#SocialSeminar

We did good.

A brief outline of the day
11:00am – I’m at uni trying to finish this stupid presentation. The live twitter feed is still not working so I’m exploring other options here. Strea.ma looked good until it told me I was using a free version every minute or so. Currently liking the look of Wall of Silver because it actually shows photos that are posted with the tweet. Can’t get it into the presentation though sooooo
1:00pm – I am hungry. I forgot to have lunch. Twitter feed is still giving me grief.
2:00pm – Meeting up with Kate and the others to get props, tech equip, cupcakes (gracias Steph), and our bums over to Building 80. This takes longer than realised and it’s quickly 2:45pm and we have no props, no twitter feed that actually updates on the fly, and no movement from anyone. Stress.
3:00pm – Okay, now we have props and are in Building 80 setting up. Less stress.
3:30pm – About to lose it with the Steering Committee. Go tweet yourself. Literally.
4:00pm – I am on the floor, pressing buttons on a wireless mouse on a cushioned stool in front of a tv screen mounted on the bottom of a desk. I will be here for the next hour and a half. Stupid RMIT cords that decide not to pick up audio from anything other than the PC in the room. At least they could’ve had a Mac with Bootcamp so everyone is happy.
5:30pm – Leg cramps have finally stopped because this seminar is over.
6:00pm – Biscuits are stashed in my pockets and the props have been returned.
6:15pm – Finally finished. I forgot to have lunch.

Social media seminar is tomorrow. I am ready for this to be over.

I even shared the event on my Facebook page. Now, I’m by no means popular but it really did get a dismal amount of attention. Guess we should’ve hyped this up a little more.

The steering committee’s logo for the seminars is actually pretty quaint. I forgot to mention it before. I still hate that we’re the students in a whole building of media-makers that used the word “Epic” in our title, but that can’t be helped at this point.

Ned said he looked into setting up a live twitter feed for the seminar but it has now fallen to me to do. I’m creating a presentation with Projeqt that promises a live stream but has so far failed me. The site is one I’ve used previously but this seminar has required me to look into it further than I have before. The design is really quite nice and it’s very simple to use. I think using a presentation is important, as it’s a standard procedure with seminars (from what I’ve seen e.g. Ted talks) and it gives our audience something to look at other than the guests. The live twitter feed is something we almost can’t not do seeing as we’re focusing on social media. It encourages audience participation and will be a form of entertainment. I think we’ll have plants in the audience ready to post in case no one else does.

We also need to get the stage set up. I was there tonight with Kate, Azim, Bryan and James, mapping out the stage.
Draft and prototype.

Props! Must get props. Thinking about the black couches in the props room but it could be a little intimate. There were some Facebook-blue chairs in there too that might work better. I would like a fern but everyone has stomped on that idea. Ferns are cool and look tropical yet office-like. Whatever.

Can I just raise my concerns about the steering committee? What exactly is their role in this? Apart from putting up posters, I haven’t seen much work from them and I don’t really understand how that allows them to be marked at the same level. Their communication is lacking except when it comes to posting about our seminars. But that’s a job we do/can do ourselves. I just want someone to clarify their purpose for me. I also want to be notified in advance when someone sets up your refreshments for you, instead of tacking you onto the end of an email chain.

We have –

Created promo posters

I’m just not sure what happened to our name though. Yes, this was one of my suggested titles on our group page. No, we didn’t choose this. Yes, it has more to do with epic bloody journeys and social media than Inception does. No, we will not dismiss it entirely. Yes, we will combine this funky poster and title with what we already have.

Established ourselves online
I mean, a social media seminar without a social media presence? Who even does that. We don’t have much to post about yet. Or maybe we do and we just need someone to come and talk to us about promoting ourselves on our online networks and – oh yeah, cool, that’s the whole point of this seminar. Bit of a Catch 22 at this point, isn’t it?

Begun securing guests

Homeless of Melbourne are a yes! Thanks to Matt.
A famous Youtuber is a yes! Thanks to Tom.
Ned says Uber is a definite possibility so that’s fab.

I think these three guests would be perfect for representing types of levels within the dream social media career. You have a first level – presenting yourself online. Sarah the Youtube star can give us the rundown into creating your online image and selling it. It’s a pretty basic concept and there’s a whole lotta people whose lives are based on the videos and blogs they create.
Second level could be using this online presence/media creation and merging it with the physical world. Homeless of Melbourne have a clothing store HoMie that fuses consumerism with a do-good nature. Everyone gets a pat on the back. They have this fantastic following online and I believe it’s how they’re able to set up a clothing brand that actually sells whilst benefiting homeless people.
Third level is the seed of the idea. Uber doesn’t really even need to create an online presence. It’s created for them by people fed up with taxis and looking for the next big thing. They successfully integrate an app with features that resonate with an online culture (ratings, profile pictures, immediacy in tracking) into our everyday lives. They even provide kittens on occasion. Having a product so good that your image is created for you is all that a company could ask for. It’s a very interesting concept.

