Emily Hill ’18, guest blogger

We have been conducting several class discussions in ENG 311 Publishing about how eBooks are affecting the print industry. In our most recent assignment, we were asked to read I Economist essay, “From Papyrus to Pixels” which was as an eBook. I couldn’t help but recollect a different media platform transformation. Advancements in technology have completely taken over original ways of accessing movies or television. Obviously there are still televisions with live segments of shows, but there are now programs On Demand that you can access at your convenience. Technology creates convenience, which inevitably takes over tradition.

I’m sure most of you remember the time that Blockbuster used to be such a popular company. Kids and adults would make the drive out to the nearest store and rent a few of their favorite DVDs for the weekend. It was an experience to go with your family, significant other, or friend and spend so much time sifting through all the different genres and titles. Similar to a library of books, these DVD rental stores were created an element of surprise coming across movies you had never seen. You didn’t have unlimited options and would have to settle for the two best discs you could find.

Technology has now invented ways to browse these rental DVDs from the comfort of your home. You can now watch over hundreds of movies with the click of one button. Although Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and Netflix all make our lives easier, it completely transformed our movie watching experience. No one ever expected or believed that this would change, similar to how everyone believes that eBooks will never fully overtake print books. However, it is important to consider that there are instances where we see traditional experiences getting overtaken by technological advances.

This idea is similar to the concept we noticed in the different media platforms used for The Economist essay eBook. It had three different formats, the eBook version, scroll version, and audio version. All of these represented multiple ways in which information could be interpreted and designed. A lot of these versions came from the writer’s main priority and goal: producing user-oriented content. Their main purpose is to get as many readers as possible. They adjust and adapt their content across these different platforms for that overarching goal. The image below is an example of the scrolling version that offers more interactive features for the audience and is easier to read.

This parallels how Blockbuster went out of business because owners of the rental store had to adapt to the technological advances that allowed for online movie rental. No one was going to go to a store when they could have a plethora of options in the comfort of their own home. Adaptation is a key skill that a writer must attain. Relating to our own eBook creation we constantly had to adapt our writing, design styles, and interactive features to fit our audience’s needs. I remember designing the pull out quote templates with the maroon and gold colors since we are targeting Elon’s student body. The Economist Essay talks a lot about the idea of how print books are never going to go extinct, but the idea of movie rental stores going out of business because of the online advancements makes me question how likely it really could be for eBooks to replace print.

Guest post by Liz Van Hise ’16

Throughout college, it is inevitable that you will have at least one class per semester that has a group project that contributes to a significant part of your grade. Group projects are notorious in college and often seem to bring up repressed memories. Our minds start to swirl with questions – do we have to choose our partners? Do I trust anyone in this class enough to contribute to my grade? Will I have to take all of the work upon myself?

I just finished a semester-long group project for my senior seminar and, as it turns out, it was one of the most successful group projects that I have ever been a part of. We started the class by learning about project management skills, and the importance of communication between all parties involved quickly became evident.

My particular project was an ethnographic study of people associated with the Haw River and its watershed. We interviewed people with high and low association to the Haw River and researched extensively into the history and background of the river itself. Having this knowledge of the river and of the people living around it before performing the interviews helped us to develop our ethos with the community members. This, along with the information gathered and analyzed from the interviews, helped to increase our ethos among our class members – we became the experts in our field.

We utilized logos in our final paper and presentation, including statistics and information from other primary and secondary sources that we gathered. This helped us to score a higher grade on our project. We established pathos with our audience during our final presentation and in our final paper by including quotes from the people that we interviewed. These quotes were able to show the importance of the Haw River from first-hand experiences and personal accounts.

My group, and group projects in general, have a certain structure and flow to them, especially if they are to be done in an effective manner. This flow follows the five rhetorical canons rather closely.

Invention. The first canon, invention, was a group process. We were given very few guidelines for our project, and it was very much up to us to decide what our process for gathering information and final product would be. We met with many parties involved, including our professors and community partners.

Arrangement. Once we decided the details of our project and gathered the necessary information, we arranged our information in a cohesive structure. It had the structure of a typical research paper, with sections for introduction, methods and materials, results, discussion and conclusion.

Style. Since this was a group project, we had to decide on one style in which we were going to write and convey the necessary information. This had to appeal to both the community partners, our environmental science professors, and classmates.

Memory and Delivery. The last two canons came into play when it came time to give the presentation. We practiced our presentation many times so that we could explain our project, process, and results to our audience in an effective and informative way. We worked together to perfect our delivery and were rewarded by our practice and hard work throughout the semester.

