In our world today, digital media has grown and expanded exponentially and standing out in a unique way through digital media has become difficult and hard to obtain. However, a unique way for people to express themselves and get their voices heard is through what is called podcasting. Podcasts are created through digital media files are usually audio recordings but can also be live video recordings. Podcasts allow people the opportunity to create a series of their personal material that is open to other people to subscribe to. Podcasts are very similar to live television programs and the radio but unlike TV and radio, podcasts attract those who want to pick and choose the content they listen to versus having to tune in to what is being recorded that day on the TV or radio.
Through podcasting one is also able to download the material for own personal consumption at any time. One of the main things that make podcasts so popular is the fact that they are completely free to create. For example, I created my own podcast by simply creating an account on Sound Cloud, recording my material and uploading it to their site.
Podcasting is unique in the sense that it requires minimal equipment and with technology in our world today almost everyone has either a smart phone or laptop, both of which can easily do the trick to make the perfect podcast. Podcasting gives people the opportunity to easily create what can be looked at as their own personal radio station. For example, I have a friend who had a very strong passion for makeup. She began creating her own personal podcast weekly to express her ideas and then began making live videos of herself actually using and applying makeup products. People who had an interest for makeup began stumbling upon her site and she then began receiving endless amounts of subscribers who tuned into her podcasts each and every week.
Podcasts can be about a topic as popular as politics or as simple as how to apply makeup. No matter what the topic is, a podcast allows one to create an online community with those who share common interests all over the world. It is now common to even see businesses using podcasts, as it is a cheap way for them to advertise themselves as well as create a live feed of information to their customers and employees. With live broadcasting only focused on topics that are most popular, podcasting allows people to listen in on more narrow topics they are interested in and thus engage with those in that podcast community.
In our world today social media has completely taken over. billions of people engage with the use of digital media and without it people in our world would be extremely lost. Through Facebook we stay in contact friends and updated with the world, through LinkedIn we are able to engage with others in the work force and through twitter we are able to see live updates from people all over the world. This online revolution has changed the world for good and has made life easier for people to constantly have an idea of what is happening in the world around us. This online revolution has not only helped to keep people connected, it has also helped with a specific yet very important subject in our world today: politics.
Previously, politic campaigns were merely done in person, on 30 minutes of paid for television or by going door to door. With hundreds of different digital media platforms today these campaigns can be expressed all over the world-wide web giving politicians the opportunity to spread their name and ideas within a matter of seconds to millions of different people. A popular digital tool that helps politicians spread their name and ideas is through Facebook. Facebook has a huge viral capacity so it helps to mobilize people as well as globally connect them.
For example, Barack Obama spent lots of time perfecting his Facebook page and has over six million friends, that means six million people are viewing everything he campaigns and posts for himself. Through Twitter, Barack Obama was able to reply to questions and comments made by his followers, something he would never have the time to do in person.
When the election between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney took place, both candidates promoted themselves through digital media. However, results show that Obama was seeing drastically more results, views, likes, comments and followers. Obama campaigned on nine separate platforms whereas Romney only campaigned on five. Obama put endless amounts of time and effort into his digital platforms not only to campaign and promote himself but to also respond to his followers, something that Romney did not put as much focus on. People constantly want to see new information and Obama gave that to the people by updating his sites more than ten times a day. Along with that he took the time to ask the people about what they want and gave it to them.
Digital media played a major role in Barack Obama’s success as it condensed our large world into a small world. It gave him the chance to speak to billions of people all over the entire world within a matter of seconds.
Growing up we all have that one person that we look up to and aspire to be like. For me, that has been my brother Adam since day one. As a little girl he never failed to put a smile on my face and he always made sure to show me the right way to do things. However, it is not only about how he’s treated me as a sibling that makes me admire him so much but it is also his personal life journey that is so incredible to me.
Adam is twenty-five years old and currently in law school at the University of Denver. He started his journey at the University of Boulder at Colorado where he attended school not knowing one other person. I never knew how he did that considering I am such a homebody. After a week he completely fell in love with school and met so many new people. He loved not knowing anyone because it gave him the chance to meet all new people and learn how to adjust to an independent lifestyle. As he reached his Junior year of college he was given the opportunity to spend a semester abroad. He was deciding between Barcelona and New Zealand but again Adam took the route less traveled by his friends and went to New Zealand. There yet again he knew no one and learned to live life on his own. He traveled to places such as Australia, Fiji and Thailand where he lived with all new people in different hostels. As his semester abroad came to an end and he finished off his senior year at Boulder he had to start figuring out what he wanted to do with his life. Adam decided that going to law school was the right choice for him as it was always his dream to be a lawyer. However, law school didn’t begin for an entire year after graduation so he had to figure out an alternative plan for the time being. Independent Adam decided yet again to step outside his comfort zone and travel by him. He purchased a one-way ticket to Thailand with merely a backpack. He had no agenda as he planned to figure it out as he pleased. He ended up working as a bartender and living at a hotel on the beach where he lived off the small amount of money he was making each day. This was absolutely amazing to me and something I could never fathom doing myself.
