Sam's Abenteuer in Deutschland

[sam-rochford-blog]

A Visit to Teufelsberg

Prompt 3 (extended): At Teufelsberg this week you will see a huge amount of graffiti. It's a cultural phenomenon here - highly skilled artists have been allowed to paint the walls of this defunct spy station. Some murals have lasted years, while others are painted over from one week to the next. As Ledingham tells us, “Public relations is best defined and practiced as the active attempt to restore and maintain a sense of community.” How is this graffiti a function of community building/maintenance? How might this space be different in the U.S.? Would the owners of this property or the federal government be likely to allow this long-term graffiti haven to continue untouched by anyone who isn't part of the community?

Teufelsberg was one of the most fascinating places I have ever been. There are so many layers of history there, and I could honestly have spent hours talking to our tour guide to find out more about each purpose this place served. Currently, Teufelsberg serves as a graffiti art gallery, where artists can come and express themselves in any way they please. There is no law enforcement there to police the area, and the workers of Teufelsberg encourage artists to come and put their work on display on the many walls of each building.

How is this graffiti a function of community building/maintenance?

The graffiti done at Teufelsberg creates a sense of community for those involved. The artists can come here and not be judged for their work, and are encouraged to create and express themselves. Everyone supports one another, and there are no harsh feelings if certain pieces get replaced with new art. There is also a level of respect among the artists, which helps maintain the community. If there is a truly spectacular piece of art, like the woman with the words behind her, then it will remain there for years. The mutual love for graffiti art creates this community among the artists, and this is maintained through the unspoken rules of respect that the artists have for one another and the space. In addition to these rules created by the artists, the community is maintained because the artists feel as though they are benefiting from doing graffiti art in this location. In the Ledingham (2001) reading, the survey results showed that “public members expect mutuality in their interactions with an organization” (p.292). The artists feel as though putting their graffiti here is benefitting their careers, as well as beautifying the space, and that mutuality from the graffiti helps maintain the community.

How might this space be different in the U.S.?

This space might be different in the United States only because we tend to have stricter rules and standards regarding vandalism and historically significant spaces. There is graffiti all over the United States, but most of it is in places like train cars and under bridges on the highway. If someone is caught doing graffiti in the United States, there is a high likelihood that they will get in some sort of trouble. If this graffiti were to be done to something historically significant, like a monument with multi-war significance, there is no doubt in my mind that there would be legal consequences. However, at Teufelsberg, this does not seem to be a concern. There seems to be no concern with getting “caught in the act”. There is a concern about being caught, but only if the artist and his/her art are posted together in a photo online. This lack of concern about being caught in the act adds to the community feel of Teufelsberg that wouldn’t be present in the United States. Graffiti in the U.S. tends to be more of a solo act that is done at night, in order to hide your identify from the law, but at Teufelsberg this art is done at any time of the day, with other people all around.

Would the owners of this property or the federal government be likely to allow this long-term graffiti haven to continue untouched by anyone who isn't part of the community?

I think that a large part of this community is the idea that anyone can come and express themselves, so I do think that the owners of the property are likely to allow anyone to take part in it. It is a place of the most freeing kind of expression, where you can come and speak your mind through art among other artists. In the United States, the owners of a property like this would most likely have a similar feeling toward the place, since Americans are known for their love of free speech and self-expression. However, I think that the federal government might have a different stance on this, since at times the American government can be hard on those who speak their mind out of place. There would very likely be people policing an area like this in the United States, and I do believe that it would eventually be shut down by the government in order to preserve the monument.

[sam-rochford-blog]

The Dark Side of Metropolis

Prompt:  Metropolis present a dystopic, unequal society in which technology is used to control the masses. Pick a scene from the movie and compare it to a technology you observe in Berlin.

Metropolis is a dystopian society film from 1927, in which a futuristic city operates on a strict class system. The lower-class workers are forced to work below the city in factories, living their lives essentially as factory robots and sacrificing themselves so that the city can operate. The upper-class citizens spend their days relaxing high above the factories, in the “Pleasure Garden”, athletic arenas, and theaters. Throughout the film, we are presented with various uses of technology in this dystopian society. One of the scenes that displays technology that resonated with me was the first display of the factory technology, and the workers who operate it. The technology of machines used in these factories is almost combined with the workers, and they operate as one unit. They are miserable entering and exiting the factories, and are all dressed the same. We later find out that they are even given worker numbers, which further adds to their robot-like lives. They slave away each day in order to make the city better for the high-class citizens, and are then disposed of or die on the job. The hard work they do and the sacrifices they make are all hidden from those who benefit from it. This use of factory technology reminds me of our visit to Sachsenhausen. At Sachsenhausen, and concentration and labor camps like it, humans were being used in a similar technological robotic fashion. They were essentially turned into war technology, and also used factory technology, to create weapons and other war-related items. Similar to the workers of Metropolis, the people enslaved in these camps were inhumanely disposed of or died while working, which was unknown to the people of Germany for some time. They were treated as disposable, and were given numbers instead of names, similar to the factory worker of Metropolis. This type of factory technology was used to control the masses in both Metropolis and Nazi Germany, and ultimately led to the downfall of both societies. As Metropolis says, there is a need for a heart between the head and the hands. In the film and in Nazi Germany, this “heart” would have separated the evil minds of the leaders from hands of the factories and the workers, and could have potentially saved them.

