pleased productions

building a portfolio: indexhibit

2010-10-17T14:47:00.015-04:00

There are lots of ways to build a website these days that make it easier than ever to brand yourself online. I've been using Wordpress for a little while, and I've always thought that it's really, really easy to work with. A friend told me about Indexhibit today, and I'm blown away by the flexibilityof it for those who are trying to build a portfolio online.

Here are some of my favorite examplesof what can be built using Indexhibit, and these were just fromthe first 100 that I went through on the site - they've got 1000's of different ways it can be used:

polipobag.altervista.org

serhanaydemir.com

shoutymouths.com

warrenpeace.co.uk

gone freelance

2010-10-14T11:58:00.002-04:00

Many of you out there may know that I have gone freelance. So far the experience has been what I hoped and I'm working on some exciting new projects with some exciting people. I recently expanded my fashion blog into a full-fledged website at http://www.xoxonettaP.com, and I've got several new clients lined up for styling. I'm also working on assisting up and coming designers with their relationships with online retail outlets like RueLaLa, Gilt Groupe, and Rent the Runway. As always, I'm specializing in working with designers who keep the full-figured woman in mind. Social media consultation will continue to be something I focus on, as well, as I help people to optimize their channels and outreach to promote their work and communities. Thank you to everyone who has supported me in this hugely life-changing endeavor. I appreciate your support more than I could ever express. Looking forward to getting down to business with all of my new clients and continuing my work with those who have been with me for some time. Away we go!

going freelance

2010-09-22T11:25:00.005-04:00

i've been thinking a lot about going freelance and pursuing one of my many dreams. just ordered this book from amazon called creative, inc. about how to go freelance.

the book's supposed to be a little bit different from most books on freelancing - a lot of which are enormously complicated and intimidating. what books have you found helpful on freelancing? and what type of freelancing do you do?

i have many ideas on what i'd like to do as a freelancer. from being a fashion stylist, to helping people get organized, to crafting, to consulting as a social media strategist, to being a life coach. all things that i've been told i'm very good at. now ... what to choose. hoping this book will help me decide!

you're gonna teach me to do what?

2010-07-21T18:02:00.003-04:00

i've been recently exploring i'll teach you to be rich again, and i'm so happy to report that there have been some very motivating posts, as of late. my favorite points made include:

sure, you can save money by cutting your spending, but that's no fun, and you can only cut so much.
you can always make more money.

that being said, i'm experimenting in exactly the way that ramit points out in one of his recent blog posts. i've recently:

joined NAPO (that's the national association of professional organizers). this is something that i've always been interested in. i love helping others get organized, i love systems, and i love helping my friends and family find ways to optimize their time. if you're looking for those things in your life - look me up. i'm just getting started trying to do this professionally, but i've been very successful personally.
begun talking to local businesses about their social media presence and helping the owners of the businesses get motivated to really connect with the community through twitter and facebook.
started connecting people even more frequently. with my 20 minutes trips by craig's list every day, i've been sending emails to people when i see posts that i think they might be interested in, and i've been responding to lots of posts, myself.

i'm continuing to post styling videos on my youtube channel. i'm continuing to volunteer for charity work and trying to get and stay involved in my friends' very interesting projects.

the point that ramit (and i) are trying to make is that you never know unless you try. the biggest obstacle is your fear of failure and then the paralyzing feeling that can show up when you realize your options are endless.

get out there and spend 20 minutes today doing something, anything, that aligns with your passion. even if you're tired, hungry, and frustrated. it will feel good once you're on the other side.

what's so special about social media?

2010-06-08T09:58:00.004-04:00

the reaction to "i run social media for a living" runs the gamut from, "you do what?" to "that sounds like it must be so much fun" to "i can't believe you get paid to play around on facebook all day."

of course, no one likes their profession to be dismissed as something that's really easy to do. it's like art - anyone can do it, but are you actually doing it? and is anyone actually paying attention or buying it?

that brings me to the question - what's so special about social media?

first of all, social media is like a giant case study, except people don't really compute that they're being watched. they LOVE knowing that you pass their ideas and feedback on. everyone wants to be heard and validated. and the case study is free.

your customers will tell you exactly what they think of you. your potential customers will tell you what's keeping them from buying your product. and your former customers will tell you why they left, what would make them come back, or why they won't ever come back. the potential to listen to your customers is huge. whether or not you believe the customer is always right - you can't make money unless you give your customers what they want (within reason).
it's also a great place to make announcements. traditional pr and marketing has shouted, shouted, shouted. social media let's you shout widely, and then see how people actually react. but because people have to opt-in to see your shouts in the first place, you have to be sure you have people from all teams available - customer care, marketing, PR, research, and development all have to work together.

launching a new product? a lot of news outlets won't report all the details accurately, and that can lead to a frustrated, irritated customer that doesn't have all the information. create your own news outlet through social media. ensure that people get all of the information and that it's accurate through your social media - and they'll begin to trust you to give them all the details instead of the news outlet.

this gives you an amazing chance to change the story people tell about your brand. instead of being the brand that is old, red tape, and doesn't move quickly, you can change that image by becoming the brand that listens to what their customers want, giving it to them, and telling them that they're giving it to them because they demanded it. you want these people to feel like the tribe that they're a member of fits their story about themselves.
you can sell through social media. people don't like to be sold to, but you make the deal sweet enough, and they won't be able to get enough of you. they also like exclusives deals - again, make people feel like they're a part of the club, but don't give away too much too often. then your deals lose their value.

you can collaborate with other brands, too. if you're a smaller brand (or even a bigger brand), do a package deal, a sweepstakes, something that's good for everyone and moves out leftover inventory ... there's a million marketing ideas out there. make them work for social media. remember - it's got to be something people will talk about and that doesn't denigrate their intelligence or work. (i hate "create an awesome piece of artwork for us" contests unless the artwork that you've asked an artist to create is something they might show again somewhere. it's a waste of time and energy for many artists if they make a one-off for you, don't win, and the art's never seen again. red bull has done this kind of thing RIGHT.)

so when someone tells you that they run social media programs for a living, you might feel, "i can't believe you get paid to play around on facebook all day." but you should remember that the people that do this for a living work with communities and people all day. they must strike a delicate balance in order to be effective. they have to be experts on their brand, and they have to be entrenched within a company. the people who run your social media have to know who to call if a customer has a question they don't have the answer to. they have to have the proper messaging to answer frequent questions. and they have to have a plan to engage and get feedback from everyone. all while ensuring there's good design on the facebook tabs and that everything's under 140 characters.

facebook's new open graph

2010-05-04T11:17:00.004-04:00

so some interesting changes came out of the f8 conference in april. the most interesting is how FB is going to spread across the entire web, that is, if they can get their bugs worked out. a colleague pointed out that AOL once held a place like this not too long ago. facebook could stand to be very powerful because the possibility of creating a viral loop of branding now exists.

handy dandy viral loop infographic from buddy media/mashable:
what's so interesting about this, you ask?

