Runnin' with Rach @rachelgibbons13 - Tumblr Blog

This is my spooky cat!

For Staters for State (SDSU student club of the alumni association), we did a volunteer opportunity and painted pumpkins for the residents at the United Retirement Community. The residents got to pick their favorite painted pumpkins. What a fun way to do volunteer work!

10 dollar fire! Got it started #camping2013

#camping2013

Painting finally finished! For my room.

theprcloset

All this said, posting times are not so black and white. You need to know when YOUR audience is engaging, so use Facebook EdgeRank and other social media monitoring tools to determine the ideal times for your brands. Remember that it will change based on the content, platform, etc, so be flexible and adapt quickly, and know your peeps and what and when they want to hear from you.

(Infographic credit: http://www.davidhenderson.com/best-and-worst-times-to-post-on-social-media/)

rachelgibbons13

Great to know! I had to reblog so I can remember this for the future!

Reflecting on MCOM 220

After taking the course Intro to Digital Media, I see the impact social media has for not only individuals pursuing careers in mass communications, but also for all types of career choices. Personally I have benefited from taking the class in the ways that I have become more confident in using social media to communicate, realized the importance of personal branding, and learned new perspectives about video production.

Social media plays a huge part in society; especially its role in revolutionizing the way news is gathered and read. My professor stressed the importance of making a routine when using social media, such as setting aside a part of your day to catch up on the news, and then blog or tweet about it. Once I started incorporating a daily social media routine, using twitter and tumblr became easier and enjoyable. The best practice with social media is setting a routine and sticking to it. A routine offers ways to connect with others, find information that is relevant to your personal brand, and stay educated on current news. I created a solid routine, although I do think I could have reached out and tried to connect more than I did. I tried to stay on top of current news and at least read and retweet something every day that related to my brand.

Creating a personal brand was a challenging experience at first. I tried several approaches and finally decided I have many interests and covered everything from entertainment, current events, health, motivation, and crafts. The best practices for personal branding are to brainstorm possible topic choices and then just start writing. I went for the soft news approach versus hard news; human interest is part of the brand I created. My favorite part was coming up with ideas for craft “how tos”. I love making crafts and blogging provided me with the opportunity to share it with others. I think I was consistent in both blogging and tweeting and I thought I created fun content.

Video production was a required portion of MCOM 220 and before I started, I viewed it as a daunting task. As I learned strategies, I am more comfortable with video production and eventually liked making content. I am more aware of all the effort and planning that goes into video production. The most valuable lesson I learned was the importance of audio and lighting. Lighting and sound can make or break a video. I learned when you are filming, get more material than you think you need. Having excess video, allows you to pick the best shots to include and will help you portray your story the way you want to. I think I improved with each video I created.

No matter where you end up with your career in the future, you will have to work with social media. Whether that includes handling a company’s twitter or creating and maintaining a Facebook page or another social media platform, knowing how to use social media is vital for success. When people search for businesses they use Google or Facebook. If your business has a link to your website, then people will find you and get the word out about your brand. Using social media is useful and will create connections and let people know what you are doing as a company.

I learned valuable information about social media, personal branding, and video production from MCOM 220. I can now handle social media effectively, I have the tools to build a brand and attract an audience, and I have learned valuable video production skills. I am prepared to incorporate social media, personal branding and video production into my future career.

Night Crawlin'

One of my favorite things to do when the weather actually permits rain is hunting night crawlers. My dad usually finds recruits (my siblings and I) and we venture outside after dark. Armed with flashlights, we sneak up on the worms that have crawled out from the ground and grab them before they can burrow back under. After we collect our batch, we use them to go fishing! I think of night crawling as an adventure and enjoy the challenge and though it sounds weird it's a great bonding time with my family.

Final Storytelling Video

Final Video Storytelling Rachel Gibbons from Rachel Gibbons on Vimeo.

I decided to do a storytelling video over students who are planning to or already are living off campus. If you are trying to decide to live off campus or not listen in to the advantages and disadvantages and decide for yourself!

How to make craft bottle cap magnets!

What you will need:

Glue gun

Magnets

Bottle caps

Paint

Paintbrushes

Get Started-

1. After you have collected enough bottle caps, paint them any color you choose. You will have to paint more than one coat. Let dry.

2. Have the glue gun ready to go. Glue the magnet to the back of the bottle cap. Let sit.

3. On one of the bottle caps, I drew the letter R with a permanent marker. You can get more creative and draw letters, designs, or use glitter.

