Breathe....
Empowerment is a one word summary for this class. I have dabbled in social media but not to the point that I did in “Using the Social Web for Social Change”.
It has been 12 weeks and I can add that I have a high addiction to social web media. Specifically VIDEO! I will explain later on in this post about how I came about my addition and I WILL NOT BE GOING TO Videoholics Anonymous but will be leveraging a new found interest in imagery that is really untapped in Architecture and the Building Profession.
Tagging:
This has to be one of the most empowering exercises that I have experienced. Many times do we go on assumptions of what people think of ourselves, but this time we are able to tell others in a matter of a couple words what means so much to us about them. It is really critical to celebrate this exercise with open arms and listen to what others tell you to bring out the most of the process and leads well into personal brand.
Personal Brand:
This is one I continued to revisit, as I was able to craft a strong set of words that I can fully admit to this day. I continue to shape and mold them as I grow as a professional. My personal brand as it stands at the end of this quarter is as follows:
Compassionate Visionary
Social Connector
Building, Transportation, and Technology Geek
Real Estate Addict
What truly surprised me as I look back on this exercise is the lack of reference to my trained profession, which is architecture. One could tie most of my tags back to architecture and draw a strong connection to a profession I love and hate. I will continue to mold myself through time and look forward to being able to revisit the “personal brand” in life as I change.
BGI Beat:
I started out this quarter in a fairly change oriented space and wanted to honestly push hard against the Real Estate Industry to create stronger standards to make Green Real Estate a standard. What I found was that there is change but quite slow and the only was to make it work is to create a dialogue. I hope to continue to create a dialogue about Green Real Estate moving forward connecting to video and educating the home owners of what is a green real estate. It was a valuable exercise but one that did not quite fit with the flow of the other classes, in particularly with Marketing which should have been connected to the BGI Beat / Resident Expert so we can maintain an ongoing dialogue with both classes and relate relevant information back to Marketing and Social Web. It is invaluable for professors to experience the other classes that are being taught to frame our classes into the larger context of our education.
Social Change Project:
WOW, I thought that this was going to be easy, but no it was incredibly difficult and completely life changing. Stepping into a project, which our team was, stretched over 3 major west coast cities (SF, Portland and Seattle) and needed to transfer large iMovie projects back and forth, we were left with technological frustrations. In the future, we are going to work out the file situations prior to parting ways in person as it is difficult to coordinate computer work otherwise at this time. Looking back in hindsight is easy to try to make adjustments but we were able to work through the technology problems, which continued to plague us and get a product that we all are truly proud of. We each spent many late nights getting this ready to send out and we hope that it will make BGI a more diverse place. I am truly thankful for the team that I have been on. They are truly amazing.
BGI:A Vision for Diversity is a truly moving video and when we are able to share the video as we are working through some licensing steps, it will be posted.
Bringing out an addiction to videos which I have followed in my work as an architect and avid cinematography viewer. I have used many forms of 3-D modeling software in Architecture and now video with trusty cameras coupled with music gives room for continued change. Karen posted a great post mortem post which outlined some of my own thoughts:
“Incomplete syllabus
Was it just me, or did our assignments change every time my back was turned? I know this will change in the coming years, and I kept reminding myself that this is a new class, never taught here before, so the syllabus was being created each step of the way. But it was hard to be on time with the readings, let alone be able to get ahead, when the syllabus wasn't ready or complete. Nobody wants to see "Note: the readings and assignments for this week are still being edited and and thus are incomplete" during the week that we're currently in.”
“Videos
I think I might be on my way to addiction. I love making videos now. I made one for my CRL presentation and had so much fun. It was a little intimidating to start, but once I started I didn't want to stop.” <-- Exactly what I was thinking.
Thanks for a great year!