Class Assignment: Fictional Company NWC Faux Twitter Tweets

1.)

President Andrew Bryce says his company National Widget Company is saddened to announce the layoff of 200 workers at plants across Canada today but hope to rehire when markets conditions improve in future. The market has been saturated with widgets flooding the market from Uzbekistan causing an oversupply and necessitating the need to restructure. NWC is a family owned and operated business established in 1888 making it one of Canada’s oldest family businesses. #widgets #Canada #markets

One of Canada’s oldest family run businesses has been forced to restructure and layoff 200 employees nationwide. There is an oversupply of widgets in the market and the company must reduce staffing numbers or face the reality of closing its doors. President Andrew Bryce, great grandson of the founder, has plans in place to rehire employees when market conditions stabilize. #Canada #widgets #employmentconditions

Workers offered severance after National Widget Company announces 200 layoffs today at plants across Canada. The layoffs include 50 people from head office and senior executives have also volunteered to take early retirement. This restructuring comes as a result of the flood of widgets to the market from overseas Government run operations in Uzbekistan which has created an oversupply. President Andrew Bryce hopes to rehire staff once market conditions improve. #Canada #widgets

2.)

NWC is pleased to announce they’re hiring after 200 painful layoffs June 2017. The company has worked hard to secure a deal with the Chinese and enter into residential construction, a new industry. President Andrew Bryce says this has resulted in unprecedented sales and open markets for years to come. The company will have plants operating at full capacity in six weeks. #Canada #widgets #employment

NWC is hiring! Workers sent notice of layoffs in June 2017 will be receiving notice to return over the next six weeks as NWC brings plants into full operation again. President Andrew Bryce credits entering new markets and industries with the successful and swift turnaround of the company and sees the future as holding much promise. #Canada #Employment #widgets

President Andrew Bryce announces 200 people being rehired after layoffs announced in June 2017. NWC has expanded into Chinese markets and is also entering into the residential construction industry to create security and stability for the company. The barter entered into with China is expected to secure opportunities for the company for years. # employment #Canada #international #widgets

3.)

NWC is expanding its operations. The success met in the Chinese market has necessitated the opening of a new manufacturing facility in Regina Saskatchewan where another 100 employees will be added to the NWC family. Stay tuned for further announcements about employment opportunities and opening dates. #employment #Canada #expansion

Regina Saskatchewan will soon be home to the newest addition to the NWC family. A manufacturing plant that will add 100 jobs to that community. Expansion has been necessary as a result of extreme success being had in the Chinese market and the manufacturing facility will serve to fill the extra capacity. Further announcements will be made as final details are established. #widgets #markets #expansion

The great success experienced in the Chinese market will lead to job creation at home. Regina Saskatchewan will be the location of the new manufacturing facility as NWC announces its expansion plans. The facility is needed to fill the extra capacity and will welcome 100 new hires to the NWC family in that in that region. #widgets #Canada #expansion

One Pager in Class Assignment on Camosun and the Media

Upgrade Needed, Cindy Peckham, January 22, 2017

I do pay attention to news reports in the traditional medium of print, however I only purchase the paper if the front page headline and top story are of interest to me. I tend to listen to news on the radio when I am driving in the car, but I don’t seek it out. I no longer watch TV news having cut the cord with cable. As for social media I will check in if I am looking for specific information, such as on the #yyj stream in twitter, or Victoria Buzz Feed, both on Twitter and Facebook, but I am not subscribed to anything. I will scan international news-feeds in Twitter, like CNN or BBC, or even individual reporters who are live tweeting events as they unfold if I catch wind of something big, like rioting in America for example. Additionally I will also click on news links or feeds that are in the side bars if it’s something current or trending.

Public relations is incredibly important at Camosun, like any business, it needs to be seen and heard. That said it’s not reaching me. I have seen the advertisements on the bus, and continuing education inserts in the Times Colonist, but not much else. I admit I don’t often read Nexus as it is geared to the student populace and I am usually about twenty years older than the average student, and subsequently feel I am not really the target audience. That said, I think Camosun needs to improve its content, especially where social media is concerned. They have an opportunity to meet students were they live and provide solutions in real time. Under the current system, something as simple as finding out if the college is open or closed due to weather will send students on a wild goose chase with no resolution. Camosun could host events that foster school spirit to improve interactions, or even provide incentives. Ultimately, people only interact with the businesses they feel a connection to, or if they feel they have been provided something of value.

Analyzing a Blog Post - Assignment 1

Blogger Gets Real About Real Conversations, Cindy Peckham, January 21, 2018

In his blog post Because Reading is Fundamental, author Jeff Atwood’s target audience seems to be persons, predominantly males who have post secondary education, and are employed in or are very interested in technology, especially coding and programming. This is not to suggest that women of the same mindset are excluded, but rather to acknowledge the current state of affairs that males outnumber females in this particular industry. I gather this information based on the name of the blog, Coding Horror, Programming and Human Factors, and from the side bar ads and links throughout the article which are geared toward programming and coding also. The age was a bit harder to pin down, but I have the sense that it is not aimed at younger generation techies, but rather older ones, no younger than late 20’s up to early 40’s given the overall reflective tone of the article as well as references to terms common to a generation x writer, such as “old school”, and “chat room” and “stream of consciousness”. The vocabulary used in the article, words such as “pagination” and “incentivise” also lead me to believe the audience is at a post secondary level, in addition to the subject mater of the article itself.

