Hi everyone! We’ve been talking about blogging this past week, so we’re really excited to have a number of the bloggers & photobloggers from The Buzz join us in class tomorrow (Tuesday, 10/6) for a discussion about their experiences blogging professionally for the OpenLab. We look forward to hearing in-person from Jean-Luc Antoine, Shawn Brumell, Amanda Marmol, Mandy Mei, Brianna Vasquez at the start of tomorrow’s class.
The folks from The Buzz will share a bit about their own blogs (how they shape the focus and personal voice of their blogs), their experiences working in the medium and with the OpenLab as a whole, how they work as a community of bloggers, how they raise interest/awareness about their work through commenting, social media, etc., how they feel this work experience is leading to their professionalization, and, of course, anything else they want to discuss 🙂
I know The Buzz bloggers who can’t be there in person due to other class or work commitments (Amoni Brown, Jessica Deng, Konyca Francis) would still like to take part in the conversation / share their insights, so I’ve created this “Class Discussion” here for them to provide their comments, and also for us to ask questions, and the other bloggers to share additional ideas, resources, links. Just comment on this post by clicking “Leave a reply” to get this virtual discussion started.
I look forward to the start of a rich & productive discussion (in class tomorrow and here on our OpenLab site). Thank you again to The Buzz bloggers for generously agreeing to come share your experiences with us.
One of the main things I try and do as a blogger, is to pick topics that I think people will be interested in reading. The more interesting, and or controversial, people will most likely read. I use what’s trending on yahoo, or search Daily News, the CUNY website, and other forms of media to keep me up to date on what’s going on in the world.
I’ve been blogging on social media for a few years, so when I found out that open lab was offering a position, I was quick to apply. I wanted to help improve my skills, while also reading and learning from my fellow bloggers. I will read what my fellow bloggers will write, and then tweak, and improve on anything I believe needs improving. I believe that’s one of the best things about working as a blogger.
Thanks to Brianna, Jean-Luc, & Mandy, for your engaging presentations and wonderful discussion today in class! We learned a lot from you, especially from hearing about the processes behind your work on The Buzz 🙂
Always a pleasure!
I’m just curious if the ability to be apart of The Buzz is still open ? Because i’m a big social media user and being apart of the blogging community is really appealing to me. I also love how each of the bloggers had such different blog genres yet still appealed to everyone. I love Mandy’s quote card idea and i’m also amateur photographer (shooting with my dads vintage cannon AE1) so Jean-Luc’s pictures were gorgeous to me. Overall I think meeting all the bloggers was great and awoke an interest in me i hadn’t recognized.
Hi Samantha! Do you write on any blogs or have a blgo outside of the school?
If you ware interested in becoming a part of The Buzz, I think the best way to inquire about a position is to contact Openlab directly and someone will get back to you.
I don’t currently have a blog on sites like word press or tumblr but I am an active social media user, my main forum has really become Twitter because it’s so fast moving. However i would like to branch out to the blogging world and gain experience. Do you know how I could go about contacting open lab ?
Thanks for your input !
I believe you can e-mail them here – https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/about/contact-us/
Hope this helps!
Hi everyone! My name is Jessica Deng and I am one of the Buzz Bloggers. I am terribly sorry that I wasn’t able to attend your class and speak about my blogging experience in The Buzz and outside of The Buzz.
I started blogging at the age of 14 on Xanga.com (some of you may be too young to remember this), Midway into college, I picked up blogging again after watching an inspirational movie – Julie & Julia and was also a writer for the New Tech Times. During the summer of 2011 – summer 2013, I was a Contributing Editor for a food blog known as IReallyLikeFood (no longer online). My boyfriend & I started our own food blog in 2013.
When I received an e-mail last year about The Buzz hiring student bloggers, I was estatic and not only did I want to share my experiences, ideas, and thoughts – but I felt that students are so wrapped up in school work, looking for a job/internships, working, and eating mediocre food from school – so why not bring something personal, fun, and refreshing to the City Tech community like food?
I can say a lot more, but I rather you ask me your questions if you need to. I have over 10+ years of blogging experience under my belt and am welcome to speaking to anyone about blogging and how we can help each other.
I used Xanga back then too! I was into the coding/design aspect of it though. 🙂
Hey Jessica! What advice would you give to someone who is interested in starting their own blog?
In order to start blog, you must do the following –
1. Determine what your reason and purpose is to start a blog. If you have a hobby, a niche (creating a blog with the intent of using it to market to a specific market), expertise, background, or passion that you want to share.
2. Do your research on which platform (Blogger, WordPess, Tumblr) would suit your topic/niche the best and see which of those platforms your audiences and similar bloggers are most active.
3. After you decide on a platform – determine if you want to have your own domain name or not for your blog.
4. Come up with a unique name for your blog – something that relates to your niche and topics you will cover.
5. Determine what kind of content you want to share (videos, podcasts, pictures, reviews, tutorials, personal experiences, and etc.) and mix it up every once in a while when your blogging.
6. If your really passionate about your blog, make sure you carve out time from your schedule to write, nurture, and promote you blog.
There’s so much I can say, but here are the basics and I hope it helps. If you have any more questions, you can e-mail me: JessDeng08@gmail.com or we can meet on campus.
Wow, this is great advice! I might use this in the future, thanks Jessica!
Hey Brianna! Thanks again for stopping by our lecture the other day– it was fun! Not too long ago, I was obsessed with styling food and I wanted to become a food stylist but as usual, another opportunity presented itself. I was thinking, if you have some time, check out my Instagram @jodieannsteph. I have some cool photos, you might have to scroll for a good while because I have a lot of photos. If any ideas come to mind, send me a message.
Thanks again Brianna, Jean-Luc, and Mandy for sharing your blogs with us. Also Jessica for your posting. I have always felt that I have something to offer to my fellow students and hearing your stories has reignited the desire in me to blog. Your experience is really helpful and I definitely will follow your blogs. I just have a few questions so anyone please feel free to answer.
How do you measure the success of your blogs?
Do you base it on responses or do you just feel a sense of satisfaction?
What motivates you to continue even if you don’t get the reaction you were hoping for?
Hi Pamela! I am so glad I’ve been able to help you reignite your desire to blog. As for your questions:
1. Measuring your blog can mean measuring a number of things affiliated with your blog such as: page views, readers, followers, fans, media links,search rankings, RSS feeds, referral websites, and e-mail sign-ups. It is important to keep track of these possibly on a monthly basis and take notes to see which channel/tool is best for your blog.
2. Comments/Feedback can be a tool for measuring the success of your blog and I do feel a slight sense of excitement and satisfaction when someone likes, retweets, or comments to a post for me.
3. I guess what motivates me to continue to blog even when something knocks me down temporarily is because I always have a lot of content I want to put out there and that I have something to offer. When it’s a bad comment, I try to find a way to turn it around and make it into a better situation.
Hi all!
There’s an event for the Humans of NY if anyone is interested. I won’t be attending though because of my school/work schedule. But hope you guys go! Sorry for the last minute posting. I just got this email! Here’s the link:
http://flavorpill.com/nyc/event/books/humans-of-new-york-stories?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Editor%20Picks%2010/12&utm_term=2EDITORIAL%20-%20FLAVORPILL%20SUBSCRIBERS%20-%20NYC
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