BECCI's BLURB

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'” – Eleanor Roosevelt When I began this program a year ago, I jumped in with both feet.   I had wanted this for a very long time, and it was almost as if I had been given a “do-over.”     All I knew was that life had recently thrown me several nasty curveballs, and I felt that going back to graduate school after 15 years was the best way to deal with them.   The thought of graduation, over a year away, seemed forever in the distance, and I had no real plans or ideas of where I was headed or what I wanted to do afterward.   Now, I am one term and one class away from graduation (ten weeks), and I am feeling more terrified than ever.   In essence, I am starting over mid-life and it scares me.   While I believe I finally determined what I would love to do

"The best moments in my life don't make it to social media."  - Rosalynn Mejia A few weeks ago, I had a thought about something our professor said regarding safety and our blogs. However, due to the chaos in my life, I filed it into the back of my mind with the other thoughts I plan to get to later. But then, I thought about it again when I wrote one of my blog posts a few weeks ago. I wanted my son in a picture, but I didn’t want his face in the photo. Our professor told us at the beginning of the term to be mindful of what we post on our blogs. He reminded us that our blogs are public, and we don’t want to put too much personal information on them for the entire world to see. And I have tried to take that to heart, not even taking into consideration one “minor” detail…social media. This week, we read an article in The Atlantic , that illustrates the effects that parents’ social media posts have on their younger children, who are now starting to

“Perception is reality. If you are perceived to be something, you might as well be it because that's the truth in people's minds.”  - Steve Young   Many factors can influence people’s perception of a business or of another person.   And s ocial media has become extremely crucial in business today.   In fact, many companies operate strictly via social media only.   That being said, it’s vital to manage all social media accounts properly.   Proper management includes making sure to use the right platform at the right time.   Kathayat of Socialbakers interestingly points out, This is one of the biggest mistakes a large number of brands make. Many brands post the same content in the same formats with the same copy across all their social platforms. Each social platform is unique in many ways. Different social media channels have different strengths, features, marketing tools, and also diverse audiences with varying demographics, behaviors, and interests. So, bear

“The fellow that can only see the week ahead is always the popular fellow, for he is looking with the crowd.   But the one that can see years ahead, he has a telescope but he can’t make anybody believe that he has it.”   - Will Rogers The concept of crowdsourcing is not necessarily a new idea.  Although, when many people think about it, they believe it started with social media and the Internet.  Not true.  Actually, the basic concept of crowdsourcing has been around for hundreds of years.  Bloomberg Cities tells the story of how the British government used “crowdsourcing” to resolve their issue regarding navigation at sea in the 1700s.  Obviously, this was just a few years before we had social media.  That being said, people use crowdsourcing campaigns for various reasons today.  Sites like GoFundMe and Kickstarter have been created so innovative, remarkable, genuine, and sometimes deceitful people can change the world.  Or maybe simply change one person’s life.  Either way, t

“A key to a healthy relationship is being present.” ( The New York Times , 2017)  - James Roberts, author of “Too Much of a Good Thing: Are You Addicted To Your Smartphone?” My husband has a terrible habit of losing his keys, wallet, and/or his cell phone. For the life of me, I can’t understand this. For someone who is so attached to his phone to lose it so often, I will never understand. So, for Christmas two years ago, I bought him Bluetooth tracking devices for his phone, wallet, and keys. At the time, I meant them to be somewhat of a joke but also because I was rather tired of replacing these items all of the time. I’m not sure he saw the humor in the gift as much as I did because it took him over a year to use them. I am not sure how well they genuinely work, but he is doing a much better job keeping track of them now (knock on wood). I tell this story because it amazes me how easily my husband can lose something that he and countless others have become to rely on so m

“Put all your eggs in one basket… the handle’s going to break.  Then all you’ve got is scrambled eggs.”  - Nora Roberts  (2010).“Hot Rocks,” p. 183, Penguin Any experienced financial planner worth their salt will tell you never to put all your eggs in one basket.  Sure, the market looks great right now.  But when everything comes back down, and it eventually will, because it always does, you need to have a balanced financial portfolio, so you do not lose everything.  We can apply this same advice to various other examples other than financial planning.  The same can be said about our use of technology and social media too.  It is officially 2020 – the start of a new year and a new generation.   And d igital media is everywhere!   Traditional media such as print newspapers, the yellow pages, local radio stations, and television stations are being replaced by faster, digital mediums that we can access from anywhere at any time.   According to Public Relations Society of Ameri

“So, your kids must love the iPad?” I asked Mr. [Steve] Jobs, trying to change the subject. The company’s first tablet was just hitting the shelves. “They haven’t used it,” he told me. “We limit how much technology our kids use at home.” (Nytimes article, Sept. 10, 2014)”    ―  Nick Bilton   ( https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/technology-addiction ) W e have no one to blame but ourselves.   As a society, we have turned our children into little monsters, and now we, the parents, teachers, grandparents, waiters, etc. are suffering the consequences.   Our son began the “change” the day he graduated preschool.   That’s right, you heard me, preschool.   That is the day he received his first tablet.   We bought a tablet for a five-year-old because he graduated preschool and officially introduced him to the world of technology.   As a consequence of this, he hasn’t been the same since that day. As a society, though, it is challenging to monitor and limit our child

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!   Or does it?    Perhaps an all girls weekend got a little crazy after your eighth shot of tequila.   You and your girls make your way to the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel, where you marry a sexy dancer from the Thunder from Down Under show.   To make the occasion even better, an Elvis impersonator officiates the wedding ceremony and your girlfriends are your impromptu bridesmaids/witnesses, snapping pictures with their phones and posting the images to social media faster than you can say, “I do!”   It was a magical night until you wake up the next morning and realize you are lying next to a complete stranger in your hotel room.   It couldn’t possibly get any worse until your mother calls you screaming because she just found out you married a total stranger in Vegas, and it is all over social media.   Oh boy, what have you done? A crazy situation like this might sound a bit extreme, but I am willing to bet many people (especially the

“The media, like anything else, can be bought. Everything, it seems, has its price. Even the free press.”   ―  Lance Morcan,  The Orphan Conspiracies: 29 Conspiracy Theories from The Orphan Trilogy    ( https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/free-press ) Money talks.  We all know that.  Now, money may not make you a happier person in the end, but it sure does help pay the bills.  So really, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that traditional media is slowly dying a painful death.  “Traditional media” as we know it is being replaced by the sexier, much cooler, considerably more cost-effective new guy, the Internet. Traditionally, newspapers were extremely partisan and geared toward their voters who subscribed to the papers, because that was how they stayed in business.   However, around the turn of the 20 th century, advertising was responsible for the majority of the incoming revenue of most American news organizations, and they were able to change their style.   “Rep