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Happy 7th Birthday, Twitter! #7Twitter

March 21, 2013

So what do you get a social network for its 7th birthday?

It was on this date — March 21, 2006 — that Twitter was born. Launching the service Jack Dorsey sent the very first public tweet – “just setting up my twttr” – back when Twitter was called Twttr (sans vowels).

Twitter Logo

Imagine if he had tweeted Watson to come join him in the room? Incidentally, it was another day in March — the 10th — in 1876 that Alexander Graham Bell made that famous first call to Mr. Watson.

And there certainly would never have been Twitter if there never had been a phone: thanks, Alexander Graham Bell!

Speaking of Alexander Graham Bell, I had actually tweeted my above idea in 2009 — and (as you can see below) @Jack replied to the post, correcting me that, the first actual tweet he sent on Twitter was simply “inviting coworkers.”

Using a service called MyTweet16 I found the first tweets for two of my Twitter accounts: @generative and @dadsamore.

I located some of some of the earliest tweets for @matthewagilbert (which I started using as my primary Twitter account in June 2011). I also found some of the earliest tweets from @doctorious when I made my account public again in 2010 after making them private for part of late 2009 and early 2010.

Regardless of what my first tweets were or when they were sent, since I began using Twitter on November 20, 2008 — from the DeVry University in Bakersfield where I was teaching — it has been one of the main subjects about which I teach. Notably, it is also the reason why I was hired for at least one teaching job.

Twitter has grown exponentially since that first tweet. According to their blog post celebrating the anniversary:

“we have well over 200 million active users creating over 400 million Tweets each day. The steep trajectory of Twitter’s momentum is something @jack, @ev and @biz only dreamed about back in 2006.”

To celebrate this impressive achievement, Twitter created the video below:

So what DO you get a social network for its 7th birthday, after all? Honestly, I still have no idea, but Sir Richard Branson had some interesting things to say about Twitter – and that’s as good a gift as any!

Posted in Social Media, Technology, World Events | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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Great Caesar’s Ghost and the Ides of March Madness

March 15, 2013

“Beware the Ides of March!”

This was a soothsayer’s warning to Julius Caesar before his assassination by members of the Roman Senate on March 15, 44 B.C.

Beware the Ides of Ears?Although the term “Ides” merely refers to the date of the event – not what happened – it is a reminder of the dark side of humanity and a significant date in history.

Ironically, two days later on March 17, people joyfully celebrate the death of St. Patrick – the Patron Saint of Ireland.

A few days after that, on the 20th, the world welcomes the birth of spring with the vernal equinox. And, for college basketball fans, this is the month of March Madness!

The juxtaposition of these different events suggests a balance of positive and negative energy. Intriguingly, the month of March seems to encapsulate the cycle of life: birth, life, and death.

Notably, the first domain name, symbolics.com, was born (registered) on March 15 in 1985 — and given my involvement with the Internet, this is especially interesting.

On a more directly personal level, March has always held a unique place in my life; consider the following:

  • Except for leap years my birthday is one week before March 1st.
  • I became an initiated member of Theta Chi Fraternity on March 4th.
  • My original due date and the Boston Massacre were both on March 5th.
  • The DMV first granted me my California Driver’s License on March 6th.
  • I took my last undergraduate final at UC Santa Barbara on March 20th.

One of my most meaningful March memories was that day in March when I finished my last college final. After finishing the test, I gathered in the hall with a classmate for whom the exam was also her last.

We improvised a celebration with a small bottle of champagne she mysteriously had with her and an over-sized brownie I had purchased before the final. We talked, laughed, and wondered what opportunities and obstacles our futures held.

Looking back on that moment within the context of the themes discussed in this post, I realize that while you can’t always expect to succeed in life, if you work diligently towards a clearly defined goal, you are more likely to make progress.

Of course, the great paradox of life is that, the achievements for which we are entitled to claim responsibility are rarely those to which we had originally committed ourselves.

Nevertheless, you need to remain open to whatever opportunities the universe avails you of. Without question, you never know where something could lead. So take a leap of faith on occasion and reach for the stars.

Isn’t it better to have tried and failed – knowing you made an attempt – than to regret never having tried and not knowing what might have happened?

Posted in Education, Personal, World Events | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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Gratitude for My Birthday Gifts: My Students

February 22, 2013

Today — February 22– is my birthday and I wanted to thank each of my students past, present, and future: your presence is the best present possible.

