How Westercon Can Gain a Stronger Following

Let's face the facts...Westercon's social media sites are kind of a drag right now. How can we improve? I think using the Businesss Model is a great way to get together ideas on how to increase engagement and interactivity and gain popularity for Westercon.

First thing is Key Partners. Who are the key partners of Westercon? If Westercon can build relationships with people who have existing reputations, the popularity will increase. This includes other events, such as the Salt Lake Comic Con, authors, and other celebrities people may be interested in. Westercon showed they were working a little with Salt Lake Comic Con by setting up a booth, but they just need to do more. More advertising, more excitement, and more working through others to lead to a more successful event.

As far as Key Activities go, Westercon needs to promote lectures or activities that will actually be taking place during the event. In all honesty, I don't even know what Westercon is. Why would I spend three days going there, completely blind to what my schedule is going to be? They could possibly get customer feedback to see what events people would most like to attend and try to bring more of that in. That would also build a relationship with the customers and prove to them that they are a company that wants satisfaction from the people attending.

With activities, they also need to bring in value. The events they're attending should mean something to the customers and they should leave with a sense that they learned something and be excited to return. Exciting events will lead to more popularity. This includes bring in well known authors or even involving the customers in the events somehow. Involvement leads to learning and engagement and establishing a relationship that keeps people coming back.

I think the thing that needs to be most improved is the channels. Westercon has social media sites set up, they just need to be improved in order for them to be successful. This can include setting up contests, adding pictures, giving sneak peeks of what to expect, and posting content that will make people click the "share" button. If only one person shares a post, that post is going out to all their friends, which is great advertising for Westercon. They should also be posting more often rather than just once a month. Posts should be daily, and even more when we get closer to the event. Also, another thing to do would have people who will be presenting or attending tweet out/post stuff. If we got authors to attend, and that author has a following, if the author tweeted he was going to be there, it is more likely his fans would attend Westercon.

With increasing their postings, values, partnerships, and activities, Westercon will have a more solid foundation to build off of and make their event more successful and well-attended. It is more likely they will see fresh faces and get a bigger following if we can apply these things.

Westercon 67 vs. Salt Lake City Comic Con

The first thing I did when reading the assignment was go to Facebook and compare the Salt Lake Comic Con page and the WesterCon 67 page. Right off the bat, you can tell that the SLC Comic Con is more interactive. While just doing a quick scroll through of the page, the SLC Comic Con page is more visually exciting and interesting.

SLC Comic Con:

Westercon 67:

The major difference between the first glance is that the SLC Comic Con includes pictures and questions that interests those who "like" the page. By asking questions, it encourages the likers to comment on the post, and then when they comment, the post will show up on their friend's timelines. This is a way that the page can be spread when others are able to see it through their friends. The SLC Comic Con is also smart with their use of hashtags, which could bring in more people who search those hashtags. The Westercon 67 page is simply a bunch of statuses giving information that isn't presenting in an interesting manner and is, quite bluntly, boring. Another thing I noticed is the interaction with the likers.

Salt Lake City Comic Con:

Westercon 67:

SLC Comic Con uses the page to answer questions. I know for me personally, when I feel like a company is actually interested in me, I'm more likely to support that company. As a customer, I want to deal with companies who are friendly and who give time and effort to make sure I am satisfied.

When you go to the Twitter accounts, you can also spot a major difference.

SLC Comic Con:

The Comic Con has a fun header, background, and tweets often. They also give information in their bio and link you to the website.

The Westercon Twitter is more bland, with only a gray background, and also only 12 tweets. The last tweet was almost a month ago. Personally, I don't follow accounts that are inactive. 

All in all, I think the Westercon 67 Event needs to increase it's transitivity through social media. Although they have social media accounts, they aren't very effective at grasping attention. Nothing about the Westercon social media account makes me think, "Wow! This is an awesome event! I want to go!" However, when I look at the SLC Comic Con event, I see all these pictures and interaction and it makes me want to be a part of it, even though I have no interest in Comic Con whatsoever.

Through social media outlets, they will be able to find more interested people when friends share and like posts. If they are able to engage with a younger audience, people will be more excited to go.

EDIT:

To improve their social media outlets, they simply need to improve their quality and quantity of posts. When looking at SLC Comic Con, you can see that they post frequently throughout the day. Westercon posts rarely, with their last post being from the beginning of January. They have the social media sites, they just need to improve how they use them.

To build transitivity, their posts should also be related to those who like the page. The content should include more than a few sentences of text. When the page posts content that is enjoyable to the customer, they are more likely to share it, and then their friends are more likely to visit the page. It is important for these relationships to grow so that the popularity of the event can grow as well.

As far as channels go, I think this includes improving their social media as well. The company is looking for new "fresh faces", and most of these new people will be found through social media. Social media is the easiest way to reach out and advertise. By posting content that is the younger generation enjoys, it will get more likes and shares, just like with SLC Comic Con.