1. bobby sue likes the pants you have for sale on your website. she likes them so much, she clicks "like" underneath the pants.

2. your pants, and the fact that bobby sue likes them, show up in bobby sue's newsfeed on facebook.

3. bobby joe, bobby sue's boyfriend, sees that bobby sue likes these pants when he hops on facebook in the afternoon.

4. bobby joe clicks on the link to your website, purchases the pants for bobby joe, and then goes on to like some other things on your website.

5. this process could repeat itself with bobby joe's dad, billy joe.

6. but when bobby sue receives the pants in the mail, she takes a picture of herself in her newfound pieces of sewn together linen. then she tags the photo with your facebook page.

7. billy sue sees bobby sue's new pants in the picture, and then SHE "likes" your facebook page, and purchases her own pants and a pair for her sister.

8. this continues ... infinitely. as long as facebook continues to work.

all of this can be done now with some super simply HTML. i looked at it myself, and it can be done so easily. check it out here: http://developers.facebook.com/plugins.

Google Docs Re-launches, Collaboration is the Focus

2010-04-12T19:59:00.002-04:00

Really excited to see the re-launch of Google Docs! They've brought the best parts of Google Wave into Google Docs, and it looks like they've really stepped up the functionality of Word and Spreadsheet. This could totally change how I'm working on a certain organizational calendar at work. We've currently been "sharing" it through the function available on the "Review" menu of the Excel spreadsheet. But that has been causing some troubles, and the file has necessitated being resaved because the original file was corrupt. Now the document is un-shareable because of a bug in Excel. Google Docs to the rescue?

Check out the new features for yourself:

Social Media - we've seen this before ...

2010-03-31T10:38:00.003-04:00

I see the lessons of the past not informing the decisions of today. Social media is too new. It’s too different. It can’t be measured. Sound familiar? It should. All of this has happened before.

Poignant post over at The Hawthorne Effect about how what's happening with social media has happened before - with the internet. Definitely worth a read, and it's definitely got some fantastic points.

Key lessons from "the internet" business that need to be applied to "the social media" business:

Have a defined objective
Understand your audience
ROI matters
Put your money where you brain is

Social Media Week NY

2010-02-09T10:03:00.005-05:00

social media week (round 2) finished last week with a bang. i had a really wonderful time, and i met some fantastic new people. here are my highlights:

Monday: smw opening celebration at elizabeth - walked in and spotted some friends immediately. happy to see @caro at the bar, and @AnnaOBr ien waltzed in a few moments later. we got to enjoy the open bar and ordered, "the diddy." aka a ciroc [vodka] and lemonade. it was delicious, and i'll be serving some of those this summer!

soon thereafter, i spotted the infamous organizer of social media week, @tobyd, girlfriend @elspethjane, @emilygannett, and @jessekay. also spotted: @mizcity, @tffmariec, and ben scheim, who helped to organize smw. i also met @socialmedium, who wrote up a great post on her blog, just an online minute.

then, anna and i moved on to the SXSW mixer for interactive, being held at hifi. spotted a few people that we knew there, but it was packed. after utilizing the facilities and garnering a name tag, we decided to stroll down the street with @nmcglynn on our arms to the digital somethings event at destination bar.

that was the motherlode of social media friends, turns out! i saw @db, @TwittsMcgee, @CalebKramer, @justjon, @JocelynB81, @kylecameron, and i'm sure other people that i've forgotten to mention. (please forgive me!)

what a night that was to kick things off!

Tuesday: after getting lost trying to get to the ARF (that's the advertising research foundation), i finally made it to 432 SOUTH park ave. and the science of social media. what an interesting event that turned out to be! @aerocles was there, but missed him. @paullyoung's colleague @justjeff (Jeff Doak) was there presenting from converseon, and @djw2451 (Duncan J. Watts) from yahoo! reserach gave a fascinating presentation. here's the description of the presentations:

According to a study by a research team at Penn State, 20% of Tweets are about brands. And it's not only Twitter where people are talking about brands. It also happens on Facebook, online forums, blogs, online communities, and other social networks. What makes people share so much information online? How can you better understand consumer behavior online to virally spread your message? Why does social media work, and why has it become such an effective form of communication? Learn how social psychology, user experience, site design, and an effective marketing strategy play into social media participation-and why word of mouth is one of the most powerful forms of marketing.

i'd love to link you to audio of the presentations, but it would appear that you have to be an arf member to download it. perhaps fodder for an upcoming post, then. i took good notes. also met @lynneluvah, who does all social media related things at the ARF. love her profile pic on twitter, too.

later that evening, i headed over to the fashion goes social: the devil wears prada and tweets about it event at THOR at the rivington hotel. it was standing room only by the time i got there. i couldn't even get around the corner to see the panelists! all was well, and @emilygannett put on a great panel.

afterwards, digital divas (with @socialdiva (Peg Samuel)) happened right in the same spot! meanwhile, it started to snow outside ... did i dare change venues and ruin my gold marc jacobs boots? i decided to hang for a little while, and the open bar didn't hurt! met lots of new people, and saw some of my favorites, as well.

sunny of the blaq list took this fantastic photo for guest of a guest, featuring ryan dougherty, jd walsh, and yours truly. had a wonderful conversation with both of them. ryan hails from north carolina (NC!!), so we had plenty to discuss, and jd is just fascinating. he runs a basketball school, and he recently opened a branch in india!

i also saw the lovely @n csuemme, hung with @mollsrawks, and chatted up @thedatecoach. also met @courtenaybird, who is also a southern belle. spotted @rachelskl ar looking mighty fine at the beginning of the evening, as well. totally jealous of the twitter necklaces given out to the social divas in attendance. apparently i can score my own here from @thehippest: sur vival of the hippest.

skipped across the street to meet up with my boyfriend for a little bit at the magician, but then ended up across town at an entirely different bar. oh well! hopefully the crowd at social divas didn't miss me too much!