Notably, I also consider my sons my students: I have the pleasure of teaching them about life, but I often find myself learning a great deal from them about life and my place in it. At the very least it’s mutual!

Why are my students gifts? Simple: Teaching is my passion and, just as a leader needs followers, I would not be a teacher if I had no students.

Accordingly, as I explain in my Teaching Philosophy, “Internalizing Søren Kierkegaard’s idea that ‘to be a teacher in the right sense is to be a learner,’ I join with my students on a journey of generative learning.”

Likewise, believing education should create community, not competition, I combine learning with laughter to construct a collaborative, supportive, and innovative classroom.

Interdisciplinary by nature, I welcome varied viewpoints: no idea is off limits so long as it contributes to the conversation. In that spirit I encourage my students to embrace their ideas and own their education.

I therefore wanted to thank each of my students for being my “birthday gifts” and express my gratitude for the opportunity to learn with and from you.

Posted in Classroom, Personal | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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Marketing Your Non-Profit with Social Media

February 20, 2013

Antioch University Santa BarbaraOn Valentine’s Day most people receive flowers, chocolates or other gifts. I received an opportunity to speak at Antioch University on behalf of their new MBA Program in Social Business, Non-Profit Management, and Strategic Leadership.

Antioch’s MBA program will provide students with an understanding of the importance of social responsibility and stewardship. These are vital components of leadership, and will assist in meeting challenges of the future. Through a flexible Integrative Strategy Project students will explore leadership issues in social enterprises, non-profits, and traditional businesses.

Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action

Mirroring the “Golden Circle” concept suggested by Simon Sinek (who is mentioned in the presentation) three questions are asked and answered in this presentation:

1. Why should a non-profit “like” social media?

2. How can a non-profit leverage social media?

3. What is social media’s impact on fundraising?

In addition, the presentation provides tips, tricks, and current statistics you can use when marketing your non-profit with social media. I invite you to review it and welcome your feedback and any additional information or insight you’d like to share.

Posted in Education, Speaking | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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Doctorious: 2012 In Review

January 2, 2013

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 17,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 4 Film Festivals…Click here to see the complete report.

Posted in Career, Interests, Social Media | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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How to Get Your First Online Teaching Job: 10 Tips from Dr. Dani Babb

December 21, 2012

One of my goals as an adjunct instructor — and reasons for this blog — is to share the pedagogical and professional knowledge I’ve gained through my experiences.

To that end, I have blogged about celebrating my fifth year as an adjunct instructor and how I began my career in academia – along with insights into using social media to find a job.

As we approach the start of a new year — and now that it’s clear the Mayans were, in fact, wrong about the end of the world — many of you might be curious about starting a new career as an adjunct instructor.

This blog post is designed to help you understand your options and leverage resources so you can do just that. To help you achieve your goal of becoming an adjunct instructor, I’d like to introduce you to Dr. Dani Babb.

An author, professor, and TV commentator, Dani is the Founder and CEO of The Babb Group, a provider of  resources and consulting for online professors, business owners and real estate investors.

Her website, TheBabbGroup.com offers an array of  resources for online students and online teachers: curriculum vitae templates, professional CV writing services, an online teaching newsletter, and more.

One very helpful resource is a service that distributes monthly online teaching job leads via email. For $7 a month or $75 for a year (paid via PayPal) subscribers receive leads several times per week.

Each lead includes the name of the school, the area of specialization, and the link or contact info to apply. All leads are verified by the Babb Group and you can cancel at anytime.

According to information provided to me by Dani, the emails are a successful job search strategy:

  • Within Six Months:
    • 88% of subscribers with a doctorate degree find a job.
    • 55% of subscribers with a master’s degree find a job.
  • Within One Year:
    • 94% of subscribers with a doctorate degree find a job.
    • 77% of subscribers with a master’s degree find a job.

