MARIST TWEETUP GRABS THE ATTENTION OF SOCIAL MEDIA GURUS

Contact: COM370 Public Relations

Lowell Thomas Building

Marist College

3399 North Road

Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

Contact: Marissa DeAngelis, Public Relations Consultant

E-mail: marissa.deangelis1@marist.edu

April 28, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Community awareness of Marist's superior social media efforts is expanding, as Marist's first TweetUp event appears in multiple online news publications this week.  The TweetUp, which took place on Tuesday, April 19, generated a nearly three hour lively discussion of social media's strong impact on today's society.

The TweetUp has been featured in USA Today Campus Coverage, The Examiner (Westchester, NY), Marist College headlines, The Circle (Marist's student-run newspaper), and Oliver Schmid's TweetUp News.  These publications recognize the innovative methods in which Marist College community members are strengthening their online media presence.

Feature on TweetUp News Site

Though a discussion led by event speakers Tim Massie, Mark Van Dyke, Kent Rinehart, Alyssa Bronander, Luke Shane, and event coordinator Marissa DeAngelis, the nearly three dozen attendees actively contributed their social media knowledge, ideas, and concerns.  The success of the event, and the passionate nature of social media savvy students and staff was recognized by attendee Chris Cornell, Social Media Columnist at The Examiner. 

"To say I was impressed would be a huge understatement," Cornell writes.  "That’s the kind of thinking that is going to insure that Marist will reap big rewards from its [social media] efforts."

Plans are underway for a second TweetUp event to occur in the Fall 2011 semester.  Invitations will be extend to the surrounding Hudson Valley community and Marist Alumni Network.

Marist College Twitter Feed



Suggested Tags: Marist, Twitter, Social Media, TweetUp

Abroad Withdrawals

As strange as it is, yesterday I took the biggest hit of abroad withdrawals that I've felt since I've been back.  I'm not sure what actually triggered it, but the next thing I knew I was drowning in my own tears.

What took me so long?

I know that I've missed it.  I miss it everytime I stare at the walls in my bedroom at Marist that are covered with pictures of every place I laid my eyes upon in Europe.  I miss it everytime I log onto Facebook and look back at my tagged pictures.  I miss it everytime I eat pizza in the U.S. and think about how much I'd rather be eating a pizza from La Grotta di Leo, on Via della Scala 48 (Google Street View), where a portion of my heart will always reside.

But for some reason, it took me four months of living in America again to come to hysterics over it.  I thought I was lucky, as my abroad friends seemed to struggle with adjusting back to their lifestyle in Poughkeepsie more than me.  But now I realize that I'm having just as hard of a time adjusting (re-entry shock they call it); it just took me a little longer to feel the heartache.

And I have a feeling it's going to keep happening.

In my Intercultural Communication class with Cochece Davis, there are a slew of us who went abroad that are constantly able to talk about how much we loved our experiences in a judgment-free zone. 

If you've been abroad, you know what I mean when I say, "judgement-free zone."  Studying abroad is such a unique experience. Those of us who have been find ourselves constantly reminiscing about times of exploration, intruding into others' conversations if they are discussing travel, and throwing out comments that usually start with something like, "well in Italy..." for months and month following your safe arrival home.  And although friends, family, and classmates may be giving you the "stink eye" because they are just plain SICK of you babbling about the most amazing four months of your life, the habit forms and the words continue to flow out of your mouth. So I love being a part of that class, where we collectively work through our withdrawal feelings together.  I couldn't help but smile and laugh when my friend and classmate Katie described how she felt like she was holding play money when she held a $20 bill for the first time in four months.  I knew EXACTLY how she felt.  Who knew I would need a support system for an addiction like traveling or exploring. 

The crying began in a long car ride as I started to picture myself back in Florence, like a movie reel playing over and over again.  The funny thing is, it was the littlest, and even sometimes most annoying things about my Florentine lifestyle that made me blubber even more.  I pictured myself walking up the stairs to my apartment and using that funny-looking key to open my narrow door.  I began to trace my steps to my classes, block by block on the beautiful cobblestone streets.

 I saw myself standing at the counter, sipping on an espresso that I had just paid for with a 1 euro coin, while listening to the Italians order an espresso and chat about their day (or at least I tried to catch on).  I pictured myself in Florence in the sun and in the rain, during the day and at night, in the churches and museums, running, walking, or sitting.

I wished I were back in my room with my roommate Milena, sipping our morning coffee, eating clementines, and trying to stream our favorite American TV show as we'd scream, "CHE COSA FAI!?!?"

I pictured my housemates and I, sitting around our dining room table, a few bottles of wine and a whole lot of laughs deep.

Heck, I even pictured myself in my tiny Italian shower and reaching into the tiny Italian fridge to grab my favorite kind of cheese from the little Italian market, and spreading it on the most delicious bread in the world.  I won't even discuss the movie reel that my mind then created with pictures of various European weekend travels.

Tears were coming down my face at a steady pace when I decided to take a mental stroll around the city.  I was extremely comforted as I realized I still most certainly still know my way around Florence.  I expressed to my family when they came to visit the most beautiful city in the world that my biggest fear is that I would forget the city.  I overcame this fear, as my mind settled at the last picture of my boyfriend and I standing in the middle of the Ponte Vecchio, overlooking the Arno on a beautiful, rainy, perfect night.

And then I started to cry even more at the thought of how ridiculously lucky I am to have had this amazing opportunity.  Most people don't see the things I saw or felt the way I felt in an entire lifetime.  

Tears came to a stop as I realized this is only the beginning; I'll be back in this beautiful place someday. 