Wednesday: i intended to attend the oldest media goes social, hosted by booz and company, but i got tied up at work! i ended up at soundctrl a little later than expected, but mobilebehavior ran the text screens at the event, and being on the board (thanks to coworkers @lernmatt and @mattvandrick) - duty calls!

the event was held in a really neat space called no longer empty. it's located at the old tower records location near NYU, and it was filled to the brim with some awesome art. this was social media week's only music event, and it was absolutely fantastic. here's a video of one of the installations in full effect from a walk through a few weeks earlier involving flashing lights, a dj, and a ton of boomboxes.

back to the event - it got off to a slow start as we all awaited for @questlove to arrive. the house was PACKED, so much so that i was really worried that some of the art was going to get damaged. but we were able to move it all back enough to fit everyone in. finally ?uestlove arrived after finishing up his gig at jimmy kimmel, and we were able to get the panel started. here's a video of ?uestlove introducing himself. it was fascinating to hear ?uestlove give his opinion on how artists now not only have to be talented, but they now have to be able to sell themselves through social media.

the panel was moderated by james andrews (@keyinfluencer), and also featured marisa bangash (@mbangash), and andrew katz (@phillykatz) from pepsi - who was also a sponsor. also, excited to hear about pepsi's newest campaign - pepsi r efresh. pepsi and soundctrl are hosting an event together at sxsw called, flashfwd. learn how you can win tickets to sxsw from soundctrl and pepsi, here! also got to meet some other soundctrl board members, including @JTHR3E.

i wish i could've made it to the suxorz. it's a panel that dissects the twelve worst social media and web 2.0 ad campaigns. maybe at sxsw!

Thursday: i wanted to attend pfsk presents good ideas salon with seth godin, but the tickets were way out of my price range. i ended up at the social media week obliterati party at R bar, hosted by citysearch and randomnightout.

had a great time connecting with some old friends. @misskatiemo, @thedatecoach, @emilyspearl, @justjon, @ncsuemme, and more! finally met THE oz (@ozsultan). had fun dancing with kristi evans (@twittsmcgee), and the infamous @mizcity and @db. thanks to nick mcglynn (@nmcglynn) for such a great party! shoutout to my boyfriend for walking my weenie dogs cause i was running late!

forgot to snag my gift bag at the end of the night, but, oh well! hope someone else got to enjoy it.

i kept spotting @holaphil in photos from every event that i attended, but i had not yet laid eyes on him! that was all to change, and we got to hang out on friday! in fact, this was happening a lot. there were tons of people i wanted to connect with but didn't have the opportunity to because events were completely packed.

Friday: would have loved to attended the women in digital media breakfast, hosted by gilt group. another maybe next year event. i couldn't score an invite, despite having friends inside. also heard the whole foods market event: afternoon snack went well.

i did manage to score a social media week closing party invitation, and i sure do count myself among the lucky! it was a fantastic party. more diddy's, and more great friends. my fave @lala5f and her friend (and my new friend!) @jovizi.

there was a GREAT photobooth setup at the event thanks to the polite in public photobooth (@politeinpublic). after having your photo taken with their fantastic props, all you had to do to secure your online copy was scoot over to their touchscreen computer and upload it directly to facebook, email it to yourself, or MMS it directly to your phone. what a GREAT mobile setup. not to mention, they give you hard copies right then and there, as well!

i also met the fascinating colin wright (@colinismyname). colin sold everything he owned - almost everything, and he moves to a different country every 4 months (voted on by his readers at exile lifestyle). he's sustains the lifestyle through his design business. smart kid, for sure!

excited to meet @GeorgeGSmithJr, who works for r/ga, and is, apparently, good friends with several people i already know! ah the degrees of separation are few!

thanks to @metromixny for capturing a lot of the moments with their photos.

all in all, it was a smashingly successful week for me. wanted to go to EventCamp on saturday, but instead i headed over to the brooklyn kitchen, where i got to see @ElizabethBard talk about her new book, Lunch in Paris. more on that in another post.

looking back on 2009

2009-12-27T21:02:00.002-05:00

in pictures ...

check to see if you're in them! and see where i've been.

stillness

2009-12-22T15:43:00.000-05:00

yesterday, i posted about LBD - lazy butt disease, and my struggle to strike a balance between working every hour of the day to be the best i can be, and the desire to just give in and take a nap.

today, i want to talk a little bit about stillness. because i live in new york city, and i see this amongst my friends and coworkers here, everything really is always in a hurry. it's rare to find a moment where it's comfortable to just be still. it takes a lot of effort to live here. everything seems to take longer or be more complicated, but many of us live here because we want to be the best we can be. we want to prove ourselves and be at the top of the game. but what do you do when you're going so hard that you forget how to be still?

i'm looking forward to working on some personal projects over the holidays, but i'm also looking forward to taking the time to really be still. not just sitting still and zoning out in front of the tv or escaping to another world with a book or tending to my farmville garden on facebook. i'm looking forward to wrapping up in a jacket and just sitting on my mom's back porch and doing nothing.

where do you find your moments of stillness?

lbd: lazy butt disease

2009-12-21T20:32:00.001-05:00

my coworker told me about LBD today. that's ... lazy butt disease. there is finally a name for those without drive and ambition.

i struggle between the half of me that wants to avoid LBD, and the half of me that wants to avoid being so career driven that i don't leave time for other things. so i'm focusing on getting busy doing some work, but doing some work that won't necessarily further my career.

i've gotten back to the weight watchers, with a much more serious focus than i've given over it the last few years. and i'm happy to report a really successful week.

i've started going to church again (at revolution NYC). and it really gives me a message to focus on for the week that brings me to a positive place. it's like grace has shone down upon me. it's pretty awesome.

i've stopped drinking more than a glass of wine at a time, thereby no longer wasting entire saturdays or sundays trying to recover. consuming fewer calories. AND saving money.

i'm planning for 2010, too. the 10's are going to be way better than the 00's. the 00's have been a strong learning experience. many of the things i put myself through have changed me for the better, and i've discovered all over again that i am tough as nails.

i still cry when i get angry, and i get frustrated. but i am totally able to express that now, instead of pretending like i'm ok. i'm learning to let go.

and with that - i am balancing LBD and WTB. that would be way too busy.

