a bonus. It’s a phone that can answer any question, it can save your music, organise your own life in fact. As I said it’s much more than a phone, it’s more like a handheld device that we can use to get in connect with people all over the world without a delay. This is because of apps like Facebook, Twitter and the fact that it has the internet on it altogether. There is an app out there for everyone. Angry birds, heart monitor, and guess what my latest app is..??.... SNAKE!!! I have so happy when I found it! But it did make me think.

Are we ever going to be ‘apped’ out? Maybe things were better when the device was simpler. I watched an interview on the TV this morning with a mobile phone developer and a designer. When the video makes it to YouTube I will upload it to this blog. (YouTube now there is another topic, the ability to find a video on any subject we can think of) The interview was about the latest mobile that these two men were developing. A phone for a very small market it must be said, but a market none the less. The phones we made out of gold and silver and are priced between €9000 and €7000. They will have no apps, no camera, no nothing!! It just has the ability to make and receive calls. The way they plan on marketing the phone is that it will never break and that you will never need to buy another phone because you won’t be disappointed with the product.

We will have to see if the no app phone does take off in this fast paced world of gadgets and technology.

Technology Fast

Thank God that is over. Back to technology and what have I missed?? I did the fast along with my 13 year old cousin Evan, whose phone is permanently attached to his hand. If it’s not texting then it’s Facebook. I’m always saying to him he spends too much time on it. So I proposed that we go cold turkey for TWO DAYS. He agreed to my shock. So before we started we needed to get all our (his) affairs in order, aka where and when he was going to meet his friends (important)

Over the two days I stayed really busy so I wouldn’t have time to text or ‘stalk’ on Facebook. So it wasn’t too bad for me. But poor Evan thought he had lost a limb. The nights were the worst. (drama) When the two days finished and we put our phones back on what was I met with….. Evan 30 call me’s, Niamh……..0!!