Regarding the Pope

Before I start, I would just like to say that I love Emerson College. I am having the time of my life, and I look forward to practicing the secret Emerson handshake at business meetings and networking events. Already, I have had so many opportunities to do great things, like start performing stand-up. However, I, along with every other Emerson student I know, think our school's online presence "sucks."

Emerson has a terrific marketing program, but it is in danger of becoming outdated. Whether you think social media is a fad or not, it is successful, and if Emerson wants to get students jobs now, it needs to embrace social media. Sending students out into the job market unprepared will make Emerson look bad and eventually hurt enrollment.

It is easy to simply complain though, so I will try to help Emerson out.

No Centralized Presence

Emerson has a Twitter account with over 500 followers! However, it doesn't have a single tweet.



There is also an account for Alumni, another for Journalism, and yet another for Marketing Communication. I have no problem with multiple Twitter accounts, but they all seem so independent from each other. The existing Emerson College account should be a hub to direct current and potential students to these pages. The pages themselves are impressive, but no one really knows to check if @EmersonMarComm has an account. These are helpful tools, but only if they are put in people's hands.

Facebook?



While working on this post, I discovered that Emerson College has a Facebook page, and in fact it has quite a bit of content. That is pretty nice, but I have been here almost 2 and a half years, and I did not know about it. I have never been invited to the page, I have never heard students talk about the page, and I haven't found links to the page. Like the Twitter accounts, there are also pages for departments and specific projects, but they too will fly under the radar unless they are publicized.

Integration Frustration

On the Twitter pages, the websites lead back to Emerson's Web site.



The same is true for Facebook. Normally, this is a pretty good method. Companies should lead you back to them in some way. Social media can be very different though. It's all about communication and discussion now. Emerson should follow Boston University's example and have their Twitter lead to their Facebook. This allows the conversation to continue and seems more genuine. Emerson is not a corporation, it is a home to thousands of young adults. Not only should it let them play, but it should encourage them to do it.



Emerson has so many students who care about the school and would love to help out. Unofficially, Emerson has a great Social Media Presence. RAs start Facebook groups for their floors. Clubs and Organizations have their own pages and Twitters. Emerson Should tap into these students to help make the official presence higher. Emerson should have a Web site for students to upload and show off their films. Instead,this is how Emerson is represented on the Web:

I did my first show outside of Emerson tonight, and I think it went pretty well.



Thanks to Sam Crimmins and Tommy's Comedy Lounge for putting this on. I had a lot of fun.

I will be doing my first off-campus show this Thursday at Tommy's Comedy Lounge in Boston, MA. Come one by at 8:30. There's an $8 cover, and it will be 18+, so don't bring toddlers or anything, unless they have a fake.

This is my performance on Nov. 15, 2009. I think it went really well. Everyone that night was great.

This is my performance at the Eddie Brill Workshop on Nov. 8, 2009. It was a lot of fun, but not my best performance by a long shot.

For those who don't know, crowdsourcing is a collaborative effort, like Wikipedia, that allows people from all over to create something piece by piece to create something whole. It is sort of like a giant jigsaw puzzle, with each person controlling just one piece. Today it is somewhat of a buzz word in marketing, as companies are relying on Web 2.0 sites to help market their products for them, and in many cases it's working.

I recently found the website Cameesa, whose motto is "Crowdfunding Fashion." Cameesa makes users created t-shirts, much like Threadless, but instead of voting, Cameesa asks you to fund the shirts. It takes $500 to get a t-shirt made, so if you want a certain shirt, you put down anywhere from $10 to the full price in the hopes that it gets made. If not, you can use that money towards another shirt. This system makes sure that there is a market for each shirt before investing any money into its production. By eliminating overhead costs, it allows for the company to guarantee they turn a profit. Threadless measures votes, which may or may not turn into sales, but Cameesa basically takes pre-orders, so they know they will get their money.

