Alyssa Goldberg

end of an era.

alyssagoldberg — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 03:18:26 +0000

It is true. I am now officially a college graduate! While I completed my last required courses back in March, as I walked onto the stage in Husky Stadium last week to accept my degree, it truly felt like the end of an era. Now armed with a Bachelors Degree I will forge ahead to compete with the bajillion other graduates for the select few jobs available. On second thought can I just stay in college forever?

Here’s to an amazing 4 years!

millennials

alyssagoldberg — Thu, 20 May 2010 05:57:29 +0000

I had a very interesting roundtable discussion today with a group of University of Washington Communication students and some people over at Fisher Communications and KOMO News. The topic was media consumption. In exchange for a drink and some appetizers we let the marketing research team at Fisher pick our brains about the media consumption habits of “millennials”.
The conversation started out with a simple question: “How did you first hear about Michael Jackson’s death?” I was in Brazil at the time, but I first heard this breaking news on a Facebook post. Not on the radio and not on the television. In fact most breaking news I now hear from my social networking communities, particularly Twitter and Facebook, long before I hear an actual news broadcast. The news is changing drastically. We no longer wait for the news. Newspapers seem archaic. We want constantly streaming news to our handheld device of choice 24/7. In fact studies show that nearly half Americans sleep with their cellphone! We want the media we want, when we want it. Millennials don’t wait around until a particular show airs on TV and sit through 15 minutes of commercials, we go to Hulu. We don’t buy a newspaper and sift through pages only to have piles of paper all over the place, we follow the New York Times on Twitter. We have full blown media ADD. Millennials want things free and fast. This may make us appear to be spoiled and selfish, and while I know my share of spoiled selfish Millennials, most of us are creative and innovative individuals, we just don’t have time for the BS.

obama.

alyssagoldberg — Mon, 03 May 2010 01:17:11 +0000

The past year has been filled with economic turmoil, ruthless partisanship, earthquakes that have made me think twice about the movie 2012, and most recently an oil spill that is devastating the Gulf Coast. While Obama has not appeased everyone in his presidency, whether you are a Sarah Palin groupie, or a tree hugging hippie, I think we can all agree that Obama wins the award for funniest President. I guess George Bush was pretty funny too, but the difference is he was not trying. The White House Corespondent’s Dinner Saturday night might have well have been a stand up show. Between making fun of the Jonas Brothers and MTV’s Jersey Shore, Obama even put in a shout out for Twitter and Facebook, or as Sarah Palin calls it the “socialized media”. Obama <3′s Media.

future.

alyssagoldberg — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 05:27:30 +0000

Two or three times a quarter the Communication department at the University of Washington invites alumni to speak to current students about their career path and give a few tips about how students can achieve their own success. Today I had the privilege of meeting Diane Scott who currently works as a Public Affairs and Communications officer for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Global Development Program. Her job is my dream job, but her life took a lot of twists and turns before she got to be where she is today.

After graduating from the University of Washington in 1988, Diane Scott worked for a medical malpractice insurance company. It was not a job that she said was particularly fulfilling, but it taught her a lot of skills in PR and marketing. After 10 years, an amazing opportunity presented itself to work in Jordan with a friend who was organizing a recycling program for underprivileged children. One thing led to another, and Scott eventually landed positions working on USAID-funded projects that ranged from microfinance and family planning to government communications. Her work and travels took her around the world to Uganda, Colombia, Jordan, the Philippines and Indonesia, where she provided communication advising to the Indonesian government following the tsunami in 2004. Diane Scott does not have a graduate degree and she did not start off at a huge PR firm, but somehow her unconventional path opened up doors for her and landed her a job that people dream of having.

Diane Scott had some great advice and shared with us a bit about how social media is becoming an important part of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. For non-profits with minimal resources for marketing, social media is a inexpensive way to reach out to the public and target audiences. Social media helps to start a dialogue with the public and provides transparency and understanding into the inner workings of a organization. Twitter and podcasts are playing an increasing role within the foundation including live podcasts and Twitter feeds of Bill Gates’ speeches.

I have always been the kind of person who loves to have a set plan for the future. The realization that I will be graduating in March and have absolutely no idea what I will be doing next, is terrifying me. Speaking with Diane Scott made me realize that I do not need to have my whole life planned out ahead of me. While uncertainty is scary, it is also exciting. My goal for the next few months is relax, let opportunities present themselves and enjoy life however winding the path may be.