[sam-rochford-blog]

Prompt 2: Capture an advertisement that you think would be ineffective in the U.S. Tell me why it would be ineffective, and then describe how you might do it differently for a U.S. market. Post a photo of the advertisement so that your classmates and I can see what you're referring to.

"Can a man slip away after sex? Of course. Full of taste? Of course."

Blaine and I saw this ad on our train ride home from Tuefelsberg, and we had a strong feeling there would be some sort of problem with translation. The word "sex" being explicitly written on the ad made me very curious as to what it said. My original Google Translate attempt gave me: “Can a man crumble after sex? Of course!”. This made very little sense to me, so I decided to seek the help of Kyle Powers. He told me that it actually translates to "Can a man slip away after sex? Of course. Full of taste? Of course." After learning this, I was even more sure that this advertisement would be ineffective in the United States. 

Although advertisements in the United States are filled with sexual imagery, sexual content, and sexual symbols, they rarely explicitly have the actual word “sex” featured somewhere. Not only is the word featured prominently on the ad, which would be a cause for concern in the United States, but the actual message of the ad is offensive to men. This would be considered offensive because it is implying that men simply abandon their partners after sex, which is seen as a very impolite practice (in the United States, at least). The response “Full of taste? Of course!” seems as though it encourages this behavior, which is offensive to the partners of these men who post-coitally abandon them. In short, this advertisement would not be acceptable in the United States simply because it has too much potential for offending people. Since this is an advertisement for a bag of chips, I really do not think that sex needs to play a part in the ad at all. I would definitely make the taste of the chips the focus of the ad if I were to change this for an American market. Americans would much rather know about how something is going to taste and if it will be worth their money than see an offensive joke about sex. I would also change the saying on the advertisement so that it could be translated into other languages with more accuracy. Dr. Pyle told me that the wording used by this ad is more or less a cultural expression, and these phrases usually don’t translate correctly or easily, as our textbook pointed out with the reference to the American poultry company struggling to reach their Hispanic market due to a Spanish translation error.

[sam-rochford-blog]

The Autostadt

Prompt: Find an example at Autostadt that illustrates a quote from the Carrabine and Longhurst reading. How is VW making meaning about automotive consumption? What appeals do they make to youth culture – or not?

The Autostadt was truly unlike any place I have ever been before. Admittedly, I have never had a huge interest in the automotive industry. However, during my time at the Autostadt I didn’t really feel like I was just at any old car manufacturing site. I felt as if this was some sort of “Disney World for Cars”, and Volkswagen really impressed me with their ability to reel me in and make me want to walk out of there with a Lamborghini (a girl can dream, right?). Personally, what impressed me the most was the incredible customization process that the Autostadt offers to its clients. The potential buyers are encouraged to come and inspect every model, sit in each one, and determine which special customized features they would like on their vehicle. Once they place the order, they are treated like royalty from the moment they enter the Autostadt until they leave with their custom-made car. This customization process that the Autostadt has illustrates Carrabine and Longhurst’s idea of imagination in car consumption. This idea states that consumption is not based on a desire for objects that will do certain things, but more so a desire for social meaning. Carrabine and Longhurst also believe that goods are imagined and dreamed about before they are purchased. The Autostadt illustrates these ideas because they allow the dreams of their consumers to become reality, and they do so in a way that creates a social atmosphere for their consumers. The customization and pick-up process at the Autostadt creates a bond between Volkswagen drivers, simply because they all went through the same exclusive process. This adds meaning to buying a Volkswagen, because others who do not buy one from the Autostadt are more likely to feel left out due to this created social atmosphere. The Autostadt makes various appeals to youth culture as well. The way they present the expensive cars, like the Lamborghini, makes them seem fast, luxurious, and cool, which all appeal to younger drivers. They also allow every visitor to sit in the cars and take pictures, which is important for young people, seeing as we love to take pictures and post them all over the internet. The Autostadt also appeals to an even younger youth culture by having the play area for children (and grown-up children like myself). This entire area is filled with fun things to do inspired by Volkswagen, which might just lead to these young children buying a car at the Autostadt one day.

[sam-rochford-blog]

The American Privilege 

Prompt: How can cultural stereotypes hinder cross-cultural or international public relations? How is culture a factor in managing international PR? Find a person not from the U.S. (on the street or at a restaurant… somewhere outside the hotel) and ask them for one stereotype about people from the U.S.; ask their permission to audio or video record them answering the question - post the audio/video here.

As I learned from my first experience with interacting with strangers in a foreign country, it is not always easy to get people to answer random American student’s questions on the street. After asking a few people, I finally found a woman from South Africa who agreed to give her opinion on American stereotypes as long as I did not video tape her. (I apologize for the poor quality.)

“I believed that Americans had life easy, and that they did not have to work for anything that they achieved.”

