It’s that time of year. Christmas is coming and Hanukkah is underway. The temperatures have dropped to obscene levels (polar bears are booking flights out of Iowa because it’s too cold for them). Along with all this come holiday letters from your friends and family.
I’ve never written a holiday letter, and I haven’t actually received that many, either. Though I’m starting to receive more. It’s typically a married couple thing or a family thing, and many of my friends fit into both of those categories (yet another sign of how old I’m becoming). My friends have written great letters in the past. Funny, well-written, even with blatant references to me, which I like, of course.
So this year, I’m going to write one. I may be single, but things have still happened in my life over the past 12 months worth documenting. And I will even open it to all my friends, strangers, whomever. You don’t even need to have a significant other to receive this!\
Enjoy!
Dear friends and family,
Greetings and Happy Holidays! I hope this letter finds all of you well. And I hope you and your family have had a happy, healthy and fruitful year.
At the risk of sounding clichéd, it’s been an eventful year. Professionally, it’s been a very successful and very fortunate year for me. The year began for me with a new job. I was hired as an Editorial Associate at the University of Iowa’s Carver College of Medicine, and started the new position in February. After what seemed like a very long search and an attempted relocation on the other side of the country, I was grateful to have been hired for a position that was in many ways what I had been looking for.
I work in the Department of Psychiatry in a research lab that conducts multiple Huntington disease studies. I started out working on the redesign of our biggest HD study that ended up occupying much of my time for the first couple of months. I then took over the coordination process of submitting articles reporting research findings to medical journals and doing public relations work for our studies.
In recent months, I have refocused most of my attention on the PR work (which is what I was hired to do). There’s a lot of work to be done in this area, and I’m basically building most of our efforts from scratch. But it’s challenging, rewarding work. And I’m doing things to promote a study that will hopefully lead to treatments for a horrible disease, so I feel like I’m helping people, which is what I wanted to do since I started my latest job search.
I kind of define myself at this point in my life largely by what I’m doing professionally, so starting the new job was definitely the biggest and best event for me in 2009. But a close second would be completing my first marathon. I finished the Des Moines Marathon on Oct. 18 after over five months of intensive training. Why did I decide to run a marathon you ask? A friend I volunteer with told me how she was running one, and then one day basically on a whim, I decided it would be fun to train for and run one myself. It most certainly was fun, and one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done.
Training was difficult and utterly time consuming. I scheduled the rest of my life around training runs this summer and fall. But it was worth it in the end. I finished the race with a time of 05:05:30, which isn’t setting any records (aside from my own PR), but was about where I wanted to finish. Crossing the finish line was incredibly exhilarating, and I recommend it to anyone who likes running. I hope to run one again sometime (I’ll likely be tempted again this year).
Other items that have defined my year include: moving to a new apartment in Iowa City (I like living here a lot); having season tickets to the University of Iowa football home games and witnessing the crazy season in person; becoming active in the social media scene (insert joke about my Twitter obsession here); having my “Fave Five” article published in my new favorite publication, Hoopla (the photo even turned out good!); continuing to volunteer once a week at the Ronald McDonald House in Iowa City (great place, love the staff and families); and starting a radio talk show with my brother Corey on KRUI.
I’ve enjoyed watching family and friends experience happiness and success in their lives this year as well. A big congratulations to all you who have had a baby this year, which includes so many of you that I won’t name anyone for fear of leaving someone out. We sure are getting older, aren’t we? For everyone who has embarked on new journeys this past year like I have, I hope you’ve enjoyed the ride as much as I have. But I also know with the economy in its current state, things beyond our control have had an impact on our lives, and I hope the steps taken over the past year will begin to improve that aspect of everyone’s life very soon. As always, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.
When the new year begins, I’ll be looking forward to winter being over so I can start running more frequently again/going outside again. I’ll also be looking forward to continuing to grow both professionally and personally. If you’re in to resolutions, I hope you find one that leads to a fruitful 2010 for you. My resolution is the same this year as always: to be a better person than I was the year before. I hope I accomplished that this year, and I hope to do the same next year.
Happy Holidays to everyone. I hope you had a wonderful year, and I hope 2010 is even better. Best wishes to you, your friends and family.
Sean Thompson
Still here, huh? Thanks for reading that. Hope it wasn’t too self indulgent. I’d love to hear about your year. What defined 2009 for you?
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
A case for Twitter and SM
When I get together with my extended family, there are certain constants. Absurd amounts of good food, for example (takeout or eating out; my grandma doesn’t cook, never has. She had Thanksgiving catered!). One of the new constants among many of my family members is making fun of me for my use of social media, especially Twitter (@seanathompson).
I’m used to being made fun of for any number of things by my family. My slenderness; my tendency to sunburn at the lake; my ginormous head size (though we all have that curse, not just me!). It’s just something my family does. We all have robust senses of humor. But the mocking of my social media use bothers me a little. Mostly because I wish they got Twitter and other SM the way I do.
I’ve tried to explain Twitter to them. But like most other people who make fun of us social media-ites: they’re usually not too keen on listening. It’s that kind of closed-mindedness that frustrates me.
Of course, this criticism isn’t limited to my family. I’ve heard similar sentiments at work as well. Twitter and SM haters think it’s a waste of time. They think that I and others merely post updates about what kind of sandwich we’re eating. They claim that nobody cares what I or even a celebrity is doing at any given time.
Of course, the only sandwich I will ever tweet about is the Crispy Buffalo Chicken Sandwich from The Vine in Iowa City. Seriously, it’s so addictive, it’s deep-fried crack (courtesy Matt Farrell). But I fundamentally disagree that even pure status updates are insignificant. I for one am interested in what my friends are doing or what celebrities are doing/thinking.
