two thousand fifteen

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Yes this is it the year we've all been waiting for, two thousand fifteen. The amazing thing about a new year is even without thinking each person unconsciously reinvents themselves or at least a part of themselves.

Allow me to reintroduce my self...

I started this blog as an assignment and I promised myself that I'd keep up with it even after the class is over...so much for that. The year 2014 was such a roller coaster ride. About a year ago today I was in my last semester of college only five classes away from receiving my degree. This time last year I was focused on my studies but also on my last year of undergrad. Ever since graduating high school in 2009, it felt as if I was standing in at the tallest thrill ride at an amusement park and it would take me 4 years (more like 5) to get to the front for my chance to ride. Upon entering 2014 I was ready! I had seen so many of my friends ride before me and I just couldn't wait for my turn. The first week of school I was ready, I had registered for all the correct classes, I was set with all of my clubs and programs and I had already planned my spring break ;). I set fourth with nothing but good intentions and hopeful expectations fore I had no idea what this ride had in store for me. "Please fasten your seat belts and keep you hand and feet inside at all times"

The ride took off immediately! Inching faster and faster into the sky--One things I know 2014 has taught me is that it okay to look forward to the future but if you don't take steps to plan for the future right now, you'll be disappointed at what your future may hold. I was so looking forward to graduation that I had no idea what I was going to do once I actually graduated. I know what want for my life career wise, or I at least have an idea but I had 4 months to figure out how I was going to start my post graduate career. I dove head first into conventions, and seminars, and conferences and career fairs for my field just so I can get some clarity on where I could start. I searched jobs and internships, meet and greets anything and everything I could to find someone, ANYONE who was going to hire me based off of my degree. As it turned out I was already behind--have you ever been on an old roller coaster and as it reaches its peak position it starts to slow down as if the chain is about to snap and send you plummeting backwards in the other direction...

Word of advice--Senior year is not the best time to start thinking about what your going to do after graduation. Those seeds must be planted at least in your Sophomore year if you want more than a fighting chance of getting any job remotely related to your field. (At least that's the way it is for #Media and #Communications)

With my heart in the pit of my stomach, I persevered. I continued to study for my classes, attend conferences and look for jobs and before I knew it, it was graduation day. April 26th 2014 at 2 p.m. I walked across the a stage to receive my Bachelors Degree in Mass Communications. FINALLY! The roller coaster peaks, the moment I have been waiting for. I would walk around with my head in the clouds taking in the height of that moment. Being the first person in my family to graduate from college and to top it all off I was even offered a job in my field.

The saying goes its all downhill from here, meaning that if a person is walking or riding a bike uphill once they reach the top going downhill will be easy because the hard parts over. But in my opinion going downhill is the beginning of the end.

Being offered what looks to be my dream job, weeks after graduating from college sent my roller coaster into an exhilarating downward dip with loops and turns. I was elated until I found out I would have to leave my hometown of Atlanta GA, but then  my coaster shot back up when I found out that I'd be moving to my birth place of St. Louis MO. So many mixed emotions joy, pain, nausea they were all there! I moved back to St.Louis to start my job on August 1st, 2014 and on August 12th 2014 a young man named #MichaelBrown was shot in #Ferguson MO less 20 minutes away from my house and on Christmas Eve 2014 another young man named #AntonioMartin was shot across the street from my sister's house, both unarmed, both shot by police and both black males.

Two thousand fourteen was a roller coaster ride, so much has happened. A young man I graduated high school with and who was very close to my family was murdered a week before my graduation and none of us could attend his memorial because it was on the day of my graduation. Exactly one week later my nephew was born. The year 2014 went by so quickly and I loved it, I also hated it but most importantly I learned from it. My lack of preparation for 2014 gave me clarity for 2015 and I refuse to be behind again.

I don't have a plan (because how often do those ever work out) but what I do have, more of, now is diligence. Care and persistent work or effort.

No matter what I find myself doing this year I will be diligent. 