Group projects, when approached correctly, can yield very rewarding results. It is important to consider the rhetorical canons and concepts mentioned in the paragraphs above to make your group project as successful as it can be.

This semester has been a wild one. Starting my third year in college has started off at a fast pace, as I attempted to balance a full course load, a job, a social life, and (not enough) visits to the gym. In retrospect, though, I am so glad that I took the Advanced CUPID Studio course. Amidst all the crazy academic presentations and projects, I was given the opportunity to work on jobs that have a real-life impact. Through developing blog posts, a conference program, and a multimedia presentation for senior English majors, here’s what I learned:

–Having no official deadlines can be hard. As a procrastinator by nature, I’m used to overwhelming myself with work the day before it’s due. But when I was given suggestions on when to turn in my work, I struggled. This taught me an important lesson about time-management. In my future job, my assignments may not have deadlines, but they still have to get done. Planning and working ahead is everything.

–It’s an entirely different experience writing in a non-academic setting. I found myself not working to meet a rubric’s requirement, but instead working to analyze my audience. For the case of the conference schedule, I had to ask myself how I could organize the given information so that my target audience would understand it. It brought about a different way of looking at a situation, and it was pretty refreshing to write for someone other than a professor.

–A lot of work goes into researching a rhetorical situation. OK, I already knew this in theory from the majority of my Professional Writing and Rhetoric classes: you have to know your message, your purpose, your audience, etc. But I found in this course that I was having to look intricately at all parts of good old Aristotle’s triangle before I had an idea of how to direct my projects. This was particularly important for the blog posts, as I connected most of my topics to rhetoric. I found the experience to be eye-opening and helpful in building up my ever-expanding identity as a PWR major.

To all Elon students reading this post, I cannot emphasize the importance of taking a course like CUPID studio that differs from the typical grading experience. Too often, we get stuck in the process of working for a grade and forget about taking pride in the quality of our work. I leave this class feeling more prepared for a real job and the real world.

They’re probably every other post in your Facebook news feed. And blog posts titled things like “Why You and Your Roommates Will be Best Friends For Life,” or “An Open Letter to My Cat” are pervasive not just on Facebook but pretty much every social media site you visit. Websites like The Odyssey, Buzzfeed, and Total Srat Move seem to be everywhere online. So why have they become so popular? I think it can be universally agreed that the content isn’t usually academic or particularly substantive (although once in a while it addresses important issues- I’ll talk about this later).

The thing is that these articles are almost universally appealing to our age group, especially college girls. It’s all about how good they are at knowing their audience to relate to them. In some cases, the authors themselves are college girls, making it much easier to relate to their audience. The more “shares” their articles get, the better the website is promoted. This makes a lot of the writing very similar in the way that they can get more shares by being applicable to the majority of people’s lives. Therefore, posts like “12 Things You Wish You Could Be Eating Right Now” are more prevalent than say posts from CNN or National Geographic.

I think there’s a mix of good and bad when writing to a large subset of an age group. On the one hand, it can bring people together. An article that talks about the struggles of friend relationships is relevant to the majority of college girls, and as an extension, they can feel closer to both the author and the target audience because they also relate to the material. On the other hand, I would argue that some articles can become exclusive in their audience. The people who, for example, are not part of a sorority or don’t go to college parties may feel alienated because they do not relate to the material. They are in a position where they are the minority, and that can be a bad experience.

Of course, as social media becomes the primary way people our age get their information, I think that these sites have a huge value. They have the ability to promote social issues in a way that the news cannot do for us- because they have become established as relatable sources. Once in a while, I come across a Buzzfeed article that brings up an important way. Back in October, they came out with this interesting post that discusses the appropriation of Native American culture.

In the end, while you may feel a pang of annoyance that your news feed is cluttered with things like “20 Movies That Will Make You Cry Every Time,” never forget that these sites have the power to get noticed and through that to influence the public. They have the potential to cause major change within our generation, and hopefully in the future we will see them make more change for the good of our society.

If you are a PWR major, you either have completed client projects or you will in the coming semesters. Communication can be difficult and even frustrating when working with clients that have a lot going on. If you have a client who is slow to respond to emails or who seems to fall off the grid sometimes, consider these three tips about communicating with clients and remaining professional.