This is a whole other level of dedication. I really like this concept – we talked privately about what the Inception idea might include in the seminar but she’s really outdone herself with this. Cool.

Heres some stuff I just wrote up for you guys to think about today, how we might structure the seminar and frame everything related to the topic. Hope it makes sense!
IN(ternet sensation)CEPTION – The Dream is Real
Like the world of Inception where dreams are ‘designed’ by ‘architects’ we now have the capability to design our career and carefully construct our ideal online persona. Social media allows us to plant ‘seeds’ in the minds of our audience and influence a broader online audience in the hyperreal world that is the online sphere.
Like the designer dreams in the movie Inception, the mobile environment is hyperreal and can be edited or manipulated and allows us to do things and reach audiences and limits which would physically be impossible in real life. Social media allows us to project an ideal image of ourselves (or a brand) and build upon this in deepening associated ‘levels’ of the dream, ultimately affecting ‘reality’ outside of the cyber sphere.
(Use this concept to frame our interview with our first guests the creators of “Homeless of Melbourne” who created a social media campaign that now has several linked accounts and has extended past the online sphere to now actually affecting the physical, tangible world with the opening of their pop up shop and the change it has been able to have on the real lives of Melbourne’s homeless. We should refer to our guests as the “architects” (like in the film) of “worlds”.
And the social media platforms they use as “tools” they have used to plant the seeds.)
For example, like different levels of ‘dreams’ in inception working on different levels so would a social media campaign:
-You start with the seed – for example a Facebook group or page. You create interest around the seed by planting an ‘idea’ – for example, that the homeless people of melbourne have stories of their own. Share these stories, create intrigue and interest. Plant the idea in the audience’s mind that these are stories worth hearing.
-You continue this by going deeper to the level of a linked Instagram account, connecting content and furthering the image you wish to project or concept you want to promote. More content creates more intrigue and allows you to cross from one form of social media to another, captivating the audience across a variety of media.
Once the ‘idea’ has been planted and now is widespread, you legitimize it by a proper website hosted outside a social media site.
You then have enough of a following to bring this into real life ‘reality’ – holding events, getting audience to actively participate by donating real money, attend events etc.
The deepest level is the real world manifestation of the online or social media project. What is the actual effect? What are the capabilities for this model to actually alter everyday reality? The ‘dream’ is now realised and the goal has been attained (the goal being homeless people supported through the proceeds of a pop up shop).
Other things we might want to address/aspects of social media that might reference the movie-
Clickbait and Advertising
In the movie the characters have ‘totems‘ which are small items to remind them they are dreaming. Like totems, the existence of Clickbait and advertisements make the user aware they are engaging in an online environment ?
How to make sure your subconscious doesn’t show up and F*&^ your dream world up, or how to create a convincing dream world- (in the movie if the persons subconscious knows the dream isn’t real it ‘attacks’ and ruins the dream) Maybe use this section as a description of what to do to avoid negative social media attention? Discuss the concept of internet sensations, memes, viral threads, and how to avoid becoming negative press online.
Or maybe even this section could be about carefully editing your personal profile or whatever so that future employers don’t find compromising photos on your Facebook – it could be about your online footprint & reputation and not having some gacked photo of you at 3am at revs coming back to bite you in the ass and stop you from getting that job you wanted (true story).

I’d have preferred to do something with radio, but it’s not a popular choice. Everyone wants to be the next filmmaker and, maybe it’s just me, but that pathway seems oversaturated, competitive, tiresome and cliched. It’s not the “next big thing”. There are only so many stories you can create. Maybe that’s why I respect those who chose documentary as a topic – they’re not creating fiction, they’re representing truth.

Whatever. Someone’s gotta be the next Chris Marker.

I’d also have preferred the steering committee to be a little more creative. “Epic Journey”? Is this 2009? What right do you have to paste all of our media cohort with that word? I don’t think I’ve cringed more throughout my entire degree. I wanna say it’s an “epic fail” but that leads to a slippery slope. Of course, I raised this issue with my group but not the actual committee. I’m lazy.

Facebook group set up, as per usual. I’m getting really good at doing that. The Social Media team on social media, discussing how best to tell peers about social media. There’s been some actually clever ideas to fulfil the catchy-seminar-title requirement. My personal favourite was Matt’s “Dora the Internet Explorer” but the Inception idea seems to fit our (stupid) theme better.