This is a test post. We are currently inside of the Piedmont Room creating a post to show the ease of comfort of spewing my thoughts.

Congratulations to some our 2007 Graduates!

Naming Your Blog

One of the first decisions you will have to make is what to call your blog.

Here are some things that I found:


Don't Drink the Balloon Juice: Good, bad, and ugly things to name your blog by Michael Weiss on Slate.com

What Do You Call Your Blog is a statistical analysis of the the words used in blog titles and Top Ten Best Design Blogs is great for ideas about design and layout.

Naming Your Blog from Guerilla Insight for Authors.

Starting a Blog: Resources for New Bloggers

Blog "Help Wanted" Ad

Here is a good help wanted ad for blog contributions.


http://gatechadmissions.blogspot.com/2008/05/wanted-bloggers-for-next-year.html

Asking for Advice on Gather

I posted the following article on Gather to see what kind of advice I could get about starting a blog.


How Do I Start a Blog? (Need Advice for Getting Started)

I am working with a colleague to prepare and present a short introductory overview of blogging. If you have a blog, do you have any advice or words-of-wisdom to share about how to get started?

• How much planning did you put into your blog?
• How did you decide on a title?
• What is your blog's intended audience?
• How do you reach your audience with your blog?
• If and when you start another blog, what would you do differently?
• What are some of your favorite blogs?

See the Gather article for member's comments and advice.

Georgia Tech Admissions Blog


Our own Georgia Tech Admissions office has a great blog title Knowing Changes Everything.

I am hoping that some of the folks who participate can share their tips and words of wisdom for reaching students with a blog.

I like this clip because it shows an empowered student who wants to connect with others in the context of making a change on campus and eventually in the world. The clip also illustrates the need for student affairs professionals to nurture that energy with students when they come to campus.

A Student's Thoughts On Student Affairs from kevin prentiss on Vimeo.

Posted using ShareThis

Blog Sites:

Free
http://www.blogger.com
http://wordpress.com

Fee Based
http://www.typepad.com/

Shannon, thanks for adding me on a contributor to this fun blog! I hope I can be as creative as you are and find the time for consistent posts.

We originally talked about creating this site for various people who needed to learn more about blogs. I’ve done some research on blogs and how to start one.

Here is a concise article about what is a blog, why start one, and what are some instructional implications and downsides. http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7006.pdf

I also performed another search for websites that host free blogs. Blogger.com, LiveJournal.com, Wordpress.com, and Yahoo.com (yahoo360) are very popular along with hundreds of other sites. Anyone can perform a Google search, enter: “free blogs” and have a wide buffet to choose.

And of course, I have to include an instructional video on why create a blog. Have a look-see at this short clip about how and why to create a blog. It's called Blogs in Plain English!

Finally, for the Student Affairs folks who want to see what other student affairs professionals are doing, they can read this blog and possibly join to journal their experiences with connecting with students. http://www.thesablog.org/

Event Design on a Dime: 10 Tips for Planning Successful Events on a Tight Budget

On May 22, 2008 the Georgia Tech Event Coordinators Network in conjunction with the Alumni Association hosted a fun and informative Brown Bag about how to design events with a small budget.


Kara Allen, Event Director for the Georgia Tech Alumni Association, shared tips, tricks and ideas about planning and designing successful events. In addition, she decorated each table with easy-to-duplicate centerpieces and provided resource contact info.







Inexpensive votive candles and holders provide a simple and elegant centerpiece.





Versatile glass bubbles can be used in many ways. Try floating a sunflower in water over a bed of river rocks.







Kara Allen shows attendees how to use simple monochromatic roses to create beautiful and elegant arrangements.



Three simple arrangements of roses.

I attended the Cokie Roberts book signing at Georgia Tech on May 12, 2008 where she signed her new book Ladies of Liberty.

I have been writing reviews for Epinions for a while. My reviews can be found online here.

I also post some of my photos and articles online at Gather.

Another place to find more of my photos is at the Kodak Gallery site here.

For something completely different, my sister-in-law has been blogging about my adorable niece and nephew. You can find her posts online here.

My brother's University of Kentucky basketball web site is here.