On October 21, 2011, as part of the Atlantic Regional Canadian University Press Fall 2011 Conference, the Argosy hosted an informal Q&A with Peter Mansbridge via Skype. The question: Is social media an important journalistic tool or is it just a passing fad? For the answer, press play.
November 11, 2011
November 8, 2011
November 7, 2011
What's the point?
Blogging. Really? You write a blog. Haha. Alright...
That was what I figured most people were secretly thinking when I told them I was starting to write a blog for the school way back in August 2008, even before the first day of class here at Mount Allison University.
At times I've wondered if anybody reads this. I mean, anybody besides the random person who looks for something on Google that I happen to have written about but who has no interest in Mount Allison. It turns out that even in the first few months people around campus seemed to recognize me and asked if I was Geoff and if I wrote a blog. It kind of helped, I suppose, that I chose the unoriginal name of Geoff at Mount Allison for a title. It was a pretty good feeling that some people actually got something out of what I was writing or it was at least mildly informative or entertaining.
Fast forward three years it's Friday, November 4, 2011 and I'm getting some coffee in between classes and someone I had never met before (details left out for privacy) came up to me and said
"Hi...umm...are you Geoff at Mt A?"
"Yeah"
"Well... umm...I'm (name) and I'm from (foreign country) and I read your blog"
I haven't written here regularly for quite a while partly out of busy-ness but also because I feel as though I've written on just about everything I can think of that would interest a perspective student looking at Mount Allison. The next part of this four-year narrative is about activities I'm involved in right now and then applying to graduate school which I'm also doing right now.
Long story short, I haven't been writing a lot lately so it was surprising to have someone tell me they had been reading my blog and it was important enough to them to tell me so. He said that over the time he was deciding to come to Mount Allison/waiting to come here he had read almost all of my posts (400+) and that the information and perspective I provided had factored in his decision to come here. We sat down to talk for a minute about why he came here and what he thinks about it so far. He eventually told me he's pursuing a specially approved major and when I started to say how it's great to be able to take classes from different disciplines he cut me off...he had read my blog.
So, not to say that everything I write on here is a gem , but if I helped someone learn more about what it's like here on a personal level and that influenced him (even slightly) then I feel as though it has been worth it to do all of that writing because coming here has been the best decision I've ever made.
In addition to any impact it has had on other people I honestly feel as though (and you can see for yourself by scrolling down and looking on the right-hand side) writing publicly has helped to dramatically improve my writing ability. Although a few times I have not been quite as diligent in proof-reading posts on here as say, my term paper; knowing that other people are going to read this makes it worth taking a second look. I encourage all of you to start blogging and I'm going to urge the school to encourage people to write about it (through the Student Blogger program I joined as a part of) because it was reading what other people wrote about Mount Allison (in whatever small way) that encouraged me to come here and helped allay my fears of coming out to what President Robert Campbell jokes is "not Manhattan".
Here's Seth Godin and Tom Peters on why you should start blogging:
That was what I figured most people were secretly thinking when I told them I was starting to write a blog for the school way back in August 2008, even before the first day of class here at Mount Allison University.
At times I've wondered if anybody reads this. I mean, anybody besides the random person who looks for something on Google that I happen to have written about but who has no interest in Mount Allison. It turns out that even in the first few months people around campus seemed to recognize me and asked if I was Geoff and if I wrote a blog. It kind of helped, I suppose, that I chose the unoriginal name of Geoff at Mount Allison for a title. It was a pretty good feeling that some people actually got something out of what I was writing or it was at least mildly informative or entertaining.
Fast forward three years it's Friday, November 4, 2011 and I'm getting some coffee in between classes and someone I had never met before (details left out for privacy) came up to me and said
"Hi...umm...are you Geoff at Mt A?"
"Yeah"
"Well... umm...I'm (name) and I'm from (foreign country) and I read your blog"
I haven't written here regularly for quite a while partly out of busy-ness but also because I feel as though I've written on just about everything I can think of that would interest a perspective student looking at Mount Allison. The next part of this four-year narrative is about activities I'm involved in right now and then applying to graduate school which I'm also doing right now.
Long story short, I haven't been writing a lot lately so it was surprising to have someone tell me they had been reading my blog and it was important enough to them to tell me so. He said that over the time he was deciding to come to Mount Allison/waiting to come here he had read almost all of my posts (400+) and that the information and perspective I provided had factored in his decision to come here. We sat down to talk for a minute about why he came here and what he thinks about it so far. He eventually told me he's pursuing a specially approved major and when I started to say how it's great to be able to take classes from different disciplines he cut me off...he had read my blog.
So, not to say that everything I write on here is a gem , but if I helped someone learn more about what it's like here on a personal level and that influenced him (even slightly) then I feel as though it has been worth it to do all of that writing because coming here has been the best decision I've ever made.
In addition to any impact it has had on other people I honestly feel as though (and you can see for yourself by scrolling down and looking on the right-hand side) writing publicly has helped to dramatically improve my writing ability. Although a few times I have not been quite as diligent in proof-reading posts on here as say, my term paper; knowing that other people are going to read this makes it worth taking a second look. I encourage all of you to start blogging and I'm going to urge the school to encourage people to write about it (through the Student Blogger program I joined as a part of) because it was reading what other people wrote about Mount Allison (in whatever small way) that encouraged me to come here and helped allay my fears of coming out to what President Robert Campbell jokes is "not Manhattan".