Before ever visiting America, the woman I spoke with said that she felt that Americans were handed everything to them in life. She assumed that all Americans were successful without ever working hard, and that we could achieve anything because of our natural privilege. Cultural stereotypes like these can certainly hinder cross-cultural public relations for many reasons. For one, these stereotypes give people a negative view of a certain culture before they ever experience it. This could cause some cultures to avoid maintaining relationships with other cultures, simply because they have a pre-existing negative assumption about one another and refuse to adapt. According to Guth and Marsh (2012), a recent study shows that two-thirds of international business mergers fail because cultures are incompatible (p.439). Because of stereotypes people are unwilling to adapt to other cultures, and thus causing huge miscommunications in international public relations. Secondly, stereotypes affect cross-cultural public relations because they create a lack of diversity. Because of the unwillingness to communicate that these stereotypes create, certain cultures will lack diversity in their cross-cultural messages. These messages will now only reach a certain group of people, when they could be reaching so many more. The textbook states that “achieving diversity is more than just a matter of inclusiveness” (Guth and Marsh, 2012, p.440). If you don't attempt to see past the stereotypes in order to understand a culture, you will never achieve diverse public relations.

Culture is a huge factor in managing international relationships simply because there are so many different aspects of communication for each individual culture. As the textbook states, there are cultural differences on many communications issues, such as: time, individualism, formality, and religion. It is so important to understand all of these cultural differences when managing international public relations because if you go against someones cultural norms, you might be offending someone without even realizing. In order to maintain and managing an international public relationship, it is crucial to always be open to learning about cultural differences, so that you can communicate in the most effective way with each particular client or individual. 

[sam-rochford-blog]

Sports & Government

Prompt: As we have discussed, there are many sciences and technologies involved in athletics. These sciences and technologies may or may not be communicated for various reasons. Briefly compare what each of the following governmental bodies were trying to communicate about sports science and technology, and to what public(s).- Nazi Reich and Olympia Stadium - Citystate of Berlin and the Füchse handball game, East Germany and the Olympics. Use the Olympia movie, stadium tour, and Dimeo reading to support your posts.

On Monday, we visited the Olympia Stadium, which was the location of the 1936 Olympics. Before watching Olympia, I was unaware of the historical significance of the 1936 Olympic Games. I’ve heard of Jesse Owens, and obviously knew that Hitler was in power at that time, but I did not realize that the games were a method of propaganda for Hitler and the Third Reich. Learning about Olympia Stadium opened my eyes to the fact that there are certain sciences and technologies of athletics that are communicated, and some that are not. We saw this in action at the Füchse handball game and with the case of East Germany and the Olympics.

 Nazi Reich & Olympia Stadium

Hitler and the Nazi Reich used Olympia Stadium as a way to communicate that the Aryan race was physically and athletically superior to all others. This was meant to be communicated to not only the German public, but also to the world as a whole. Hitler had the Olympia Stadium built in a very specific way, using the science of stadium architecture to communicate his message of superiority. Once he decided to use this as propaganda, he made building this stadium a project of the nation, and aimed to make it the biggest in the world. The Third Reich, in order to show their athletic superiority, crafted a sports arena that was huge, impressive, and imposing. The idea behind the architecture is that it is meant to impress you and draw you in as you approach, which is exactly what Hitler wanted. He used this massive building, influenced by buildings from ancient Greece and Rome, as a way to imply that the Aryan race was the next great god-like society. There is also a statue on the grounds of the Olympic Park of a man with a horse, which has been rumored to stand for the total control that the Aryans had over the rest of the world. The structure of the building was also meant to instill pride and support for the Third Reich in the German people, and to inspire awe and jealously from the other nations participating in the Olympics. By openly communicating the science of stadium architecture with his imposing design, Hitler accomplished his goal of positioning the Aryan race as the superior one in the eyes of the German public and the world.

  The Füsche & Berlin

The Füsche, the handball team of Berlin, uses the science of sports as a way of communicating to the people of Berlin that the team’s existence is good for the city-state of Berlin. The game itself brings people together, and generates revenue for the surrounding area, which communicates that this team is beneficial to the city. They add to this “coming together” effect by encouraging cheers throughout the game, and providing each visitor with a fan that can be used as a noise-maker to support the game. Another message that is communicated to the people of Berlin through the game itself is that the Füsche is the best athletic team. The players work hard during each game in order to convince the people of Berlin that they are in the best shape. One thing that is not communicated by the Füsche are the “behind-the-scenes” health sciences that play a huge role in sports, such as kinesiology. It is possible that the Füsche chooses not to communicate with the people of Berlin about these sciences so that they can give the illusion that the Füsche is naturally the greatest team. This practice is also done by the East Germans during the Olympics on a much larger scale, which I will discuss next.

 East Germany & the Olympics

According to Dimeo. (2011) the GDR organized doping systems to establish the small country of East Germany as a regular top-three finisher in both summer and winter Olympics (p.220). The science of doping was not communicated to the East German public or to many of the victims of doping. It was essential that the doping was done with high levels of secrecy, so that no one was aware of what they were consuming. Doping was illegal and dangerous, and if the athletes or the people of East Germany knew about this science then the system would collapse. Another reason East Germany did not communicate to the athletes or the East German people about the science of doping was so they could continue to achieve high levels of national athletic success, which would support the idea that their government was the best of its time. This is somewhat similar to the Füsche, because they conceal some of their athletic success strategies in order to show Berlin that they are naturally the best, similar to how East Germany hid its success tactics to show the same thing.