Gainfully Employed

2009-10-05T11:55:00.001-04:00

First of all, I want to thank everyone that helped me along in my quest to find a new position. I want to specially thank Michael Denton and Andrea Duchon. Because of the two of them and a magical little gift called Twestival, I'm now working at MobileBehavior.

I want to take the time now to officially say that from here on out, “Everything posted on this blog is my personal opinion and does not necessarily represent the views of my employer or its clients."

Now, with that out of the way. Back to the program. I'm very, very busy with my new position as a Senior Digital Strategist, and I'm running Facebook pages and a pretty large Brand Ambassador program for some pretty important clients. I feel like I've been blessed with the opportunity of a lifetime. Everyone that I work with is wonderfully encouraging and helpful, and I'm so excited to learn new things here and bring my skills to the table.

So, thanks again to everyone who encouraged me and kept me going during the quiet period of my career. It was real couch and television, but now it's back to high heels and the early morning commute. Ciao!

I Am Seeking Employment

2009-08-02T10:18:00.000-04:00

Jeannette Arrowood's resume

This post was inspired by a post made by another blogger. I am seeking employment, and this post will serve as a way for me to describe my abilities and qualifications and serve as a cover letter, of sorts, to familiarize you with my talents.

I am based out of New York City, and I have a diverse set of skills and interests. I've worked as a marketer, researcher, producer, and community manager. I'm most interested in working with media; whether that be as a marketer, researcher, editor, or producer is of no matter to me. My degree is in History, Journalism, and International Studies with a business management certificate.

I've had a strong interest in computers since a very young age, and, therefore, I'm very skilled when it comes to working with them. I'm largely self-taught when it comes to software and the internet, and I've spent the last year learning a great deal about social media and how to best market and brand a company or product utilizing that medium. I worked with other social media heavy hitters in New York on charity events utilizing Twitter, blogs, and Facebook.

Since moving to New York in late 2008, I interned for a documentary production studio and spent a great deal of time logging tape, working with Final Cut Pro, and seeking out stock footage clips for a documentary on New York's declining fashion industry. I also worked part time at Air America as a phone screener for several progressive radio programs. I then joined the team at WNYC, the world's largest public radio station with millions of listeners, as their Marketing Coordinator.

At WNYC, I helped launch The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space. It is a studio space on the ground floor of the building that houses the WNYC offices and studios. Radio should be more than just a one way street.

I spent time creating advertisements, editing splash pages for our website to promote the performance space and our pledge drives utilizing both Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, and I helped to conceptualize campaigns - online and in print. I worked on our e-newsletter, I created PowerPoint presentations, and I dealt with 3rd party printers to negotiate pricing and complete print projects on time. I organized our photo collection, assisted on host photo shoots, and uploaded all photographs to our multiple Flickr accounts. I also took part in our listener photography contests, which provided a large pool of candidates to participate in the My Source campaign.

I worked with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to promote the My Source campaign, a campaign that sought to get listeners to think about what WNYC provides for them. That campaign continues to run, and WNYC won several awards for our projects, which included 100's of subway and train ads across the greater New York metro area. I also worked on a concept for a My Source website for WNYC.

I also worked on Google Ad Words campaigns, created on-air promos and helped keep promo logs, worked with on-air talent to create stingers for new on-air features, and organized a lot of CD's. In addition to my work at WNYC, I spent time attending social media and mobile marketing events and seminars. This resulted in a creation of a strategy for WNYC's use of various social media accounts.

As a part of my work at WNYC, I interfaced with listeners, with the entire WNYC staff from President to Intern, I worked on a multitude of projects with a very small staff, and I constantly brainstormed ways to increase WNYC's membership and listenership.

My time at WNYC came to an end at the end of the fiscal year; the budgets were shifted at WNYC, and there were no longer funds for my position. I am now seeking employment either as a marketer or back on the side of things where a different kind of magic happens - as a producer, editor, or researcher. In addition to my work as WNYC's Marketing Coordinator, I've also been writing for several blogs and magazines, and I was featured in a documentary filmed for Frontline that focused on my work with Twestival and charity:water. A portion of the piece can be seen here.

Prior to working at WNYC, I was working at WUNC for a nationally-syndicated daily show as an Associate Producer and Researcher. I also worked for Syncfusion, a Microsoft .NET component company, for a number of years after graduating from Wake Forest University where I was regularly on the Dean's List. In addition to my professional life, I've been a dancer since a very young age, and I have been a member of several dance troupes for adults. I very much enjoy the arts and volunteering at arts and music festivals, and I spent many years working as a Community Manager and Administrator for the southeast's largest electronic music bulletin board.

I am also very active on Twitter, where I have about 1300 followers, and I have almost 5000 updates. I have my own company called Pleased Productions where I consider myself the Director of Possibilities. Anything can happen with a little hard work and imagination. And I bring a lot of projects to life in my spare time by utilizing both.

I am very adept at picking up quickly on new ideas and systems, and, because of that ability, I can perform at a much higher level much sooner than most new hires. Below are a few professional references. Please alert me by email at nettap@gmail.com if you know of any opportunities that would be a good fit for me or if you can offer employment.

Sarah Wulfeck, Strategic Programs Manager, Federated Media

Jeannette and I worked as co-organizers of Twestival (NYC), a Twitter-based charity event that helped support charity:water. Right away I was impressed by her passion for new technology and her endless positivity. Her tactical savvy and creative skills made her an invaluable part of what made our event so successful, so I have no doubt that she employs this same stellar work ethic in her professional endeavors as well.

Anita Woodley, Producer, The Story, WUNC

It brings me great pleasure to present what I’ve observed about Ms. Jeannette Arrowood.
Jeannette was my co-worker for the National Public Radio program “The Story with Dick Gordon.”