Have a good week go fourth and #beDILIGENT

Consistency is KEY! How to remain current and consistent on social media

It seems like you cant go anywhere in today’s society without running into Beyonce, she’s on a variety of different television commercials, she always on the radio and she’s all over the internet! But no matter how you feel about Queen Bey and her artistic talents, you have to respect her business talent and marketing savvy.  Beyonce started her solo career with the challenge of leaving the already successful trio Destiny’s Child. After 16 years, five successful albums and one star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Beyonce had to prove that she was substantial without backup. With four successful albums Beyonce expresses that she’s officially found her sound in her self-titled fifth album.

An article on retrieved from TheGuardian.com; Luca Maione explains the importance of creating a consistent brand experience and what businesses can learn from the global icon. The unprecedented surprise release of “Beyonce” turned traditional social media as well as her fans, upside down selling 365,000 copies in the United States on its first day according to the NYTimes.com. Instead of promoting her album in the “traditional” way that has proved positive for her last four albums, Beyonce and her team decided to hold off on the slow single releases, television appearances and media interviews to surprise the world and her fans by releasing the album and all corresponding videos PLUS bonus videos all at once, according to INC.com. A short 16-second video posted to Instagram announcing the album and visuals with the caption “Surprise!”. An interview retrieved from NPR.com, listed all of the other female pop vocalists releasing albums the same year “Beyonce” was released including Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus who utilized traditional methods of marketing by releasing the single and making appearances to promote the album.

According to Forbes.com, Twitter reported 1.2 million tweets in twelve hours, before the media later amplified the story of the surprise album. In my opinion Beyonce started marketing herself as well as her surprise album years before the release. The buzz that would “traditionally” be generated by the TV interviews and appearances was replaced by months of self-promotion over social media that included photos and videos of hot Bey topics such as #tbt’s of young Beyonce, a peek into her family life as a wife and mother, past concerts and future appearances. Even though Beyonce’s album made the end of 2013 unforgettable for her fans, the beginning of the year was just as noteworthy, with her inaugural performance and corresponding controversy and who could forget her Pepsi Super Bowl performance that she began promoting via social media near the end of 2012, all kicking off her Ms. Carter World Tour.

Talk about great timing, just as one begins to forget the last amazing thing she did, Beyonce swiftly comes back to one up herself and that’s just great marketing. The key to Beyonce’s budding social media presence is consistency. Beyonce and her marketing team have developed a motif that is consistence across all of her social media platforms. From Facebook, to Twitter and Instagram, Beyonce maintains her fan base by keeping all posts concise and closely related.

For those interested in maintaining a consistent and prominent presence on their check out a couple screen casts that I have provided studying work of Beyonce's brilliant marketing team, and how to accomplish similar results. 

In the first screen cast I’ll narrate a tour exploring Beyonce’s social media presence on Facebook and Twitter.

>>

In the next screen cast I’ll walk you through setting up a Create Hootsuite Account, which is an app directory that can be used to stay consistent and current with your social media presence. With HootSuite users have the ability to post one message across multiple platforms.

A.   Set up an account

a.    HootSuite is a paid app so this step will not be included in the screen cast for privacy measures

B.   Pick which platforms you would like to utilize

a.    Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and Foursquare

b.    Log into your chosen platforms with your current login information

                                                       i.     No new sign up required for pre existing accounts

c.    Once the user has created a HootSuite account, they are now able to select which social media accounts they would like to ad.

d.    Once the sites the accounts have been added the user can now begin posting to each account all at once.

Beyonce’s social media presence is expanding with her ever expanding fan base and the future for social media and the music industry has forever changed. Now that Beyonce has somewhat branded the surprise album sneak attack as her own anti-marketing tactic, it is only a matter of time before another artist, director or producer tries their luck at going the same route. However if they do not successful at creating a consistent brand experience before hand, they may not be so lucky. TheGuardian.com

Fabulous Photography

Ever since my freshman year at Stillman College, in my very first photography class, I have been interested in photography. I was known around campus as “camera girl” because at each football game, basketball game, or campus event I could be spotted with my big Olympus camera taking pictures. I met a lot of people this way because I’d post the pictures on Facebook and people started seeking me out for pictures. After studying photography I began to do more than just take pictures, I began to learn photo editing and different forms of photography, and after making the transition to UWG, I continued to study as well as direct photography. I’ve conducted many photo shoots with several organizations on the West Georgia campus including the Tau Chi Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. I’ve also directed sessions of graduation pictures for many of my peers, and several of UWG’s commencement ceremonies. Now that I have a solid body of work I’ve decided to house my work on its own page, unrelated to my personal social site. The page is I've created is titled Fabulous Photography on Facebook and I will be consistently adding and updating pictures.

