NUMBER THREE: IRON AND WINE

My final wikipedia edit throughout this semester was on the Iron and Wine article.
My edits that were posted to my blog can be found here:
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This article was very extensive and written relatively well before I started working on it. The first time I edited this article I added a few very random concert dates that Sam Bean played. I thought it was an interesting fact because he only played two random concerts, when people were anticipating a full tour. Apparently, someone else didn't think this fact was interesting, because they removed my addition about a day later. That person even added that it was "trivial and quickly outdated". Well I thought that was rude and took offense to that, even though it was stupid and I shouldn't have. So after that I just edited some grammar edits (apparently the pretenious people that edited this article didn't take English classes). I then made a minor edit about the band's classification as a "folk rock" band, which I thought was more relevant. This edit has not been removed yet. Overall, I did not feel that there was much to add to this already detailed article.

NUMBER THREE: RED BULL
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Whether or not I would like to admit it, I know a lot about Red Bull. I worked for the company for over a year, and every little fact and figure was drilled into my head over and over again. So I felt that even though the article was extensive, I had a lot of information I could add. I first added what Red Bull METS (mobile energy team) does as a promotions team. Next, I added a photo, but that photo was removed, even though it was my own and should have been fine. I decided not to re-add it, since if it had been taken off once, it would be taken off again (or so I thought). Next I also added the difference between Red Bull and Red Bull Sugar Free, which may seem obvious but is actually very important. The article has been edited at least 30 times since I last edited it, maybe a week ago. I doubt that I will continue to edit this article, because I don't care much for Red Bull anymore.

NUMBER TWO: BIG FISH

original article
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This article is extremely well-written and was difficult to find things that need to be fixed. I don't know that I ever considered myself an obsessed fanatic, but I really do love the movie. However, I feel that the people who are editing this article are crazy, and watch this movie like six times a week or something. Also, I was nervous about adding material to the plot portion, because I did not want to spoil any of the plot for people who haven't seen it.

But, with that said, if you haven't seen it, please do. It's a wonderful film.

The end of the road..

Throughout the semester, I have been editing four Wikipedia edits of my choice. The links are to the left of this post where you can easily find them. This post, as well as the following three posts, will be summarizing what I have experienced and noticed when editing my articles.

NUMBER ONE: LONGPORT, NEW JERSEY
The article can be also found by clicking here

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The first edit that I did was to explain other high schools that students go to. That addition was instantly (by instantly, I mean a day or two later) removed. That annoyed me, because there was a wikipedia article for the high school that I added! So then I added it back in. And no one has removed it yet. Also, I added what Longport borders because several towns share one island (Atlantic City being one of them). I am not really surprised that there has not been much changed to this article because there isn't much to say about Longport. It is a small beach town, known for rich families and retirees who have beach houses. But the beach is peaceful and there are rarely beach taggers and I love it.

My big fish article on Wikipedia is actually very well written. I have been having a hard time finding sections to edit. I have decided to add a picture to the article. I did this earlier on a different article, and apparently WIKPEDIA removed it, even though it was my personal picture. So, hopefully this picture will stay on the article.

We discussed Amazon Associates in class not long ago. We were encouraged to sign up for that, or Google AdSense so that we could run ads on our page. I signed up for Amazon Associates so that I could put some product ads on my blog (and maybe make a little money). I feel like the Amazon ads look better on a page than Google ads do.

Amazon Associates are an affiliate of Amazon. The website says this: "By linking to Amazon products and services you can add compelling content for your site visitors enjoyment and receive up to 10% in referral fees for doing so... Current participants in the Amazon Associates program include large, well-known sites, niche content sites and blogs, comparison shopping engines, search engine marketers, and everything in between. Visit our Current Associates page to see how some of these members are using our solutions... Associates drive internet traffic to Amazon.com through specially formatted links that allow us to track sales and other activity."

Buy some stuff from me! Help out a poor college student!

In class the other day, and throughout the semester, we talked about Word of Mouth Marketing. I decided to do a little research on what other people have written about it...number one link on a google search is for wikipedia (surprise). But here's a good article from wikipedia. I think that any company that doesn't embrace word of mouth marketing and encourage it would be stupid. Like that mentos and diet coke video...coca cola should have fully embraced the hype that that video brought them, like mentos did. And as soon as I work for a big company, I would like to make sure that they take full advantage of the word of mouth that could be available to them.

okay, so for the Big Fish article, there were a few misspelled words and grammatical errors. So I decided to fix them all. Nothing big, but the article itself is a pretty good and complete one.

keep em going..