[sam-rochford-blog]

Sachsenhausen: Response and Renewal

Prompt 3 (extended): We visit Sachsenhausen this week. The holocaust undeniably was a crisis, and created a series of cascading crises for Germany, Europe, and the world over the following months and years. Thinking about the Guth reading, how does Sachsenhausen function as a response to that crisis? How does the organization utilize Sachsenhausen (and museums/memorials like it) to pursue healing, restoration, and a prospective vision for the future with the various publics affected by the holocaust? Make specific connections to both the Guth reading and the ECC (Effective Crisis Comm) reading - again, quotes are a good way to do this.

Our visit to Sachsenhausen this week was nothing short of emotionally exhausting. Despite leaving with an extremely heavy heart, I really appreciated having the opportunity to see and learn about a huge piece of Germany’s history. I have learned about the Holocaust in almost every history class in elementary and high school, but I could never really grasp just how terrible it was until I approached the gate of Sachsenhausen. As the tour guide said, sometimes hearing the facts and the numbers doesn’t mean you truly understand the significance of what happened, and I think that was the case for me. I really can’t put into words how it feels to be inside the camp, and I don’t think I will ever forget that feeling. The Holocaust was a crisis that left the world in a dark place, and being at Sachsenhausen allowed me to understand just how dark that was.

Sachsenhausen, as it stands today, serves many different purposes for many different people. One of those purposes is to function as a response from Germany to the crisis of the Holocaust. According to Guth (1995), a crisis is defined as situations “characterized by surprise, high threat to important values, and a short decision time” (p.125). The Holocaust most certainly fits this definition. The actions of Hitler and the Nazis took the world by surprise, because people outside of Germany really didn’t understand what was happening until it was too late. Nazi ideology and the act of murdering thousands of innocent people threatens the basic idea that all human lives are equal and important. Having places like Sachsenhausen still standing today is vital for Germany, because it encourages a certain transparency that the government lacked during World War II. Allowing people to see and learn about what took place at Sachsenhausen is the perfect response to the crisis of the Holocaust for many different reasons. In the case of the Holocaust, it was necessary to focus on taking what had happened, and somehow turning it into a learning experience. People can visit concentration camps and see for themselves just what human beings are capable of, and maybe walk away with a better understanding of how important it is to treat all people with respect. Sachsenhausen also serves as a response to the Holocaust because having this place still standing shows the world that Germany is not trying to hide the fact that the Holocaust happened. The tour guide made sure we understood that yes, what happened was tragic, but the German people have to acknowledge that it was a huge part of their nation’s history in order to move on from it. And finally, Sachsenhausen serves as a response to the Holocaust because it encourages open and honest discussion about what happened. It is important in the wake of a crisis to communicate ethically. As the textbook states, “organizations that have not prepared adequately for crisis or are unethical… are going to have to account for those actions at some point (p.19). The tour guides at Sachsenhausen make sure to communicate honestly with us about the Holocaust, because understanding and acceptance plays a huge role in renewal.

The people in charge of Sachsenhausen worked very hard to make sure it was a place of renewal. One way they accomplished this was through the restoration of the camp. Seeing the space as it once was really puts the situation into perspective, and it is important to understand what really happened in order to learn and grow from the crisis. The memorials that are located in Sachsenhausen have the effect of “giving a face to a name”. Seeing the faces of the victims of the Holocaust really creates an emotional connection to the situation, and further helps the people of the world understand what happened. The memorials also allow for healing and renewal. One memorial at Sachsenhausen is located where many ashes of victims were found. Seeing this could offer relatives of victims a sense of closure, as well as showing the people of the world the respect that Germany now has for these victims. Seeing the flowers laid out on the memorial inside the crematorium brought unexpected tears to my eyes, and really opened my eyes to the fact that there are still people who are actively trying to heal from this tragedy. Sachsenhausen and the tours given there allow Germany to acknowledge what happened, and look forward to the future with a positive perspective. It is so important for all members of society to see places like this, so that history never has to repeat itself. Our tour guide even expressed her frustration with those who try to act like the Holocaust never happened, because she views discussing it as a way to learn and grow.  Overall, being at Sachsenhausen left me feeling somber, but also give me a strange sense of hope for the future. I still have a hard time describing how I felt after visiting, but I remember feeling grateful to live in a world where we can (hopefully) learn from the mistakes of monsters made in the past, and treat everyone with respect. These feelings just further prove that Sachsenhausen accomplished its goal of projecting a positive vision for the future, while educating its visitors on the events of the Holocaust.

[sam-rochford-blog]

Prompt: Ask a stranger in Berlin about their favorite type of car or driving activity/experience/memory. Post a short video of this discussion. Find a quote in Featherstone and explain how it relates it to the response of your interviewee. The quote can support the interviewee, disagree with them, or be a mixture of both. Your job is to articulate a connection between the reading and your interviewee's response. NOTE: This will be much easier if you read Featherstone BEFORE you conduct your interview.

