I
Finished
My

Degree!!!!!!

I am back!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ho my god, I know it has been absolutely ages since the last time I wrote anything, but to be perfectly honest with you I don't have to write anymore! As i said before this was for one of my units and now it is done, so it will take a while to get used to writing for the sake of it!

Anyhow, today I am bored.. at home trying to do some revision so decided to say hi and keep you up to date with my life! I am not going to get into too much detail, basically can't be bothered, but in a nutshell I handed in my dissertation (Finally!) and finished ALL of my assignments, that's right no more stupid assignments for me! Got some grades back, some good ones some OK ones, but now it is time to move on and revise for the exams!

I also went to Portugal for a week, which was really nice! Tom came with me and he got to practice his Portuguese a bit more! (He is getting good at it! have I told you he is not get private Portuguese lessons with Julia?!?!)

We have been going out as per usual, me and Tom went camping the other day which was really good fun as well, a bit of o Tom and Sara classic!! I'll try and post the video here! It is worth seeing our amazing tent!! hehe it was fun!

Now the only big drama in my life (well.. two really!) is the graduation ball and what will happen next year with my life!

Lets start with the second issues.... it has Media me think quite a lot that one. It is such a pivotal stage of my life this one... up until now (for 22 years) I have been doing what is expected of me really.... went to school, then came to university and have been following this path society has set out for me. Now.. it is the end of the path, and there are so many directions I can take and no one to make the decision for me. So many jobs I can get... should I start focus on my career or delay that a bit more to enjoy myself. If i decide to enjoy myself will it be too late for the career? If i focus on my career when do I enjoy myself and have fun?! Is it important to have fun? .... see the questions are just endless and there is no definite answer. So, this is what it is to be an adult! I guess it is! Making choices for myself and going with it for the best of the worst.

So this is what I have been thinking:

I am 22 years old.... I have two options: focus on career or delay that for the sake of fun and life experience. I know for sure I want to do the fun stuff and life experience because what is the point of living just for your career, and who is it to say that career is that important anyway? I am still young (very young) and if I start my career I will probably be stuck in a job for the next 40 years of my life. So first decision: I WILL HAVE FUN FIRST AND EXPERIENCE LIFE!!!!

SO how do I do that considering I won't have a mommy and a daddy paying for my crazy adventures?! I work!! Where do I work.... well we have London or Bournemouth (or anywhere else in the world really,m but lets be realistic!) London is too expensive to live I will end up not saving money! So lets stay in Bournemouth.... for 6 months working and saving money and THEN GO TRAVELLING FOR 4 MONTHS!!!! obviously this will happen with Tom! :)

So there you go, this is my new amazing plan, me and tom in Feb or March are going travelling to Asia/Australia/ New Zealand/ Fiji Islands for 4 months.

So this is my drama now, finding a job!! Well.. I have applied to a couple of agencies (obviously I am more limited in Bournemouth) and I got a first and second interview with this agency called Strange Corp. I really really like them and I would be an Acc. Manager/Executive: dealing with clients and being the bridge between the agency and them. But they haven't got back to me in two weeks and I am getting a bit nervous! So I am now applying for other places just in case... I am a bit down with that actually, simply because I'm not very confident when it comes to jobs and stuff and this is not helping my confidence... will I be good at my job? Was Advertising and Marketing the right choice for me? ... ho well!

Right, I shall talk about the grad ball some other time, right now I can't be bothered with that! SO I shall see you all later!

Take care and behave yourselves! XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

me and my simple life!

Hi Everyone! Hope you are all doing OK and enjoying this year of 2007!

Everything is fine here! I have been busy busy with uni stuff.... its getting to the hectic last 4 weeks... and now its make or break... haven't been getting any sleep and been working non stop on dissertation and all the other assignments that need to be in!

Today I spent the day on IMS... basically my assignment is (what I think it is) a really good idea. For those of you who know me I am an AFSer and went to spend a year in America... it was a really important year of my life that basically shaped me and prepared me for all the other challenges life had set for me.

So my assignment is basically proposing a podcasting service on the AFS website, so that current AFSers, from various programmes can use the technology to share with the world their experiences, periodically.
I think it is a really good idea and it would be beneficial for both the participants abroad (that would be able to share their experiences with others) but also to prospectives participants that could see, first hand, what kind of reality they would be experiencing if they did take up the challenge!

Obviously I need to talk about the theory, which I am using Uses and gratifications... that basically means that audiences are not passive anymore, and instead are active and goal oriented that exploit different media to fulfill their needs and get something out of it (the gratification). My argument is that, according to several studies, one of the gratifications of using the Internet is social interaction and the podcasting would help satisfying this need my providing an opportunity to interact with others.

This would obviously be at a very low cost for AFS (which has to be, since they are a not-for-profit organisation) and I really really think it would be beneficial for the organisation as a whole.... it would draw more people to the website and generate more interest since it provides real like experiences that audiences can understand and see for themselves!

