MC101 At the Movies--Ticket Update

CRAIGSLIST JOE IS A SELLOUT! No more tickets are available.

If you bought tickets to this Mass Comm 101 screening, you received an email a few days ago saying that the event is confirmed. Your tickets are attached to that email as a PDF file. Either print your ticket out or save the file on your smart phone.

Tugg.com has booked our special screening of "Craigslist Joe" at AMC Burbank on the evening of April 3. For detailed information, see the event page. The screening has sold 109 tickets.

New Game in Town

Are movies and games merging into one form of visual media? Is the new Hollywood an interactive Hollywood? And will the movie audience always be demographically broader than the game audience?

It's clear that Your Humble Blogger is asking himself a lot of questions here. They are prompted by this recent Los Angeles Times article about the new Star Trek movie and game. To a startling degree, they appear to be merging into one story line with one set of stars and equally high-quality special effects and music.

Questions...

•Are movies turning into video games? How?

•Name some movies that became successful games. Name some games that became successful movies.

•Name some movies that would not make successful games.

•Are gamers and moviegoers two different sets of people? How much do they overlap?

•Will it make people into even more enthusiastic "Star Trek" fans if they can be Kirk or Spock in a game?

•What is story telling in a game? How does it differ from story telling in a movie?

Are the Obamas Overexposed?

You don't become President or First Lady of the United States without media skills. And one of those media skills is the art of drawing attention to yourself in a positive way.

But public relations professionals will tell you that if you are in the media too much, people start getting tired of you. Britney Spears is a good example of this type of media overexposure.

This story on the National Public Radio website asks whether the President and First Lady are overdoing it, media-wise. Is it too much when the President gives you his March Madness picks, or when the First Lady turns up as an Oscar presenter? Or are they a power couple made for this media-saturated age?

Questions...

•Has the first couple gotten too much media exposure, about the right amount, or too little media exposure?

•What TV shows and events should the President and First Lady appear at in order to reach large numbers of people in a positive way?

•What shows and events would it be unwise for them to appear at?

•What shows and events could they appear at in order to appeal to people like you?

•How does the Jimmy Fallon video make you feel about Michelle Obama?

Moodle Problems Solved...Maybe

On Friday, the rain stopped, the skies cleared over Glendale and the Moodle gods shined down upon us as 125 additional students were granted access to the MC101 Moodle area. This should allow them access to the Chapter PowerPoints. If you are still having problems, please make sure your password has been reset. Follow this link for instructions.

I'll Bet This Class Has a Wait List...

In Fall 2007 over the objection of administrators who thought it wasn't scholarly enough, Stanford University offered a class on brainstorming, developing and marketing Facebook apps. It turned out to be remarkably successful. Numerous students developed popular, money-making apps, some having their creations purchased by larger tech companies.

The story of this Stanford class was recently told in a New York Times article sent to Your Humble Blogger by MC101 Student Dominique Garcia. Thanks Dominique!

Questions...

•Name some apps that you like. Describe what they do.

•Think about Functional Analysis. How is the development of these apps a reflection of the Macro point of view? And how does it also incorporate the micro point of view?

•If you create a facebook app, what would it be? Who will be your target audience?

•If your app is successful, would you sell it? Why or why not?

•Can the small, quick development model discussed in this article be adapted to Google Glass and other wearable technologies? How?

How to Get to CSU...

Transfer Center Coordinator Kevin Meza sent this notice about upcoming workshops for students wanting to attend a Cal State campus.

Greetings,

Transfer Center Counselor Mariam Azolyan will be presenting a Next Steps for CSU Admission Workshop.

This workshop will focus on requirements and steps for 6 local California State University campuses including Cal State LA, CSUN, CSUF, Cal Poly Pomona, CSULB and CSUDH. Highlights of the workshop will include what's next after a student has filed his or her CSU application, how to fund their education after transferring, what steps to take after being admitted and important deadlines for Fall 2013. The workshops will be held in the month of March. Linked below is a flier with the dates and times of the workshops. With the information provided in these workshops, students can better prepare and successfully transition into the CSU of their choice.

Here is the link for the flyer http://www.glendale.edu/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=17629

Kevin A. Meza, PhD
Transfer Center Coordinator
Glendale Community College
1500 N. Verdugo Road
Glendale, CA 91208
(818) 240-1000 ext. 5820

Los Angeles Times Newsroom Tour

On Thursday, March 14, we will tour the Los Angeles Times. Because participation is limited you will have to sign up in order to go. You will have a choice of two tour times, 9:45 and 11 a.m.. It is important that you choose a tour time when you sign up. Here is the signup link. Consult your field trip flyer for further details.

There is no online signup list for the Los Angeles Public Library field trip.

All Mass Comm 101 field trips are optional and extra credit.

Politics Goes Postal

Los Angeles and other local cities are holding municipal elections this week. Direct mail is the advertising medium of choice in local (and sometimes state) elections. These mass mailings don't go out to everyone, and that's part of the reason why they are effective. You will see examples of these mailings in a PowerPoint put together by Your Humble Blogger.

Questions...

•Imagine you are running for mayor. What issues would you highlight in a political mailer sent out to community college students?

•When can an endorsement be a negative for a political candidate? If you were running for mayor, who would you NOT want to be endorsed by?

•Your campaign for mayor has enough campaign funds to send out three separate mailers: one about your ideas about environmental protection; a second about being tough on crime; and a third one about improving local public schools. What groups in the community would you try to send each of them out to?