 Finding someone who was willing to be interviewed and filmed was a lot more difficult than expected. Blaine and I walked home from dinner instead of taking the bus, asking people along the way if they would participate. We were rejected basically the entirely way home, until we finally found some nice people who helped us.

 Anna, the girl I spoke to, said that her favorite driving experience was when she was driving home from farm in southwestern Pennsylvania where her sister works. Apparently, there was a huge storm brewing with beautiful, dark clouds forming all around them. She really loved driving through the scenic countryside under the pre-storm sky and feeling the tension in the air. I then asked her about her car, which she told me is a truck that she and her sister share. She said that its unique because it’s rare to see two girls driving a truck, but her and her sister really love driving it around. According to Featherstone (2004), “People seek vehicles to express/complement their individuality,” and Anna and her sister are good examples of this. They love their truck, and they love that it makes them stand out from other girls. I also asked her if she felt as though her car gave her a sense of freedom, because Featherstone feels as though cars can “offer a release from domesticity” (Featherstone, 2004, p.14). She said that she definitely agrees with that idea, and that having a car gives her the ability to take spontaneous weekend trips, and simply go wherever she wants whenever she wants.

[sam-rochford-blog]

Szczecin, Poland 

[sam-rochford-blog]

The Wise Words of Luke Lalor

Prompt 2: Luke Lalor from AlphaPool Content Marketing is coming to talk with us about his firm and what they do. For this post, you need to take careful notes during Luke’s talk so that you can go out this week and find an example of something he discusses. Specifically, you need to identify a concept he discusses, then find an example of that practice (1) done well, and (2) done poorly.

On Wednesday, Luke Lalor from AlphaPool Content Marketing came to speak to our class, and I really loved listening to everything he had to say. As a marketing major, I am always so interested to learn about different types of marketing and public relations agencies, so I made sure to do some research before class. This summer I will be interning with Sprinklr, which is a social media management company in New York City. Sprinklr and AlphaPool are in very related industries, so I was very excited to pick Luke’s brain. During his talk, he told us about AlphaPool, and how they help their clients by creating content for a specific public with a specific message in mind. One key practice that Luke made sure we understood was that it is important to make sure you receive the proper value for ethical work. He told us many times over that he would not take on a project unless he was being paid well enough to do so. He also said he would not take on a project if he didn’t believe he could accomplish the goal. I also saw this same idea of getting paid the proper amount for hard, ethical work during our visit to Schwäbish Hall. Rudolph made sure to emphasize that one of the main goals of the BESH was to make sure that the organic farmers were getting paid the money they deserve for their high-quality product. Luke flat out told us that he knows his services are good, and that therefore he deserves to be paid, and I respect that. Similarly, Rudolph fully believes that the spices and products from the organic farmers of the BESH are the best, and they deserve a good payment for them. This practice of making sure you get what you deserve works well for the BESH because they are capable of communicating their products added value. As Luke pointed out, this practice of getting what you deserve is practiced poorly by what we call people who are “Instagram famous”. He pointed out that these people usually only engage in bartering, and often underestimate the value of the reach they have on social media. These Instagram stars will often accept free gifts and vacations as a trade for marketing a product, but they are often getting a lot less than they deserve considering how many people they reach. Listening to Luke tell us that we should always make sure we get what we deserve was inspiring, and I hope one day to achieve a similar level of success. 

[sam-rochford-blog]

The Public Sphere & Humorism

Prompt: Choose a quote from the Habermas encyclopedia article. Explain in your own words what this quote means. Apply this quote to a health science or technology, from any time period, you observe at the museum. Why does this science or technology need a public sphere to debate and discuss it? How is it an issue of relevance to the quality functioning of a democratic society? What is a contemporary health technology or science being debated in American public sphere(s)?

 During our tour of the Museum of Medical history, we learned about many old medicinal practices, including humorism. Humorism refers to the theory that the body is filled with four basic liquids: black bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegm. According to this theory, a person was healthy when all four of the liquids were balanced, to a certain degree. Slight imbalances were said to be the cause for certain personality changes, as our tour guide pointed out. She said that, for example, a person with a slightly higher amount of blood was known to be more positive and lively, and a person with more black bile was known to be melancholier. At the time, many people fully believed that the science behind humorism was accurate. This led them to use some potentially harmful healing methods, such as blood-letting. Blood-letting is the withdrawal of blood from a patient in order to cure or prevent an illness, and it is widely believed that this led to many deaths, including the death of George Washington. The science of humorism requires a public sphere because of its controversial nature. Clearly this “science” lacked true scientific backing, and society needed the public sphere in order to point this out. The public sphere allowed everyone to express their opinions about humorism and its practices, and this led to more scientists and doctors conducting more research about the true cause for diseases. Without the public sphere, believers of humorism might not have noticed the error of their ways, and more people would have been harmed. The public sphere was vital to the quality function of the democratic society of the time because it allowed people to learn more about the dangers of humorism and its practices, like blood-letting. Without this, society would have continued to be run by people who believed in this harmful science, and people with differing opinions would not have had a chance to speak their mind.

