Tailored Blazers and Skinny Jeans http://blazersandjeans.posterous.com Sensemaking in the world where I speak of amounts of money I don't necessarily have (yet) posterous.com Sat, 06 Nov 2010 22:25:00 -0700 Personal Evolution of Selling http://blazersandjeans.posterous.com/personal-evolution-of-selling http://blazersandjeans.posterous.com/personal-evolution-of-selling

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This article brought back a lot of my childhood memories related to selling: http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/25-self-made-teenage-millionaires-have-these-7-things-in-common-535576.html?tickers=^ixic,qqqq,spy,^dji,^gspc

When I was in grade school, I sold stickers and school supplies to my classmates. When our class adviser asked us to bring floor wax and sand paper, I made sure to bring extras in case my classmates forgot to bring one. And they didn’t disappoint. I used to sell gummy candies as well! Potchi was such a hit when I was still in grade school. The best part is that the stuff that I brought would always be sold out!

When I was in high school, I sort of became the Natasha/Avon/MSE/Sundance lady whenever I’d bring catalogues and share it with my classmates in between classes. At the end of the day, I’d get their orders. After two to three days, I’d give their purchases to them and they’d pay me back. 20 percent commission for each purchase is not bad at all.

When I reached college, I stopped selling products and moved on to selling services. In my free time, my best friend and I would write articles about stuff we didn’t really know about—from credit cards to casinos, car insurances to finches. But all we had to do was research. And information came easy. 4-5 dollars for a 700-word article is fine, to think that we vomit all sorts of papers for our courses without getting paid for it.

So looking back, being a salesperson is not really a far-fetched idea for me. I’ve always done it, apparently. Now I wonder why I dreaded my final requirement in Home Economics back in high school when my teacher required us to develop a feasibility study for a business we’d like to pursue in the future.

I’ve had it in me. I have it in me. I just have to dig deeper. 

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Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:47:00 -0700 OrCom Students in a Wiki World http://blazersandjeans.posterous.com/2009/10/05/orcom-students-in-a-wiki-world http://blazersandjeans.posterous.com/2009/10/05/orcom-students-in-a-wiki-world

In my recent post about The Third Place I talked about how we, Organizational Communication students, are involved with a lot of online collaboration activities; hence, the need for WiFi. In this post, I'll be telling you how exactly we collaborated for one project.

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The above photo tells a lot about our group meeting habits. Yes we cannot meet without our gadgets. They’re practically THE STAPLE in every meeting. But there is more to what your eyes can see when you catch us in one of our third places. As Organizational Communication students, we learn a great deal in class about the different ways of collaborating online and how it is changing the way businesses and people do work. So we do not really need to look at each other straight in the eye just so we could come up with meaningful discussions. While preparing for the competition, we even talked via Google Chat and Twitter even when we were just a few meters apart. Online, there are also blogs that feature various online collaboration tools that groups can use for free. While class activities do not always require Organizational Communication students to collaborate online, we found the use of wikis particularly helpful when my team mates and I joined the 2009 PRSP Grand Prix. Here we decided to experiment with Springnote, as suggested by Alvina, since it is both free and user-friendly.

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How was it helpful? First, since we are a team of 7 people, it gets taxing to constantly email each other for updates our own research. Using online collaboration tools made the process easier for it allowed us to store all information in just one virtual container.

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Second, since the competition entailed some paper writing, we needed to ensure that each section of the paper that was assigned to us goes well with the other parts that the other members are working on. The collaborative and real time writing and editing functions of wikis allow us to cross check without any hassle.

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Third, since we can’t always expect our team to be complete during meetings and scheduled interviews, our notebook made it easier for the other team members to individually catch up without the need to bug other members on what transpired during the meeting. Of course this requires that someone in the group takes down notes in every meeting and patiently inputs it in the notebook so that the team members who weren't around can just take what happened from there.

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The calendar function of Springnote also allowed us to schedule meetings and interviews while being mindful of each others’ appointments.