1. Remember that, while your work is valued, your client has other people and projects to keep track of. They may take longer to respond to you, but that is most likely because they receive more emails and have several important tasks going on at once.
2. If your client is slow to respond to emails, be patient, but don’t be afraid to send gentle reminders that you’re waiting after a few days or a week. A great piece of advice I have received is to call your client if you have already emailed two or three times without response. Even if they are not available to speak at that time, you can ask to set up a time to call again, or simply remind that you sent them something that they need to look at or respond to.
3. Keep emails professional, concise, and on topic. Reply promptly, even if your client doesn’t. This will give your client more time to back to you, and you will appear responsible and on top of your work. For more email etiquette advice, read this article that covers everything from subject lines and professionalism to writing to people from different cultures.

Lately, I’ve been finding myself online shopping quite a lot. It’s that time of year where the homework load piles up and all you can do is procrastinate in every way possible. What struck me, though, is how easy it is to get addicted to online shopping. Whether it’s Amazon, Anthropologie, or ASOS, there’s something that just makes you want to come back and buy more, even if the last thing you need is another $200 coat. Sure, shopping itself can become a dangerous habit, but there has to be another factor to persuade even the most principled money savers to splurge during Columbus Day deals. To research, I began investigating the websites of my favorite stores, as well as the emails they sent me, and came up with some common themes

• The “personalized” experience: I put personalized in quotes because, really, how much time has a company spent getting to know you? Most of what they know about you is what you’ve viewed on their website. Regardless, when ModCloth shows you the section with things “you might also like,” it’s hard to turn away from those flats that seem to have been picked just for you, even as you have just placed the order for the last five items.
• The “you’re missing out” line: During my most recent online shopping marathon, a window popped up asking me if I wanted to sign up save 20% off my purchase. To get rid of the window, I had to click a tab in the corner that read “no, I’d rather pay full price.” This is an interesting bit of rhetoric that I found both annoying and strangely compelling. It all seemed so reasonable; why wouldn’t I sign up for an account that offered me discounts? Of course, once I received the discount I would have definitely used that to rationalize buying something I didn’t need, because how could I pass up a deal that great?
• The “you’re running out of time!” line: No, you’re really not. Sales will come again; the question is, do you really want what you’re buying? Often, I find that even when there are sales, they aren’t significant enough to rationalize the spending. Does 20% off a $60 shirt make it any more reasonable? No, but it certainly seems like it at the time.

The persuasiveness of online stores sometimes goes under the radar, but they have definitely done their homework, and their influence in our day-to-day lives can be very strong. Perhaps we should take a page from their books to help construct more convincing arguments.

Do a quick Google Image search for “professional résumés.” For the most part, you will find text-heavy résumés with little to no color. You will find résumés with bolded words that draw attention to sections or past experiences, and bulleted lists will outline skills and duties from each experience. Some play with basic line rules to divide sections, while others have small pops of color to show an eye for design, like the one to the right.

Now do a Google Image search for “creative professional résumés.” You will still find many that are text-heavy, but you will see far more visual interest in these than in the “professional résumés” results. Some use interesting visuals to illustrate skills, or length of time in each position and many use a creative personal brand. Some have one spot color that is used throughout, and others even pull off creativity in black and white. The first example below has one color that adds to the visual interest, and the second example makes use of spacing, simple graphics, and shades of black, white, and gray for a clean look.

What does this say for a PWR major? It depends on a few factors, such as what type of job or internship you are looking for. Are you interested in a technical writing position or something more creative that involves blogging, social media, or even graphic design? Many PWR students fall somewhere in the middle, which means using some creativity but still explaining each experience and skill in enough detail is the way to go. You want to illustrate that you have a creative streak, but that you have the professional writing experience necessary to succeed in a workplace setting.

Think about designs that include your personal brand, a spot color, or a visually interesting border or heading. Use your résumé to express your style and brand to potential employers.

On September 16th, I attended an employment panel called ePortfolios: Building Your Brand, Showcasing Your Skills. The seminar was held by the Student Professional Development Center and featured Beth Stevenson, Managing Supervisor at FleishmanHillard and Marianne Gissane, Talent Coordinator at McKinney Advertising.

While addressing several topics regarding the career search, the panel focused on the development and maintenance of your online portfolio – a place for you to showcase your most sBeth tand-out work created in college classes, at internships, or in extra-curricular activities.

For a student considering a career in design, the e-Portfolio is especially important. Marianne noted that hiring managers tend to view an applicant’s online gallery before even looking at their résumé. She stressed that candidates with talent are occasionally overlooked because they do not have samples of their work easily accessible. Marianne went on to explain that e-Portfolios, even for writers, should not be text heavy but instead should be set up as if a “photographer was displaying their best photographs.”

