Power To The People: Hollywood Writers and Broadway Stagehands, that is!

So unless you have been living under a rock these past few weeks, I'm sure you've heard about the Hollywood writers strike. Not to be left behind, Broadway stagehands have also been striking, causing many NYC theaters to remain dark for over a week.

Now, let's use this as an opportunity to combine two of my favorite things: Musicals and Social Media.

One of the things that I love about social media is that it is such a humanizing force. Does this idea ring a familiar bell? This strike is all about giving the writers / stagehands what they deserve. (Isn't that what every strike really is about?)

Personally, I think the writers have an interesting perspective in their demands. Because so many TV networks have begun to put their content online, by using on-demand websites, even YouTube or buying episodes with iTunes, now people can go directly to those sites and seek out what they want.

And as a active consumer, I love that!

But, for all these online views and sold content on iTunes, the writers are getting nothing... Sounds to me like they are getting screwed.

No wonder they are on strike!

This whole situation really makes me think about user generated content -- I mean, it seems like the networks are happy to increase their viewers, and they are successfully doing just that -- It started with ABC, but now almost every network needs to put episodes online to compete. But remember, these shows would be nothing without the writers! An actor can only be funny when he has good lines to recite.

They must find a way to compensate the writers.
Things can not continue as they have in the past. Look around, things are changing and TV needs to follow in this crazy, mixed-up world!

I really thought about a way to connect the Broadway strike and New Media. After a few minutes it hit me: Both the strike and the Internet give power to the people. Blogs are the perfect tool for people to use empower themselves.

I've taken a look at the blogosphere and it seems that Broadway actors, stagehands and even fans are using blogs to make their voices heard. This is just one of the many reasons I LOVE blogs. It's been very cool to check these out and hear what everyone is saying about this situation and what it means both for theater-goers and shows themselves.

So please get out there, (especially if you live in NYC), and continue to support the arts, restaurants and other local businesses being hit hard by this strike.

Oprah expands her empire with Youtube.

Oprah Winfrey is on the cutting edge.
Say what you want about this outspoken, philanthropic, and can I mention wealthy woman; she is one smart lady. Although she certainly has hit bumps in the road, everything she touches turns to gold. She knows how to handle her life in the public eye and now is one of the first celebrities to really dive into this new social media world. Sure Rosie has been blogging since 2004, and Obama is on Twitter -- watch out world, OPRAH is on Youtube!

Cultural critic, Richie Hofmann raves "I wouldn't expect anything less from Oprah... she's so media savvy. That's why she's the queen of all media"
* My friend Richie has been itching to say something on here. A guest post will be in the works.

But the thing is, Richie is right. If there's one Celebrity that is willing to take the chance to present themselves on youtube, its Oprah. This is what social media is all about, after all. It's finding a different channel for Oprah to spread her messages. Instead of having to go through her website for exclusive info, its all being broadcast right on youtube. Already her one little 2 minute clip has over 397,842 views.

Totally interesting stuff...
Cant wait to see who follows in Oprah's footsteps.

Look out world, Here I come!

I happened to glance down at PR week yesterday, and was stunned to see this article about large agencies using social media to recruit people like me! I'm sure you can imagine how excited I was about this.

This article mostly discussed agencies using new media as a research tool to find out more information about their latest candidate and also to find interested candidates.



This idea opens a whole new can of worms concerning my generations usage of facebook and other social networking sites and how this represents our true personality. An interesting part of this article discussed agencies using the youtube videos they made as comedic representations of an internship (as thats what this article focused on)... but this got me thinking, are we as potential employees being held to an unfair standard?

Agencies realize the power of a funny, well thought-out online video advertisement and how this appeals to a college demographic. But why is it, that if we use a similar theme on our social networking sites, its suddenly looked down upon.

Of course, I understand the need to maintain professionalism, and I certainly have thought twice about what is posted online about me, but I think its also important to remember the human nature of these sites. The scariest part, is that everyone is looking.

Don't get me wrong. I love social media and I think it has the power to do great things for me and my generation. I am extremely glad that so many big agencies are open to use it, and realize the power it has as an influential marketing tool. I'm just interested to see whats gonna happen in the future!

Delicious 4 Dummies.

del.icio.us.

yummy.

In my social media class, we have discussed this hilarious informative video.

This Site is not that confusing... or is it?

I really like this idea. I mean, i love using this to pull what I want. This fancy aggregator...if you will...

Heres the funny part.
This video is intended to explain the site to your parents. aka.

problem was.
my dad still didnt get it.
do people who arent nerdy bloggers understand this.

my dad is happening.
he gets this computer stuff.
but doesnt get blogs.
ugh.