Ted Talks

I had heard of Ted Talks in passing but never truly knew what the site encompassed.  The homework assignment for one of my classes this week was to pick any Ted Talks presentation, watch it and then write a blog about it.  I went into this assignment less than enthused, however, I can now say that I have fallen in love with Ted Talks.  While watching this and other Ted Talks videos, I was so engaged that I actually felt as though I was attending the conference.  

The presentation I chose to review for this blog was entitled ‘Everyday cybercrime -- and what you can do about it’ by James Lyne.  Lyne stayed true to the title of his presentation, by covering various types of cybercrime and providing a few helpful tips.  This 17 minute presentation opened my eyes, made my jaw drop and caused me immediately double check my computer and iPhone security settings.

Lyne started the presentation with a short introduction and a joke, he then grabbed the audience’s attention by displaying some scary statistics and dispelling the myth about porn sites and viruses.  With one line he had the audience hooked; ‘statistically speaking if you only visit porn sites you’re safer’. Throughout the presentation Lyne kept the presentation moving at a swift pace, I had to pause the video several times to finish my notes.  He kept the audience's interest by displaying a plethora of photos, videos, screenshots and even a demonstration on how quick an attack can occur.  

Between the slides and Lyne’s insertion of humor, the presentation was impossible to turn off. He wrapped up his presentation by asking the audience to think about ‘how much we are trading off convenience for privacy and security’.  Lyne then left with a compelling plea to the audience to be aware, do the basics, step up their security. It sure worked because that's the first thing I did when the presentation ended.

Ted Talks Everyday Cybercrime Video

Two Local Nonprofit Organizations' use of Social Media

The use of social media is key for nonprofits as a way of advertising themselves, gaining support and even receiving grants.  Nonprofit organizations rely on donations, fundraising events and grants to stay a float.  In the past advertising for nonprofits was done via radio, flyers and community events and networking with other nonprofits.  Now that Facebook and twitter come along, nonprofits have begun to turn to this media and a way to advertise themselves.  I have chosen to examine Pathfinders and the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center because they serve youth as well as adults and compared to other local nonprofits their use of social media is strong.


Pathfinders:

Pathfinders is one of two organizations that runs homeless shelters for teens in Milwaukee.  It also has a drop-in center for youth/young adults to hang out, receive counseling and any other help they may need.  Due to their numerous grants Pathfinders has been expanding the programs that they offer.


Pathfinders' Facebook contains mostly event posts, photos and news articles.  These are posts that are targeted towards adult members of the community who are supporters, and donors.  None of the posts I saw appeared to target the youth they serve.

As for Pathfinders' twitter, the same can be said; the posts contains news articles, event information, photos and post from local businesses and local celebrities.











Suffice it to say, Pathfinders' uses Social Media as a way of gaining support and  funding, not as a way of reaching their targeted clientele.  Perhaps this is because the demographic that tends to utilize their services most often are low income families.  Events at schools and within the community may be a better way to inform families and youth about their services.


Milwaukee LGBT Community Center:

The Milwaukee LGBT Community Center runs a variety of programs including adult enrichment services, community trainings, and a youth drop-in center.

The Milwaukee LGBT Community Center's Facebook page has about 3,800 followers, substantially more than Pathfinders.  This could be because the Center has many programs for adults, not just youth and families like Patherfinders does. The Milwaukee LGBT Community Center's Facebook page caters to adult users with posts featuring their work, fundraising events and news articles related to their cause.

The Milwaukee LGBT Community Center's Twitter page feature tweets strictly from the organizations with links to facebook photos and articles.  It appears that they aren't yet using twitter to it's full potential, as they are not engaging users by tweeting at them.  It appears that twitter is more an afterthought in their social media strategy.







While both of these nonprofit organizations have programs geared toward youth, they used their social media pages as a way to network and gain funding.  However, it is important to mention that the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center does have a page devoted to their youth program 'Project Q'; the posts cater to youth.  Pathfinders had no other Facebook pages associated with it.

https://www.facebook.com/pathfindersmke

https://twitter.com/PathfindersMKE

https://www.facebook.com/MKELGBTCenter

https://twitter.com/MKELGBTCENTER

https://www.facebook.com/projectqmke

Why MATC

I graduated from UW-Oshkosh with a Bachelor of Science in Sociology and a minor in Political Science. My career goal was to earn a Masters in Social Work and become a child therapist . After graduating college, I searched for jobs that were relevant to my future career.  I served one year as an Americorps VISTA at Milwaukee Public Schools' Central Office; there I worked closely with school social workers, administrators, and parents.  My next job was at a residential treatment center for children who were dually diagnosed with emotional disturbances and developmental disabilities.  There I worked as a youth counselor, I was able to participate in meetings with social workers, occupational therapists and psychiatrists.  After being punched, kicked and bit too many times to count, I decided it was time I move on.  The job left me not only physically scarred but mentally scarred as well; I started second guessing if child therapy was really something I could handle.  Lastly, I served another Americorps term this time at a youth homeless and runaway shelter called Walker's Point Youth and Family Center.  I loved the experience that the job gave me, but after working there, I knew emotionally I would burn out in the career I wanted to pursue.  I saw so many things I wished I could have changed or controlled and that wasn't always possible, which on occasion left me with a feeling of hopelessness and extreme pessimism.  

After determining that a Masters in Social Work was not the path for me I scrapped my applications and letters of recommendation and hit the drawing board.  I researched careers for months looking for the perfect one.  The medical field stood out to me, I had always loved science.  My mother's side of the family consists of many healthcare professionals and my brother had just become a nurse; I felt as though I'd follow that path.  I enrolled at a local four year college and began taking health science classes.  I loved my classes, I did extremely well in anatomy and physiology.  In theory this seemed like the perfect path for me however, after speaking with those in two of the fields I had been debating between I decided maybe it wasn't for me. 

After a year of taking classes I went back to the drawing board.  My father suggested I do something with computers.  I was always on them, I was the one my family called if they were having issue or had tech questions, and I loved trouble shooting.  I decided I'd give it a shot and took an introductory computer class at the college I was attending.  I absolutely loved it!  The next step was to find a degree program, the college had a Bachelors of Business degree with a major in Information Technology Management.  After going over the credits that had transferred I realized it would still take me three and a half years to complete the program because I had to take the general business classes such as accounting, economics, finance, business law etc. I understood the importance of having a well rounded education but I had just spent five years as an undergrad and I did not want to spend three and a half more taking classes that didn't directly apply to the career field I wanted to pursue.  That's when I discovered MATC.

MATC offered specialized degree programs without a large number of filler classes.  Not only could I receive my associates degree in two years but one year's worth of classes was equal in price to one semester at the four year college I had been attending.  After further research I discovered that if I received an associates degree in the IT field, because I already have a bachelors degree, I can apply to a number of Masters programs in the future.  There was no question after that, MATC was the college for me. The next thing I needed to decide was which program to enroll in.  I researched the jobs by looking at pay, availability, job descriptions and informative Youtube videos.  I also talked with my uncle who is a PC LAN Analyst at Wells Fargo, he was able to provide a lot of insight.  After taking all of the information into account I decided on the Network Specialist Program, because I wanted more hands on work.