Category Archives: social

Reflections from the LavaCon Workshop

Here’s my reflection on attending LavaCon.

Learn from others

What fascinates me the most is learning how other people work with others and to hear their experiences. At a conference, I may hear a few case studies, yet at a workshop, there is more to learn beyond case studies. For example, I really enjoyed the three exercises that built upon team work, management, and communication–each integral aspects of Content Strategy.

Actively participate

Actively Participating at LavaCon

Some technical writers are shy. One of my best and trusted colleagues is shy. I know I fall into the realm of being shy and social and it depends on the situation and who I’m with. For the most part, I actively listen and learn from what others say. I noticed that even adding a comment and engaging with the speaker was definitely worth it. Since the workshop has a hands-on element, if you participate–you will get more out of it than you first realize.

Ask questions

There was never a shortage of questions. I wish I asked more questions during the sessions. Part of being extremely new to the field is that I haven’t encountered the A-Z list of scenarios at the workplace. In addition, I have experienced some interesting workplace dynamics which I’ve learned how to manage and recover from. At the next conference, I will make it a priority to ask more questions in the future.

Keep an open mind

The reason why we attend workshops is to learn. Because we come from a variety of different backgrounds, such as marketing, management, computer science, writing, editing, and communication, we have different interpretations for how we understand Content Strategy. Each interpretation of Content Strategy may differ from one another, but we can add them together to build a better definition. I definitely have expanded my definition of Content Strategy after the last two conferences.

Build your network

Connect online with LavaCon attendees

Lastly, I will hit the networking game on Twitter and LinkedIn and to connect with everyone I met. I love how we have common interests and the social channels are available to professionally network. After LavaCon, I’m always happy to expand my network and include wonderful professionals which I will later meet at other conferences throughout the year. The advantage of connecting professionally with colleagues is you will open up new career opportunities for the future.

Later this month, I will write another post about the LavaCon Workshop group activities and what I observed. In the meantime, see more about what happened at LavaCon, check out the #LavaCon Twitter Feed and Andrea Ames’ SlideShare Slides. Also, learn more about the LavaCon 2013 Conference and I look forward to seeing you in Portland, OR in October.

Snopes and Google Are Your BFFs to Fight Zombie Hoaxes

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Did you ever hear about how the U.S. Mint was changing their coins? What about getting severely sick because of dirty soda can? Worried that Facebook will force you to pay a subscription to use? Even a wild and outlandish story caught a U.S. Senator off-guard.

Let’s find out how fast we can make a hoax that Russian Coca-Cola will replace American Coke in 2014…

Don’t worry, your coins will stay the same. Soda cans are clean and safe. Facebook is still free. Also, smart U.S. Senators use Google or some kind of search engine.

But why are these hoaxes spreading around like wildfire on the Internet? These stories used to be in the form of chain emails and that was definitely annoying. Now I see these same hoaxes crop up on my Facebook feed. Why are these hoax zombies coming back? I wish I could answer that question.

I read a lot online and when I think something looks like a chain email or hoax post, it most likely is. At that point, I Google keywords + snopes. Usually I find Snopes at the top of the search results and find out it was indeed a hoax. If not, it could be a made up story from elsewhere like America’s Finest News Source: The Onion Unbelievable, right?

Your friends will love you forever if you don’t post hoaxes online. Surely, Philadelphia will appreciate the zombie-free zone too.

Lately, I have gone on a bit of a crusade to break these chain mails and chain posts and prove people should search for them online. I kindly reply or post a link to a website proving its a hoax or something made up.

Please, avoid posting hoax material on social networks. You will be forever thank yourself and be thanked by countless friends who really don’t care for hoaxes. Great Facebook friends should stop other friends who continue this perpetual madness. Also, by not posting this junk online makes you a better contributor to the social media scene. We don’t want to see zombie hoaxes out in the wild any more.

What are your thoughts? Comment below!