I just made a minor edit to the wikipedia article about iron and wine. Whoever decided to classify Sam Bean as simply a folk singer is incorrect, at least in my mind. I decided to make a compromise and call him a folk rock singer. It gives a little more depth to his musical abilities and style.

more edits..

Longport is honestly probably my favorite place ever, at least in New Jersey. It's only minutes away from my house and where I've grown up, and I love the drive from Longport to Atlantic City. And there was nothing included about the neighboring towns- so I took it upon myself to add that information (but I won't be surprised if my edit gets deleted, everything else has gotten deleted).

last edits for wikipedia!

I just edited the Red Bull article for the last time for this semester. There is plenty else that I could add to the article, but I chose to add to the ingredients of Red Bull. Many people don't know what Red Bull sugar free is sweetened with, and I added that to the article- it's aspartame. And I also added that 'original' Red Bull is sweetened with sucrose and glucose.

I'm on a roll...okay so wikipedia's article on iron and wine had a few grammatical errors in it. And so I took it upon myself to edit them and correct them all. Okay, I think I'm done blogging for now. Time to get outside and enjoy this weather.

a couple of weeks ago I edited the wikipedia article on Longport, New Jersey. Within hours, my edit was removed. But I think it is an important fact! So I am putting it back in. TAKE THAT.
Longport, NJ

Last Friday, we had the honor of having Lou Honick, CEO of hostmysite.com come and talk to our class. After hearing his speech about his company, I decided to check out his website. And I know that he said that he's not crazy about the appearance and marketing technique of the site, but I kind of like it! The grass has a nice, springtime feel to it (which is great this time of year).
After navigating the site for a bit, it is clear to see that their site stands above their competition. It is very easy to understand (especially for someone like me who knows next to nothing about web hosting) and seems extremely easy to establish your own website.

If these guys can become this successful from their website, it gives hope to someone like me, who hopes to one day become a successful entrepreneur!

in honor of Alex Brown being out of the country for the past few days, I will double my efforts of blogging my deepest thoughts. for one, here is this ridiclous article I found on slashdot's blog right here: la la laa
basically, the article says that one of the last independent radio stations in Russia obtained new management who were apparently very loyal to Putin. The management ordered the news readers that they had to report at least 50% positive news. In addition, opposition leaders could not be mentioned on the air. FURTHERMORE, the United States are to portrayed as an enemy.

WHAT! I can't believe this. This is so manipulative and completely takes away from freedom of speech. Granted, this is Russia, who has many different laws and regulations than we do. But it baffles me that people are subjected to living this way.

Joel recently commented on the Amazon article that we talked about in class yesterday. His thoughts can be read here:
price discrimination I decided to go on a little more about it in my own blog. I think that what Amazon was doing, if it's not illegal or anything, is just a part of business. They think that getting new customers will be easier if they are offered lower prices.
However, on the flipside of that, throughout several business classes I have been taught that it is easier to KEEP a customer then to get a new one. And if that is the case, then why wouldn't Amazon offer their regular customers discounts as well? Maybe free shipping on 20% off at checkout or something like that.
I would think also, that if customers seven years ago were really this upset about the issue, use a public computer, delete your cookies, or use a new browser or e-mail address to obtain the discount.

I just found this article on the clickz blog. It is a story of a woman who is responsible for her company's e-mail marketing campaign. With her job she travels to many different companies and deals with many different currencies. In short, while in London her ATM card did not work as she tried to take out some money. After calling her bank in New York, they informed her that they were upgrading their systems and money would not be available for a few hours. They did not e-mail this clients directly but instead sent e-mails to their customer's online banking site.

From personal experience, I rarely check my online statement. In fact, I'll go out on a limb and say that most people do not regularly check their online banking sites. So, if an important message was sent to me on a site that I rarely use, what good does that serve me? None. This bank clearly does not understand the importance of proper marketing techniques, this one being through e-mail.