A visually appealing compilation of 3-5 a student’s best projects should be explained and presented on an e-Portfolio for the most positive results. Additionally, it should have an “about me” section where the student discusses their interests and does not simply regurgitate a LinkedIn profile biography. A downloadable résumé link is also a huge benefit – especially when hiring associates come across the online portfolio first.

Overall, Marianne and Beth made it clear that an e-Portfolio is a crucial step in developing one’s personal brand. These online outlets are a great way for employers to see your creative work and your ability to articulate your strengths on a digital platform – crucial skills in today’s professional world.

Here at Elon, as with many colleges and universities, the audiences one encounters on a daily basis are pretty standard and similar. Mostly everyone is a student, living in a dorm room in a small college town, and between the ages of 18-21. Here at Elon, the vast majority are white and female. This poses a distinct problem when confronted with an audience of a drastically different demographic.

In my Strategic Campaigns course, I have spent the semester developing a marketing/PR campaign for an audience that none of us have ever dealt with before, 50-63 year old adult doctors. Our client is Duke Clinical Research Institute, a department within Duke Medical School that focuses on clinical trials and putting educational medical developments into practice for patients. As senior Strategic Comm students, all of us have done client work before, but the audience typically exists within demographics and psychographics that we can align with or relate to in some capacity. This audience – adult males with spouses, children, white lab-coats, and PhDs – posed a distinct challenge for us.

When appealing to an audience that you are not at all connected to, deep and involved research must be conducted in order to be successful. Throughout the semester, my team and I buried our heads in statistics, held interviews and surveys, sent (admittedly) naggy emails to doctors, questioned parents/family members in the field, and watched countless Youtube videos, trying valiantly to immerse ourselves in the medical world. We knew that in order to create a powerful communications plan for DCRI, we would have to first understand what they wanted – the rational and emotional factors that drive their decision making.

Overall, the rhetorical decisions we made to create this campaign resulted directly from in-depth research on our audience. Primary, secondary, qualitative, and quantitative research all had to be done before we could write one word of ad copy or create a single marketing tactic. We learned through research that doctors barely frequent social media, read very specific sections of news publications like the Wall Street Journal or New York Times, and value their work and the rare moments they get to spend with their families. We used this information to tailor or communications in ways that would truly resonate, instead of dumping a bunch of copy on Instagram and calling it a successful campaign. Understanding the intricacies of your audience and knowing what truly makes them tick is an essential part of the rhetorical process and will ultimately help you be a more effective and persuasive communicator.

For more information on the Duke Clinical Research Institute, visit them online at: https://www.dcri.org/.

Increasingly in the 21st century, the condition of the environment has become a topic of discussion among scientists, politicians, and the general public. Environmental programs in college are becoming more popular (I myself am working towards a minor in Environmental and Sustainability Studies). There is a large amount of evidence that the Earth is experiencing climate change and that humans are a major cause (check out NASA’s website for specifics). As of 2013, 97% or more of “actively publishing climate scientists” believe this to be true (again, check out the website!). Interestingly, the percentage of agreement is not as high for everybody else. When polled in 2009, only 49% of people believed that human activity causes global warming. How can there be such a large discrepancy in numbers? What is the message that people are being sent?

The fact is, it’s not just scientists that are swaying the public. Politicians are also interested in the topic, and they tend to get far more attention with the press. In this sphere, it seems that there is even less agreement on the issue (if you’d like to read about about current politicians that either don’t believe in climate change or human’s role in it, click here and here). How does this impact the average American?

An important rhetorical device going on here is ethos. If you are a respected and important figure in society, people are more likely to believe what you say. This doesn’t always work in a logical way; using a basketball player to promote toothpaste may not make sense, but celebrity endorsement is actually a proven strategy. Therefore, when a senator says that he doesn’t believe that the Earth is warming, he may be more persuasive than the unknown scientist who is showing you the evidence.

Of course, there are other factors at play in the climate change debate. There are large sums of money hinging on this issue, particularly for companies that profit from using coal and gas. It’s also hard to convince people of something that they can’t directly see and experience. To call this issue “complicated” doesn’t even begin to cover it. But, whatever your beliefs, I think it is important to rely on more than simply the argument of politicians. Analyze the rhetorical situation and ask yourself whether their arguments appeal to you and why. Are they basing it off of facts, emotions, their character? Remember that everybody puts their views out for a reason and recognize that doing your own research on the issue can help you come to your own informed decision.