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Overall, our first attempt at the Wiki World was a success albeit we encountered some password difficulties. And with more and frequent exposure to this and other kinds of online collaboration, I am sure that it won't be long before Organizational Communication students start taking the lead in incorporating this technology to the organizational processes of different companies in the Philippines. Ms. Ingrid Cudia, a BA Organizational Communication graduate, surely did well in incorporating the different ways of online collaboration in running Sieg Web Solutions. ** Team Gondo Gondo is a.k.a. Team Praxis

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Sun, 04 Oct 2009 03:58:00 -0700 Are you ready for Twitter? http://blazersandjeans.posterous.com/2009/10/04/are-you-ready-for-twitter http://blazersandjeans.posterous.com/2009/10/04/are-you-ready-for-twitter
Are you really ready for Twitter?

Your friends just signed up for Twitter. Since then, they started doing practically everything there--exchange gossips, share stories, links, and others and you feel left out most of the time. And now they are even following your favorite celeb hotties. So you go to Twitter.com and you click the Sign up now tab. If the above scenario seems familiar to you, then you are one of the many people (and even businesses!) who sign up for Twitter and other similar sites due to "fear factor" .

This is not good because maintaining an online account is like having a pet bird (lovebird, cockatoo, parrot, whatever!). You cannot just take one at home and expect it to  grow on its own.

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  • You can leave it once in a while but you definitely have to feed it (with your updates) or it will die.
  • It won't bug you if you haven't fed it for days, but it will surely die a slow and sad death.
  • If you want it to be healthy, you have to feed it well (with quality, relevant, and useful updates).

This is why even when all your friends have their own pets already, you can't just dive into the same thing just so you can relate. You need something more than peer pressure for you to sustain whatever online account that you will start. So here's a rundown of things that you need to ask if you are in doubt about signing up for Twitter:

1. Do you have a lot of useful information to share to the world?

2. Are the people you want to share those information with on Twitter?

3. Are the people in #2 unreachable in other platforms (like IM, Gtalk, or Facebook)?

4. Do you really want the world to share what you are doing every time (even where your location is) to quite a number of people?

5. Do you really want to know about what other people are doing/up to in real time (as they update)?

6. Do you have a big, diverse, and scattered network such that friends from the same group/organization/school/company cannot be reached in the same site?

7. Do you want to establish your online presence in different platforms as a way of building and maintaining your online reputation?

8. Are you open minded and can you take comments or criticisms lightly and positively?

9. Are you capable of dropping constructive comments to other people as well?

10. Do you know how to manage your time well?

If you answered mostly yes, then go ahead and click here to sign up. I am almost sure that Twitter will be of help to you.

If you answered mostly no, then your time is better off spent somewhere else. You surely don't need another distraction to keep you from finishing your tasks.

I hope you find the above list helpful. :)

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Wed, 09 Sep 2009 02:43:00 -0700 The Third Place http://blazersandjeans.posterous.com/2009/09/09/the-third-place http://blazersandjeans.posterous.com/2009/09/09/the-third-place
The Third Place
It's currently 10:23 in the morning and I'm making this blog at Mrs. Fields, while eating some banana bread and cheese roll alternately, sipping some Raspberry and Echinacea tea, playing Somewhere Only We Know, checking my mail and periodically tweeting. 10:23am is 2.5 hours away from my 1pm class, but why exactly am I here when I could be doing this stuff at home?

I was reading Glenn Reynolds' An Army of Davids when I got inspired to write about the OrCom students' own third place.

Reynolds cited Ray Oldenburg's idea of a third place:
1. Free or inexpensive
2. Offers food and drink
3. Accessible
4. Draws enough people to feel social
5. Fosters easy conversation

But before I move on to my own idea of a third place, let me tackle what my first and second places are.
School: This is my supposed workplace, so to speak. But since we don't have our own classrooms in the University, I can't work there comfortably. The library (if you may call it a place to study/work) isn't very conducive after all. In my opinion, the criteria for a place to be considered conducive is different now. But our libraries, sad to say, are stuck with their own definitions from the past.
Home: I don't know if it's the television, my bed, or my parents, but really I can't seem to accomplish anything when I'm at home. As they say, work and life (home) can't mix. Need I say more? 

So I look for another place to do work; hence, the third place.

My idea of a Third Place, as an OrCom student, has a lot in similarity with that of Oldenburg's. But I will have to add more elements to make it fit.
1. Free WiFi
As a Net Gen-er, it is not impossible for me to hang out with my friends and class mates while working. All I need is White Winona (my 1005HA) and a WiFi connection and I'm all set. We collaborate (more about this on my next entry) online and that's why it topped my list.