 “The public sphere as a sphere which mediates between society and state, in which in the public organizes itself as the bearer of public opinion, accords with the principle of the public sphere..” (Habermas, 1964, p. 50)

Habermas says that the public sphere mediates between society and state. To me, this means that the public sphere itself acts as a way for society and the state to communicate, which means opinion of society’s public sphere can help influence the actions of the government’s public sphere. This can be seen when groups of people come together to convince the government to institute new laws. This applies to the science of humorism, because there were clearly laws and regulations needed due to the dangers of this practice. Once this was realized and discussed in the public sphere, actions were taken by scientists and government officials to ensure that society knew there was no truth to humorism.

  In today’s society, there are many scientific and technological practices that are being debated almost every day in the American public sphere. One example of this is trepanation, which is the process of drilling a hole into a patient’s skull in order to relieve cranial swelling and to gain access to brain tumors. This process was used in the 1800s as a way to cure migraines, seizures, and mental illnesses, which we now understand was an ineffective process backed by the science of humorism. However, in today’s society, some people still practice trepanation and believe in its benefits. To avoid a negative connotation, the people of modern medicine now refer to trepanation as “craniotomy”. Americans are debating this in the public sphere because this science is extremely controversial. On one side of the public sphere, people believe that this treatment can save a patient’s life if their brain is swelling. There is also a portion of the public sphere that firmly believes that this practice literally and figuratively "opens their mind”. Amanda Feilding, a pioneer of this belief, performed craniotomy on herself and believes that the increased blood flow to her brain is what allowed her to write a book (Blood and Consciousness) and paint and produce a series of paintings about consciousness. There is also a documentary of her self-trepanation entitled “Heartbeat in the Brain”. Other members of the public sphere are fighting back against this notion, stating that a craniotomy can cause patients to go into a permanent vegetative state, cause permanent brain damage, and paralysis. Craniotomy is just one of the many highly debated medical technologies that are currently being debated. Other sciences and technologies like abortion, vaccines, and medical marijuana are all highly controversial topics, and are thus being debated in the public sphere as well. The debate of these issues is essential for our society, because it will hopefully guide us toward providing the best health practices.

[sam-rochford-blog]

First week in Berlin! 

[sam-rochford-blog]

BMW Motorrad

Prompt: Capture an image from the portion of the BMW Motorcycle factory where we’re allowed to have photos – anything you like (something cool, obviously). Discuss the concept of communicating/connecting with internal & external stakeholders, and how this tour accomplishes both of those things (refer to the entire tour and to things we learn from the tour guide and the promo videos). Draw specific connections to the Zerfass reading - quotes w/ page numbers are a good way to do this.

Our tour of the BMW Motorrad today was incredibly informative and fascinating. Although I’ve never had a huge interest in motorcycles, it was so interesting to see how they’re made. It was also pretty cool to take pictures with them, since I will probably never find the courage to drive a motorcycle in my life. (@BMW if you’re looking for a motorcycle model, let me know. I clearly know what I’m doing based on the second photo.)

During our tour, we traveled through the plant and learned about how the motorcycles are made. In addition to that, our tour guide Martin discussed various ways that BMW communicates with both internal and external stakeholders of the company.

Communication with Internal Stakeholders 

BMW does a lot to ensure good communication with their internal stakeholders. Specifically, we saw a lot of examples of communication with the company and the plant workers. We learned a lot about a specific health and wellness program called “Today for Tomorrow”, which aims to keep the workers healthy in order to prevent them from getting sick, missing work, or being generally unhappy. They implemented many communication devices for this program throughout the plant, such as: calories-burned markers on the stairs to encourage workers to use them, active and passive rooms where workers can go to exercise or rest, and displays of the extra-cushioned shoes the workers are given. Our tour guide said that keeping the workers healthy and preventing illness is especially important at the Motorrad, where the average age of the workers is 45, because older people are more prone to illness and fatigue. Another good way that BMW fosters communication with internal stakeholders is through the placement of a manager, who wears a different colored shirt, at every shift. This allows the workers to know exactly who to talk to if they have a question, comment, concern or new idea. This tour is a way of communicating with internal stakeholders because it shows the company that people are interested in learning about the business.

Communication with External Stakeholders

BMW also has excellent ways of communicating with external stakeholders. For example, the tour itself is a brilliant way of communicating with consumers like us (or consumers with a little more money than college students). The tour guide consistently told us about how amazing every aspect of a BMW motorcycle is, and was selling us on them at every point. He had plenty of personalized stories to tell us that made us want to buy a motorcycle right then and there. He also said, “Every motorcycle is the most important one in the world... to someone.” This sales-pitch line communicates to us that these motorcycles are top quality, and that BMW produces them with us in mind. The tour itself also included free coffee and water, and we were allowed to sit on every model of motorcycle. This made us all want to be a part of the BMW family, from the moment the tour started. Another way that BMW communicates to external stakeholders is through the customization of the motorcycles. Each motorcycle that is produced is a custom order from a customer. They also customize their motorcycles by creating 24 different models, which cater to different markets. This aligns with a quote form the Zerfass reading, which states, “Organizations should have core competencies and policies that are valid worldwide, while at the same time their implementation in different parts of the world should appreciate local specialties.” (Zerfass, 2015, p.2) BMW believes that customization is important, and they apply this on a global scale. However, they understand that each market is different, so they provide different markets with different options. Martin showed us this by explaining how certain motorcycles were more popular in certain regions, like North America or Berlin.

