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  • We Wish You a Merry Chaos

    The holiday season is one of the most crucial times for the world of commerce. During the last quarter of the year the majority of businesses finally go into the black, or in others words, finally begin to make a profit. This time is not only the most lucrative, but also the most chaotic and busy. The extra productivity allows for problems that most corporations would not face throughout the normal fiscal year.

    For example, during the holiday season, FedEx enters into a frenzy of shipping, transporting, and employees are often over worked. In 1998, these over worked employees felt unappreciated, over worked, and under paid. Because of this, there was an expected strike from FedEx employees. This was ultimately due to a lack of positive communication between the corporations, in this case FedEx, and their stakeholders, the employees. They also have to deal with unhappy impatient customers and figure out a way to satisfy the demands of their stakeholders including employees and consumers, as well as all their other various stakeholders.

    These problems are just a few of the issues a corporation can face during the holiday season. Because of issues such as the ones FedEx faced, it is imperative for corporations to have successful communication in order to protect the interests of their reputation and profits.

    Breanna Alexander

    Lauren Dehart

    Lauren Smith

    Kelly Wiley

  • Corporate Christmas?

    Holidays are usually perceived as a happy, carefree time of year, however, when reaching the holiday season corporations have to discuss and agree upon the appropriate way to acknowledge the different holidays. This is especially true in public school systems. In a school system such as a catholic school it is to be expected which holidays will be celebrated and even taught. However, in the case of UNCW, a public, non-denominational university special considerations must be made in order to not offend or exclude different beliefs. Instead of putting up specific decorations UNCW puts up things like wreaths with pretty red bows and some simple white lights. In my opinion they do a very tasteful and appropriate display of festivity without any favoring of a certain holiday or religion.

    This same phenomena can be seen in large business setting corporations. Many times instead of Merry Christmas you will see “Happy Holidays” or instead of hosting a Christmas party it will be titled as a Holiday Party. This sensitivity to others beliefs is respected in the office I work in, instead of sending Christmas cards to the donors and committee members the secretary sends out Thanksgiving cards that are very general and just say how appreciative our office is of our donors.

    This is not to say that the holidays are overlooked. There are still things such as holiday grab-a-dates, tacky Christmas sweater parties, decorations, holiday breaks from school, delicious food and even some festive weather to look forward to!
    -Emily Hunter

  • Corporate Holiday Humbugs

    It’s getting to be that time of year, when the weather drops below 40 and people start to prepare themselves (and their bank accounts) for the holiday season. From turkey, stuffing and cranberries; to presents, garland and twinkling lights, there is always someone convincing you that the holiday season will be even more memorable if you spend just a little more money. Companies gear up for this busy season, creating entire strategic plans to tackle the influx of customers that will be searching their shelves and racks for the “perfect” presents this year. Television Ads and radio commercials turn from normal to intensely tacky within a week after halloween, and you begin to wonder how advertisements for holiday merchandise progressed to this magnitude.

    Many believe that the religious background of the holidays celebrated around this time of year gets overpowered by the materials and tangible items that are repeatedly portrayed to consumers. However, this is not the only gripe that is muttered around this time of year. Companies everywhere are constantly trying to change the way they reach their customers around the holiday season: ranging from television and radio advertisements, to mailing catalogues and going door to door. Many people view this as intrusive and not a very persuasive way to promote sales within the company.

    As a result, many believe there must be a balance: where families can celebrate the holiday season and enjoy time with their families and friends, all while avoiding the initial panic that so many experience when the season arrives. Companies must be able to advertise in a manner that doesn’t send chills down consumer’s spines every time they hear a radio ad and create havoc within the shopping malls to make that 3a.m. sale. After all: its a season where families should enjoy their time together, instead of the gifts they receive.

    -Lora Hampton

  • The Scream Heard Around the Internet

    Is it possible for one harmless incident to cost someone a job? Or completely end someone’s career? Or even take them out of the running for a political position? Social media within corporations or politics allows information to spread like wildfire, which is sometimes helpful and makes campaigning easier less expensive, more sustainable and all around more effective.  In Howard Dean’s case however while running for the Democratic candidate one noise (it wasn’t even a word) may have cost him the presidency:

    Here is the original clip of Howard Dean during his Rally:

    Here’s one of many mixes and edits to his rally.  This example is an edited version of the rally with political candidate Dean Howard’s “Byahh” with a techno beat.

    Here is a spinoff that Comedian Dave Chappell did on one of his episodes which appeared on comedy central.  It later had hundreds of spinoffs and clips from it on Youtube spreading like wildfire.