Also, unrelated,

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wikipedia edit #3

WOW! okay I promise I'm almost done. My third wikipedia edit is for the article of Longport, New Jersey found here. I added the part regarding education. Students that reside in Longport year round in grades 9-12 are given the option to go to two different high schools, but the wikipedia article only mentioned one. So I added the information about the other high school, Holy Spirit High School.

wikipedia edit #2 of the night

I am just on a roll tonight with my blogging fun! I just edited the wikipedia article on Iron and Wine, which can be seen here. Recently, Sam Beam (singer of Iron and Wine) performed two small concerts at two small venues. I added this information to the article. It is rather important, because they were the only two shows he will be performing until he goes on an official tour this summer or fall.

wikipedia edit

I just edited my wikipedia article for the movie Big Fish. The article did not have much information about the plot, so I added a sentence that gets the reader more involved in what is going on in the movie. The article can be found here but I must warn that this article has a spoiler if you have not seen the movie yet.

Treonauts

Recently in class we discussed the topic of Treonauts, and how they have more googlejuice than Treo itself . Now, while Treonauts may not be the topic to focus on, I was interested. I do not personally own a Treo cell phone, but at my former job working at Red Bull, we were required to carry a Treo 600 (I begged for a 650) on us at all times while working. I worked for the company for a long time (especially by Red Bull standards) and got very familiar with the Treo phone. So, I decided to do a little research on Treonauts.
Treonauts have a website as well as a blog . The website itself seems very focused on the blog they produce, but they also have phone comparisons, forums, accessories, search, FAQs, as well as other topics. The blog is updated regularly, but seems to take a large portion of it's space to advertise accessory sales and similar topics for Treo users. It clearly is not made for "outsiders" and is intended for current Treo users. While interesting, it doesn't exactly benefit me with not having a phone currently.

a little housekeeping and maintenance

I recently subsrcibed to a link of a search that I'm interested in as we were asked to do in class recently. The RSS feed that I found through feedster search is this oneavailable here . The search is regarding Philadelphia Nightlife.

Also, my mom actually earned me some extra credit because she tends to "google" me when she gets bored. A vanity search, correct? Maybe not if she's not searching herself. But my link is found here with a search for my full name and HOW EXCITING, my blog is the number one match for a search of my name!

Lastly, for now anyway, I have also linked my teammates' blog links on my blogger website, along with my bloglines account.

VALS survey

A team member of mine, Olivia, just posted her VALS results and I thought that I would post mine, too. We talked about VALS survey's being a great way for companies to get to know their employees. Well, here are my results and how I feel about them.
My primary type is Experiencer. According to this survey, I am motivated by self-expressions. I am young (check), enthusiastic (check), and impulsive (check). I quickly become excited and enthusiastic about new possibilities but I also am equally quick to cool down. I seek variety and excitement; savor the new, the offbeat and the risky. My energy tends to find an outlet in exercise, sports, outdoor recreation, and social activities. The survey also says that I spend a lot of my income on fashion, entertainment, and socializing.
I agree with the majority of this. I am fun, enthusiastic, and passionate. I do like buying things that reflect who I am and my fun, silly, and a little off-the-wall attitude towards life. For an example, I am honestly very much looking forward to the release of Apple’s iPhone. I watched the hour-long keynote explaining every aspect of the phone, check their website regularly, and am on e-mail lists of further information. This may seem silly to most, but I am absolutely fascinated by this phone and as a result, HAVE TO HAVE IT. Now, does a 21 year old really need a $500 phone? No. And my dad would agree. But, I am counting down the days until my current phone contract runs up so that I can switch cell phone carriers and get the iPhone.
I also agree, and disagree, with where my energy tends to find its’ outlet. I tend to love nothing more than the feeling of a successful, completed workout- but I hate going to the gym. I will go, kicking and screaming, but I will go. Even though I know how much I like completing a workout. And another issue I agree with, but also disagree with, is where the majority of my money goes. I do spend a lot of my money on fashion, but I really enjoy shopping at bargain, thrift, and secondhand shops to create funky, new outfits. I get that mini-rush of finding a good bargain, so I don’t like spending a lot of money.
The secondary type according to VALS is Innovator. I am described as successful, sophisticated, take-charge kind of person with high self-esteem. I am most receptive to new ideas and technologies. I am a very active consumer, and I tend to purchase upscale, niche products and services. Also, image is important to me, but not as evidence of status or power but as an expression of my taste, independence, and personality. Innovators tend to be among the established and emerging leaders in business and government, yet continuing to seek challenges. My life is characterized by variety.
Agreed! As I explained before, I love having the latest gadgets and equipment. I even sold my perfectly good iPod so that I could buy the newer version. I like to read about the new technologies that are coming out and purchase them, even if they aren’t necessary. I don’t really know why I like having new things so much, but I get a great deal of satisfaction from having new and better things than other people. I guess I inherited that trait from my parents.