Here's Seth Godin and Tom Peters on why you should start blogging:
October 26, 2011
Atlantic Regional Canadian University (ARCUP) Press Fall 2011 Conference, Storified
Over the weekend I was busy helping to cover the Atlantic Regional Canadian University Press Fall 2011 Conference on MiniDV and on Twitter. Dru Oja Jay's presentation on Journalism as Humanitarian Intervention is now online and other presentations will be up soon. Below are the highlights from Twitter about the conference. I'll be adding more information and videos as they become available.
If there's anything in addition to the videos which I'm in the process of editing and uploading please e-mail me via my Google+ profile (directly underneath the profile photo) or on Twitter.
If there's anything in addition to the videos which I'm in the process of editing and uploading please e-mail me via my Google+ profile (directly underneath the profile photo) or on Twitter.
October 21, 2011
Atlantic Regional Canadian University Press (ARCUP) Conference Fall 2011 at Mount Allison University hosted by The Argosy
The Argosy, Mount Allison University's Independent Student Newspaper Since 1875, is hosting the Atlantic Region Canadian University Press (ARCUP) Fall 2011 Conference. The conference will begin tonight at 7pm and will run throughout the weekend.
I will be live-tweeting the some of the proceeding via the Conference's Twitter feed @ARCUPConference recording many of the event presentations which will be available on YouTube and embedded on our the Argosy's Online Only Section in the coming days and weeks.
Tonight we will be featuring a special guest speaker who will answer questions from ARCUP delegates. This portion of the conference will be available live via UStream. Be sure to check back here, the Argosy Website, or the UStream page itself to see the event as it unfolds.
Live video by Ustream
Here's a little bit about the conference from the Argosy's Editor-in-Chief John Brannen:
The Argosy hosts ARCUP
I will be live-tweeting the some of the proceeding via the Conference's Twitter feed @ARCUPConference recording many of the event presentations which will be available on YouTube and embedded on our the Argosy's Online Only Section in the coming days and weeks.
Tonight we will be featuring a special guest speaker who will answer questions from ARCUP delegates. This portion of the conference will be available live via UStream. Be sure to check back here, the Argosy Website, or the UStream page itself to see the event as it unfolds.
Live video by Ustream
Here's a little bit about the conference from the Argosy's Editor-in-Chief John Brannen:
The Argosy hosts ARCUP
This weekend, The Argosy will welcome dozens of student journalists to Sackville for the Fall Atlantic Region Canadian University Press Conference (ARCUP). The three-day event will feature guest speakers, lectures, and workshops on journalistic issues and best practices. Newspapers from across the region will send upwards of forty delegates to participate in this year’s conference.
The Canadian University Press (CUP), a national co-operative of student newspapers, helps to fund regional conferences held across Canada in the Fall and the Spring. CUP is the oldest student newswire service in the world and the oldest national student organization in North America. The Argosy has been a longstanding member of CUP, joining when the co-operative was founded in 1938. The Newsire allows articles, stories, and photos to be shared amongst CUP members to enhance their newspaper’s original content.
This is not the first time that The Argosy has hosted ARCUP. In 2007, then Editor-in-Chief William Wolfe-Wylie, along with his staff, hosted the Spring ARCUP. The Argosy placed a bid to host the conference in June of this year and consequently won. Numerous speakers will be in attendance including notable Mount Allison and Argosy alumni William Wolfe-Wylie, Dru Oja Jay, and celebrated Sports writer Michael Grange. Other speakers include a professor of journalism, a communications and marketing director, and The Argosy’s printer company, Acadie Presse. Several CUP staff will be on hand including the CUP president and national bureau chief.
October 10, 2011
A lot to be thankful for
It's Canadian Thanksgiving today and I just wanted to share a few thoughts. This semester, seemingly like the previous few is shaping up to be one of the most hectic and stressful semesters of my four years here. However, I feel extremely fortunate to be in the position I am now. However difficult this term is, it's worth going through because I feel I'm on the right track.
With all of the coverage of Steve Job's death I felt compelled to watch his 2005 Stanford Commencement speech. As it did for many others, one section stood out to me:
While if I took this advice literally I may have dropped out by now it's important to realize that while it's not possible to live each day like its your last it is important to see each day as a step to something larger.
I'm thankful because I realize the stress and hard work is meaningful and that it'll be worth it in the end. In that sense I do wake up, most days, wanting to do what I'm about to not because the work is always rewarding but because it's important to getting what I want out of life. So I'd just like to express my gratitude to well, mostly my parents for helping me to get to this stressful but meaningful time in my life. I hope all of you can find something to be thankful for.
Geoff
With all of the coverage of Steve Job's death I felt compelled to watch his 2005 Stanford Commencement speech. As it did for many others, one section stood out to me:
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, some day you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "no" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
While if I took this advice literally I may have dropped out by now it's important to realize that while it's not possible to live each day like its your last it is important to see each day as a step to something larger.
I'm thankful because I realize the stress and hard work is meaningful and that it'll be worth it in the end. In that sense I do wake up, most days, wanting to do what I'm about to not because the work is always rewarding but because it's important to getting what I want out of life. So I'd just like to express my gratitude to well, mostly my parents for helping me to get to this stressful but meaningful time in my life. I hope all of you can find something to be thankful for.
Geoff
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