As I look at back on his experiences and reflect on my own I see that a huge reason that I have become so independent and I have embarked on so many unique journeys is all because of adam. He showed me the importance of independence and the importance of taking the road less traveled as it ultimately helps you grow as a person and value the experiences you have. Without Adam I would have never went to The University of Arizona not knowing anyone and I would’ve never pushed myself to study abroad. He is not only an incredible brother but also an incredible role model for all.
After enjoying a wonderful presentation from Marta Alonso, I can say that she is extremely influential and an amazing role model that represents how hard work can lead to success. She was extremely confident and passionate about her career which makes her reputation more attractive.
Marta graduated college with a double degree in Journalism and audiovisual communications as well as a master in Internet Business. This in itself shows that Marta is hardworking, successful and passionate in the communication world. After years of experience in the digital world, Marta took her knowledge and became the founder of her own company called Muuby. Muuby is an online company that works to help improve, better and manage ones online reputation. Muuby helps companies maintain a clean profile in the cyber world so they can continue having a growing market demand. In our world today this is extremely important as our online reputation represents a huge portion of a company or person. Marta worked with huge clients such as Doctors Without Borders, Spainair and Fira de Barcelona.
About a year later in 2011, Marta founded a group called Instagrammers Barcelona. This group was created as a way for people to network and join a community that has a passion for photographs and its role in social media. This has grown and expanded drastically and has been brought so many unique individuals together and helped them get their names out into the digital world.
During the year of 2013, Marta started working as a freelance, independent digital consultant. She saw herself working with some of the most popular companies and brands which in my eyes is absolutely amazing for someone that young and as completely freelance work. Her clients consisted of FC Barcelona, Vueling Airlines, Damm Group, Sonar Music Festival and PayPal. These are not only popular brands in Europe but all over the entire world.
In 2014, Marta continued to use her talents and as she went and founded a company called Circle Line. Circle Line is a digital storytelling agency that uses real personal stories to build a relationship between people and common brands. This company helps people to create campaigns to be presented on our world’s most popular social media platforms. Some companies Circle Line has worked with are: HP Europe, Catalan Tourism Board, Sacred Family, Simon Group and more.
Along with all of these incredible companies Marta has been a part of, she also works as a lecturer and professor. Marta hosts lectures at Universitat Abat Oliba CEU where she explains the importance of new technology and communication in our world today. Starting in 2012, Marta has worked as a professor at La Salle Campus Barcelona. She helps to tutor and lecture students about digital marketing and social networks. She works in programs that help students to receive a master in digital marketing which in our world today is an incredible degree to have.
After listening to Marta’s amazing presentation and seeing all of her incredible accomplishments I can truly say that she is a role model for all. She is a hard worker who is not only good at what she does but loves what she does. She shows that with hard work and determination one can achieve any of their goals.
In our world today studying abroad has become an extremely common thing amongst college students. Students are spending up to four months in a foreign country with new people and a completely new lifestyle, something extremely unique. Some students go into the abroad experience with no guide and no input on where to go or how to go about understanding the new lifestyle. Others go into the abroad experience with guides created from friends with past experience and tips on how to begin understanding the nature of the new place they are living in. As for many study abroad students in Barcelona, they have been given a guide consisting of the best restaurants, places to go, places to see and things to do.
This guide helps to send study abroad students in the right direction so they are not struggling and completely lost. Although it is wonderful to have a guide of sights to see, having a list of restaurants has seemed to be the most useful. Barcelona is a huge city with endless amounts of restaurants, some of which are amazing and some of which are not as good. Based on the endless amount of guides study abroad students have been handed, it seems to be that one specific restaurant has not only been on every list but also number one on every list. One would think that a number one restaurant would be one that is maybe more expensive and rather nicer. However, on this guide the number one restaurant is Barcelona is a small, hole in the wall, take away restaurant. This restaurant is called Bo De B.