This method could wisely be applied to comedians just starting out. Having a CD or a DVD is a great way to promote yourself and make some money, but it requires investing money without the guarantee of returns. By letting fans on your website, Twitter, Facebook, or any other site you want to use invest in your products and help pick out what bits and acts they want you to include, you can make the ideal product, as well as find out what your audience is interested in hearing about. This can help turn you from a starving comedian into a thriving comedian. Plus, if you are one of the first to do so, it will be newsworthy, and there is a good chance people will talk about your innovative methods, further raising your profile.

Here I am at the Multipurpose room on Oct. 29th. Thank you Girlie Project for putting the event on.

Dear Famous Comedians,

The Internet is a great place to interact with fans, share your work, and to promote your performances. Twitter and Facebook are both powerful tools for promotion, but it is important to know when to use each. For this lesson, I will simply discuss status updates. They're short, sweet, and to the point.

As Dana Boyd points out on her blog, a major difference between Twitter and Facebook is audience. Facebook is a two-way street primarily, relying on a relationship between users. Twitter, on the other hand, allows you to speak out to all of your followers, but does not require you to listen back. For this reason, Twitter is probably the best choice for promotion. If you have a gig coming up, tell people. Some comedians are great at this. Mike Birbiglia and Bo Burnham both tweet about each of their shows, while comedians like Dave Attel post once every few months, and therefore has less of a Twitter presence. If comedians have fan pages, they should promote their events there too.

new york show sold out except for single seats. but they're very good single seats. could be a great singles event? - Mike Birbiglia

When it comes to random thoughts, either platform will do, though again, it is important to remember audience. I follow a lot of comedians on Twitter, just for their funny tweets. Michael Ian Black recently tweeted

"Worst decision I ever made: Getting that cosmetic C section scar."

Comedians don't often have the same sort of coverage that musicians do, so you won't see music videos or hear their songs a lot. Instead, tweets can be a great way of keeping large amounts of fans entertained between events, which are pretty infrequent. If I didn't follow Michael Ian Black, I probably would not have any new material from him until the next season of his show, but instead, I get stuff a few times a day. Facebook can also be good for these to keep closer friends entertained, or for fan pages.

It is also important to see that these comedians are real people. It is always fun to see comedians I follow tweet back and forth with other comedians or with fans. Suddenly these comedians are not these unreal celebrities, but actual people, sitting at a computer or on their phone, living real lives. Interacting with friends and fans is always helpful for making people care about you, and in general, they make people seem really nice. This is where both Facebook and Twitter have strong purposes. Either one allows for personal conversations, but on twitter, it seems to allow for more public conversations, which shows off how friendly a comedian can be.

RT @RealJeffreyRoss: Break a firm tan leg. RT @thomaslennon: Have landed at Largo for @sarahksilverman and friends! - Thomas Lennon

Here's me on October 24, 2009 at the Cabaret. It went much better in retrospect. I was so nervous and thought I bombed, but it went alright. Thanks to everyone who showed up.

Imagine that the Frisbee was just being released. There would be a few early adopters, but it might take a little while for it to really catch on. The Frisbee barely works without two or more people using it, so it may be a hard sell. In today's world, it would be useful to build a network of Frisbee users around the world to help improve the experience and grow the brand.

At first, it might just start out with some Craigslist-type site. People with frisbees could post wanted ads like F4F, or even F4NF if they want someone without a Frisbee. This would help set up single Frisbee users with people curious about trying Frisbees.


It could develop into a social network of people sharing their experiences and interest in Frisbees with people all over the world on MyFrisb or Frisbook. People could post pictures of themselves and friends using Frisbees, comment on other Frisbee user's experiences, and just network to meet other Frisbee enthusiasts.


Eventually, Frisbee could set up a microblogging site called Frisbeer, where people could quickly share info on Frisb-ups. People could use the hashtag #frisbee to find people looking to play or discuss Frisbees.

RT@UltimateFrizB Anyone in Boston wanna toss a Frisbee at 3? meet by Park st #frisbee #paranormalactivity

All of these methods would allow people who want to get the most out of their Frisbees to meet other people as enthusiastic as them. Also, it would allow people who do not have Frisbees to learn about them and consider buying their own. Besides, this doesn't even take into account the artists who would share their work customizing their Frisbees. Frisbees could have an internet of thei own, but for now, they would be smart using the tools already available to them.