Although on paper Jeannette’s job title was “Researcher” she did so much more. Jeannette faithfully met the demands us full-time producers were assigned. She regularly booked four guests a week despite her minimum being two. Jeannette arrived at work before the staff and was often the last to leave, ensuring our website was set up for the next day. She consistently presented story ideas for guests that rejuvenated our listener’s hope for a better world.

For instance, Jeannette went the extra mile in an interview featuring a former L.A. gang member who used writing to turn his life around. She used her urban language skills and previous experience working with troubled youth to help the guest cultivate his emotions. The result, a riveting interview that captured the voice and life of a community member who was once voiceless!

Jeannette not only uses her drive to propel herself. She’s also used her infectious energy to uplift our team technologically. Our management admittedly lived in the pre-computer age. When it came to using programs like Facebook, Group Hub, and Gmail calendars, they threw their hands up. Well, Jeannette changed all of that. She observed the need, acknowledge their resistance and organized our team without being haughty. We still use the systems Jeannette setup today.

The person you have here, as an applicant, is a powerhouse. She’s down to earth, organized, a natural multi-tasker and has robust potential. She is very serious about her career and projects that make a noticeable difference in our community.

I would also like to add that Jeannette Arrowood works hard, but makes it look easy. In turn, and I’ve witnessed this myself, those around her are motivated to reach their highest potential. Jeannette’s work ethic will be a credit to any team that hires her to join their organization.

If you believe your company could use another highly determined, intelligent and enthusiastic team member, I highly recommend you extend an invitation to Ms. Jeannette Arrowood.

Dick Gordon, Host, The Story, WUNC

I am delighted to have the chance to write a letter of recommendation for Jeannette Arrowood. She has been working for The Story for the past year, and she’s one of those rare colleagues who brings a real joie de vivre to the workplace. She has a spirit and a sense of humor that lightens the mood in the office almost everyday.

In the past year, Jeannette has demonstrated a real aptitude for her role as researcher/producer. She is relentless and yet always polite in pursuing guests for the program. She also has a genuinely creative streak in helping devise elements for a daily news show.

Jeannette is also a very effective part of the kind of teamwork we require in running this office. She is always willing and able to pitch in and help solve a problem, put out a fire, or help someone else meet a deadline. She has that enviable capacity to juggle a number of disparate tasks at the same time, and finish them all, on time, and with proficiency.

I am sorry that Jeannette will be leaving our group. She’ll be missed here. However, I haven’t a moment’s hesitation in recommending her highly for any kind of task she sets here mind to.

Greg Kelly, former Senior Producer, The Story, WUNC

Please consider this my letter of reference in support of Jeannette’s application to work for you. I have known Jeannette in a professional capacity for nearly a year. We were looking for someone to fill in for a researcher/producer who had left on relatively short notice.

When we interviewed Jeannette, we knew almost immediately that she’d be a fit for the job. Although she had little to no experience in public radio, Jeannette showed both a desire and capacity to learn quickly – and that’s within the context of a national daily radio program, which truth be told can be a pressure cooker.

Jeannette adapted admirably. The learning curve was steep given the nature of the program, but within a short time, she knew what kind of guest to look for, and how to prepare both that guest and the host for the interview. During the actual recording, Jeannette would be responsible for reminding the host to cover certain bases and to make note of the host’s thoughts on how the final product after editing – all this on top of listening to the interview as it’s happening. It’s not an easy skill to acquire, but she’s managed to do so.

Perhaps Jeannette’s greatest asset is her work ethic. Time and time again, the managing editor and I have been impressed with Jeannette’s ability to take an assignment and turn it into an interview suitable for a national audience. We’ve come to count on her ability to do what’s termed ‘quick turnarounds’, an absolute necessity in daily radio.

Jeannette has also branched out from these quicker, shorter features. She’s produced one memorable program about a former gang member in L.A. who was leading a violent life guaranteed to end in his own bloodshed. But he found redemption through poetry, as odd as that may seem. I submitted that show to a national awards competition and am still awaiting word on the verdict.

Jeannette shows up to work. She takes direction very well and prides herself on her labor. I have trouble imagining a more suitable candidate for the job.

Brandon White, Account Representative, Syncfusion

Jeannette has been chiefly responsible for the creation and development of Syncfusion's Marketing Department. She approaches her work with a degree of maturity seldom seen from someone her age. Jeannette uses her marketer's skill set, to make our products visible in the highly competitive software component market. From organizing international tradeshows, to editing complex technical documents, she plays an indispensable role in ascertaining brand recognition, revenue, and market share for Syncfusion.

Britton Cohn, Account Manager, Syncfusion

Jeannette has been such pleasure to work with at Syncfusion! Her enthusiatic and positive attitude are a delight to be around. She has helped create and execute many new and successful marketing campaigns for our company. Jeannette is very talented, and she would be an asset to any company.

Illustrator Tips for Beginners

2009-06-29T14:27:00.000-04:00

When I first started to figure out how to use Adobe Illustrator for a few things at WNYC, there wasn't a good tip list out there for beginners. And almost none of the help I found addressed using CS4. Here are a few tips that would've been enormously helpful to me. I hope that they help you! Please click on the images in order to enlarge them.

Selection Tool: this tool lets you select different pieces of whatever object you’re working with. You can select multiple objects by using the shift key while clicking with the mouse.

Lasso Tool: this tool is very important in Illustrator. You use it by lassoing objects that you wish to select.

Type Tool: this tool allows you to add type to your work. If you click and hold the Type Tool button, you get several other type options.

Shape Tool: this tool allows you to add shapes to your work. This is another tool that has several options available; you can add several different shape types by clicking and holding the tool button.

Line Segment Tool: this tool allows you to add a line segment. Any tool that has a small arrow next to its button will show you multiple options if you click and hold to button. The line segment tool will also let you create spirals, arcs, and rectangular grids.

Eraser Tool: Obviously, for erasing. But because you will be working with vector graphics, you can typically just select with the selection tool whatever object you want to delete, and then press delete on your keyboard.

Eyedropper/Measure Tool: The eyedropper is key in utilizing color. It works just like an eyedropper would to pull color out of whatever object you’re clicking on. I use this tool to grab a certain color from a logo to be used in another file. There is also a little ruler that will let you measure distances.

Slice Tool: This can be used to slice an image up into pieces. Typically you would use this when you’re creating something for the web that will need to have different parts of the image linked to different destinations.