Now you have some colorful magnets to decorate your fridge :)

Let me know how you make your bottle cap magnets!

Summer Reading

One reason I am very excited for summer is that I can be a bookworm. I feel like I never have time during the school year to read books I want to, other than textbooks, so I try to take full advantage of summer time to read books of my choosing.

I cannot wait to lay outside in the sun and read some great books!

#reading summer

The Magic of Music

The way certain music/songs speak to each and every person differently blows my mind.

Personally, when I hear certain songs I associate them to people, events, or places. Some songs make me think of my grandpa, getting ready for basketball games in high school, or friends from high school.

There are a ton of different music genres, that is obvious, but though there are different types, music in general brings all of us together.

Kenny Chesney's song lyrics from "I Go Back" go perfectly to how I feel about music's affect on us.

"We all have a song that somehow stamped our lives, takes us to another place and time."

Meet Maggie, Addie, Luther, Ruthie, and Isaiah—the five golden retrievers trying to help Bostonians recover after the marathon bombings. Five golden retrievers made their way around Boston Wednesday, visiting some of the 176 victims of Monday’s marathon attack. Maggie,...

I think therapy(comfort) and service dogs are a great way to help people. I don't know what it is about animals, but they possess a certain type of warmth that can have a healing affect. Boston needs healing right now and I am glad they brought these comfort dogs there to help those in need of emotional comfort.

Getting Ready to Move Out

Today our dorm had its study buck auction, and my roommate won a griddle. She is super excited to make pancakes and we will be able to use it in our apartment next year.

I am looking forward to moving off campus and having my own place next year. I can't wait to have my own room.

On that note, I would like to say that my dorm experiences over the past two years have been positive. You always hear horror stories of living in the dorms. The two roommates I have had were normal and I had fun with them! I just want to make it clear, that it is possible to live in the dorms and great memories. My first roommate was a complete stranger and my second roommate was a friend I made freshman year.

Even with the positives, I am still excited for my own room!

Spring Activities That you Should Still do!

We are adults now. Yet, I think it is important to still do activities we did as kids to prevent us from becoming grouchy old people too soon. Right?

1. Chalk. I worked at a child care program the past two summers and I loved chalk time more than the kids. I mean what about hopscotch?

2. Climb a tree. For some of us, that probably isn't in the question anymore. I think it is a valuable skill to still hone. Ever since I saw the Hunger Games, I feel like my survival could depend on the ability to climb trees.

3. Bike rides. Find a friend to go with you! If you have friends across campus it is a perfect opportunity to visit them too, all while getting exercise.

4. Picnic. Except this time, you get to make the food instead of your mom. Bring all your friends and go out to a park. Take a break from campus food.

5. Puddle Jump. I am investing in rain boots right now! It's raining it's pouring, why not? You can probably only get away with doing this now until you have kids. So go.

If you are in SD, at the moment we still have some lovely snow on the ground. So if you didn't sled, make a snowman, or have a snowball fight, now is your chance!

Comedy Night at the Ground Round

The last two Thursdays I have went to the Ground Round for Comedy Night.

I have never attended comedian shows before and have occasionally seen them on t.v., so seeing comedians on an actual tour is pretty fun.

Comedy night starts at 9 and consists of two comedians, an opener and the main act.

If you are looking for something different to do, I suggest you check it out. You might get picked on by the comedian and teased. My friends and I definitely did, but that is almost half the fun.

I always hear that laughter is the best remedy. I count laughing as something healthy and we should all laugh and have fun more than we do.

Who doesn't like to laugh? Go laugh.

"Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one." Dr. Seuss

http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/61105.Dr_Seuss

Snow Days

I heard it was pretty much useless to wish for snow days in college, but today SDSU got one! I woke up and was going to get ready for class when I noticed a text from someone that said "No school!".

Snow days brings me back to my elementary days when I would pray every morning it was slightly snowy out for school to get canceled. It's not that I didn't like school, but snow days were magical days. I would get to stay home with my mom and siblings. We would maybe get to go build snow men or have snow ball fights if it wasn't too bad out. If not we would watch movies or work on projects. It was free day.

I rode the bus and was the first one picked up, so I was always up early. If there was a snow day I would get to go back to bed. Who doesn't like to sleep in?

I would say snow days in college are magical too, mostly because I got to sleep in this morning! :)

modcloth

A summer “snow” globe for those of us who want to bring an oceanic feeling inside.

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