What I Was Geeking Out About: May 2014

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whatdoyougeekHello fellow geeks and nerds! In an ongoing effort to better serve up my delicious content to you, here is a monthly wrap-up of all my recent geek outs! Enjoy!

Have an awesome week!

My Favorite TED Talks

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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries?list=PL873C206FEE6DA034] I wanted to curate this YouTube playlist for everyone of some of my favorite TED Talks that I've found so far. I'll keep updating the list and would love to hear more recommendations from folks.

Enjoy!

Why You Shouldn't Be Afraid of Social Media

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social-media-logos I've been wanting to write a brief post on this for a while now. I'm a big fan of social media and totally advocate for its usage and implementation (in moderation of course). I previously shared Erik Qualman's awesome video about how social media is changing the world, so it is not just some passing fad, it's here to stay.

Why I love social media is because it makes the world more tightly knit, easily accessible, and allows for cool stuff to get noticed by the world. In essence I feel like it democratizes the world in a sense, and on a personal level, it allows for one to put themselves out there and find their voice. I know it has helped me in that way.

What frustrates me currently on this topic is how afraid some people are of social media. While it could be warranted with the slew of scandals brought about by social media, this is only by those who act unethically and with poor judgement. When one takes a positive perspective to social media and does due diligence to know what they post and why, there can be a windfall of value brought to your organization, event, or even just yourself and your reputation.

When done properly, social media is able to highlight all the good stuff you do and bring it to the top. People get afraid since they think social media will only highlight the negative. As long as you're behaving yourself and not posting inappropriate content, you'll enjoy the benefits of closer connections to your constituents, instant updates of new initiatives, and the possibility of dramatically growing your audience in a fun, authentic way through social media.

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Thanks for stopping by!

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 05/09/14

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Geek-and-proudHello and welcome to another week of awesome geek outs. This week, I chose to highlight some current events that I wanted to provide some commentary on and keep the discussion going.

This story broke a few days ago and essentially involved the company, Black Milk Clothing, botching the response to a distasteful picture that held to the old nerd stereotype that we're all ugly and unfashionable. They could have just apologized and took the photo down but instead, Black Milk engaged with their audience trying to defend their post and never took down the photo that people found to be offensive. Check out the post for the full saga but it just reaffirmed my support for the nerd community that we still have to put up with this sort of behavior that makes us feel ashamed for being into all the awesome stuff we enjoy. We'll just have to keep fighting the good fight it looks like.

I've seen this social media campaign gaining some steam lately, which focuses on the effort to find missing Nigerian girls who were kidnapped last month. The story blew up when it was discovered the likely fate of these girls; sex trafficking. The entire world is getting behind the effort to support finding them before it is too late, even First Lady Michelle Obama (click above). I'm always proud of the potential of social media in times like this, when a global community is formed behind a single cause.

I've been chronicling my own job search for a series of posts over at The Student Affairs Collective, and it has been a rough few months. Between the stress of a gauntlet of interviews, the travel, and the anxiety of not hearing back while others are accepting offers, it has been hard for me and I know a great deal of the chaos is due to the hiring practices of colleges and universities. A large gap is the lack of communication. This article goes into this and it is just the simple gesture of keeping the candidates informed of what is going on rather than letting them come up with their own worst-case scenarios in their minds to torture themselves with. I understand it is a busy time for everyone but we could a lot better with how the "process" we're all supposed to trust is run.

Thanks for stopping by and have an awesome weekend!

Steal These Innovative Ideas from Courtney O'Connell

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Steal My Ideas: 7 Ideas for Student Affairs Pros I'm a big fan of Courtney's and I love these new, simple, innovative ideas she came up with. Check them out and use them to get out there to better engage students on your campus!

Why Geek Pride is Important

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Geek-and-proud If you know me, you know that this topic is a major one for me. I just had a thought to formally write on my feelings after having finished Rutgers Geek Week at the end of March, connected with fellow student affairs nerds & geeks at ACPA in Indianapolis, and speaking on my learning for my final project in my graduate program. The latter event made me feel very strongly that this discussion is important.

When I was presenting, during the final question and answer period, I was challenged a lot on the branding I've chosen and using the moniker of "geek" as a badge of honor. Some were confused, others were wary due to negative stereotypes of geeks and nerds such as being "know-it-alls" or nonconformist or antisocial. It was hard to deflect and absorb everything in such a setting, since I didn't want to blow back on it too much since I needed to pass this presentation to graduate. I felt emotionally gut punched about it afterwards since I didn't expect such an antagonizing stance towards that out of everything I talked about and felt as though it hit to the core of who I am, making it all seem like it was foolish.

The work I and others try to do in this space is important. Geek pride is important because it fights bullying just because someone is a little different. Geek pride is important because it means creating a world where anyone can be proud of what they're into and pursue a life of passion. Geek pride is important because anti-intellectualism is dangerous for the future of our country. What I want to do is uplift all the awesome parts of what being a geek or nerd means; the passion, the community, the lessons and morals we hold dear that make us good people. I want to get away from the negative stereotypes and create spaces where people geek out about anything and everything they want, whenever they want, whether it is cars, comics, clothes, or consoles (tried really hard on that alliteration).

So here's to geeks, nerds, dorks, and dweebs. Make sure to bond with your closest friends for Geek Pride Day, which is on May 25.

Thanks for stopping by and keep spreading the good word.