Higher Ed Geeky Office Décor

in ,

  Geek-and-proud

Offices are where we spend a lot of our time working. We have meetings and events to go to, but I know I spend a lot of quality time in my office. I have important, meaningful interactions with students in my office and get valuable projects done in there.

Especially since my current office is my first one I have ever had, I wanted to make sure it was a space that felt genuine to me, safe for students to speak with me, and helped convey who I was to anyone who entered. Leaving the walls blank never crossed my mind.

Below are a few photos showing a full view of my office.

DSC00383

This shelf gets most of the attention from student and staff when they visit my office. I can't help myself collecting the Funk POP figures from all of my different geekdoms. I have more stuff than what is seen here showcased in my apartment. It started to get crowded on there! Whether it is my Fallout bobble-head, my Lost figure, or my Doctor Who stuff, people who come in can instantly have a connection over a shared interest.

DSC00384

I collect pennants from any campus I spend some quality time on. I love visiting colleges wherever I go, and I look forward to having walls full of pennants celebrating the journeys I've been on and the institutions I've seen.

DSC00385

I have segments dedicated to both my undergraduate institution (University of Delaware) and graduate school (Rutgers University - New Brunswick). Both places hold a special place in my heart. I've connected with students from New Jersey through my Rutgers stuff on display.

DSC00386

One of my favorite items, which was a gift from my amazing partner, is the Spider-Man cover art featuring a "Crisis on Campus".

I really enjoy seeing how people have their offices decorated, so I'm going to feature a new professional's space each week starting with mine.

Feel free to reach out to me if you'd like to share some photos of your office and how you authentically connect with people who come to visit through what you have displayed.

Thanks for stopping by!

Some Final Thoughts on San Diego Comic Con

in ,

IMG_7533 San Diego Comic Con is the pinnacle of geek culture. Pretty much everything you can think of in the entertainment world is somehow represented there. From Power Rangers to Galactus to Buffy to Peanuts and Charlie Brown, and everything in between. It's a great melting pot of fandom, with people coming from all over the world to take part, but there are some elements that were distressing to me as a newcomer, much like with national student affairs conventions.

The Verge did a great piece that gave voice to some of my concerns, and The New York Times highlighted well the convention experience as a whole. The long lines, the shallow industry showcases disguised as fan service, the overwhelming crowds, and the exclusive, fairly expensive nature (especially with airfare, meals, and hotels) of it all just seemed very privileged to me. The convention lost some of its immediate luster to me after spending a few days there. Maybe I just didn't do it right, but I didn't feel like the point of it all was to spend half of your hard fought ticket to SDCC waiting in lines for a short session that essentially was just a studio patting itself on the back for how great their thing is (and then the trailer you saw being released the next day online). There was a lack of depth that annoyed me to most of the proceedings. There was so much going on it's not surprising. There just wasn't a time or place for it.

Maybe the whole event has become a bloated version of what it was originally intended to be and it will eventually deflate back to a more focused event. Or maybe that is what the other conventions are for. Nowadays though, a lot of comic conventions seem to be trying to model themselves after SDCC, becoming huge entertainment industry showcases versus a focus on panels, artists, and personal interactions. Also, it's a whole other post in itself about the problems SDCC has with consent and cosplay.

Don't get me wrong, I had a great time. It just feels like it could have been even better. Maybe if I get the chance to go again it will be different. Maybe I'm expecting too much or maybe it's all just not for me. The crowds were frustrating for me at times, I couldn't buy a lot of stuff even if I wanted to (I didn't that much), and I got confused many times about just how the convention worked. Maybe I should have done more homework and preparing.

Well, either way, until next year, here's to the memories and the weird, wild, and one of a kind San Diego Comic Con.

Highlights From #SDCC15

in ,

IMG_7532 From July 9-12 I was at 2015 San Diego Comic Con (SDCC), which was my first time ever attending this mecca of sorts for geeks and nerds (and my first time ever in California). It was a whirlwind trip that had a lot of great highlights for me.

IMG_7527

First off, the weather in San Diego was beautiful for the weekend I was there. The sun was out, it wasn't too hot, and overall it was just a great setting to be able to explore and experience the area. I did a lot of walking over the few days I was there, which wore me out a bit and gave me a solid sunburn towards the end of the trip.

IMG_7648

On the first day of the trip (Thursday), I walked to the convention center to check in and just walked around the show floor and other off-site events to see everything and get a lay of the land. I eventually made my way to the San Diego Central Library for the panel I was helping to cover. This was definitely a huge highlight and it was what enabled me to come out in the first place so I'm really happy I was able to sit in and take a bunch of photos of the session.

