My DKIT experience :)

Ahhh my experience in Dundalk :) Its hard for me to some up my time in DKIT as its been bitter/sweet. Bitter in the sense that assignments and exams made me want to pull my hair out at the best of times :).

Sweet in the sense that I really have had some of the best experiences in my time in college, from rag weeks to take me out, from drunken falls to wearing heels at a beach party ( not the best idea mind you) I wouldn't change any of it.

The past four years really have gone by so quick and its hard for me to believe that in just a few shorts weeks college will be all done for me and its into the big bad world (for real ;) ) So where do I start...First year really was the best year for me. Meeting so many new people and giving me a new found confidence because never in my life before did I have to get up in front of a class of 40 and present an assignment that I had just done (most terrifying concept EVER) However on the other side we had so many memorable nights out that I will honestly NEVER forget.

<<<<These are just some of the amazing people that I met in my time in college. Some of the best friends I will ever have :) There are many others in my class that I love ;) yas know who ya are :)

College was a totally knew experience for me and I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to have it. From extremely friendly lecturers throughout the years to random people that you never met willing to have a laugh regardless of the fact that they didnt know you :)

There are so many memories for me from DKIT and its hard for me to fit it all in to one blog but I would just like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for making it an experience I will never forget :)

Lou
xx

Media Exposure

Well where do you start with media exposure. A breakdown of media exposure is quiet difficult because it is so vast but over the last couple of years in particular social media has taken over the media world. Not so long ago to find out any information you would have to read the newspaper or watch the news but now all you have to do is log on to facebook or twitter and any piece of information or news is worldwide within seconds.

From the Internet to smart phones this information is so easily accessible its scary. You only really think of your media exposure as the first time you logged on to a computer and set up some sort of hotmail, bebo or other social site but realistically you have been exposed to media from a very young age. Things like television, radio, movies etc.

As far as I was concerned my first media exposure was the Internet. Hotmail and Bebo was a huge step for me into the media world and I remember it was all anyone could talk about. But now all everyone talks about facebook which will fizzle out and then become twitter or some other form of social networking site. Which shows how quick the media world changes.

Through my time in college I have come to know other forms of media such as LinkedIn ( which to be honest I had never heard of ) or other sites like twitter as well. Youtube and wikipedia are other huge media exposures. Even these blogs are so new to me. You can read different blogs from all over the world just by clicking next blog.

In recent times it seems that media exposure has been blamed for teens behavioural problems, health problems etc. I recently read an article which had been an experiment on a child who was exposed to media through the internet, video games and social sites in comparison to a child who had been hidden away from it. The results were shocking, the child who had been exposed was 6lbs overweight had had serious rage problems and insomnia, waking up 4 or 5 times a night with nightmares.

These are sides to the media exposure that you never see. It can go from one extreme to the next with teens thinking they need to look a certain way because thats how the celebs look in the magazines. They dont see that the celebs are airbrushed and made to look like that for advertisng purposes.

Media exposure is a bitter/sweet part of life and to break it down anymore would be a difficult task.
Hope you enjoyed reading :)

The Voice Uk vs The Voice of Ireland

So I'm slightly embarrassed by the fact that The Voice UK is 100 times better than The Voice of Ireland. I mean we get Brian Kennedy and they get Will.I.Am.

I was amazed to see that for once Ireland had aired a show before it had aired in The UK only to be completely devastated when the coaches for The UK were revealed. They have the legendary Tom Jones, Jessie J, Will.I.Am and our very own Danny O'Donoghue from the Script. Also presented by the gorgeous Holly Willoughby and the ever so yummy Reggie Yates.