Places with free WiFi: select areas within UP Manila CAS (DAC, CAS lib, RH 303, GAB 308), Mrs. Fields UN, MoMo, McDo UN, Starbucks Midtown, Baker's Passion, other food places in Midtown, White Berry (Bellagio Square) To get connected to the UPM WiFi, open the proxy settings (from your browser's internet options) and do the following:
  • Change address to proxy.upm.edu.ph
  • Change port to 3128
  • Check the box that says "Use a proxy server for your LAN"

2. Sockets

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We are not anymore in a generation where the only place you can work with those doc files at is at home, with that giant computer mounted on the wall next to the socket. Productivity and connectivity tools are way smaller now. And it follows that you can work at any place, provided it has a power supply. Going back, since I can't always expect all my group mates/friends own a net book with a good battery life (ie. enough to last an average 3 hour meeting), the absence or presence of sockets play a huge role when we choose a place to stay at.

Places with free sockets: KopiRoti (Adriatico), Starbucks UN, Mrs. Fields UN, MoMo, Starbucks Midtown, Burger King, White Berry (Bellagio Square), Kido Manga

3. Great ambiance

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Yes we are not easily contented. For a place to enter our list, it must have, at least, good seats, if not couches. Why is that so? At the very least, we spend 3 hours for a group meeting, add subtract an hour and a half for tweeting, chika, and other distractions that cannot be helped. That's why comfy chairs matter a lot to us. You can't expect us to conduct our meetings al fresco because we will melt, yes literally. Also, we want our places to have just the right amount of people = noise. A cramped place is a NO-NO!

Places with good-great ambiance: Mrs. Fields UN, Starbucks UN, KopiRoti (Adriatico), White Berry (Bellagio Square)

4. Reasonably priced drinks and food

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We love to eat. And we love to do it while working. But we also have our attempts at frugality, which is why you won't find us in places that sell a single serving dish for 200, unless the deal is really good (like in Mrs. Fields UN). If  I haven't made it clear, we can actually stay in a coffee shop forever (and by forever I mean the entire day). But the good thing is we are not the type who are gutsy to the point of staying without buying anything. We do buy, even impulsively at times. That's why reasonably priced drinks and food will totally do the trick. *We may have different standards on what is reasonably priced or not. For that, I shall not list anything here.

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5. Nice, accommodating staff

This need not be explicitly sought for. It's kinda more of a bonus, rather than a requirement. But this is one reason why my friends and I haven't been much to one bread place in Midtown--when the staff make you feel that you are being observed and they just want you to leave after making your purchase, you wouldn't wanna return in that place anymore, right?

* Not listing specific restaurants/places here too.

So those are my third places. What's yours?

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Sun, 26 Jul 2009 09:51:00 -0700 What Lies Beneath http://blazersandjeans.posterous.com/2009/07/26/what-lies-beneath http://blazersandjeans.posterous.com/2009/07/26/what-lies-beneath
Yesterday I managed to digest the fifth chapter of Cluetrain Manifesto entitled The Hyperlinked Organization. And I don't have to be a corporate king (or queen at that) in order to validate the points made by Weinberger. Whenever I go online (and that means everyday), I see that the Web is really just how it was described in this chapter--hyperlinked, decentralized, has the concept of hyper time, provides open access to everyone, contains rich data, sometimes broken, and borderless. But how exactly did those things transform the way companies do business? Let me share with you some of what I saw and what I thought about them.

1.Deception is an option (and you see it anywhere).

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I totally cannot imagine my friend Arvin making use of his time online playing Travian or Poker or what-have-you. So when I saw this thingy flashing somewhere at the top of my Facebook page, I was riveted. I had to confirm if this was true and I bet you know what he answered. On surface level, the purpose was to drive traffic at their site. Not totally evil. But if we look deeper, it actually illustrates how companies that utilize social media have discovered another way of customizing their messages in ways that will best attract their target market. At this point, maybe the thing that gave us away is the frequency of message exchanges between him and me. They managed to make wise use of the links that I have with people so they came up with this banner ad that was meant to deceive in the hope of compelling me to experience it too. It (and all the other similar ads) failed. Deception should not, at any rate, be the way to go for companies and for the people that comprise it. It is unethical and it can be annoying, especially when people find out that you have deceived them for your company’s self-serving purpose.