Social Media Movement at Marist: TweetUp

After much coordination with many wonderful offices at Marist, a date, time and place have been determined for Marist's very first TweetUp, and it's fast approaching!  It will be on Tuesday, April 19 at 7:00 p.m. in the Student Center Room 349.  I'd like to thank Tim Massie, Jim Urso, Dr. Mark Van Dyke, the Office of Undergraduate Admission, and the School of Communication and the Arts for their help and support over the past few weeks on this unique event.  I encourage all members of the Marist College community to attend join us for an informative, yet casual night of pure social media bliss.  Whether you are at the preliminary stages of social media/Twitter exploration, or you are a "Tweeting/blogging/foursquaring" guru, this event will surely stimulate your excitement about the blooming world of social media.  

So what in the world is a TweetUp?

A TweetUp is a new type of networking event that emerged with the increasing popularity and use of Twitter.  The event provides an opportunity for face-to-face interaction between those who follow similar organizations and discuss alike trends on Twitter.  


As I began to discuss this event through tweets to fellow "Marist tweeters," I was stunned by their interest and enthusiasm towards this project that will cause more Marist students, faculty, and staff to increase their social media use, and therefore experience the benefits of a strong online presence. 

For students like Jim Urso and Abbey Scalia, the networking event triggered them to dig deep.  Abbey wrote a wonderful article about the upcoming event on the MaristMy575 online publication.  This same article was also featured on the FRONT PAGE of our college newspaper, The Circle. As I sat down with her for an interview to discuss the event, I was astonished to hear that after conducting some online research, Abbey told me that she thinks this type of event is "revolutionary" on college campuses; she did not find much news about TweetUps taking place elsewhere in the United States.

COOL! I had no idea I was THAT creative! 


Jim Urso gave me some GREAT ideas on ways to publicize the event, and believes that this may be newsworthy material not only for Marist's The Circle, but also for online college publications like USA Today College, College Media Network, or The Chronicle of Higher Education.  This could go big!  He said that he really liked the programming of the event, because it involves networking between Marist Tweeters while also incorporating an information session with student and professional guest speakers. Jim also thought that the creation of a videoblog post on Marist Office Hours would further enhance my social media message to the Marist online community.  Earlier in the week I sat down with him to shoot a videoblog post! (Coming soon!)

Here's the news release I wrote up for the event.  It's also featured on the School of Communication and the Arts homepage! Check it out!

 Coordinating, hosting, and publicizing for this event are allowing me to put my public relations skills to the test.  The project has shaped me into a social media advocate, and demonstrated the amazing community of students, faculty, and staff that are here at Marist.  I am overwhelmed by the encouragement and support I am receiving from classmates and online Twitter followers.  Thanks!

Part 2: How Social Media Has Changed A Typical Day at Marist

As my first semester involved in social media, this spring is by far the busiest semester I've ever had at Marist.

Yes, I'm now a college junior, and my course load is getting pretty heavy as I take more upper-level courses, but I'm constantly overloaded with thoughts and standing on my toes due to my new involvement in social media.

Most college students think they are stressed out ENOUGH.  Why get involved in something else that's going to take any spare moment that I have relax?  The answer for me is pretty simple: not only have I found myself passionate about further exploring the tools each day, but I have found that social media has also enhanced my education, both in and out of class.

Let me explain by telling you what I realized during a busy day of work, classes, and homework.

I arrived at the Marist Card Services Office at 9:00 a.m. to work the morning shift.  After fulfilling my morning duties, I logged on to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to check for updates.  While on Twitter, I found a couple of interesting articles tweeted by those I follow, and felt excited to learn more about the relationship between public relations and social media.  Advice, news, or humor articles that I come across while following @MarkRaganCEO, @todaysocial, @mashable, @CommPRHelp, etc. further enhance my PR and SM knowledge, as well as give me the confidence to say that I truly am headed down the perfect career path for me!

Then, I headed to my public relations class with Dr. Mark Van Dyke, where we spend at least 30 minutes of each class exploring and discussing social media tools such as Wiki, RSS Feeds, Twitter, podcasts etc.  Dr. Van Dyke demonstrates the importance of social media competence in today's public relations field, and prompts us to make connections to how social media is changing our society.  

Next, I was off to Professor Jennie Donohue's public opinion class, where the topic of the day was social media and how it is influencing the way in which we measure public opinion.  She demonstrated this through a class lecture that provided many facts and figures about the growing phenomenon. Professor Donohue also told us about some interesting social media gurus to follow, like @briansolis who wrote, "Putting the Public Back into PR." Halfway through the class, I started to think to myself, Wow! This would be great material for a new blog post!  Since I was able to create a connection between the lecture and my blog, I attentively listened and contributed throughout the remainder of the intriguing class.  In this way, my social media interest enhanced my academic interest.  

In my Tuesday night Ethics class, I was happy to find that my professor decided to take a different approach to our normal routine.  In order to determine some of our own ethical values, he prompted us to write out a couple of different topics.  He asked us to make up our own personal "ten commandments."  Again, I thought to myself immediately, this is a great blog post theme!  The creation of my blog helps me to identify the significance in many school assignments, and validates that I should try to take the opportunity to expand on things I learn in class as often as possible.

I came home that night to a Global Studies Seminar assignment that prompted us to read and write a response on articles that discuss today's information overload, and how our society is able to sort through or condense large abundance of information that circulates through various industries daily.  I came across a couple of interesting quotes about the information age that I liked and again thought, great for the blog!  These quotes ask us to find a balance between the wealth of information and the comprehension of important information: 

"What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention, and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it." - Herbert Simon
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?” - T.S. Eliot

This interesting article fro NPR really made me think (Check it out!):

http://www.npr.org/2011/03/15/134531653/we-are-just-not-digging-the-whole-anymore


I cannot wait to incorporate more of the material I learn in class, and on online/social media tools, into my blog.  The value of social media has further engaged my value in academics.