With nothing but incredible reviews on all the most widely used rating websites, Bo De B has an amazing reputation in Barcelona and has yet to fail any of its customers. Bo De B opened up in Barcelona in 2007 by a Moroccan family serving some of the best Mediterranean food in the city. They wanted to bring a piece of home with them to their new life in Barcelona and their piece of home has flourished as endless amounts of people see themselves obsessed with the food. Bo de B is a small take away restaurant located right near Barcelona’s large post office in the center of the city Gothic District and just minutes away from the beach. The restaurant has only about four tables inside which are always taken up and is known to have huge lines of people waiting to grab their food to go. Every item they serve is inexpensive and of amazing quality. They are well known for their sandwiches which consist of fresh meats and endless amounts of toppings such as tzatziki sauce, feta cheese, olives, onions, tomatoes, rice, cucumbers, pesto, lentils, peppers and more.
Customers are able to choose whatever they want with no extra charges. When customers decide they want to wait in line for a sit down meal they are able to purchase more than simply just a sandwich. Bo De B offers different assorted meat platters, patates braves, hamburgers, salads and much more. Bo De B is extremely inexpensive as they have sandwiches that go for no more than five euro and their well known platters for no more than six euro.
With Bo De B being such a popular attraction to people living in and visiting Barcelona, people tend to question why they don’t make their restaurant bigger or extend to other locations. The owners had explained that not only is it rather expensive to expand their restaurant, they merely just don’t want to. They built Bo De B as a small hole in the wall, take away restaurant; something that reminds them of home in Morocco. Although the lines tend to extend pretty far out the door, no one seems to mind as it is all just part of the experience.
With so many different people in and out of the restaurant each day, the owners had mentioned how much they love and appreciate all of their customers. In particular, they had made a point to say that they especially love and appreciate all of their American study abroad students. With Barcelona being such a popular American study abroad location, the workers of Bo De B see American students in and out of the restaurant on a regular basis. They love the American students because they show so much love, appreciation and excitement for their food and they become very regular customers. Some people claim to eat there almost every single day while studying abroad!
When seeing so many happy and excited customers it is easy to understand why Bo De B has made such a mark on people when living and traveling in Barcelona. Based on reviews from sites such as Trip advisor, Yelp,10Best and Barcelona-life there hasn’t been one poor thing said about Bo De B. Along with the ratings from those popular sites, people also tend to also acknowledge reviews from popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram. When searching for Bo De B on the internet it shows over 2,000 likes on Facebook, almost 2,000 followers on Instagram, about 900 tweets on Twitter and even a youtube video recorded by a customer showing the family who owns the restaurant and live footage asking the customers about their experience at Bo De B.
People even say that since the food is so delicious and the service is so great they don’t even mind waiting in a line because in the end it is worth it. As much as people want Bo De B to grow and expand, Bo De B is a place that wants to keep its authentic reputation and be known for being an amazing hole in the wall kind of restaurant. It seems that Bo De B will continue to flourish and forever keep its high ranking on all study abroad students travel guide to the wonderful city of Barcelona.
Our world today has grown exponentially and continues to grow bigger and bigger each and every day. With the human population growing, competition for survival is increasing drastically. In order for one to fight their competitors they must find ways to stand out, be unique and have a strong yet different reputation in the world. Whether it be a business or company aiming to get bigger than its competitors or simply a blogger trying to get their name to stand out amongst the other bloggers, marketing and advertising oneself in a unique way is always crucial. There are many ways in which one can go about selling their name or company but in todays world the most common and popular way is through social and digital media. People are constantly updating and checking their Facebook, Instagram, twitter and more so it is almost guaranteed that if a company can find a way to make it popular on one of those sites they will get their name out and potentially begin to grow.
The first reason why marketing through social media can help a name grow is because it allows the person/company to personally interact with their customers and receive feedback and insight through likes, comments and tweets. This then allows the company to receive immediate feedback so they can continue to alter their marketing strategies for the better. Another reason why advertising their social media is extremely beneficial is that it reaches a large audience, some of which you never even thought existed. This can lead to more sales, thus growth for the company itself. Marketing and advertising through social media is not only extremely beneficial but it is also free. If you propose a unique and well-written advertisement you will be able to get your name out there for free and potentially end up making money from it in the end.