2. They talk to me (us).

These dialog boxes appeared when I re-launched the Firefox/Chrome window after I forced-close it when my laptop was running ultra slow.

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The messages, obviously, seemed like someone from the Internet is actually talking to me. But more than sheer repackaging, what can be their intention in opting for a softer, more human kind of approach than the bland, computer tone like “Window and tabs cannot be recovered?” By actually trying to appeal to a “human side” and admit that what was happening is something that is, uhm, embarrassing, it kind of softens the blow as it reach the person. So, when you are trying to upload a video and then the window closes down, the initial reaction is get pissed. But with such messages popping up, it is somewhat implied that they tried, but they failed. So maybe you can just forgive and forget. In the same way that the kind of message that was exchanged online has evolved—from highly confidential matters by the military to gossips going on in chat rooms—the way companies talk to us have differed. It is not always them in the serious tone. Rather, they try to appear human, imperfect and flawed. If you are a company who is too occupied with making sure that you sound oh-so-professional online [yawn yawn], perfect grammar, and brilliant formatting, in the light of attracting the right people, then you are mistaken. If no one has braved to tell you the truth, I will. You are boring, most likely. And if we find something boring, we will only click on any link in your site just to get you out of sight. Time, money, and effort not spent quite well, ain’t it?

The discussion on Hyperlinked Organizations provides a good framework on how companies of today should be conducting their businesses. Companies, in fact, are given the liberty to decide on how they plan to reorganize. There are no strict rules, but they have to make wise choices. The examples I mentioned above are not necessarily extremes, but they give an idea of how the web's characteristics can actually be used at your own call.

Disclaimer: I was not exhaustive in capturing all pages and sites possible so those that were mentioned here are just snippets of those that I happen to stumble upon lately.

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/839325/38101_1292706691358_1641002473_644131_4135599_n.jpg http://posterous.com/users/YXxlEyZZWJH Noemi Stephannie Almo jeansandblazers Noemi Stephannie Almo
Sat, 25 Jul 2009 14:54:00 -0700 I got overdosed. http://blazersandjeans.posterous.com/2009/07/25/i-got-overdosed http://blazersandjeans.posterous.com/2009/07/25/i-got-overdosed

HISTORY

  • I used to list down my agenda before I go to the Internet shop.
  • I didn't have my own internet connection until last semester.
  • I managed to be productive in an hour or so of staying in an Internet shop.

COMPLAINTS

  • Waiting in line in those computer shops again
  • My flash disk always getting infected by NewFolder.exe, Funny UST Scandal.exe, or ravmon.exe
  • Too limited time to work on my research or home works
  • No extra time for an online job, ergo, no chance to amass MONEY MONEY MONEY
  • Incomplete productivity

MEDICATION: Broadband installation at home

PSYCHOSOCIAL REACTIONS

1) I-can’t-work-with-all-these-distractions effect

Do not get me wrong. I do enjoy chatting with my friends because it actually de-stresses, not distracts, me. But the fact that the list of the things that you can do online is almost endless, my distractions also became endless. When a distraction is just a click away (or when it conveniently presents itself to you), how can you ever run away from it?

2. I-am-a-busy-bee-do-not-talk-to-me-world effect

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Whenever my mom sees all these opened windows in White Winona's desktop, she would often conclude that I am in engaged in an online meeting with my group mates and for that I must not be disturbed. Well for one, she is not always right. But I never bothered to correct her. And I bet I am not the only guilty person here. With all those must-be-explored sites, must-be-read contents, must-be-tried-apps, I can spend the entire day just tinkering with my laptop. I can also fool myself (and the people who look at my desktop) to believing that I am a master of productivity with all those sticky notes found all over my desktop. But the truth is they are just there and they can stay there for as long as they want. See the fall sense of busy-ness AND productivity there? So at the end of the day, I will be an exhausted person (with strained eyes, back, and neck) and unupdated daughter/sister/niece/granddaughter who, in fact, did not really learn much but gossips and did not really accomplish much but page-hop.

