This doesn’t include the laundry / cooking / dusting / vacuuming / scheduling / sweeping / mopping / bathing / teaching / scrubbing / shopping / woodstacking / dog maintenance / organizing that I do the other 16 hours a day.

Words like “hypocritical,” “strident” and “presumptuous” made it into the first draft, but not the final draft.

My letter to the Buffalo News, as submitted, with linky goodness, follows. 

As a web geek and political junkie, I noticed things during this political season that the average person might not.

Alice Kryzan had to go 500 miles to find Chicago advertising firm Adelstein/Liston to produce her hokey, yet effective, television advertisement featuring faux foes. She won the 26th Congressional District’s primary.  

Joe Mesi outsourced his web design to PlusThree, a firm based in NYC, Washington, D.C. and North Carolina. He won his bid to “fight” for Buffalo in the New York State Senate.

To quote Mesi’s “Jobs” page: “My first priority . . . will be to bring well-paying jobs back to our area.” Well, Mr. Mesi, you could start by sending some of your campaign contributions back into Buffalo-based businesses. And Ms. Kryzan, while you were busy telling the boys to “take it somewhere else,” you could have been googling “advertising firms + Buffalo” as part of your “fight to bring good-paying jobs back to our region.”

I’m sure these aren’t the only examples. Politicians should put their campaign money where their mouths are and look to local talent to reach out to voters. My advice: demonstrate you care about WNY by investing, when you can, in our region. Anything less just shows an insensitivity and cluelessness that we don’t need representing Buffalo.

Kara Kane, My Town, NY 

(As an aside – for fellow grammar nerds out there – is it good-paying jobs or well-paying jobs? I would suggest “paying” acts as an adjective (gerund) for jobs, with “well” being the proper modifier). 

I. Catalog Description of Course
This course will provide students with an opportunity to write and create content for publication on web sites and distribution through electronic media. Students will explore communication theories, trends and technologies and apply them to written work.

II. Goals
a. This course introduces students to current terminology, topics and technologies in electronic communications.
b. This course explores communication theories related to mass media, technology and convergence.
c. This course provides intensive writing experience with close attention to grammar, spelling, form, content and delivery.
d. This course permits and encourages students to develop professional-quality portfolio content.
e. This course will expose students to careers in electronic communication.
III. Objectives
The student will be able to
a. Describe, explain, and analyze current communication terminology, theories, topics and technologies.
b. Define and understand web site audiences and web site use.
c. Describe and explain web site architecture and search engine operation.
d. Write, edit and critique web site content, electronic newsletters, and related content.
e. Use current technology tools and software.
f. Choose and implement online marketing tools.
g. Publish written content.
IV. Outline of Course Content
a. Defining communication and media
i. Print vs. Web – how is web writing different than other types of writing)
ii. Geek Speak: technology terms
b. Theory
i. Describe, explain and analyze theories of media, technology and convergence
ii. Discuss Rhetoric, theory and practice
c. The 24-hour news cycle
i. Define current trends in media, communication and technology
d. Web site content and architecture
i. Define text content, graphic content, navigation, meta content
ii. Search engine operation
iii. Google bombing
e. Writing and Editing Techniques
i. Brainstorming
ii. Freewriting
iii. Organizing, outlining and chunking
iv. Scanability
v. Editing 101
f. Web site critiques
i. The elements of Bad
ii. The elements of Good
g. News and Reporting
i. Parts of a blog – content and comments
ii. Social media releases
h. E-newsletters
i. What makes for a good (or bad) newsletter?
i. Online Marketing and Promotion
i. Software
ii. Web sites
j. Careers in Electronic Media
i. Guest speaker(s) TBD
ii. Marketing Yourself Online
k. The future of Electronic Media
i. Content
1. Personalized Contextual
2. Customized
3. Immediate
ii. Delivery
1. RSS
2. Kindle
3. Cell Phones
4. Semantic Web

V. Suggested Texts
a. Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Usability, Steve Krug, 2005
b. Killer Web Content: Make the Sale, Deliver the Service, Build the Brand, Gerry McGovern, 2007

VI. Suggested Modes, Media and Techniques of Instruction
a. Lecture, in-class writing, blog writing, student discussion, multimedia presentation, individual presentations
VII. Instructor References

Benkler, Yochai. (2007). The wealth of networks: How social production transforms markets and freedom. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Berners-Lee, Tim, Hendler, James & Lassila, Ora. (2001). The semantic web. Retrieved March 1, 2008 from http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=00048144-10D2-1C70-84A9809EC588EF21

Bernstein, Mark. (2002). Ten tips on writing the living web. Retrieved March 1, 2008 from http://alistapart.com/stories/writeliving/

Blood, Rebecca. (2000). Weblogs: a history and perspective. Retrieved March 1, 2008 from http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html

Griffin, Em. (2008). A first look at communication theory. New York: McGraw Hill.

Fisher, Claude. (1994). America calling: A social history of the telephone to 1940. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Hourihan, Meg. (2002). What we’re doing when we blog. Retrieved March 1, 2008 from http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/javascript/2002/06/13/megnut.html

Kilian, Crawford. (1999). Writing for the web. Bellingham, WA: Self-Counsel Press.

Krug, Steve. (2005). Don’t make me think: A common sense approach to web usability. XX: New Riders Press.

Lasica, J.D. (2001). Blogging as a form of journalism. Retrieved March 1, 2008 from http://www.ojr.org/ojr/workplace/1017958873.php

McGovern, Gerry. (2007). Killer web content: Make the sale, deliver the service, build the brand. London: A&C Black.

Miller, Daniel and Slater, Don. (2001). The Internet: An ethnographic approach. Oxford: Berg Publishers.

So I’ve been watching the third night of the Republican National Convention, and did a little wordleing with the text, as prepared, of two speeches. The first, given by Hillary Clinton, at the Democratic National Convention in August, and the second, given by Mitt Romney this evening. I chose those two speeches because those two individuals were the also-rans, or losers, of the 2008 primary election.

Click on the pictures for a larger view.

Some observations:

One speech referenced “America” most frequently; the other referenced government most often. Just to pick on the GOP for a moment, for a party that espouses limited government as a main plank in the platform, one of their main speeches leaned on the term “government” as a rhetorical crutch in a major, public and national forum.

Liberal was mentioned more than conservative, and as often as government, in a speech by a self-proclaimed conservative.

Clinton’s speech used “Barack” and “Obama” frequently, which mirrors that campaign’s strategy of tending to rely on Obama, the person as opposed to Obama, the font of policy.

What are your observations about these two graphics?

Cross posted at medaillecommunication.com

From the left: #2d4d2d (dark green); #c1b642 (lighter green); #c43139 (watermelon pink); #f4cdbe (lighter pink); #1b0723 (dark black).

I can start to see where my time disappears to during each day, and after a few weeks, I can evaluate it and see if there are some patterns that I want to keep and others that I’d like to break.