Especially for celebrities and other well-known people, Twitter is a revolutionary tool. Never before has there been a marketing and public relations tool that lets well-known individuals connect directly to their fans and the public at large. There’s fast becoming no need to use the traditional mediums to communicate with consumers/fans/casual observers. Even the media now does much of its reporting using direct tweets from celebrities and other well-known people. While using tweets alone is lazy journalism, it’s certainly valid to use direct-quote tweets as part of one’s reporting.
This form of communication makes fans feel more directly connected to their favorite celebs than ever before. Such use of Twitter is only expanding. Of course, there are those who are now becoming celebrities in their own right because they’ve mastered Twitter and SM and are communicating things that other SM users are interested in consuming.
The other well-propagated myth courtesy of Twitter haters is that the “pointless” status updates are its only use. Nothing could be further from the truth. I started using Twitter as a status updater. Now, I feel like I’m only at the tip of the iceberg in terms of its use for news and information gathering, communicating, networking and professional development.
I get most of my news from Twitter. And no, that doesn’t mean I’m getting 140 chars on each story. If you’re interested in something, you follow the link and read on. Rather than going to 20 separate news sites, I follow 20 news twitter accounts, and get much more information than I would otherwise. It allows everyone to be their own reporter (which for a former reporter like me is quite a nice fix).
And as a former reporter transitioning into the world of public relations, I have learned more about my new profession in a month or two by following fellow PR pros than I could have reading any single book. And so far I’m only reading a fraction of the blogs that I should be and hope to be. I’ve also found free webinars that I know are going to make me a better professional and will benefit my research lab. SM is to thank for that.
The networking comes naturally with the professional development. That’s an element I’m looking forward to taking advantage of more in the near future. I’ve found some awesome and inspiring young gals and guys doing really innovative things, and I want to become a more active participant in the conversation myself.
Ultimately, maybe I can’t convince my family members or anyone the many beneficial and exciting uses for Twitter and other SM. As friend and tweeter extraordinaire Adam Sullivan said (tweeted) to me, “The only people who don’t like Twitter are the ones that don’t get it.” I’m not convinced I fully “get it” yet, but I’m eager and excited to continue learning. I’m utterly convinced that Twitter (or something like it) is the future of media. So you’re only hurting yourself if you’re not at least attempting to get it.
To paraphrase Rick Clancy, the head of social media for Sony “the conversation is happening with or without you.”
I’m used to being made fun of for any number of things by my family. My slenderness; my tendency to sunburn at the lake; my ginormous head size (though we all have that curse, not just me!). It’s just something my family does. We all have robust senses of humor. But the mocking of my social media use bothers me a little. Mostly because I wish they got Twitter and other SM the way I do.
I’ve tried to explain Twitter to them. But like most other people who make fun of us social media-ites: they’re usually not too keen on listening. It’s that kind of closed-mindedness that frustrates me.
Of course, this criticism isn’t limited to my family. I’ve heard similar sentiments at work as well. Twitter and SM haters think it’s a waste of time. They think that I and others merely post updates about what kind of sandwich we’re eating. They claim that nobody cares what I or even a celebrity is doing at any given time.
Of course, the only sandwich I will ever tweet about is the Crispy Buffalo Chicken Sandwich from The Vine in Iowa City. Seriously, it’s so addictive, it’s deep-fried crack (courtesy Matt Farrell). But I fundamentally disagree that even pure status updates are insignificant. I for one am interested in what my friends are doing or what celebrities are doing/thinking.
Especially for celebrities and other well-known people, Twitter is a revolutionary tool. Never before has there been a marketing and public relations tool that lets well-known individuals connect directly to their fans and the public at large. There’s fast becoming no need to use the traditional mediums to communicate with consumers/fans/casual observers. Even the media now does much of its reporting using direct tweets from celebrities and other well-known people. While using tweets alone is lazy journalism, it’s certainly valid to use direct-quote tweets as part of one’s reporting.
This form of communication makes fans feel more directly connected to their favorite celebs than ever before. Such use of Twitter is only expanding. Of course, there are those who are now becoming celebrities in their own right because they’ve mastered Twitter and SM and are communicating things that other SM users are interested in consuming.
The other well-propagated myth courtesy of Twitter haters is that the “pointless” status updates are its only use. Nothing could be further from the truth. I started using Twitter as a status updater. Now, I feel like I’m only at the tip of the iceberg in terms of its use for news and information gathering, communicating, networking and professional development.
I get most of my news from Twitter. And no, that doesn’t mean I’m getting 140 chars on each story. If you’re interested in something, you follow the link and read on. Rather than going to 20 separate news sites, I follow 20 news twitter accounts, and get much more information than I would otherwise. It allows everyone to be their own reporter (which for a former reporter like me is quite a nice fix).
And as a former reporter transitioning into the world of public relations, I have learned more about my new profession in a month or two by following fellow PR pros than I could have reading any single book. And so far I’m only reading a fraction of the blogs that I should be and hope to be. I’ve also found free webinars that I know are going to make me a better professional and will benefit my research lab. SM is to thank for that.
The networking comes naturally with the professional development. That’s an element I’m looking forward to taking advantage of more in the near future. I’ve found some awesome and inspiring young gals and guys doing really innovative things, and I want to become a more active participant in the conversation myself.
Ultimately, maybe I can’t convince my family members or anyone the many beneficial and exciting uses for Twitter and other SM. As friend and tweeter extraordinaire Adam Sullivan said (tweeted) to me, “The only people who don’t like Twitter are the ones that don’t get it.” I’m not convinced I fully “get it” yet, but I’m eager and excited to continue learning. I’m utterly convinced that Twitter (or something like it) is the future of media. So you’re only hurting yourself if you’re not at least attempting to get it.
To paraphrase Rick Clancy, the head of social media for Sony “the conversation is happening with or without you.”
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