3. I-might-be-missing-out-on-something-somewhere effect

The idea that conversations done online serve to supplement (or complement) whatever talks I have (or just had) with my friends, my family, classmates, colleagues, and others face-to-face, I feel the need to be always visible. You know the feeling when it’s been 24 hours and you haven’t logged in any of your SNS or YM accounts, like you are missing half of your life by not doing so? So you make yourself accessible online, with an attempt to shun distracters by appending that Busy icon. Well obviously, you can't expect the trick to always work. And for fear that I'm  missing something online, I realized that there are far more important things in the REAL WORLD that I'm actually missing.

4. I-feel-like-saying-something-to-you-but-you-must-not-or-cannot-know-so-I-will-be-purposely-vague effect

Ironically, inasmuch as people are actually enjoying the idea of sharing bits of their lives (in their blogs, twits, shoutouts, statuses, etc) for the world to see, most of these I find superficial. If there were any that really mirrored what a person is going through (raw emotions and all that), the entry would be rather vague to protect some identities. I did that one too many times already. But while it can be therapeutic, it can actually feel pointless at times because at the end of it, you never really got your message across that person/thing/whatever. Apparently, the more freedom (and avenues) that I get to express what I feel/think/see, the more cautious I become, to the point of being ambiguous.

RECOMMENDATIONS

So how will a person like me combat all these seemingly negative effects of the medication that I thought will make me a healthy, productive individual? I will use two antidotes starting today.

  1. Create/Revive my personal dashboard (a really good prescription from barrycade). Selective exposure is totally the key because hyperlinks are obviously everywhere. To avoid being pointed to all those different (unnecessary) directions, I shall first expose myself to things that REALLY need my attention. This may seem too limiting but if I ever get idle, I would definitely love to explore sites outside my pseudo-bordered world.
  2. Stay invisible when I do not have any business online. Out of respect (if not need for gossip), I always entertain friends (not just random strangers) who talk to me online, but my work gets compromised. If someone really needs me, there are so many ways to contact me (leave an offline message, text, call, email) without me being pressured to set aside whatever tasks I have at hand.

Do you have any other recommendations?  

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Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:56:00 -0700 If I Were A Brand http://blazersandjeans.posterous.com/2009/07/24/if-i-were-a-brand http://blazersandjeans.posterous.com/2009/07/24/if-i-were-a-brand

What is my brand? What brand am I? I am not sure if these two are the same question only stated in different manner so by default I only need to provide just one answer. Just the same, I am still at the point of exploring the possibilities. I have been asking myself this question for days now after reading an article somewhere, discussing the importance of personal branding. And as barrycade would put it, there is a sea of penguins (out there in the Arctic!!) that is vying for readers’/clients’/customers’/employers’ attention. How can I possibly stick out? The potential of new media as an avenue to make yourself (or your brand) popular or accessible (at least), or to generate income, is just so overwhelming.

Two-pieced attempt

Blogging.

There is an array of platforms that you can use to host your blog. Some are free, but if you want to get premium features, you will have to pay for it. Now what exactly do you blog about? It can be anything that interests you, but make sure you retain a unique voice that will serve as your selling proposition because surely, someone out there is going to talk about the same thing that you are tackling. As for me, I only maintain this communication blog and another personal blog, making me a journal blogger (without any pressure at all). When you start writing for the money, investing on your domain, then it becomes a different issue.

Social networking sites (SNS).

As of now, I only have two social networking accounts—Facebook and Multiply—that I manage to update monthly, if not weekly. For other people, though, the frequency may be higher. Good for them. The fact that our connections define how well we get to fare in the business will see these networking sites as really helpful tools. These sites also serve to reinforce whatever it is that you blogged about. It can make you gain more readerships because options like linking your blog to your SNS accounts gives you more ways to direct people to where your humble abode is. As you go drafting your blog entries or creating your SNS accounts, I am sure you think about what image to portray exactly, what voice to use consistently. I find answering those questions difficult because it is very much like asking me to define myself right now (and I will have to stick with what I will be saying for the rest of my life).

Apparently, it is not anymore just the business of companies to create a good branding for their products in their attempt to generate good, stable shares. All of us who, in a way, are utilizing the Web is actually encouraged to have our own personal brand because it is the only way by which we can stick out. We have changing roles after all. Today we are mere consumers, tomorrow we are the dragon producers.