Additionally, in the video below, Dani shares the most frequently asked questions about getting your first online teaching job:

In summary, her advice (along with some of my additional insights) is to:

  1. Network with Online Teachers (0:21): The Babb Group manages two resources, a Facebook Group and a Yahoo Group, which are tools you can use to develop relationships with more than 6,500 online teachers. Another resource is the Chronicle of Higher Education Forums.
  2. Prepare Your Curriculum Vita (0:45): Unlike a typical professional resume an academic curriculum vita — commonly called a CV —  is a comprehensive accounting of your entire career. A CV should include your work history, education, special training, honors, publications, presentations, community service, and other related information. Write as many pages as is needed to communicate your experience, abilities, and interests.
  3. Strengthen Your Letter of Introduction (1:19): Summarize your strengths in a way that is relevant to the opportunity, highlighting areas of your expertise that position you as the perfect candidate. Be sure to include your letter in the body of your email (don’t attach it).
  4. Research the School and Position (1:31): If you are working from a canned introductory letter, research specific points about the school and include those. Know about the position along with the school, its students, and its educational approach.
  5. Think of Related Experience (1:42): If you have never before taught online think about ways you have experience educating adults. Have you helped others understand a new technology where you work? Have you guest lectured? Have you been an online student? Don’t overlook any angle you can use to illustrate relevant experience.
  6. List the Learning Management Systems You’ve Used (2:11): Include clearly in your CV a list of all learning management systems (LMS) you have used — as a student and instructor.
  7. Disregard Doctoral Degree Requirements (2:26): Even if a position requires a doctorate and you have a master’s degree apply anyway; you might satisfy the position’s requirements in other ways or there may be another position open at the university for which you are qualified.
  8. Be Persistent (2:36): Getting a job teaching online is a numbers game. The market is highly competitive, and there are more online adjuncts today than ever before. Persistence pays off, however: sometimes it can take more than 100 applications to get your first online teaching job.
  9. Use a Job Lead Service (3:00): If you don’t have the time to hunt for jobs, consider using the Babb Group’s service that distributes monthly online teaching job leads via email (described above).
  10. Have Transcripts and Recommendations Ready (3:10): Have transcripts and letters of recommendations ready when  human resources or a dean calls; demonstrate your responsiveness and responsibility with actions!

In conclusion, as Dani explains in her video, even if you’ve never taught online, there’s no time like the present to start. We’ve all had no experience at one point, so why not start your online teaching experience now?

Posted in Career, Education, Social Media, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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A Slice of Social Media: Pedagogy Meets Pizza

July 27, 2012

Some people claim to have a “hunger” for knowledge, but have you ever had your hunger fed in class — literally? Twice in less than one week I experienced this very phenomenon in two separate classes.

During the first experience — in an “operations management” class on Thursday, July 19, 2012 — I led my students in a gastronomically rewarding “class exercise”: order pizza!

To complete this exercise we had to define our specifications, locate and select a supplier, and order our inventory. A photo of the whiteboard on which we worked out all of the variables can be found below:

Pedagogy Meets Pizza in My "Operations Management" Class

We then had to pay for and — most importantly — eat the inventory when it was delivered 30 minutes later. The class consensus: great success!

Not only was this in-class exercise a success academically, but since we selected Domino’s Pizza as our supplier, the entire experience was full of the spirit of Ramon De Leon and his famous #RamonWOW!

If you’ve somehow never heard of Ramon, consider this: if ever there was a great example of someone whose social media strategy embodies the essence of an individual and his organization, it is Ramon DeLeon.

Not only is he the managing partner of six Domino’s Pizza franchises in Chicago, but he is “The Pizza Guy to Know in downtown Chicago!”

Ramon symbolizes how a small business owner can leverage social media to build a business. Beyond his effervescent presence in Chicago he has spoken at conferences around the world, sharing his infectious energy that he calls #RamonWOW!

Watch the 30 minute video below of Ramon delivering the keynote address at the 2010 Gravity Summit conference at UCLA and experience WOW:

The second experience occurred on the following Tuesday, July 24, during the last meeting of my buying behavior class at UCSB Extension.

In this instance one of my student groups gave an informative brand analysis presentation about Domino’s Pizza – and they even bought pizza for the class!

The presentation can be viewed below or directly at SlideShare.net.

After my class left, I tweeted @Ramon_DeLeon and @Domino’s letting them know about my students’ impressive presentation (below):

@MatthewAGilbert's Tweet to @Ramon_DeLeon and @Dominos

Less than eight hours later @Domino’s had posted a humorous and personable tweet in reply (below):

@Dominos Tweet to @MatthewAGilbert

All things considered it seems that pizza is unquestionably a powerful partner in pedagogy!

Posted in Business, Classroom, Social Media | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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