If you are interested in my services for graduations, weddings, showers or any events you can contact me through this page.

www.Facebook.com/FABPhotosUWG

Screencast Sample

This in week in my digital social media & society class I learned about the Fabulous Life Of Screencasts! I've known for quite a while what a screencast was, but I had no idea what they were called or how to perform them on my computer. So for those who are #teamMacBook, the screencast director, W. Thomas Leroux, walks through an eazy peazy screencast tutorial on how to step by step, start, stop and review a screencast using MacBook. Of course I could have typed step by step directions and posted them, but the video is substantially easier and faster allowing you to see where to navigate your Mac home screen. 




So now hopefully those like me, who didn't know what a screencast was or how to perform one, now do!

Beyonce's PR Team

I couldn’t think of a “favorite” YouTube video for this assignment. Every minute 24 hours of video are uploaded so it is fairly challenging to find a favorite, however, there is one video that sticks out as relevant to me. When I was in high school in 2008 there was a video posted on YouTube of the music mogul Beyonce, falling down the stairs at a concert in Orlando Florida. At the time of this incident the news spread very quickly, I heard about it on the radio and I immediately ran home to look it up. After watching the video several times, I then shared it with my mother, who shared it with her friends and etc. The very next day when I went to watch it again the video was no longer available anywhere. Each website including, YouTube, that housed the video had taken it down. This account of Beyonce and her tragic spill down a flight of stairs is relevant to me because, as a public relations major who is interested in client representation it is vital for me to know that with the proper knowledge and expertise of digital and social media it is not impossible to remove unwelcome items from the internet.

The video has since been re-uploaded

Poor Beyonce 

Award season

As I it here...doing some homework....watching the Grammy's, my next blog post is about my favorite blog or website and it would hands down have to be E! Online. 

I have been E! obsessed for a few year now, it's actually the reason I choose to study my major of Public Relations and Marketing. Entertainment news, celebrities and their news, fashion and entertainment gossip all of the things that absorb all of my attention. My favorite thing about E! Online is the smart phone app, I receive to the minute updates on any and all things celebrity and fashion. E! Online was the first to update me on the tragic passing of Paul Walker, the somewhat "devastating" split of the Jonas Brothers and the....indescribable engagement announcement of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, even as I sit here and type I'm receiving updates on who just won the Grammy for Best New Artist (Macklemore and Ryan Lewis). 

Now that I think about it that has to be my favorite thing about E! Online the app and the website, the up to the minute updates. Whenever I need to know something or search something celebrity or fashion related, my goto website is undoubtedly E! Online.  

E! Online

The Wait is Over

ORIGIN late Middle English (in the sense [known through fable, unhistorical] ): from French fabuleux or Latin fabulosus ‘celebrated in fable,’ from fabula (see fable ).

Blog post #1....

I've actually been wanting to start a blog for a really long time now and this assignment just gave me an excuse to go ahead and get started!

Okay....Guess I'll start by talking about myself (my favorite subject) I am 22 years old & I'll be expecting a degree from the University of West Georgia on April 26th 2014 and I couldn't be more excited!

The title of my blog the, "Fabulous Life Of..." was a no brainer for me. When I started my Facebook page, a million years ago, in high school I titled my page TheFabulous Cyra Lynn and I later did the same thing for my Twitter page @ThaFabulous0ne unfortunately the name was unavailable for my InstaGram account however I was able to sneak a little fabulous-ness in with @enuFABoutme. I guess you could say I'm obsessed with the word at this point with 1,000 Facebook friends and 300 twitter followers (I know thats chump change compared to others) I've become attached to the name and I try my best to identify it with each social presence.

Now that I have started this blog I am determined to make it *Fabulous* in every sense of the word

fabulousadjective1 fabulous wealth tremendous, stupendous, prodigious, phenomenal,remarkable, exceptional; astounding, amazing, fantastic,breathtaking, staggering, unthinkable, unimaginable, incredible,unbelievable, unheard of, untold, undreamed of, beyond one's wildest dreams; informal mind-boggling, mind-blowing, jaw-dropping.