So that's what I am doing... next week i have to arrange a meeting for one of my other assignments (with Richard and my agency) and I also have to start and finish my analysis of my dissertation research... ho.. and do brand management with Vicky and finish my bit of the task! ufff..... If i can get all of that done plus arrange the things with Gem and Mark about the grad ball i will be a happy bunny!!!!! :) lets pray for that!!!

I love you lot and believe it or not MISS YOU ALL endlessly!!!!!!!!!!!!

Going to bed now!
Tom is good as well... it was valentines this week, we didn't do anything special (i am a bit against Valentines) and went for a meal with my friends and family! it was really really nice and I really enjoyed just spending time with everyone without thinking of assignments and stuff....

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxx
Love you all... stay cool dudes and dudettes!!!!

Hello everyone and welcome again! :)

I know I haven't written in ages but I have been quite busy with Uni stuff and will be even busier after this weekend! Basically the next 4 weeks are going to be the most important weeks of my life.... everything I ever done academically... since school is counting on this next 4 weeks! It's make or break..... Basically have most of my assignments to hand in and my dissertation! And after that I am FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! weee!!!!

I'm not that worried with the dissertation, just because I just finished my research and I am feeling quite confident about my results (even though I still need to analyse it all....) Ho!!! Actually...

If anyone feels like practice their English and would love to help me I could really use some help with the transcripts of my interviews! Basically all you have to do is listening and type it for me! lol... (Thought i should try my luck!!)

So… Anyway today's blog is about my IMS assignment which is due in a week!!! Ho my god! So I need to decide on a theory of online behaviour... such as uses and gratifications, personalisation, flow etc and then apply it to a business of my choice and recommend a technology that will help to enhance their business! (pheww....)

I'm not really sure what I'm going to pick, I guess first I need to understand the theories....
I know what the Uses and Grats is.... basically the medium becomes more important than the message and people will use the internet to get some sort of satisfaction out of it.... so users take an active part in the communication and are goal oriented in their media use.

Then Flow is easy... thats the one consumers want to experience flow when surfing on a website, people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter, totally unaware of your surroundings but enjoying the task and having fun while doing so.

Personalisation kind of speaks for itself... ... hmm and I don't know any more! there's the one about followers and the geeks and stuff....
Anyway.. sorry this post is random but it was just so I could organise my head a bit better!

Just wanted to say I miss you all and i am back in Portugal on the 7th of april and Tom is coming with me for the week! weeee
Love you all
XXXXX

Let's smarten up shall we? (Part II)

So today in IMS seminar we were discussing the assignment and Mike asked quite an interesting question concerning the future of TV ads and the implications of that for advertising. Since this subject kind of ties in with my dissertation topic I thought this week it would be quite a good idea to discuss this!

So, as Mike was saying, because of technology developments consumers are increasingly more skeptical of TV advertising- it doesn't matter if a brand tells us their product is the best at whatever because we, as consumers, now have the power to decide for ourselves and even more dangerous than that we can discuss it online and get feedback and opinions from others users of such brand.

Who needs a TV ad when we have invaluable peer to peer reviews?

So what will happen to TV advertising? Surely it will need to adapt and perhaps even change its role- from persuader to informer if it doesn't want to lose its most valuable asset- us!

Advertiser Funded Programming could potentially be an interesting area for brands to move in to, not only to try to avoid what was discussed above but also to reach consumers when digital tv conquers the world and ads can be avoided with the touch of a button. (I know...scary!)

For those of you not familiar with the term Advertiser Funded Programming (AFP) if the funding of programmes by advertisers, generating content that wouldn't be possible to exist if it wasn't for the advertiser. Imagine a mix between sponsorship and product placement- a TV show where the advertiser creates the content. This means the consumer will no longer be forced to watch the brand but instead it will choose to watch it- it will stop (not just for 10 seconds, but for much longer) and willingly watch what the advertiser wants him to see (I know'...scary!)

The implications of this are massive and of course what seems to be quite a straight forward issue isn't at all. However, all of this will be discussed in due time- be aware!

In my humble opinion as for the 10" spot it will never die- it has been believed by many for a very long time but somehow it always manages to survive- and will continue to be a reliable and effective way to reach mass audiences. Its role might change (as it has changed in the past, it evolves with time and follows the trends) and advertisers will have to be aware of this changes in order to survive in a competitive environment.

As for the Internet- it is here to stay and the world will never be the same- but it is too soon to believe predictions and who knows if in 50 years the hype is gone and we can all go back being our true selves- not hiding in a computer with multiple personalities.

Don't get me wrong though, I know IÂ’m being quite sarcastic but it is just to emphasize the big changes our society are undertaking because of this new and wonderful technology; the possibilities are endless and the sky is no longer the limit!

We are allowed and encouraged to dream and desire and with the click of a button we can be whoever, wherever we want.