Artboard Tool: This tool will allow you to change the size of the artboard that you’re working on. You can also work with artboards by clicking File>Document Setup>Edit Artboards.

Colors: The foreground color is the main color of an object that you’ve selected. The background color, or outlined color, is the color that is surrounding that object. If you have white text and want it to have a black outline, you would select the text object, then double click on the square for foreground color, change it to white. Then you would double click the square for the background color, and change it to black. This can be done with any type of object.

Layers: The concept of layers is very, very important in Photoshop, but not so much in Illustrator. Because you are working with vector images, for the most part, you can group objects together by going to the objects menu and selecting group or ungroup. You can also delete things very easily by just selecting them and pressing delete. In Photoshop, it is more important to have a separate layer for each piece you’re working with so that the layers can be made invisible or visible or placed behind or in front of each other. The same concept holds true in Illustrator, but I don’t find myself needing to utilize it that often.

How to create rules (guides): Sometimes you want thing to be lined up perfectly. In order to create rules, or “guides” as they are called in Illustrator, you will first need to turn on the rulers in your document. You can do that by clicking View>Show Rulers or by hitting Ctrl+R. Once the rulers are turned on, you should click on the ruler, hold and drag down or to the right to create a guide and move it around. Once you’re created the guide, it will show up in the layers panel. This makes it easy to delete or manipulate them as needed. You can also hide guides and print them out.

Grouping: Creating groups is an important concept in Illustrator because if you have a logo with many, many pieces (like the WNYC logo or The Greene Space logo), you will not want to move just one piece of the logo. You will want to move it in its entirety. If you select all of the pieces in the logo by using the Lasso Tool, and then click Object>Group, you will have grouped all the pieces. It is sometimes handy to then clicking Object>Lock to lock all of the pieces of the logo together so that you don’t have to worry about the group coming apart. You can also unlock and ungroup from the same menu.

Artboards: If you want to create a multi-page PDF document, you would be sure that your PDF document in Illustrator had more than one artboard. When you create a new file, you have the option to select the number of artboards in your document and the size of each. These are editable by selecting either the Artboard Tool or by clicking File>Document Setup>Edit Artboards. There is more to artboards than just this, but we won’t get into that here!

Transforming: Sometimes objects are too big, too small, or you want to move them, reflect them, or rotate them. You can do all of this from the Transformation menu, which can be found on the Object>Transform menu.

Adjusting Leading and Kerning: When you have a file open and you want to adjust the leading and kerning of some of the text in the file, you would first select the text using the Selection Tool. Then you would open up the Character Panel by clicking on Character next to where you select the Font. By letting the pointer hand hover over each of the different icons next to the boxes, you can see what each little box does. Some adjust leading, kerning, rotation of the lettering, size, etc. Underneath the info box that reads “Character Panel” in this image, there is another tiny menu that will allow you create subscript text, all cap text, small caps, and superscript text.

Aligning objects: There is a menu that will allow you to align objects called the “Align Panel.” Select the objects that you want to space a certain way by either lassoing or using the Shift+click selection method. Then click on align at the top of the toolbar. You can then hover over each option and align accordingly. You can choose what you are aligning to, as well, by changing the selection in the “Align To” menu on the bottom right of the Align Panel.

How CAN Twitter be harnessed to help raise funds?

2009-06-26T14:10:00.001-04:00

I worked on Twestival back in February of this year, and I've had the opportunity to talk to a lot of colleagues about the power of Twitter to raise funds. I'm writing a post now to put all of those ideas down onto [digital] paper, and hopefully it will help some of them to raise some money.

The first thing to understand about Twitter is illustrated below. Think of Twitter as a very, very large network of users. If the person at the top of the chain tweets a message that seems to be for a good cause, there is a very high likelihood that people following that person will RT, or ReTweet the message. That can very quickly mean that 1 simple message can turn into 30 people seeing it in a number of minutes. It can be thought of almost as a pyramid scheme, but hopefully it's being used for good!

Twestival NYC harnessed the idea of crowdsourcing even beyond just ReTweeting a message. Paull Young came up with the 20-20-20 idea. Buy a ticket to Twestival for $20, raise $20 to give, and tell 20 friends about Twestival. This is a great example of a memorable way to get people to donate money AND mobilize their network.

A lot of donations come from specific challenges. I read about a woman in Fast Company who challenged a room full of geeks to not only donate as much money as possible, but to get their friends to donate as much money as possible. This is another key piece of the puzzle - turning it into a competition.

Beth Kanter teaches non-profits and individuals how to use social media tools like Twitter, blogs and widgets to raise funds and awareness. Although Kanter has spearheaded several unusual funding efforts, her most effective was at the Seattle Gnomedex 8.0 Conference in August of this year, where she raised over $2500 in just 90 minutes by challenging highly connected geeks to tap into their extensive Twitter networks.

It started with a mass tweet asking people to help her “send Leng Sopharath, a young Cambodian woman, off to her junior year of college in good health.” Tweets and retweets traveled through the online community, and by the end of the conference, Kanter had collected almost $4000. She acknowledges the results as a “special success story,” but believes it’s an example of how the power of networks can be utilized by non-profits.

We were very motivated during Twestival ... NYC wanted to be the city to raise the most money, and we were. Everyone that worked on Twestival kept that in mind, and it was a friendly competition, but we did NOT want to lose to another city. If you can figure out a way to get the charitable to compete, you've got another compelling way to get people to give.

To wrap up, here is what's important when trying to harness the power of Twitter to raise money for charity:

Come up with a succint message. You want something shorter than 140 characters so that it can easily be ReTweeted.
Include a link. The link can utilize URL shorteners like http://www.bit.ly so that the url fits more easily into the Tweet.
Be sure the link goes somewhere that allows the person to read more about the cause AND includes a place for them to donate and/or get involved.
Include "Please RT" in the message. Studies have shown that messages are ReTweeted much, much more frequently when that is included.
Engage with the people who are following the account that Tweets your message. That is the best way to get followers that are dedicated to your cause.
Tell a story on that webpage.

What made charity: water so powerful was their website. After all the money was donated, you could go to their website and watch the wells being drilled this summer. Beforehand, you could see videos and interact with the charity to learn more about their cause. They've also very effectively harnessed the power of visuals.