IMG_7580

After that panel, I crashed back at my room since I had to wake up early that day for my long flight from Boston. On Friday, I did more exploring, got tickets for a session, popped in for a panel, and then played the new Star Wars Battlefront game on the PlayStation 4. The Nerd HQ was demoing the game and it was incredible! I would contemplate getting a system to play this game it was that good. Then I went to the Nerdist Conival to see of their speakers (mainly Felicia Day). Both the Conival and Nerd HQ were free to anyone to come in, no SDCC badge was required. They both a lot of fun activities and it was nice that they were there as accessible options for fans to enjoy.

IMG_7732

My favorite session that I got to go to was the Nerdist Podcast Network Podcast Jam (an unwieldy title to be sure) that featured Jonah Ray, Matt Mira, Pete Holmes, Kumail Nanjiani, Emily Gordon, and Sandra Daugherty. There was also a kid who does a podcast apparently on the network (The Mutant Season) that I had no idea who he was but it was sort of neat to hear from a young person and the impact doing a podcast has had on him. I had never seen all these people in person, much less all at the same time. It was hilarious! They provided some neat insights as well from their collective years podcasting. As a fan of the medium and an avid podcaster myself, it was definitely a major highlight of the whole con for me.

IMG_1323

Saturday was spent checking out a local beach and dipping my feet in the Pacific Ocean (a life goal for me). I came back to SDCC later in the day to check out Adam Savage from MythBusters do a Q&A session as well as a session from the folks at Nerd for a Living about doing just that; how to get into nerdy creative fields like costume design, movie makeup and effects, comic writing/illustrating, etc. I have appreciated the work they do for a little while now so it was cool to be able to check this panel out.

After all that, I packed up and got to bed so I could head out the next morning for my flight back to the East Coast. It was an awesome trip and experience that I did not expect to have so soon in my life. I'll try to capture more of my in depth thoughts in a future post, but I just wanted to share some of the cool highlights from the trip with you all. If you haven't gone before, I hope you get the opportunity to do so at some point. It's an amazing experience to behold, and will definitely be memorable for you for your own awesomely geeky reasons.

Thanks for stopping by!

Recap of #SDCC15 "Geeks in Higher Ed" Panel

in ,

geekEd. Logo

"College should be more like Comic Con..."

I had the distinct pleasure to attend the fifth annual geekEd panel at San Diego Comic Con this year. I've seen similar presentations that have been done by some of these professionals at ACPA, but this was an excellent showing by this group and featured many professionals I have never heard speak before.

IMG_7638

The panel was moderated by Brian MacDonald and consisted of Brian Arao, Alfred Day, Michelle Kittel, Patricia Nguyen, Liz Krulder, and Emily Sandoval. It was really great to especially hear from Liz about her experience as a student at Fresno State University who worked on developing their first "Geek Week" type event for their campus. All of the panelists came from different institutions and organizations, which itself brought a diversity of perspectives. The panelists also had very different backgrounds and outlooks on what made engaging the nerd/geek community so important and how the mediums of comics, video games, and entertainment can be used to start important discussions of current events.

IMG_7639

A few of the big, actionable takeaways I had were about making the college environment a place where students (and staff) feel safe to be themselves and be unabashedly into whatever they love. This could mean allowing for geeky decorations in your office, encouraging and celebrating clubs of all sorts for students to find their niche, and making being smart cool. So much bullying and unfortunate discouragement happens before students get to college, but we can make our campuses a welcoming place for all so that in this pivotal time for students to find themselves, they can figure out who that really is without any of the baggage they picked up beforehand.

I've created a resource page for the folks that presented, which will be continually evolving to include new books, videos, and articles that are relevant, as well as contact info to connect with some of the awesome geeky professionals out there doing good work in this space.

IMG_7648

Thanks for stopping by!

Mass Effect & Living With Our Choices

in ,

966x423_Filter_Heros_ME3 Mass Effect is probably my favorite video game series of all time. While many others come very close, Mass Effect has everything for me. It's an engaging, thought-provoking sci-fi action role-playing game where your choices matter. Characters live and die, planets are saved or left to ruin, and you personally benefit or sacrifice based on the decisions you make. With the fourth iteration in the franchise, Mass Effect: Andromeda, officially announced, I thought it proper to look back on the current trilogy and talk about making choices.

What I love about the Mass Effect series is how the choices you make starting in the first game carry over into each of the subsequent entries. Not a lot of other games do this. It heightens the stakes and forces you as the player to make tough choices. Just like in life, we have to make our choices and live with them, moving forward despite what we may have done before. It can be impossible to fully know what the ramifications of our choices will be so you have to do what seems best at the time and work with what you have in the future.

