In Marketing Week this week, Mark Ritson, who is an Associate Professor of Marketing, writes about country branding. His take on it is summarized in the headline of his article “Countries are countries, not brands.”
Written in reaction to South Africa’s preparation for the FIFA World Cup, the article not only looks down upon the country for trying to build a stronger country brand with this opportunity, but other nations who have viewed themselves as a brand and the branding agencies that were hired by them to do it. Continue Reading…
Posted 1 year, 9 months ago at 4:03 pm. Add a comment
Talk about checks and balances…and Open Government, for that matter.
Google Inc., which has been in the news for quite a few censorship and government scandals recently, has launched an online tool which tracks government requests to remove content or reveal personal information about users. While they aren’t turning down governments for some of these requests, they are making that information publicly available, which is a pretty cool check on government, even if it only shares the numbers and not details about the specific requests. They do, however, list out if requests were fully or partially complied with, whether there was a court order, and what kinds of requests they were, such as “blogger,” “Google Video,” or anything else under the sun really. Continue Reading…
Posted 1 year, 9 months ago at 4:49 pm. Add a comment
So Hugo Chavez has been out threatening to start his own blog, saying he will build his “own trench on the Internet” to fight against the oh so evil Venezuelan activist Twitter users. How dare they tweet? “Tweeting” may be a potty word in Venezuela, but to me it just echoes of the good ol’ days of Looney Tunes…
When I started my blog (or many numerous blogs), I didn’t realize I was building trenches a la Don Draper in the Korean War, but thanks to Mr. Chavez, I now know that I am sitting here and fighting all my own little wars with the magical powers of my sword-like pen or keyboard and firing with the words of each blog post.
Now I feel much more powerful.
Continue Reading…
Posted 1 year, 10 months ago at 5:18 pm. Add a comment
While it may be presumptuous to refer to myself as a “great mind,” I have never really had any qualms about my freakishly healthy ego. That said, there are two articles these I read recently and very much enjoyed that highlight the very importance of what I have been writing about here.
Diplomacy 2.0 by Kenneth Weisbrode, The Guardian
Favorite quote:
“When, after the first world war, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the advent of the so-called New Diplomacy, whereby secrecy and the balance of power would be replaced by open covenants and collective security, many people regarded such things as the dreams of an idealist preacher.”
Continue Reading…
Posted 1 year, 10 months ago at 1:50 pm. Add a comment
Almost two months ago, I vowed to start writing about my interest in the intersection of culture, world politics and social media. Then, life took over, and I have been a major failure at that since. Now that I have returned from a wonderful trip to my beloved East Coast, I am back in action…
Continue Reading…
Posted 1 year, 10 months ago at 5:21 pm. Add a comment
My previous post was about how Tom Brokaw, the man that described America’s “Greatest Generation,” which came of age during the Great Depression, fought World War II and rebuilt America.
Today, I want to talk about a new generation of people. Our generation is coming of age in “The Great Recession.” Continue Reading…
Posted 2 years ago at 12:06 pm. Add a comment
Recently, a friend of mine sent me a commencement speech Tom Brokaw made last year (2009) at William and Mary, which he, coincidentally, made on the exact same day as my graduation.
I like the general concept of commencement speeches – they are always so quotable, probably because they are meant to inspire people who are facing the daunting phenomenon called “the real world,” which Brokaw jokes, “was junior high”. Continue Reading…
Posted 2 years ago at 4:02 pm. Add a comment
Apparently, I just really like interviewing inspiring women. Or, it’s possible that I just like talking to people who I think are interesting.
Either way, here’s my most recent blog post for University Chic: an interview with Marian Schembari for the Women Who Lead section:
Women Who Lead: Marian Schembari (January 2010)
A little preview: Marian, another recent grad, bought a Facebook ad during her job search…Enjoy! Once again, I appreciate any feedback!
Posted 2 years ago at 10:10 am. Add a comment
Take a look at my most recent blog post for University Chic: an interview with Debra Shigley for the Women Who Lead section:
Women Who Lead: Debra Shigley (January 2010)
Enjoy! Appreciate any feedback!
Posted 2 years ago at 4:21 pm. Add a comment
Today, the MySpace Journal Winner was announced. Unfortunately, I did not win, but congratulations to Sloane Berrent, this year’s winner! It is an important endeavor for citizen journalists to voice their opinions at such a significant international event.
Although I did not win, I would like to thank you all for your support and votes!
I appreciate all of your efforts to help me win this contest and your words of encouragement. Despite the disappointment, I will, nevertheless, continue to follow the proceedings of the 40th Annual Meeting in Davos very closely, and I suggest you do the same. Here is the website: http://www.weforum.org/en/events/AnnualMeeting2010/index.htm
In addition, I will continue to seek out opportunities like this to to excel as a journalist and to contribute to the global conversation.
Thank you again for your support!
Posted 2 years ago at 4:03 pm. Add a comment
