One Direction Lamps?

A funny thing happened in the Twittersphere during the AMA’s on Sunday. As the Buzzfeed article describes, a 50-year-old man tweeted this:

Of course the One Direction fandom saw this tweet through the AMA hashtag and freaked out. Thousands of fans started replying and retweeting him. Jerry Riekert saw this as a business opportunity and tweeted some pictures of his homemade lamps. He then asked for opinions on his work and ideas for a One Direction lamp.

This event is very similar to Alex from Target. One simple tweet catapulted this “simple man from New York who makes lamps” into Internet stardom. Never underestimate the power of Twitter or the One Direction fandom. Who will be the next Twitter star?

Do you trust me?

Katie Payne discusses trust, how it influences a business and how it needs to be present in a crisis situation in Chapter 11 of “Measure What Matters.” Payne says, “Trust is the key to building and defending your reputation,” which I completely agree with (170). Customers support brands that they trust.

Payne then breaks down Grunig’s three areas of trust- competence, integrity and dependability/reliability.

Competence is “the belief that an organization has the ability to do what it says it will do” (172). Can the company carry out tasks effectively? Can the company compete and survive in the marketplace?

Integrity is “the belief that an organization is fair and just” (172). Is the company honest? Ethical? Open-minded?

Dependability/reliability is “the belief that an organization will do what it says it will do” (172). Does it carry out its promises? Does it act consistently and dependably?

I feel as though these words sometimes get thrown around in mission statements and advertising, but they are so important to building a solid customer base. If you have a solid customer base that believes in your morals, if a crisis arises, it will be significantly easier to resolve.

#GMM

Good Mythical Morning!

This is what I hear every time I watch a Rhett and Link video. For those of you who don’t know, Rhett and Link are a comedic YouTube duo. They have done a wide variety of things, including writing, directing and producing a documentary, partnering with local businesses to make commercials, writing and producing songs, releasing a clothing line and producing five videos a week on their morning talk show, Good Mythical Morning.

I recently started watching Rhett and Link videos because I saw them on Grace Helbig’s podcast. I’m so glad I did. I am a huge fan of Good Mythical Morning and watch it every day when it comes out. So, here are my top 5 GMM episodes.

5. Ice Cream Sandwich Challenge- Rhett and Link do a bunch of challenges like “Will it Taco?,” “Will it Pumpkin Spice?” and “Will it Cereal?” but this one is definitely my favorite. They try ice cream sandwiches with cheddar cheese, lettuce, seaweed and melted crayons.

4. The What If? Game ft. Daniel Radcliffe- Sometimes Rhett and Link have guests on GMM and the best (and probably most famous) was Daniel Radcliffe.

3. World’s Hottest Pepper Challenge- Carolina Reaper- As the title suggests, Rhett and Link eat the Carolina Reaper then wait 10 minutes before any relief from dairy products or anything. It may look like they are acting, but they are most definitely not.

2. The Floor is Lava (Game)- I love this video because every time they say “The floor is lava!” I just start laughing. They also relive their road trip from North Carolina to California and share how they kept the trip interesting.

1. Rhett and Link Join Blue Man Group- Rhett and Link go behind the scenes of a Blue Man Group show and play “Fancy” on a PVC instrument. Definitely worth a watch!

Employees, Assemble!

Katie Paine explains why and how we need to measure what employees think. Within the first paragraph of Chapter 10 of “Measure What Matters,” I was thinking about employees completely differently.

Paine states, “employee morale and sentiment are closely tied to sales and profit” (149), which is why a company should take the time to measure their perception of the company. The higher the morale, the more profit you are making.

When an employee recommends a company as a great place to work, this lowers recruitment costs. Employees are more likely to advocate for your products in online reviews. If the company does its job of convincing its employees to stand behind the mission and vision statements, the employees will be more productive (149). 

I’ve never really thought about employees this way. I am about to enter the workplace and want to work for a company that I will advocate for the products, recommend it as a place to work and strongly believe in the mission.

ONU PR and Comm Internships

As part of my latest class project, I was assigned to make a video regarding a certain aspect of the PR and communications department at ONU. This video will be used to teach prospective students about the department. I researched the internships that the students have recently completed.

It was really cool to find out where these students have held internships. Watch the video below to find out where these places are.

I always hear about the business students and the places they interned, so it was nice change of pace to hear about the experiences of the PR and Communications students. They had such different day-to-day tasks than what the business internships entail. Thanks to Anna Hoard, Kelsi Rupersburg and Brittany Holland for your information!

Looking for some new tunes?

It seems like everyone is always looking for new music recommendations. There has been a lot of new music released lately, so I thought I’d share the five songs I’ve been listening to nonstop lately.

“Chains”- Nick Jonas

Nick Jonas has definitely grown up from his Jonas Brothers days. His new album is super chill, so if you’re looking for something to play while your studying, check out his self-titled album.

“Centuries”- Fall Out Boy

I was browsing Fall Out Boy’s Spotify page recently and noticed they had a new single. I’ve always been a FOB fan and this song does not disappoint. This song is pretty powerful and perfect for headbanging in your room.

“Good Girls”- 5 Seconds of Summer

Some people have mixed feelings about 5SOS, me being one of them. I thought I’d just listen to a couple of their songs on Spotify and was thoroughly impressed. They had a different sound than I thought they would have. 5SOS is a lot more pop-punk than I expected. My recommendation is to have an open mind if you listen to 5SOS for the first time.

“Salute”- Little Mix

My roommate introduced me to Little Mix and I’m so glad she did. In my opinion, these days there just isn’t a strong female group in the music industry. But now there is Little Mix. If you like this song, then you should jump on YouTube and listen to their acoustic songs. Their harmonies are incredible. 

“Someone New”- Hozier

You may recognize Hozier from his single “Take Me to Church,” which is also really good. But I like “Someone New” because it’s more upbeat and catchy than “Take Me to Church.” Regardless, I recommend Hozier to anyone looking to update his or her Spotify playlists.

Leave a comment with what you’ve been listening to lately!

Sister Week

This past week was one of my favorite weeks of fall semester. It was Tau Beta Sigma’s Sister Week! As I mentioned in one of my first blog posts, I am involved with TBS, the band sorority on campus. Our main goal is to serve the bands, but we also like to have fun too!

Sister Week is our first big chance to recruit new members. So, there was an event every night with the final event on Sunday to allow the potential members to see what we do and what we are like.

Some of the events include game night, kindergarten night (always a hit!) and minute to win it games. On Friday, we, along with other members of the marching band, played at the Elmcroft Senior Living Center in Lima. It was fun to watch the residents sing and tap their feet to the songs.

To conclude Sister Week, we hold a Rose Tea on Sunday. I always enjoy this event the most because I get to talk with the other people at my table and play a fun game with them. It’s also nice to dress up after a long week!

I’d say this year Sister Week was very successful! I’m glad my last Sister Week was a great one.

My Little and G-Little