    Now here’s an example of when the satire even gets poked fun at and with almost 400,000 views on Youtube many people know Dean Howard for the one instance where he said “BYAHHHH”

    After seeing these examples, it is truly possible for ones reputation to be tarnished by only one action thanks to the viral ability of social media websites combined with youtube.  Would this have been the case 20 years ago? Even 5 years ago I don’t see one little harmless action like this having such a detrimental effect making one wonder if social media is really entirely good for politics?

     -Ari Nateman

  • Campaigning 2.0

    Social networking is the biggest thing to happen to political campaigns since television, and this medium is rapidly changing the way candidates reach voters.  We first saw heavy use of social media tactics with the 2008 presidential election.  You could “friend” the candidate you planed to vote for on Facebook or “follow” them on Twitter.  If you chose to do so, you were given access to immediate updates from the campaign trail and information on platforms in quick, bite-sized pieces of information that were easily digestible.  The trend of using social media in political campaigns has only strengthened since 2008; now almost all candidates have Facebook pages and a presence on other sights such as Twitter, Linkedin and Gist.

    Political campaigns are benefiting greatly from the use of social networking.  The sights help to lend transparency and credibility to political campaigns by eliminating a middleman.  Voters can go straight to a candidate’s Facebook page and read facts straight from the candidate, rather than receiving biased information from a third party.  Michigan House of Representatives member, Justin Amash, began posting his votes, along with a short explanation from the House floor as his Facebook statuses.  He immediately received feedback from his “friends”, both good and bad.  Since starting this, Amash has gained popularity and even announced his candidacy for the US Senate through his fan page.

    Social networking sites also offer the ability for candidates to access a wide variety of voters inexpensively.  Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and various other social networking sites also allow people to be the voice for candidates, which could either make or break them.  If a candidate has supporters touting their name all over their profile, then they are likely to receive more attention.  If people are constantly talking about how great somebody is then other people are going to think that candidate is a good choice.  Refer back to the last presidential election and this is seen clearly.

    All in all, social networking has evolved the way political campaigns are carried out.  No longer can candidates rely on traditional tactics, rather they have to continuously keep their publics informed through status updates, tweets, etc.

    Sarah McIntosh, Eliza Wadson, Jocelyn Walson, Sean O’Connell

     

  • It’s all Greek to me…

    The success of a political campaign is rooted in its ability to inspire its audience to believe in their politician’s leadership. They do this through signs, television commercials, various media outlets, newspapers, flyers, and perhaps the most effective means; speech.

    The ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, divided the art of rhetorical persuasion into three categories: ethos, pathos, and logos.  Ethos appeals to one’s credibility. In others words, how believable and trustworthy is the speaker? Pathos inspires an emotional response in the audience. It establishes a connection with the speaker and their audience. Logos is how, for lack of a better word, logical and verifiable the message of the speaker resonates with the audience. These three rhetorical devices are used by successful politicians to persuade their potential voters and audiences to support their campaign.

    When a speaker successfully employs these rhetorical devices they can be a effective speaker. This could be seen in the Obama/McCain elections and the current local elections happening now. Obama was successful in his use the ancient Greek method of persuasion and therefore won the elections. At the end of our local elections it will be evident who the successful speakers were and who failed to implement Aristotle’s methods of persuasion.

    What made you vote the way you did? Was their positions on topics enough or did they have to persuade you to believe them? Let us know!

    Breanna Alexander

    Lauren Dehart

    Lauren Smith

    Kelly Wiley

  • Prop 19 Pot or Not?

    Tuesday was a very important day as American citizens visited their local poles to cast their votes. For Californians, today was especially monumental. Proposition 19, aka The Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, proposed that a law be passed allowing adults in California age 21 or older to possess up to an ounce of marijuana. The law would also allow for adults to smoke the drug in non-public places, and to grow the drug in small private plots. The proposition was created as a way to generate sales revenue as well as reduce the crime related to marijuana. Millions of dollars are spent incarcerating, defending, and supervising marijuana defenders. The law would eliminate this, and allow funds to be used in other areas. The taxation of marijuana would also provide money for the struggling economy. Obama’s administration announced that they were opposed to prop 19 because marijuana usage leads to many other serious drug addictions. So what was this outcome of this HIGHly controversial issue?

    56.1% of California voters voted no to proposition 19. Many supporters of prop 19 are not disappointed. This was the first time in history that marijuana was brought up for legalization and many feel that win or lose, the issue was brought to many American’s attention and will continue to be discussed in years to come.

    -Gracie Anderson