 

Now I completely understand (well as I'm aware) the BBC has a much bigger budget than RTE but that doesn't take away from the fact that straight away our viewings were more than likely cut in half due to the Voice UK. The only thing really keeping people watching was BRESSIE and its not hard to know why :)
It seems pretty clear to me that Irish television has a long way to go :/ but in saying that if I could sing I would probably still try out for the Voice of Ireland because I would be terrified of the reaction of the coaches on The Voice UK ;)

This says it all :) enjoy

Voice UK:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX38z_Ar9yI

Voice Ireland:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd75CtE9vII

xx

Clara Lara

OK so as you are all aware I'm sure :) We did our assignment on Clara Lara.

The aim of this assignment was to take somewhere in the industry and re-brand it. So we decided to completely change Clara Lara by giving it a new name, logo and slogan. We named it "Wild Wood Park" and our slogan was show your wild side.

We wanted people to remember the name, a sort of roll of the tongue effect while having the fun element Incorporated by "showing your wild side" :)

We wanted to give ourselves a challenge and decided by re-branding it we could do anything we wanted to it. This even gave us the opportunity to create our own website, which was a fantastic experience. The Clara Lara website itself is in a sense shocking, when you click on the different tabs most of them are either unavailable or full of pop ups claiming you have won €20,000. By creating the new website we were able to modernise the website by having facebook links, twitter links and my favourite an online booking system. This will drive more traffic to the website and create forums where people can ask questions.

I strongly believe that Clara Lara should take some of these recommendations on board. This will allow them to come in as possibly the best adventure park in Ireland and by expanding the park to cater for adults and teenagers as well they are opening up to a much broader audience allowing them to make the most out of this fantastic location where the park is situated.

Hope you enjoyed reading :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIY3BF-OozI&feature=fvst



Youtube

I'm absolutely loving you tube at the minute....Where else would you find the most absurd, weird and wonderful videos all posted by individuals who are either trying to have a laugh or really feel strongly about something. You could spend hours upon hours searching through ridiculous videos and not even notice the time go by. I have often sat down to do something on the computer and found myself completely distracted by YouTube.

For me personally I go to you tube to find music videos and videos that could keep me laughing for days. One that had me in stitches was: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HttF5HVYtlQ this video has had over 5 million views which is amazing.

Other videos that have grabbed my attention were: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzzYfDin5Dw

If you were in any sort of a bad mood then you tube would be the place to go and just search funny videos, there are thousands of videos to keep you entertained for hours, you will soon forget about your bad mood!
Its also the only place you can go if you missed something that you really wanted to see or news that might be important to you. It is a way to get yourself noticed for a talent or just for being plain silly.

It seriously gets a thumbs up from me :)

Mobile Commerce/Wireless Technology

Over the last few years you can really start to notice the difference in Mobile phones. The main one now is the "smart phones" which allows you to have the Internet amongst other things no matter where you are.

It’s all a bit strange to me and I still find it mind boggling (ooh ;)) how wireless technology works. I just can’t get my head around it at all and don't think I ever will.


In my opinion, Apple has really taken charge of the mobile commerce world with the Iphone now probably being the most popular smart phone out there. Not only do they have smart phones but they also have touch screen TVs, Laptops, Computers and Ipads. These can all be connected to Wireless networks which allow you to surf the web as well as look up simple things like the weather.


I just feel if this is what has happened in the last couple of years what is going to happen in the future :O really cant understand it!!!!

Technology Fast

So for my technology fast I decided to give up email for 48hrs…now to be fair I chickened out and took the easy option because I rarely use email anyway so this was of no trouble to me…needless to say I would have been lost with out my phone and I seriously don't use the word lost lightly.

Isn't strange how attached we become to technology?

If my phone goes dead my thought process goes into overdrive and I become concerned about how people are going to contact me and even when i leave it at home just to charge I feel like there is something missing. I certainly don't think that this is a good thing. And its all because of these: Smart phones as they are known

I remember the days when we didn't have phones to fuss over and worry about and if someone wanted to contact you they would ring the house phone and ask for you. The only time I use the house phone now is if my bill goes over on my mobile :O even when someone rings the house phone now my reaction is shocked. Technology is just going to keep growing and growing, so what can we do but except it and make the most of it?