[sam-rochford-blog]

A Day at the DDR Museum

Prompt: Find an example of communication ABOUT a science or technology from the era of the DDR. This is not the museum communicating about sci/tech, but a communication from the time period of the DDR in which the topic of the public communication is a science or technology. What is the topic? What is the medium? (E.g., Waiting for the telephone to ring, as described in an East German pop song).- How was does this example part of daily life in the socialist state of East Germany? How do you think this similar to and/or different from daily life in West Germany, Germany today, or the USA Today?

I really enjoyed today’s visit to the DDR Museum. Recently, I’ve been feeling like I need to brush up on the history of World War II and Berlin, so this was a satisfying and informative experience for me. Dr. Scott explained to me the reason for the Berlin Wall, and after seeing all of the exhibits today, I feel like I have a better understanding of how the DDR got away with its socialist practices.

At the museum, there was a large projector playing an old film from a DDR propaganda film company called DEFA. According to the exhibit poster, DEFA produced propaganda films about the workers’ leader Ernst Thalmann. These films were subject to political constraints, so they were never critical of socialism. The film being played at the museum was a documentary style film about the buildings that the DDR provides the people of East Germany to live and work in. The science and technology being displayed in this video is architecture and construction science, and the medium is the film. The public for this film would be the citizens of the DDR, and this film company is trying to convince them that socialism is perfect because it provides them with nicely built homes and offices. This film represents daily life in the socialist state of East Germany because the overall message of the film is that socialism will provide the citizens with everything they need. This also represents daily life in East Germany because although the people of the DDR were not always happy with the government, they were still forced to act like they were. The film has multiple interviews with East German citizens, who all say that each and every building that the DDR has made is wonderful and all they could ever ask for.

The ideas presented in this film are a lot different than the ideas in Germany and the USA today. For one, socialism is no longer portrayed as the perfect way to run a country. The USA and Germany today both pride themselves on their democratic way of governing their countries. Also, the Germans today seem to be ashamed of the DDR buildings. After the museum visit, Blaine and I took a boat tour around the city. Our tour guide pointed out that one of the construction sites on the side of the river was a demolished building from the DDR. She said that a lot of the DDR buildings are either being demolished or remodeled. This differs from the ideas of the film because Germans are not proud of or happy with the quality of the buildings, or what they stand for.

Picture from the boat tour with @blaineeads! 

[sam-rochford-blog]

Automotive Advertisement

Prompt 3: Choose a useful or informative quote about advertising or social media from the Jaganathan or Okazaki readings. In Stuttgart, Schwäbisch Hall, or Tübingen, find an example of advertising for health, sport, or automotive sciences or technologies and relate it to your chosen quote. How does it demonstrate—or not—the ideas in your quote? In other words, this could be a successful or unsuccessful example of the quote.

 In current times, advertisements are almost unavoidable. Whether you are walking down the street and you see a billboard, or you’re on your phone and see an advertisement on Snapchat, advertisements of all kinds are everywhere. Before coming to Germany, I thought maybe it was just America that was aggressively full of advertisements. However, as I just mentioned, advertisements are everywhere.

In Jaganathan’s article about automobile advertising, he states that “rhetorics ultimately aims at influencing consumer behaviour with the intention of selling a product as well as sustaining the brand loyalty” (Jaganathan, 2014, p.152). He goes on to discuss the model of Toulmin’s argument, which claims that arguments, including those made in advertisements, are comprised of three parts: claims, warrants, and data variables. The article goes on to describe a study that was done on a set of automobile advertisements based on Toulmin’s argument, in which they compared English ads to German ads. From this study, one conclusion stood out to me.

 “Although the themes for both the adverts were based on the superiority of their technology and design, the German advert noticeably used straightforward rhetorics…” (Jaganathan, 2014, p.158)

During our visit to the Boxenstop museum in Tübingen, I saw an advertisement for a car race on the wall. The advertisement is comprised of a photo of a car race, details about the location, date, and time of the race, and not much else. This advertisement involves the technology of automobiles, which is now being used as entertainment. Each car has different specifications, and the race is a display of all of those technologies in order to see which is best. I believe that this photo advertisement applies to the quote above because of the straightforward use of language. American advertisements for events are typically filled with sayings about how much fun the event will be. However, this German advertisement is straight to the point, and only lists the relevant details about the race, such as the date and time. An American event ad might also have other information about the race, like food and drink deals going on at the stadium or things like that. However, the German ad simply has the race information and that is all. This type of advertisement would fall under the transmission form of communication that we talked about in previous classes. This ad simply states information, and unlike ritual communication, does not create a culture of shared beliefs.

[sam-rochford-blog]

Cultural Chronemic Changes in Communication

Prompt 3 (extended): Pick a concept from the chapter 14 reading on cross-cultural communication and PR that you have seen exemplified during our time here so far.