Why do I put a lot of pressure on it now? I came across a statistic lately that is quite daunting: Only 1 out of 100 Filipinos will become wealthy. So with so much people in the Philippines (and the world), all trying to max out the potentials of new social media, I should get going now in my attempt to live a comfortable life in the future. What better time to start than now? :-)

Selling Noemi Stephannie Guerrero

Do I have to sell myself? This question may seem odd but I think that yes, I have actually been doing it subconsciously.

1)      I recently created my Google profile so that people will find me easier; so that my future employer will find me and the things that are related to me easier. That way, I can also control the information that they will see initially. I tried googling my name and it annoys me that my communication blog is nowhere in the first three pages of search results. There are so much clutter that I need to exert conscious effort to actually optimize the results.

2)      I try to stick with just one username in the Web. It will probably take me some more time before I actually get to create a uniform identity online, but it is good to know that I am on my way there. I used to have just noemi717 as my username in any site. But now I am also ilovemobility, pearglace, noenoenoe, and guerreronoemi. Now who won’t get confused? In the same way that message consistency is a key to better communication, I think I will have to apply the same principle when establishing my identity. Good thing there are sites like Ping or HelloTxt, which can make updating all your SNS accounts a breeze, no matter how different your usernames may be. It goes without saying, then, that neither facelessness nor having multi-personality in the online world is something that should not be tolerated. If you want to enjoy the benefits and convenience that the new media can afford you, you will have to have that single branding that is unique to you. And with this, I return to the spirit of this entry. What brand am I exactly? Having a unique, recallable and single name does not suffice, I think. There is always more to the name after all. I guess I still need to figure out what that something is.

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Sun, 12 Jul 2009 14:07:00 -0700 But wait there's more! http://blazersandjeans.posterous.com/2009/07/12/but-wait-theres-more http://blazersandjeans.posterous.com/2009/07/12/but-wait-theres-more

One of the things that I never fail to remember when asked about my childhood is TV shopping. You may think those infomercials sucked, but my brother and I had a GREAT time just watching those people promote the products that claim to solve all our household worries--from peeling potatoes to cleaning that stubborn mess from a sofa set. They seem to have a solution to everything and that really riveted us. [gallery link="file"] What would always make us sad at the end of any day is the fact that all these things are just too expensive, especially for us kids who are only used to getting coins from the elders to put in our coin banks. Even when they end with the line "if you call right now, you can get all these for an incredibly low, low price of only two-thousand-nine-hundred-and-ninety-five-pesos", we know in our young hearts that we can't get hold of such wonderful treasures. Well, not just yet.

BRINGING IT DOWN TO A VERY LOW PRICE

Fast forward the scene 12 years and my childhood phase is over. I do not anymore watch those infomercials because 1) my issues are different now; 2) the things that can resolve my issues are also different now; and 3) the things that can resolve my issues found their abode at a new marketplace called the Internet.


More than that, the creators of these solutions that I need have made acquiring their products so easy that even grade school kiddos can do it on their own. In short, the changes in the needs or standards of the society have compelled, if not forced, me to open my doors in new ways of doing and resolving things. As for companies, what some of them do now is compromise. They make their products available on a demo mode (it is available for trial only for a limited time or there is a company watermark or logo on your final works, which is plain annoying) and rely on the event that the user will enjoy the product so he/she will purchase it no matter what the cost is. That seems to be a win-win situation for the company and the user. You test our product for a while and when it expires, you purchase the full version. Not quite.

ABSOLUTELY FREE

The problem with the previous scenario is that it is sometimes unlikely for a person to actually purchase the full version of a software when a similar software is also available online, which can do the same job absolutely free. And this really happens. The truth is when a company makes products that are way expensive for people to afford they will only jump to the next best option, whatever is free. And even when their second, third, fourth, or fifth options have some flaws, the fact that it is free sort of rationalizes why the rating is only 7 or 8 out of 10. This is not to say, though, that when things are free we should just take it as that, after all we didn’t pay for it. The action, which must actually come from organizations that create products or applications or those who render services, is to find acceptable areas for compromise. For one, they cannot anymore expect people to purchase their products by solely relying on such uncontrollable events. It follows, then, that there arises a need for them to find new ways of generating income.

