Alan Smith.

Guest speaker, Alan smith had a really interesting journalism background. I thought it was especially interesting that he didn’t start writing until he was 50.  Smith discussed his past and how he used to teach English in a prison and how he met some interesting people and heard interesting stories. “Never write for nothing” is something Smith said that really stuck with me.  He told our class to never write unless you are getting paid to and that writing for someone without pay shows that they do not value your work.  He wrote his first novel after earning his masters.  

He discussed how it was somewhat difficult to get people to care about his novel because he was 50 years old and people did not see what he had to offer. Smith referred to himself as a print and paper guy vs. a blogging guy.  “Being apart of the blogosphere is like being a tree in the forest, you’re lost.”  Smith stated that on a blog you are your own editor and that journalism cannot be trusted.  My favorite thing that Smith shared was “If you’re too stupid and use the apostrophe you are too stupid to get a degree from this university.” He talked about how important grammar is and he runs a pretty tight ship with his students in England. 

I found it interesting that he finds American college students to be more grammatically inclined than English students. He teaches creative writing in the English department at The University of North Hampton.  The students who attend that university have to finish college in three years, no exceptions. Smith did not speak much about blogs or blogging, but I feel like I really got something out of the things he shared. Above all else he was awesome to listen to and had a great sense of humor.   

Go Vintage.

I think that the best way to understand the fashion in world today is to know where it/we came from.  I really appreciate vintage couture and love mixing and matching pieces that I find in consignment shops with new styles. If your mom has some of her jewelery from "back in the day" have a look through it and see what you can find. That is what I did with these rings below. Both of these rings were my mothers from the 80's. Pretty cool!  

 

Betsy.

Watches these days are essential. Not only for telling time, but to make a fashion statement. I found this Betsy Johnson watch below at Ross for $50. I thought it was a pretty good find because it retails for twice that much. Ross is another good place for finding top brands for good prices. 

 

Teal.

I never really go in the store Charlotte Russe in the mall, but a few weeks ago I decided to give it a look. I forgot how many great finds you can find in the sale bins. I found this fun teal necklace below for $10. I was pretty excited about it so, I will be going in there to dig through the sale bins more often!

Vera Love.

TJ Maxx has some of the most incredible finds when trying to look great on a budget.  The great thing about this store is they retail top designer brands at reasonable prices.  I have never left this store disappointed and always refer my friends to it.  They get new shipment every week so, there are always new items to explore.  The other good thing about this store is they only carry a few of the same items so, you can always look unique. I found these Vera Wang boots below a couple days ago at TJ Maxx and fell in love! They retailed for $400.00 but I got them for $199.99. I would say that a pretty good find!

Covering Dave Rhea.

What I learned from Mr. Dave Rhea is that it is important to frequently update your blog with new posts.  Keeping your blog up to date keeps readers following and interested.  I think that I will definitely apply this tactic to my blog in order to keep up with my followers.  Posting popular content is another way to get people interested in my blog.  Perhaps discussing an important event going on in society right now might get people interested to read what I have to say about it.  I think that Dave Rhea’s speech will really help me explore the blogging world in a variety of ways.  

Covering Dr. Hochenauer.

Dr. Hochenauer started blogging in 2004 because he believed there was a deep need for Liberal commentary in Oklahoma. He has experience with politics and journalism for over 30 years. Hochenauer discussed how his blog did not generate any revenue, but that he had been offered numerous advertisements.  I think that the most beneficial topic that I gained for my blog was that it is really easy to gain readership and revenue.  According to his speech posting popular pictures can be one simply way to get people to view your blog. Another important thing I learned from his speech was that social media has had a major effect on the blogs. Hochenauer discussed how he gets more hits or “likes” from making an insignificant statement on his facebook page than relevant topics on his blog.  At this point in time social media is one of the things that can keep up with the way that people want their news. Concise, to the point, and easy to read it the way that people in this day and age like to get their information.  The average person attention span is about 15 seconds due to all of the smart phone apps and social media used.  After listening to Hochenauer spoke about this issue it made me think about the future of my blog and how I want it to come across.  In order gain and keep readers I think posts should be as social media posts are, concise and to the point.