Aside from a family trip to Mexico when I was 8 years old, I have never left the United States. I had no idea what to anticipate in terms of cultural differences, and although we all read about these things in classes and hear about them on the news, you never really understand until you experience them first-hand. In chapter 14, ideas about cross-cultural communication and public relations are discussed. One section that stood out to me was regarding differing cultural attitude about time. In the text, they discuss how the Spanish are more relaxed when it comes to time, and tend to think of being ten minutes late as courteous. They compared this to the Japanese attitude toward time, where punctuality is essential. The study of the role of time in communication is called chronemics, and we can see clear differences of this across cultures.

In the United States, we tend to view time as money. We focus a lot of our energy on working and money-earning activities, because being wealthy and successful is valued in American culture. That being said, Americans also value punctuality, for example, being on time for business meetings and accomplishing things by strict deadlines is the polite and respectful way of conducting business. This value of punctuality comes also stems from our cultural desire to be successful. In Germany, the people view time very similarly to how Americans do. However, Germans value punctuality more so because of a certain rigidness and appreciation for structure that American culture lacks. They view time as money as well, but to a lesser degree. They focus a lot of time on working and making money, but they also value leisure time as well. In my two weeks in Germany, I have noticed a lot of examples of this chronemics in German culture.

The first example of chronemics I witnessed in Germany that really stood out to me was during our tour of the Ludwigsburg Palace. Our tour guide Louise was a wonderful British woman who could talk endlessly about the history of the region and the palace. She went into incredible detail about each and every room we entered, and she seemed to truly enjoy communicating with us about the palace. However, her German co-worker seemed to think that being on schedule during the tour was more important than elaborating and truly enjoying it. At multiple points throughout the tour, the two tour guides seemed to have a slight air of conflict between them when Louise would take too long to get the next tour destination. Louise herself even made a few remarks about how her German co-worker was always “rushing her along”. In this instance, we see how the British might take their time with communicating information, but Germans want to be more punctual and to the point.

Another example of chronemics I saw since being in Germany was during our welcome dinner. Americans typically want to rush through a meal, because they believe they have more important things to be doing than sitting around a table, communicating and enjoying their leisure time. Germans have a different approach to meals. They tend to enjoy lengthy meals, and no one ever rushes you out of a restaurant. You are almost encouraged to stay and enjoy your meal and the company of others around you. At our welcome dinner, we enjoyed a fabulous 3 course meal. However, there was a very extended wait time in between our dinner and our dessert. As Americans, we all began to panic about how long we were waiting and how annoying it was that our dessert was not ready. Our conversations turned into group complaining, so the wait definitely affected our communication as a whole. However, this wait is probably the norm in a German restaurant. They probably take this time to sit back, enjoy a drink, and communicate with the people around them. It was interesting to see how this attitude toward time affected the way we communicated with one another around the dinner table, and how the waitress did not seem to be affected by this wait at all.

I have noticed some smaller scale examples of chronemics as well. For example, on my trip to Poland, we somehow got separated at the bus station and ended up being a minute late for the bus back to Berlin. I had to beg the bus driver not to leave exactly on time because we were waiting for a friend. In America, I feel like this would have taken a lot less convincing. I have also noticed that a lot of stores and restaurants are closed from Saturday through Monday here in Germany. In America, we have many stores and restaurants open on every day of the week, and sometimes on national holidays. This communicates that Americans value money more than leisure, and that Germans would rather take a few days off than earn the extra money. Personally, I rather enjoy the leisure-based attitude toward time, especially in Europe, where activities are never scarce. 

[sam-rochford-blog]

Miscommunication & Mercedes

Prompt 2: Choose one of the common issues in miscommunication of science and technology that Sarah discussed with you. Find an example of it in Stuttgart, Schwäbisch Hall or Tübingen. Explain clearly and in detail how it exemplifies this kind of miscommunication. Relate it to one of the readings (Stobbe, Nebel or Sun): How is your example similar to or different from one of the examples from a reading?

“The problem comes when we incorrectly assume that two characteristics connected to each other are ‘causally’ related.” (Stobbe, 2011, p. 1)

This quote from Stobbe’s article relates directly to the concept of correlation vs. causation that Sarah discussed with us in class. Simply put, people tend to jump to conclusions and assume that one thing causes another, without looking further into context or background information. I saw this happening in the Mercedes-Benz Museum, specifically in the timeline wall exhibits throughout the entire building. These wall displays contained information about Mercedes-Benz’s technological milestones alongside major historical events. This timeline-like structure of this wall exhibit leads viewers to almost see these technological advancements made by Mercedes as the cause of major historical events. For example, the exhibit included a piece on the target markets and products that Mercedes had to offer in the late 1890s, which was followed almost directly by a piece on the beginnings of mass tourism in 1900. The order of these pieces causes the viewer to think that Mercedes-Benz’s technological product advancements were responsible for the beginning of mass tourism. However, if you look at more information and context, Mercedes-Benz’s technological advancements were not the sole cause of mass tourism, despite these events happening at a similar time. This causation miscommunication occurs with multiple different major historical events, like the women’s movement, throughout the museum. This example is similar to the ice cream and drowning example found in the reading. Like the advancements made by Mercedes and the beginning of mass tourism, an increase in ice cream sales and in drowning occurred at the same time, however they did not cause one another. Researchers failed to realize the context, which was that these events are both more likely in summer months.