privacy issues

I recently found a post on Slashdot.org's blog. This particular article really caught my attention because the headline was "Sweden admits Tapping Citizens' phones for Decades" and the article links to another article where the alleged government has been invading its' citizens for over ten years. The reason this article came out now was because the government is talking about new survelliance methods regarding emails, telephone calls and advanced word searches to pertain to specific citizens.
I don't mean to be rash, but you imagine what would happen if the US government admitted to doing something like this, or if they are right now and no one has found out? People would flip shit. There would be complete chaos all over. I can't imagine how the Swedish citizens feel about this, but you have to think that their lives must be completely different than our familiar lives if they are forced to just go along with this internal spying.
Here you can read the initial articles

wikipedia edit number two

I also managed to upload a picture onto wikipedia articles. There are many kinds of Red Bull promotional cars, but they didn't feature many- maybe two different styles. I uploaded a picture of our team's truck (referred to as a racer) to the article. It can be seen here.

touching article

I just read this article. It is a post in the Global Neighborhoods blog, and it seems like it was just written so the author wouldn't forget the moment, but it definitely stood out in my reading. The author was in the Dallas Forth Worth Airport waiting for a flight when he heard a large amount of applause coming from the people around him. No, it wasn't for someone famous, it was for a group of soldiers coming home from Iraq. They received a standing ovation from everyone in the terminal. Soldiers were beaming, crying, and overall very emotional at this welcome home they received from complete strangers. I have a good friend who is overseas right now for his second term in Iraq and while my opinion on the war doesn't make a real difference, the bottom line is these soldiers are friends, sons, daughters, wives, husbands, parents, role models, and so on to lots of people in their own personal lives. I thought this was a great reaction from the passerbys in the airport and was happy to read about it.

Wikipedia- first edit

Today I edited my first wikipedia article. Though very easy, I didn't get to do what I had initially wanted to do- add a picture- I couldn't figure out how. Hopefully someone can help me with that. However, I was able to edit and add something else. Although I do not work for the company anymore, I spent from Sept 05-Sept 06 working for Red Bull North America as a MET. This means that I was a part of the company's mobile energy team...we drove that red bull truck, you probably saw us around campus. Anyway, I was a little upset over the fact that our bosses repeatedly told us how important we were to the company (word of mouth advertising and ambush marketing among other methods)..yet there was only a sentence on the wikipedia article about it. So I added what METs do as a job, because I think it is an interesting and important aspect of the company. The article can be found here.

The purpose of this blog..

Hello reader(s),

I am publishing this blog because, well, because the University of Delaware has made BUAD477 a required course to graduate. And, I'm planning on graduating. We are partaking in a semester-long project making our own personal blog. We will be subscribing to other author's blogs on bloglines.com, as well as editing and maintaining wikipedia articles of our choice. We will be working in groups and commenting and helping each other throughout the semester on our blogs. Everything is maintained by our professor, Alex Brown. This is his blog. However, it is our class blog that is kept up by him, but I am sure he has a personal blog as well.

Also, I have chosen to edit the following Wikipedia articles:
Red Bull (a drink, I worked for them)
Iron and Wine (a band, a good one- check them/him out here.)
Big Fish (my favorite movie)
Longport, New Jersey (my home. well, sort of.)

Okay, well I didn't really make a first post. But my second post will be my first then, and it will all work out in the end. Okay, well, I am Lauren, a junior at UD with a double major in Marketing and Operations Management. I'm lucky that I will be getting out of here on time, maybe even early, since I switched from education to business and have lots of "wasted" credits. Anyway, I'm from the good old jersey shore, and most of the time am extremely happy to call that home. I spend almost every day at the beach in the summer and that makes this weather that we're having even harder on me. Anyway, this is my beach, and my elephant

Also, I am using Mac's safari and there isn't a button for posting hyerlinks. Hopefully someone can help me out with this..

testing to see that i did this all correct..