It can be paralyzing for people when faced with tough decisions. We can never really know what the "right" choice is, but we can make the most informed choices we can, and make them so that we can justify whatever we decided to do. We shouldn't make choices that we'd regret or that we don't fully believe in, or at the very least, can put forth reasoning for why we did what we did, perhaps being obligated to by work or family. As long as you feel they are valid reasons and you don't feel like you're being coerced or there is a large gap between your values and the values of whoever you're making your decision on behalf of, you can move forward with a clear conscience.

In Mass Effect, you can usually take a lot of time to choose your own path, but in real life, we have to make a lot of choices quickly, so we aren't afforded the luxury of infinite contemplation. The game taught me to go with my instincts, go with my heart, and to not overly obsess over what I should or could have done. I have to just do what I think is right at the time and learn from any mistakes I make along the way. I think those are some pretty valuable takeaways we can all use.

Thanks for stopping by!

Going to #SDCC2015? Come Geek Out With Me!

in ,

geekEd. Logo For any and all going to San Diego Comic Con this year, I'm helping promote and cover a panel consisting of some awesome student affairs colleagues from across the country talking about the geek community within education.

Check out the program page here for more information, but I'll be there snapping photos, taking notes, and will also be at the convention for the rest of the time too, so expect some coverage of my experience (a first for me!) right here the week after the convention.

Hope to see some friendly faces there!

Thanks for stopping by!

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 05/15/15

in ,

Geek-and-proud

Good day to you!

Here's what is going on in my world this week:

  • The Flash

Flash's first season has been amazing. It's pretty much everything I could want from a weekly superhero show; fun, action, good characters, and an expansive universe. It's been more entertaining than Arrow's frustrating third season (which is tough since season 2 of Arrow was so awesome). Next week's episode is the season finale and I'm excited for what they'll tease for season 2. They've already laid out a lot of groundwork for things to come, and I can't wait to see what they do next.

  • Agents of SHIELD

This past week was the season 2 finale for SHIELD, and this has been an interesting ride for the show so far. It feels like it has gone in a really intriguing new direction with introducing the Inhumans and focusing a bit more on superpowered people while still holding to the basic premise of the show; being about ordinary people in an extraordinary world. While it still doesn't hold up as well to some of the other comic book shows I watch (Flash and Arrow), it is still an awesome companion to the ever expanding (and fun) Marvel Cinematic Universe. I foresee it playing an increasingly important role to the films, filling in gaps and establishing backstory to the events of the films. The show is definitely worth looking into if you're a fan of the MCU.

CBS recently released an extended first look at their new superhero series (check it out above), which does a great job of showcasing the background and vibe of the show. Going for a more fun, lighthearted feeling, Supergirl looks like it is going to stake out its own place in the growing crowd of comic book shows on TV right now. I'm looking forward to seeing something different and am happy to see a female led superhero show come to the fray and hold her own with the likes of Arrow, Flash, SHIELD, and the new Legends of Tomorrow. Her and Agent Carter are important role models and are just awesome shows (or at least look like they should be in Supergirl's case).

Thanks for stopping by!

Batman and the Open Work Environment

in ,

YY0du When I was in college there was a blissful place in the library called the quiet area. I could go to this place and something magical would happen – no one would talk to me or around me. It was my own productivity cave. Then, I got to the real world and I was introduced to the open work environment – also know as a fashion show of headphones.

The open work environment – an airy creative space to give you room to think. To allow you to collaborate with your colleagues and to really get some “innovative” work done. But what if collaboration isn’t for every minute of every day? At first I thought, I was a broken millennial. I am terrible at ping-pong and other games that frequent the open work environment, and I prefer not to drink beer at work. For the record, I like my cave. I want to be alone.

Someone who prefers to work alone? An endangered species. But then it hit me – Batman (no he didn’t actually hit me, that would suck and I would probably be dead). Batman liked his space and he did a pretty good job juggling a double life as a super hero and millionaire. Not only that, but he knew when to work with a team and when he was the only man for the job.  If he ever did yoga, his balance would be a sight to behold.

Working styles differ and finding the best one for you is important.  Realizing the space and environment I thrive in boost my productivity and creativity. Some prefer the active and energizing open work space, other prefer a coffee shop buzz or working at midnight.  Whatever you prefer, finding the right fit will be a great improvement on your work life.

If anyone needs me, use the signal. I’ll be in my cave.

Bethany’s background includes working for startups, corporations, and ad agencies. Her area of expertise is digital communication and marketing strategy. She works as the Marketing Director for CordiaGrad and graduated from University of Kentucky (Go Cats!) with her B.B.A in Marketing.

Bethany has lived in 6 different states and enjoys taking spontaneous weekend trips to explore new cities. She is a Memphis native and volunteers with St. Jude Research Hospital.  She follows Kentucky Basketball when they are winning which, according to her, is always. Connect with her on Twitter to keep the conversation going.