Your final projects

Congratulations to everyone for completing your final projects…and just generally surviving the semester. Here are links to your multimedia projects:

• Tricia Alvey and Tanja Roelli’s Love Hockey site for Sharks fans.
• Mohammad Awadalla’s Child Soldier mockumentary site.
• Darnisha Bishop’s Essence yoga site.
• Stephanie Bunting’s Perspectives site, which focuses on dealing with anxiety.
• Lee Connolly’s Team in Training site, which shows her sister training for a triathalon.
• Bianca DeRose’s project, Bianca’s Blues Bits, focuses on the Blues and the Poor House Bistro, where her father plays in a Blues band.
• Nate Carter, Sol Duarte and Kathryn Gunn developed this parody of the Cops TV show, KOPS…Policemen on Patrol.
• Advertising major Erik Estrada’s final project focuses on advertising.

• Samantha Inouye’s final project,
  Koropea’s Weblog: The World of the Geek, explores the world of comics and video games.
• Jason LeMiere’s project, The Peninsula Clef Hangers, profiles a volunteer women’s chorus.
• Ryan Mendoza’s Mix Vibes site highlights Pioneer DJ Products and offers a tutorial on how to set a loop.
• Carlos Moreno (link to come)
• Jeannette Minster’s Music Maven web site highlights new artists and where to go to hear good bands this summer. You can also check out her class web site

• Alan Potter’s multimedia project, The Art of Surfing, explores in Santa Cruz.
• Scott Reyburn’s HolyPSP site gives you his top picks for Nintendo 64 video games. Here’s a link to his podcast on his top five games for the Nintendo 64.
• Brittany Romby’s Genetically Impossible site looks at local music and art shows and features her KSJS playlists. Her class web page has links to her “In the Studio” video and podcast

A Twitter shout out?

Speaking of social media, I’ve run across a couple interesting blog posts on uses of Twitter.

On the PR Squared blog, Todd Defren, a principal at the PR firm SHIFT Communications, suggests that if you want to succeed in PR, you’d better become an active Twitter user. Why? Personal branding, early info, and networking.

In a post titled, “How We Use Twitter for Journalism,” the ReadWriteWeb blog answers the question: How useful can communication limited to 140 characters be for serious journalism? How about uncovering breaking news, interviewing sources, requesting info/help, and promoting your stories?

I’ve responded to a couple of tweets this week calling for ideas/help, and I’m thinking this is an excellent use of Twitter…kind of like an online “friend lifeline” or “shout out.”

100 percent SJSU

Check out the latest project, 100 Percent SJSU, by Kyle Hansen, the Spartan Daily’s online editor, and friends. It’s a graphic (as in…using graphics) look at diversity and ethnicity at SJSU.

Click on the icons on the campus map to see the ethnic breakdown of students in each college. Note: in case you’re wondering, the School of Journalism and Mass Communications is part of SJSU’s College of Applied Sciences and Arts (CASA), represented by the medical icon.

New turf for job hunters?

As you set up your Linked In page, you might want to check out this timely New York Times article on “Looking for work on Facebook.”

The article notes that social networking sites like Facebook, Friendster and MySpace are evolving into spaces for professional networking as well as socializing. Several people also mention Linked In, with one marketer noting that “LinkedIn feels more appropriate for job hunting.”