Organizations have a responsibility to make peoples lives easier. So they must continue to provide the needs of the public without holding on to their creations too much to the point that no one outside the organization can utilize it anymore. Moreover, they should never give out half-baked benefits to people just because they are giving out their materials for free. Take note, people jump from one product to another like they would change channels when watching TV. Uninteresting show = limited products. This is when understanding the new business model becomes necessary.

IF YOU CALL RIGHT NOW

Some organizations outside the Philippines have already called in the idea of sharing, opening, peering, and acting globally. They are successful because they have capitalized on this new business model that requires more disclosure and less secrecy. Why do you think that even when there are groups who think that infomercials featured by TV shopping networks suck, it is still very much alive up to now? It’s because they tell you everything, even those half-truths or trivial stuff. And people like knowing what they are getting. They do not necessarily experience the products but as shown in TV the product actually works wonders. These companies who feature their products are not scared that their competitors might copy whatever they have and come up with something better because they know they have the advantage of offering it first and the power of being on air. Why do you think that the undying presence of infomercials does not necessarily translate to a skyrocketing audience response? It is because their tactics have not changed at all. They use rhetorics, though not so well, because what they only blab about are the supposed usefulness of stuff that they have invented, which people do not really find revolutionary because people already have some form of technology, though not as well-made as those endorsed products, but it works fine with them. And it is not even as expensive as what that pitchman is plugging.

THE MORE PART

These seemingly contradictory things have an implication to the practice of organizational communication in the Philippines. As OrCom practitioners, we do not want our organizations to call off any chance for success by creating an impenetrable wall around us. We also do not want our beloved organizations to be gathering dusts in the shelves.

This is why our responsibilities in the near future are greater than ever.

First, traditional organizations must be taught how to see the concept of disclosure at a different light. The changing business landscape may still be unknown to majority of Philippine organizations, save those who have counterparts in advanced countries. Hence, it is expected that OrCom practitioners lead the game by teaching them how the new business communication model is more beneficial than detrimental to them. All our publics—business partners, competitors, customers, and a lot of other institutions—influence the way we design and execute our final product. We cannot chose to just let one group in. Either we let all of them in or we block them all.

Secondly, practitioners must teach members of the organization how to make use of social media in ways that can benefit all parties. Conducting trainings, seminars, and workshops may help not only in establishing awareness of the dynamic rules of the game, but will also help them in leveraging whatever technology is available to them at present. In a country where the Internet is a tool that can help someone be productive in the same way that it can also be counterproductive, measures must be taken such that the Internet is used for maximum productivity, for the benefit of all.

So with all that's been said, I end with the magic phrase. Call right now!

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Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:05:00 -0700 On Internet Apocalypso http://blazersandjeans.posterous.com/2009/06/29/on-internet-apocalypso http://blazersandjeans.posterous.com/2009/06/29/on-internet-apocalypso

PERCEIVED INTENTIONS

A side tells me its bias is on the people outside the organization. The initial installment of the Cluetrain Manifesto treated top management as entities that are way too serious, if not extremely wanting, to control and exercise power over the organization and that is inherently bad. It talked about how managers should learn to shun being goal-oriented in place of playing in order to really connect with their market, comprising of their workers and the rest of the unique individuals on the Internet.

By revealing facts about how corporations are using or misusing the Internet, the people are empowered so that they will not fall too easily on the traps made for gullible consumers by advertisers and media buyers. It served as an eye opener so that they may realize how much their being a unique human is oftentimes forgotten by companies that are rather directed by their own selfish motives; hence, the rationale for them to speak up. The other side says it is to educate corporations. Though it may seem that corporations are defenseless looking at the revelations mentioned in the chapter, it still boiled down to the big idea of finding ways on how to attract the consumers of today given the changes in how people transact business, resulting from trends in the Internet usage. Corporations will not necessarily be kinder to their employees for the sake of being kind nor will they be more visible to their external public. Rather, it is another measure that they are taking in order to hit the consumer’s soft spot in product selection and buying. Whatever measure that may be…

  • allowing the external visitors to access some information from their Intranet;
  • setting up a real time technical support online;
  • opening up an online forum for the market to voice their concerns; or
  • allowing their janitors to author their corporate blog viewable by external people (and this was done in the Philippines already!);

…any top manager maintains the attribute of being goal oriented, with generating the highest possible profit as the ultimate goal. Imagine a top manager whose sight is not focused on reaching the goal. Where will ideas come from? He may not show direct interest in profit generation by disguising it as his desire for promotion; in any case it is partly contingent on the amount of money that they bring to the organization. They will only differ, then, on the creativity that they will employ in the process. After all, being goal oriented and playing (in the context provided by the Manifesto) are not mutually exclusive.