At Twestival we had jerry cans that water is hauled in. We also had a photobooth with a bathtub that people could have their photos taken in. Those photos were branded with the charity:water logo and the Twestival logo and put up on Flickr. People got their photos after the party and put those up on their Facebook profiles. This FURTHER extended the reach of charity:water all over again. We also created a Flickr Photo Pool for partygoers to add their photos to, and if you search for NYC Twestival on Flickr, there were a TON of photos taken.

Word of mouth has the power in this situation, and your brand is a conversation, as they say famously over at Federated Media. The more that you can get your charity involved in a conversation with people, the more effective you will be at getting people to remember you cause.

Check out what charity:water is STILL doing to raise money through the power of social media. Check out charity:water's head honcho, Scott Harrison, and see how he is using the power of his personality to grow his project.

jeannettearrowood.com

2009-06-25T17:10:00.000-04:00

Guys guys guys! JeannetteArrowood.com has finally been worked out! I'm now working on my content. Which definitely needs some work, but I'm so excited to have gotten some help from a very, very old friend in order to get the little pieces put together. It's always wonderful to have help from your friends!

Shouts out to Mollie at Sun Sign Graphic Design for her magnificent help.

jeannettearrowood.com

2009-05-14T13:52:00.000-04:00

I'm working on several new projects, but the biggest of them is http://www.jeannettearrowood.com. A long time coming, I almost can't wait to be finished putting it all together! But, I know that it's best for me to take my time and get everything done properly before it makes it complete debut. You can go by now and check out what's to come and what I've done so far. Suggestions are more than welcome, and if you know a lot about CSS and want to help me with a particular issue I'm currently having, please let me know! I will not let a little bit of code get my whole website down!

Until next time ... stay Pleased. And be sure it's a Production.

Life Coaching

2009-04-15T12:02:00.000-04:00

I've tossed around the idea of becoming a life coach in the past, and I'm even more seriously considering it now that the economy has soured. There are lots of people out there who could use my help! I've been exploring the options, and I think I will get certified at NYU. They seem to have a really great, accredited program that a lot of people trust.

Any other suggestions?

wnyc's the greene space

2009-04-15T11:43:00.000-04:00

i've been hard at work on the launch of the jerome l. greene performance space. my esteemed colleagues here at wnyc have also been hard at work, and we're all very excited to announce it's launch. it's already been mentioned several places (online and in print!):

it's been an exciting few weeks since the announcement about the space's launch.
watch this space (and the space around you) for more things from my department announcing what's going on in our street-level, multimedia performance space.

come by and see how radio is produced - watch a show live. catch dr. cornel west, sonia sanchez, rosie perez, elmo, ira glass, daniel bernard roumain ...

iphone app development

2009-04-06T14:13:00.000-04:00

so i'm seriously pursuing the idea of learning how to develop apps for the iphone. i figure i speak other geek languages, i might as well learn this one.

so here are a few places that i've noted might be good for me to start gettin my learn on:

the iphone dev center is an obvious place to start for obvious reasons. why not get tips and videos from apple themselves?

iphone development central looks like it might be helpful as well. they've even categorized their videos into extreme noob, not so noob, and mad skilled. (ok they're called something different, but you get the idea.)

lastly, here's an exhaustive list of resources. i'm not sure i'd ever get through all of them, but i'm going to set a goal to spend at least 4 hours a week on this venture. who knows, maybe i'll develop the next app you download!

now i just have to come up with an idea as brilliant as the bad decision blocker or the oregon trail. watch this space!

ps - i'm also looking for suggestions on places in the ny metropolitan area to take some classes on this kind of development.

twitter trainin

2009-02-03T11:35:00.002-05:00

i twitter. a lot. and, occasionally, i get asked to train a group of people on how to use twitter. the best advice i can offer is to JUST DO IT. just get started. start talking. but for those who are still unsure, i offer the guide below.

i also say to those who think they don't have time for twitter that you have to be OK with knowing you are not going to get to everyone's tweets. you're just not. but you can set aside maybe 10 minutes a day and respond to @ messages and dm's. post something you've seen, and make yourself useful.

now i present, the pleased productions guide to twitterin.

Come up with a Twitter username

A lot of people use their real names, but you can always make up one to describe yourself or just use a nickname. Your address will be twitter.com/username.

Upload a photo, fill in your bio, add a website

You can upload a photo of yourself, or of something you love, just upload something! Remember people will be deciding on whether or not they want to follow you based on this stuff. So keep it fresh, but most importantly keep it interesting. Think of it as the interesting piece of clothing you’re wearing to a party that people will comment on.

Protected updates

You can select “protect my updates,” and no one but those that you approve will be able to read your updates. The upside to this is that … you can say whatever you want to and pretty much control who sees it. The downside is that those who might want to follow you out there most likely won’t, because they can’t see what you’re writing about!

Following v. Followers

You can “follow” people, and all of their tweets will show up in your twitter stream. Those people can, in turn, follow you, but they don’t have to. Those that follow you are referred to as “followers.” There will be people that you follow that won’t follow you and vice versa. It’s not bad twitiquette if you decide to unfollow someone, and there are websites that let you track who unfollows you.

What is Twitter for?

Twitter can be for all kinds of things. I use it to connect to other people—people in the same business as me, my friends, the one thing they all have in common is that their tweets offer me something. I learn more by following them. You can gain windows into worlds that you don’t know much about, build a personal or corporate brand.

You can gain a huge number of followers—be or do something remarkable, something different from the rest of numbers, and then watch the number of followers you have take off. A good example of this is the coffee shop that used Twitter to take orders. Then they had a Tweetup for all of those that frequent the coffee shop—you didn’t have to leave your seat to order!

I’ve used Twitter to find out what my friends are up to, to follow blogs or news feeds, to learn more about people I want to know, and to join in on their conversations. All of those things are great! I also use it to promote my blog, to get involved with things going on in my community, and to “microblog.” Twitter messages are limited to 140 characters, so a lot of people refer to it as microblogging. I use it to share what I’m reading and what I find interesting, what I’m working on, and to ask questions. It’s a great place to get a question answered.