The headline does grab the attention as it starts with the word because and you are enticed to read the article to discover the question within the article that the headline has already provided the answer to. The use of imagery is good, even if it is just screen shots of data and comment streams, and given the intended audience, would most likely be satisfactory for them. Although it is a techie piece, the author is careful to pepper the article with just enough academic and industry jargon to connect with the readers without becoming boring or like reading a how to guide. Atwood believes we are tracking and paying attention to the wrong things online as a way of measuring the quality and caliber of conversations. His opinion is that we need to spend less time talking and more time listening, and that reading is the answer. His position is bolstered by supporting research material from independent parties. He not only summarizes the material, but also provides links to the original bodies, which is something not always included in opinion-based blog posts, and serves to improve the overall credibility of his post.

In the first supporting article, Ars Banana Experiment – the author, Ars Technica ran an article and imbedded an experiment into it in which he asked readers to comment “bananas” if they had read that far into the article which was paragraph 7 – the first person to do this was the 93^rd person to comment – and this highlighted the speculation – that most people don’t read the article/blog in it’s entirety before commenting. In the second one, The Slate Experiment – Author Farhad Manjoo collected analytics on real usage to validate his hypothesis that most readers do not finish reading article to the end before commenting.

The material serves to demonstrate his point, that people are too busy talking, rather than listening, but is only as convincing as one will allow themselves to be convinced by two articles. They do however set down a path that a person could take if they wanted to find more evidence of the same on the internet conducting their own research.

Atwood offers some solutions to the problem he as brought to light. To encourage reading he suggests posts could be modified to require readers to do something before commenting, or have the next page load automatically, he suggests we measure and post time spent on an article as a way of measuring reading rather than number of clicks or page loads to improve comment quality and bolster credibility of the commenter. He also suggests rewarding the commenter for reading by creating things like badges. Lastly, he suggests we can update in real time – that is to say he encourages the notion that likes, edits etc., be shown as they happen – to allow for the flow of conversation to occur He ultimately believes reading is the fundamental key throughout our lives that create people who are better listeners not just more talkative.

News Release Assignment

NATIONAL WIDGET COMPANY 

NEWS RELEASE

January 15, 2018, 11:00 AM

NWC Fulfilling a Promise

Overseas markets open up and National Widget Company is poised and ready to respond. President Andrew Bryce said, “The opening up of the Chinese residential market represents opportunity and a secure market on which to expand our capacity.” This means that the company can rehire the 200 people it laid of in June 2017 as part of a restructuring, including 50 local workers at their head office here in Victoria. Recall notices are being sent on an as needed basis over the next six weeks as the plants begin operating at full capacity. NWC has been exploring its options and found promise outside of the traditional regions and oil industry, leading them to be the first company to barter a deal with China, and find an application for its widgets in residential construction. Bryce said, “The increase in sales has been unprecedented. We think this opportunity will open up enormous markets which will last for years.”

The National Widget Company is Canada’s oldest manufacturer and distributor of widgets. Established by the current president’s great-grandfather, it has been a family owned and operated business since 1888, making it one of the oldest family run businesses in nationwide.

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For more information, Contact Cindy Peckham at 555-555-5555

Hello Fellow Bloggers

This blog was formally the CMNS 160 blog which I didn't use much aside from completing class requirements. It seems that's about to change with CMNS 165. I look forward to this class and perhaps getting the chance to work with some of you.

Best wishes for a fruitful semester.

C/P

Greg Pratt Visits Camosun Journalism Class

Press Matters

Many professional journalists got their start in a post secondary institution, but it wasn't necessarily the classroom that launched them, it was the newsroom. Greg Pratt is the third Managing Editor of Nexus News, the Camosun College student newspaper. He says student media is often not taken seriously but it's important because, "It is one of the last places you can get news you trust."

Pratt says what makes Nexus stand out from other student media in Canada is its structure. While editors at other institutions have a limited amount of time to occupy the chair to allow student participation, it's Nexus policy to always have a professional in the editor chair to guide the students, in addition to having a student editor. Pratt t says, "It keeps and gives that student voice." He says in theory everything in the paper has to be interesting to students and that "It's important to have people writing about things they care about." This level of professional is why Pratt believes Nexus is  able to take on subjects that other student papers won't. He says he is not an employee of the college and because the paper is not affiliated with the student society and entirely funded by student fees he likes to think of Nexus as, "A bit of a watchdog for students".

There aren't any subjects they won't write about but Pratt says, "The one thing we don't do, we don't create controversy where there is no controversy.", and they try to keep opinion out. He says, "We're not on anyone's side, this is news, and newspapers need to deliver unbiased opinions on things."  He said it's important to present both sides in a fair and accurate way and give readers a chance to make their own decisions.

Pratt says, "As a journalist you don't want to be biased, you want to give people a chance to talk and explain themselves, don't lambaste them, journalism is about being fair."