PERSONAL INCLINATION

I found it quite paradoxical for the author to actually talk about conditions where organizations can amass consumer purchases, which is by allowing people in organizations to play and connect to those outside the organization. This was after he mentioned on a negative note about how people are merely treated as units in a demographic survey, eventually being readied for advertisers. The stand is not clear. Or it is perhaps just peculiar in the sense that all he wanted was for companies and consumers to not take commerce to heart. Life, he said, must not be all about buying and selling, producing and owning. It is not business that should dominate the lives of the people; instead, it should be something else, something bigger, something more special—like personalized communication. Truth is some people will still have the same role as consumers, which can also be owed to the fact that in the business ecology, there will always be consumers and there will always be producers. It is the order of life and if one wants to change roles, from consumers to owners of the means and modes of production, then reading this chapter and incorporating it into his business may help him succeed. In that case, the Manifesto taught corporations, or corporate gods and goddesses wannabes, how they can leverage the Internet technology, albeit in a subtle way. The advent of the Internet brought to people opportunities to be heard of in ways that was rather not possible before. And it even required revamping of the previously held beliefs of organizations in the aspects of management and control in the new workplace, as well as rules in conducting business in the new marketplace. Power and control derived from information is also more decentralized than ever. Yet, all these do not preclude the fact that the present culture on Internet use made sustaining commerce an even more attractive endeavor, with all the creative, interactive acts that can be tried, instead of fully shifting people’s mindsets.

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Sun, 28 Jun 2009 05:24:00 -0700 Even Lola Has Her Facebook Account http://blazersandjeans.posterous.com/2009/06/28/even-lola-has-her-facebook-account http://blazersandjeans.posterous.com/2009/06/28/even-lola-has-her-facebook-account

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nyc2eb_mN5M]

This TVC made for Bayan DSL summarizes what my thoughts are about the evolution of communication. One of the ideas raised in class last week was that communication evolves with people. Hence, it entails that people must evolve with communication, too. What then are the implications of that?


TECHNICAL SKILLS

The new tools for communication require technical skills that may not have been known to many, say, ten years ago. Meaning, whatever working knowledge people may have then as regards communicating may be inadequate if they are to rely solely on that at present. While reading the newspaper is not a skill too difficult to learn then, new ways of retrieving news is available now. And it is even cheaper, if not free. With that, today's communication graduates must be able to bring into the workplace just the right amount of change or development in terms of incorporating interactive and social media skills to the org culture. We do not want to culture shock anyone nor do we want them to be stuck at where they are forever. The challenge to them (or to us) is how to encourage technophobes, which are typical in traditional or highly bureaucratic organizations, to welcome those new ways of doing things. This is not to say that they will not progress if they are to completely shut their doors from this evolution. Only, their chances are slimmer as compared with those more open to it. Teaching them how to unlearn their fears is a prerequisite because as it is, there is no stopping this evolution and the only way to go is FORWARD and UP. Lola Techie above is a good example o f how baby boomers can actually break out of the box in order to meet the changing demands of staying connected by communicating.

FILTERING

With the cost of communicating getting cheaper by the day, more and more advertisers and publishers, whether large-, medium-, or small-scale, are able to access the sea of audience that there is. That translates to more ads, more displays, more information being slapped onto our faces every waking day at every avenue possible. With that it becomes crucial for us to be critical of whatever information is being presented to us. We know for a fact that every initiative, big or small, undertaken by these publishers is meant to generate profit. The task of advancing mankind's knowledge or welfare only comes in secondary. So this becomes a matter of knowing what the possible options are, learning the skills required by these options, and wisely utilizing these new communication options.

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