Over the course of this past year we have seen many advertisements flourish but one in particular that has successfully made it big is the ALS Association and their ice bucket challenge. They spread awareness through campaigning via Facebook and people all over the world were constantly posting videos of themselves partaking in the ice bucket challenge while tagging more friends to further the challenge. Results show that there were about 17 million videos from 159 countries. These videos reached even as far as celebrities such as Will Smith, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey and Mark Zuckerberg.
This huge marketing strategy cost the ALS Association zero dollars and in return raised $220 million dollars. The ALS Association shows an incredible example of how important it is to create a unique advertisement for oneself and how one can get themselves out into the world simply by using social media for free.
After about three weekends of spending time exploring and learning about the culture in Barcelona I departed for the beginning of spring vacation. Our first stop was Dublin, Ireland for the big St. Patrick’s day weekend. I didn’t know exactly what to expect but I knew I was filled with excitement based off what I had previously heard about Dublin. As we arrived Thursday afternoon and our cab approached the town center we began seeing hundreds of people in green and every single street completely taken over by people. I usually spend my St. Patricks day in the city of Chicago which always seems wild but this took wild to another level. It was one of the coolest and most exciting events I had ever seen. We quickly dropped our things off at the hotel and got right out to streets and headed to the bars. The irish people couldn’t have been friendlier, the vibes couldn’t have been better and everyone I was traveling with couldn’t have been happier. We spent the entire night and afternoon bar hopping, drinking too much beer and meeting lots of new people from all over the world. Dublin had started to become one of my favorite places in the world…
As we woke up the next day my friends and I hopped on a bus and headed to one of the most beautiful sights in Ireland, the Cliffs of Moher. I’d seen pictures of it before but never truly new what to expect. We spent about four hours getting up there but the time wasn’t a burden to us because the views were absolutely amazing. We saw some of the most beautiful land, homes and outrageous views of the water. We made a pit stop for lunch where I had my first fish and chips. I will say it was amazing! After hours of traveling we finally made it to the cliffs…
We followed the path to the top of the cliffs and as we began approaching the very top I looked around at all of my friends to see each persons jaw completely dropped. No one had words to explain what we were seeing but everyone was absolutely amazed with the biggest smiles on their faces. The water was a beautiful blue and the cliffs were gigantic and like nothing I had ever seen before. We took tons of pictures and then we all sat down gazing off at the view and talking about how lucky we were to be able to get the opportunity to experience something like this. We were able to watch the sunset on the cliffs with the water glistening behind them. In that moment I knew that Ireland had truly stolen my heart..
As we get older and begin the journey into the real world, we have to start thinking about our future and what we want to do with our lives. Scary right? It feels as if I just started college and here I am reaching my senior year. Although I still don’t necessarily know what I want to do with my life I’ve been starting to get an idea of which path I am looking to take. From the courses I have taken, the obstacles I have gone through and the many different events occurring in my life I’ve learned a lot about myself and what I would have the potential to be good at.
Growing up I have always wanted to follow in my parents footsteps and go into the business world. However, as time has progressed I have learned that I am far from a business girl. I have learned that I fit well in a world that works more with communicating with people. As I began my communication major I saw myself loving everything I was learning and I started realizing the things I am truly good at. I realized that I want to become an event planner.
With summer coming up and internships being the key to success for my future, I spent endless hours doing research over my winter vacation on event planning companies and the many different factors that go into becoming an event planner. Being as indecisive as I am, I started feeling as if event planning wasn’t necessarily what I wanted to do. I decided I would think it over while I spent Christmas break in mexico.
As I sat by the pool relaxing in Mexico I overheard a woman talking about being from Chicago, the same place I am from. I began chatting with her about Chicago and her trip and as one thing led to the next we began talking about everything. She had began talking about her company in Chicago and I didn’t really think to ask what exactly it was at first and then as I started putting the pieces together I realized that she is the head of her own event planning company. I knew in that moment that it was a sign. We sat talking for hours on end and she couldn’t have been any more wonderful. Her job is absolutely incredible and seeing how passionate she is about it made me want to see my future looking just like hers. As the day was coming to an end and we were saying goodbye she pulled me aside and said, “I would love for you to come work for me this summer”. In that moment I could not have been any happier and more excited to see where my life journey was taking me. It showed me the importance of putting yourself out there and meeting new people. The future may be scary but you never know what opportunities may randomly be handed to you!
After the previous class I can honestly say that I learned a lot about the unique journey of Valentí Sanjuan. He represents not only a person with so much talent but also a person with motivation and determination. Valentí explained to the class how he got his name out to the world and how he fought to the finish to get to where he is today. Not only did he get his name out into the world through his TV show but also through his motivational challenges as the ironman and ultra man.