Flip Phones, iPhones, and Everything in Between

I remember my first cell phone. It was the coolest thing ever...super classy while still showing off how trendy I was.

That's right. My pink Razr phone. You might laugh now, but in 8th grade, this was the coolest thing ever. I think I had 100 texts a month and maybe 60 minutes of calling to call my mom and let her know where I was. Man, this thing was the greatest ever.

Then came the generation of the Sidekick.

This brought a whole new world. A full keyboard that slid open. Plus the "Sidekick" written on the back. I would flip this bad boy open and heads would turn everywhere. I remember how I thought I was so neat, and while everyone still had those flip phones, I had something different.

Then, of course, I outgrew it. I moved onto the good ol' Blackberry.

I don't know why this was so cool, but it was. There was something sophisticated and business like that made me feel in control. I felt very mature with the simple layout of it.

And then, Apple came along, and I caught the Apple fever. I started out pretty low on the iPhone chain, with only a 3.

Eventually I worked my way up. I'm very into Apple now, and I feel a need to always have the latest and greatest.

I recently upgraded to the gold iPhone 5S, and I'm already anticipating the new iPhone release of 2014. The distance Apple has come over the years is incredible, but when you look at cell phones in general, it's even crazier.

We all know the change in technology has sky rocketed over the years. I don't bring this up to tell you things you already know, but rather to really analyze what has occurred over the years. Why is technology improving so rapidly? What is it about our generation that craves more?

When you compare the improvement of cell phones to McLuhan's Tetrad, it's easy to see why things have come to the point they are at today. The tetrad has four points:

• What does the medium enhance?
• What does the medium make obsolete?
• What does the medium retrieve that has been obsolesced earlier?
• What does the medium flip into when pushed to extremes?

Enhancements: The evolution of cell phones has become from something simply to call others to something that is a literal extension of a person. Connectivity, user friendliness, functions, speed, convenience, features, and ideas have all grown over the years. A phone used to be something that we would use to call up our family members and chat on a Sunday, and now our cell phones contain all our contacts, calendars, social media sites, bank accounts, email accounts, and even more. While before a cell phone was an accessory, it has become a necessity.

Obsolete: This past generation has become very reliant on technology, and it has been said that we lack social skills and face to face conversation. While our technology skills may be outstanding, many people have lost the ability to hold a simple conversation without the use of a cell phone.

Retrieve: Because it's so easy to download an app, the connectivity between lost connections has grown. Facebook allows others to find people they graduated with, old coworkers, and even that long, lost girlfriend you thought you'd never have to talk to again. Almost everyone has a social profile of some sort that others can access and use to reconnect.

Flip: Technology addictions are something that were first a joke, but have now become very real. When people misplace their phone, they pace and scream "Where's my phone?!" and search frantically until it is found. When going out on a drive, if someone forgets their phone, they will immediately turn around and get it. Some can't even go one day without a phone. Competition for the newest and greatest phone is also a problem, and people can base the social status of others based on what phone they have. Many things about cell phones have become artificial, and people misuse them every day.

While I am a part of the technology generation, I try to minimize my use and control what I use my phone for. Literally anything I want is in the palm of my hand with just a click to download, but with that power comes great responsibility as well.

Receiving Support From People We've Never Met

"They [critics] worry that people will get so engulfed in a simulacrum virtual reality, that they will lose contact with 'real life.'"

What's the difference between an online community and a real life community? Obviously, one is through a computer screen while the other is people physically engaging with each other, but does that make either one 'less' of a community? How often are you with people who sit by you and browse Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram? How often do you start up conversations with others about videos that thousands of people shared on your timeline? Although the internet may lack physical interaction, does that make it any less of a community?

With our day and age, many consider their online selves to be an accurate portrayal of who they actually are. I remember I was talking with my friend recently (one who doesn't own an account to any social media sites) about how upset I was that another friend who had unfollowed me on Instagram. She just looked me in the eyes and said, "That's not even real life. You guys still hang out all the time, why does it matter?" That struck me hard. Why does our follower count, our amount of likes, or our number of retweets directly correlate with our happiness? What is it that makes the online community so appealing?


"Even when online groups are not designed to be supportive, they often are."

This is something we all have seen. From humorous things...



...to more serious topics...



...support is all around. "Net members are distinctive in providing information, support, companionship, and a sense of belonging to persons they hardly know offline or who are total strangers." To those unfamiliar, the first is a screenshot of a silly Facebook page that got rather large. The page got well over one million likes, but the baby was named Dylan. Regardless of the outcome of the situation, the support shown by random strangers show how supportive people can be about things that interest them.

The second photo is Christian Bale visiting a victim of the Batman movie theater shooting. After the incident occurred, social media blew up with the idea that Christian Bale should offer his support all those involved. There were multiple Facebook pages and hashtags floating around, until eventually, someone with power got ahold of the attention the idea was receiving and made it a reality. Without social media and the large reaction, who knows if the idea would have come along for the Batman actor to pay a visit to the injured victims.

