CMU's

I recently watched an extremely engaging  TED Talk presentation called “The secret US prisons you’ve never heard of before” by Will Potter. He presented the story of his investigation of CMU’s (Communication Management Units), which are secret areas within federal prisons that house what the government calls 2nd tier terrorists. Potter outlines the secretive nature of the units, and the mistreatment of the inmates that are housed there. He goes on to argue that the government goes to great lengths to keep these units in secret, and that many of the people imprisoned there are there because of race, religion, and freedom of speech.

The use of visuals in the presentation was scarce, but very effective. There were pictures of government documents that showed redaction and outlines that added to the mysterious and intriguing nature of the subject matter. Images of some of the prisoners were extremely moving, as were the images from inside the CMU’s. Potter’s visual description of being inside a CMU, however, may have been the most compelling image.

The delivery of the presentation was slow paced, and a perfect match to the somber story. There were one or two instances in which Potter injected bits of humor to break the tension, and they were very well timed. From the general overview of the CMU’s in the beginning, to the stories he told of specific inmates’ circumstances, the story was very well done. It was so moving that the question had to be asked, how can this possibly be happening?

Social Media and Business

We are living in the era of social media. Now many companies are using social media tools like Twitter and Facebook as a means to communicate with customers. This report will outline the social media use of two companies: Slate Digital LLC (@SlateProAudio) and The Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks). I purposely chose one smaller, lesser known and one bigger, more recognizable company to compare and contrast.

I believe that every business can benefit, in some way or another, from a social media presence. From product support to advertising, each company has its own reasons to use these tools.. The Milwaukee Bucks use their social media reach to keep the team’s fans updated with news, interviews, and events. They focus on giving the audience a behind-the-scenes view of the organization. There are a lot of changes currently going on with the team, and the Bucks are taking full advantage of medial tools to build excitement among the fans. They constantly update and post videos of the new players, information about the coming new arena, as well as promoting ticket sales and specials.

Slate Digital also has a very strong social media presence. Slate is a small company that primarily develops and sells virtual instruments and virtual effects to be used in music production and audio recording. The target audience they are trying to reach are the music producers and audio engineers that use such products. Their primary use of social media is to advertise current and upcoming products. Slate Digital seems to release new products quite often, and they effectively use Twitter and Facebook to keep customers up to date.

Although both the Milwaukee Bucks and Slate Digital use social media to reach out and communicate with their customers, they definitely each take a different approach to doing so. On both Facebook and Twitter, the Milwaukee Bucks have a very corporate feel.They generally don’t do a lot in terms of interaction with replies and comments. In my opinion this isn't necessarily a negative. I found that the fans generally  tend to interact a lot with each other on the posts and commenting. Also the large-company feel is likely a good way to be viewed by fans, who want to believe their team is a big deal.

In contrast, Slate Digital takes a much more personal approach. Upon viewing the Twitter account, I quickly noticed that the profile picture is of the company’s owner with his name (Steven Slate). Also, many of the posts on both platforms are written in a more personal, conversational manner. Another thing that stood out on their Facebook page was that the company directly replies to just about every comment on the posts. Even considering that they are a smaller company reaching out to a smaller customer base, I still found this to be very impressive. All in all, both companies make great use of social media tools to further their brand.

Why I am at MATC

Education means different things to different people. Some people see education as an adventure in acquiring knowledge. Some people see it as a way to start or advance a career. I see it as a little bit of both.

My college career has definitely been an adventure. Graduating from high school, and starting college at a relatively young age (16), I spent quite a few years trying to figure out a career. I began at UW-Milwaukee in the mechanical engineering program. But at such a young age, the workload seemed overwhelming, and the fun of the college life was way too alluring and i didn't finish.

Fast forward a few years. After working and making a decent salary in transportation, I found myself being one of the many victims of the recession, and had to figure out a new plan. Weighing my options of cost and time, I decided to return to school, this time at MATC. Indecision led me to trying quite a few different programs ranging from IT, and music occupations (which I've earned certificates in), to business and accounting.

During these times I had a few different jobs in a few different industries. but something kept steering me back towards computers. Knowing a general direction that I was determined to finish was a huge help. Then when sizing up my different IT options, Computer Support caught my eye. Being a natural problem-solver and people person, I felt this particular program would be a great fit. So now i sit, 17 credits away from the finish line, with my eyes on the prize!!