Future Camp!

Although I was not able to participate in Future Camp at Humber on Wednesday, it is amazing to see how the use of social media will impact the jobs that we will have both for our internships and careers in public relations.

With regards to our personal brand plans it was shocking to see who I had gained views from and who I had received comments from aside from my mentor and classmates. Although they provided very useful insight, it was very refreshing to see someone's comments who, before posting this, would have never heard from unless I sought them out.

The use of Twitter is becoming more popular every day. We see the use of social media every day, and although I was unable to attend, my thoughts of how social media is used in a corporate setting more and more is astounding.

For the past two days, I was a part of the FIFA World Cup Trophy tour. With the 2010 World Cup just over one month away, Coca-Cola and FIFA made Toronto the third last stop on an 85 country worldwide tour, showcasing the trophy to avid soccer fans all around the city. The use of social media (Twitter in particular) was seen by not only fans taking pictures with the trophy and "twitpic'ing" it, but also by popular media sources, who were documenting the trophy's whereabouts every step of the way. From the time that the Coca-Cola-FIFA jumbo jet landed at Landmark airport, to the trophy making its way to the CBC Building, Capitol Theatre and even Muchmusic to be seen during a K'Naan interview, there was an overload of pictures and tweets that not only showcased the trophy, but the many logos branded "Coca-Cola".

In the future, I do not know what line of work I will end up in. Ideally, I would like to do something in sports PR. However, one thing is confirmed. Regardless of the setting that you work in or the career path you choose, there will always be a demand for social media. The connectivity it provides to people for business will only continue to grow.

Again, although I was not able to be there, please check out some of my peers' blogs, to hear their thoughts on their experiences with Future Camp.

Andrew Bartucci - My take on it - edgy lists and humorous twists

Aneeta Parmar - Green Eyed Moon

Zack Sandor Kerr - Pizza Friday

Shelley Burgoyne - Tipped and Pointy

Bar vs. House party

Perhaps the most common concern for any group of friends when getting together to drink is deciding whether or not they plan on on going out to a bar or staying in and having a house party.

We all enjoy going to bars, gettin' our fist pumps on and tearing up a dance floor. Personally, I love going out, but after a conversation about weighing out what makes more sense, it provoked some pretty interesting discussion between a few friends and myself over a hung over breakfast at Benny's.

It seems although we ALL LOVE going out, it really does make more sense to have more house parties than go to a bar. Here are my reasons why:

1) The company you keep (and the air that you breathe)

When at someone's house for a predrink or house party, you are (for the most part) surrounded by people you WANT to be around. You don't have to worry about bumping people's drinks and feeling bad about it, or feeling compelled to buy them a new one. You also don't have to worry about possibly getting into a fight with a steroid popping jackass. Remember, it's not where you are, it is WHO YOU ARE WITH that makes it count.

2) LET'S F*CKIN' RAGE!

If you're at a friend's house, although you may have to clean up in the morning, you tend not to shy away from being outrageous and letting loose. Although some things might break or there may be a ton of alcohol spilled in the process, you do NOT need to worry about:

• Being on your "better" behaviour because you're in a public place
• Getting tossed from a bar/club by someone significantly bigger AND stronger than you
• Having to pay for a cab by yourself because you were the only one that got kicked out

3) $MONEY$

I'll be the first to admit that I do not mind spending money at the bar (as my bank account would attest to) but, really, what are we paying for? We bring booze to our pre drink and spend money there, and unlike Laurier, where I went to school, Toronto is a hell of a lot bigger, so there's cab fare, and cover, and then I'm expected to pay $7 a drink while waiting in a ridiculous line, slowly inching my way up to the bar and making sure some douchebag doesn't cut in front of me?

...I could have just had three beers in the time it took me to write that...kinda see what I'm gettin' at?

4) MOST IMPORTANT: Drinking games...obviously...stupid...

I mentioned above that it's about the people you are with. That was just to get you to keep reading. The real reason house parties are becoming my new favourite are because of the ample amount of drinking games you can play that are much harder to get away with unless you're at an all inclusive resort in Cuba. Whether it's learning something embarrassing about a new friend in Never Have I Ever, or rubbing in the sheer humiliation of being the weakest link on your team in Flip Cup or Beer Baseball, drinking games are the BEST ways to "bond" with friends!

All in all, I'm saying that although I do love going out with the people that mean the most to me, I think I would rather party in a place where we can still have a lot of music, I can save a bit of money, I don't have to scream for a conversation, and we can achieve our original goal of the night...that is...to GET F*CKED UP and LIVE.IT.UP.

"Americanized" reality shows all follow same suit

First, Pop Idol turned into American Idol. Britain's Got Talent eventually became America's Got Talent. NOW, Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares serves as the latest in reality television debauchery. Originating in Europe, Chef Gordon Ramsay travelled all over the United Kingdom helping struggling restaurant owners turn their business around to keep them from closing it.

Today, like many other shows originating in the UK, Kitchen Nightmares made its way to the United States as Ramsay attempts to help struggling American restaurant owners.

The show encompasses the common theme of American-made television, that is, to have a foreign personality (in this case British) exhibit this hard-fought, tough-love, a**hole personality! Don't believe me? Look at this type of television with British personalities and notice that with the exception of Sharon Osborne, they ALL possess that character persona of being hard-nosed and "stand-offish". Since Anne from The Weakest Link, there have been many shows that utilize this brand of television including:

• America's Got Talent - Piers Morgan
  
• American Idol - Simon Cowell
  
• So You Think You Can Dance - Nigel Lythgoe
  
• Dancing with the Stars - Leonard Gordon Goodman
  
• Hell's Kitchen - Gordon Ramsay

Listen, I'm all FOR mindless entertainment and sure, when someone gets ripped apart on national television, who doesn't feel a LITTLE bit better about themselves? If nobody felt this way, shows like Intervention and many MTV shows wouldn't exist!

*Tangent*

Back to my point, this mundane form of entertainment is continuing to overshadow the quality and useful programming out there. I mean, how many different ways can you tell someone they suck at cooking or that their outfit looks horrendous?

I'm not saying that I won't watch these shows from time to time, but if regurgitating ideas for shows that originated halfway around the world is where we stand with forming new ideas for shows, then SIGN.ME.UP.