VALENTI SANJUAN. SAN SEBASTIÁN . MIKEL FRAILE.
With the social media world being as large as it is today we see how difficult it could be to get your name out into the world and standing out as unique amongst the others who are aiming for the same stardom as you. Valentí explained to the class that it was not easy. He first created his comedy show called Visto lo Visto where Valentí and a few friends rented out a theatre in Barcelona, invested in cameras for recording and then posted their show to the internet. They began promoting themselves through every popular social media outlet, attempted working with every advertisement company and they even put themselves out on the streets. Although they had no guarantees of making their comedy show big, they stayed confident and gave forth full effort each and every day as this was something extremely important to them. As time progressed, they saw themselves receiving more and more views on YouTube, likes on Facebook and shares on Twitter. This led to more and more people interested in actually attending their live events. Valentí saw how much potential he had as he had made himself so big on social media that he wanted to continue to grow even more. He then used his knowledge in growing through social media to create his own personal show called Etiquetats.
With hard work and advertising of himself he pushed until he could make his show onto the big screen. Overtime he saw his show on live television, something truly remarkable. Along with both of the shows he presented, Valentí still wanted to do more. He trained for hours each day to compete in the ironman and ultra man challenges. He purchased a GoPro camera, recorded all of the obstacles he faced and created a motivational YouTube channel. Looking at his YouTube channel now you can see that he has over 20,000 views on almost all of his videos. What i found truly amazing was the fact that his YouTube channel wasn’t necessarily for himself to make money, rather it was to get his name out into the world and make an impact on people viewing his videos. He wanted to prove that anything is possible with hard work and determination.
With so many people aiming for the same goal of becoming big through the Internet, Valentí explained to the class that although it may be difficult, anything is possible. He expressed the importance of being confident in what you are good at and to never lose faith. Yes our world is so competitive today but Valentí is an incredible example of how it is possible to get your name out and become successful through social media. Through his YouTube channel, Visto lo Visto and Etiquetats, Valentí shows a true example of how social media outlets, hard work and determination can lead you to even more than just “15 minutes” of fame.
Coming abroad everyone feels as if they have to live it up to the fullest and take advantage of each weekend for traveling all around Europe. However, in the midst of all the excitement of traveling they tend to lose sight of the main reason they are studying abroad, experiencing Barcelona. It was not until this weekend when I stayed in Barcelona that I realized how truly in love with it I am. If we are traveling on the weekends that only leaves us with Monday through Wednesday in Barcelona with most of our time spent in classes. How is that any time to explore and experience the culture in Barcelona? This weekend I was able to expand my knowledge and perspective on Barcelona and experience so much that it has to offer.
On Thursday after classes my friends and I decided to make our way up to Bunkers to see the beautiful view of Barcelona with the sunset. It took us about an hour to get there but no one seemed to care, we were just so happy to be walking around in the beautiful weather seeing all of the unique scenery Barcelona has to offer. Once we finally made it to the top I paused and took a moment to take it all in. Barcelona is truly one of the most beautiful and breathtaking places I have ever seen in my life. With the sunsetting behind us we all sat together, sipping on a bottle of wine talking about how blessed we are to be able to experience this.
As the sun finished setting we began walking to dinner. We had no destination in mind so we decided to just walk until we found somewhere.This was one of my favorite experiences because we were able to feel like one of the locals. Along with that we were able to pass the beautiful Sagrada Familia, one of the most incredible monuments I have ever seen. This was also so nice because no one had cell phone service so we were able to enjoy each others company and the views around us. We found a small Mexican restaurant called La Taqueria with no idea whether or not the food was going to be good. We ended up talking with the staff for about an hour and having some of the most amazing Mexican food any of us have ever eaten. Talking to the staff was nice because we got to form a relationship and gain more of an understanding of their culture.
As the weekend progressed, we knew we weren’t getting the best weather on Saturday so we headed to the beach for the day on Friday. Walking along the path we got a full feel for the Barcelona Marina. People were singing, dancing, bike riding, roller blading, eating and simply just enjoying the view. Coming from Chicago this gave me a very different feel of what a city is like. Barcelona is much more laid back, no one is rushing and everyone just wants to leisurely enjoy their day, exactly what I love. Although the weekend was short it showed me that I don’t need to always hit every place in Europe and that I’m only living here once, its time to enjoy the amazing Barcelona!
Lauren Ford Abroad 