"Repayment of support and social resources might be as exchanges of the same kind of aid, reciprocating in another way, or helping out a mutual friend in the network."

Recently, Skype released an advertisement that really touches on the emotional side. It uses the story of two girls, both of them only having one arm, and how they were able to connect with each other via Skype. Though they lived far away, they shared a similarity that brought them closer together.

Because of social resources, these girls were able to rely on each other and become close friends. They were both experiencing the same challenges and could help each other through their struggles until they could one day meet.

All of this just goes to show that although we be the "generation of technology" and "the ones who interact through a screen," that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Arctic Monkeys, Muhammad Ali, Enrique Iglesias, Vocal Point, and Saturday Night Live

Literature as the 'foregrounding' of language'
I think it's amazing that music is something that everyone loves. There are so many different types and styles, but music is a common bond that most people share. The lyrics in music are so different than every day talk. The way they're worded and the sequence they fall in often times makes no sense at all, but often times can be quite beautiful and poetic.

In the song '505' by Arctic Monkeys, the first few lines go:

"I'm going back to 505,

If it's a 7 hour flight or a 45 minute drive, 

In my imagination you're waiting lying on your side,

With your hands between your thighs,

Stop and wait a sec,

Oh when you look at my like that my darling,

What did you expect,

I probably still adore you with your hands around my neck,

Or I did last time I checked"

I find it so amazing that such a simple idea of "I miss this girl" can be portrayed so beautifully through a simple rhyme scheme. The different literary techniques take something ordinary and turn it into something extraordinary.

Literature as the integration of language.

This was the first thing that popped into my head when I was reading this section. "I'm gonna float like a butterfly and sting like a bee, George can't hit what his eyes can't see." This was given long before I was born, but these words are still used and widely known today. What do I know about Muhammad Ali? Honestly, not much. But through this speech, I instantly feel a connection with him. That's me! I can be soft and sweet, but then be sassy and stern when I need to be. This quote is something I think about often, and even though it was given long before my time period, it's incredible how it can still be so popular today.

Literature as Fiction
I'm about to get real cheesy here, so please forgive me. But after serving a mission in South America, you can't blame me for loving my homeboy Enrique Iglesias. In his song "Somebody's Me", it goes:

"Somebody wants you

Somebody needs you

Somebody dreams about you every single night

Somebody can't breathe without you, it's lonely

Somebody hopes that one day you will see

That somebody's me."

I think these lyrics are a great example of this portion of reading. In our mind, we're creating this fictional person who has all these qualities and characteristics. Listeners picture this fictional person of their dreams, and in the end we find a twist when he says that "Somebody's me," and we realize maybe that person isn't so fictional after all.

Literature as an Aesthetic Object
Being a religious person, when I read this section, I immediately thought of all my favorite hymns. It's quite wonderful how quickly the whole mood of the room can change when a spiritual hymn is sung. I love Vocal Point's version of "Nearer, My God To Thee". The different languages along with the general buildup bring a feeling of the love of God unlike anything else can.

Literature as intertextual or self-reflexive construct.

While reading this part, I immediately thought of all the parodies in the world. A lot of the time, the parody is funnier than the original thing. People will take an original idea and put a new twist on it. I think of Divine Comedy doing "Provo Utah Girls" or the BYU Library's version of the Old Spice commecial, "Study Like a Scholar". One of my personal favorites is Saturday Night Love doing a parody of "What Does The Fox Say." What started out as an annoying trend turned into something hilarious, and now has over 7.5 million views on YouTube.

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what I expected from this class, but, I'll tell you that what I got out of it was not what I was imagined. I guess with a class about social media, I presumed that we would be studying all the different types of social media in depth, and let's be honest, in this internet-savvy world, who wouldn't want to take a class like that? While I'm sure we will go in depth to different social media, I was surprised to find that class was more about the effects of social media and how networking plays a huge part in our life. Even off the internet, networking is what connects and intertwines us. This was proven by how we're able to connect with a teacher who was born in a different time generation, raised in a different way, and had different interests. He was able to find ways to separate our differences and focus on how similar all of us really are. We were also able to connect by sitting in a circle. In classes, I tend to migrate to the back and remain relatively unnoticed. By the seating structure, I was able to look around at each person and even recognize faces that I don't know I would have if the seating was in typical rows. Through something as simple as moving seats around, we were able to connect as peers and become more involved with each other.

The reading was insightful as well and had a lot to do with what was discussed in class. Although it's from a different, more spiritual viewpoint, it's still all about connections. The church was started and then it grew because of relationships. It relates back to the discussion of first-degree, second-degree, and third-degree links. Whether people knew of the church because of a friend, a friend's friend, or a friend's friend's friend, it didn't matter. The important factor was that they could recognize the church, and because of that, they were more willing to listen and eventually get baptized.

Connections are a foundation in society and it is how people are able to function. Whether it be online, in class, or in a community, being intertwined and becoming one is what eventually will lead to success.