Think of Twitter as a cocktail party with millions in attendance. You can’t really do any wrong—just start talking! I’ve even used Twitter to look for jobs. The power of Twitter is incredible.

Build your brand.

Some companies encourage employees to Twitter and to respond to customers and their complaints. Some places use Twitter to run contests, solicit feedback, and thank customers for supportive messages. You can use the search function to search for your @username or for your company’s name. Or for anything, really!

@username

You’ll see a lot of people saying things like @username yeah I totally agree! Those are people responding to other tweets.

@juliaroy hey I’ll see you tonight at 150 varick @nettap cool—still at 5:30?

If your friend’s name is Alex, but his username is Alexxooorr, if you tweet @alex then your friend won’t get your message, but whoever has the username Alex will.

Also, keep in mind that EVERYONE can see your @username messages. If you want to send a private message, you can “DM” someone—or direct message them.

D username

Direct messaging is like @username, except that only you and the person you DM sees the msg. Whoever you direct message, they have to be following you in order for them to receive the msg.

You can also set up Twitter to send all tweets to your mobile phone or IM, but it becomes really annoying if you follow a great number of people. A good alternative is to have just DM’s sent to your phone or IM. Or you can choose to have nothing sent to either!

#charitywater

What the heck is #charitywater? That’s a Twitter hash tag. People add a hash tag (#) and then the topic they’re talking about. It’s tracked really easily, it’s easily searchable, and it’s like adding a tag to a post that you make on the web.

Where can I send a tweet from?

The Twitter webpage, from your mobile phone, from IM, or from a Twitter client like: TweetDeck, Twitterfon, Twhirl, Spaz, Blogo, Digsby, Twitterfox. There are tons of them, you just have to find the one that works for you. Easytweets is another program that will schedule tweets to go off at select times.

What does RT stand for?

RT=retweeting. You retweet someone else’s post by putting RT @username. You usually retweet something when you think it would be useful to those who are following you. Be careful with this feature. Many a Twitter user has been unfollowed for RT’ing too often. If you’re not adding anything to the conversation other than RT’ing, then some people will stop following you!

Transcription

2009-01-19T09:09:00.000-05:00

I got hired today to do some transcription work for a show that I've worked for as a producer in the past. If you need quick transcription work done - I'm your girl!

I transcribed a story about a soldier who was raped while serving in the army in Sinai, Egypt.

Design Work

2009-01-15T14:36:00.000-05:00

I've always wanted to learn to use Adobe Illustrator. Now I'm doing it! As a part of my daytime work at WNYC as their Marketing Coordinator, I've created my first two pieces of work to be used. Here are some lo-res versions.

I'm so proud of myself! A little help from my friends (on Twitter, through Facebook, Google, and at WNYC) has been greatly appreciated!

Computer Tutoring

2008-12-29T22:17:00.000-05:00

I had my first computer tutoring session in Brooklyn this evening with a family that has 5 kids! I'm teaching mom how to use her new laptop, and I'm teaching the kids how to use their Mac. Everything from how to upload photos to the internet, how to email them, how to create a slideshow, how to do some basic editing of photos, to how to blog, and how to start your own website. I'm teaching the kids how to use PowerPoint, GarageBand, and maybe a few other things when we get there.

It went really well. The most important thing about teaching people who are new to computers is to let them do everything - don't take the mouse unless the answer to one of your questions is, "I don't know." Don't be scared to say "I don't know," either. It lets them know that sometimes you won't know the answer to a question, and it lets them learn how to figure the problem out.

We made a list of the things they should do before I come out there next time, and they're making a list of things to learn the next time I come down.

I've been recommended to a friend of theirs, as well, and I am very much looking forward to working with her, too. If you need some help with your computer, drop me a note. I can probably help you figure it out. And, I'll come to your home!

Setting Goals for your Life

2008-12-18T20:24:00.000-05:00

You can only work on yourself. Start there.

—Alice O. Howell

I am an extremely organized person, and I know how to set goals, chip away at them a little bit at a time, and meet them much more quickly than I could have ever imagined is possible.

I can sit down with you and help you set effective goals. I would love to help you to get focused and chip away at your work a little bit at a time in order to meet your goals efficiently.

My latest client says:

Jeannette sat down with me and helped me determine what my goals are over the next 6 months. Then she helped me to work backwards to schedule down to the day and hour what I should be doing to meet my goals. The first day after having worked with Jeannette, I was able to complete more than I ever thought was possible in one day. She's a great coach, very patient, and she knows how to explain the importance of each step.

-David Butler

If you'd like to email David, talk to him about his experience working with me, and how his life has changed since getting him on track, please leave a comment below! I'd be more than happy to put you in touch.

Creating Personal Profiles for websites

2008-12-17T12:20:00.000-05:00

So many of us dread writing those little descriptions of ourselves. The box that says "Bio," or "About me" on websites like Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, MySpace. I can help you put that together.

I will ask you a series of questions to learn more about you, and then I will write a description! Dread the bio section no more.

I can also help out with the "People I'd like to Meet" section. That's the section where people really don't know what to do, but I can help you determine exactly who you'd like to meet.

Setting goals is all about self-exploration, and I can't wait to help you explore yourself and your goals.

Expanding my work

2008-12-15T13:59:00.001-05:00

My skills go way beyond Public Radio.

I've worked in the music industry, I've produced successful events, I've been to Bad Boy, I've met with people at Def Jam, I've managed music talent. I am not afraid to talk to anyone about anything, and I've got a strong history of getting what needs to be done completed quickly.

I know a lot about computers, and I've spent a lot of time learning how to best use them. If you need help getting something fixed on your computer or just getting up and running, I'm here to help. I can also help with web design and HTML.

I've done work for fashion designers, and I've worked at fashion shows - both behind the scenes and on the runway.

I know how to get a buzz going, and I have a fantastic eye for what looks good.

Pleased Productions launched!

2008-12-04T12:41:00.000-05:00

I am very proud to announce the launch of my new company, Pleased Productions.

I have recently been hired as a consultant for WNYC Radio, and I am working for them in their NY offices as a Marketing Coordinator.

I have spent many years working in public radio, and I am very excited to offer my consulting services to WNYC.

I am still working as a freelance producer, and I encourage you to visit my other website, Netta Produces, for more information. Please be in touch with me if you have any questions about the services I offer.