My Social Media Campaign Plan

My URL: https://www.facebook.com/rachellesherman.art/photos_stream?tab=photos_albums

Mission Statement: I am an Artist. I create beauty in a captured momnet.  I create a moment of pause and reflection.  My aim is to create a quiet refuge for people to visit any time of the day through the art I create. 

Objective:  To create and sell art that captures a special moment to reflect and or seek refuge.

Sample Audience:

Jon Vailand 38 Is a History Professor at the College and his wife teaches Art History at the collage as well. They do not have any children, but have two cats. They love music, concerts, good food, and traveling. They recently saved up to take a trip to Europe. While traveling they created many memorable experiences. They particularly loved a beach in Lønstrup, Denmark, an old cemetery that is falling into to ocean. As awful as that sounds it was beautiful to them. It was one of the best days of their lives! Jon decided to have me paint a painting of that special spot so that every time they see it it will take them back to that special place and time.

Kelly Compass is 65 she teaches yoga and her husband Tyler is Physical therapist. They have four children and 7 grandchildren. They spend any spare time that they have with their kids and grandchildren and have even taken the whole family on a cruise! Their oldest granddaughter is graduating from High School and going to collage at Utah State. She is an incredible dancer, her main love is Ballet. They will miss her terribly and have hired me to paint a portrait of her in her Ballerina attire to capture this momentous time in her life, so that even though she will be away she will still seem very close to home every time they see portrait.

Cassey Andres is 44 years old, she runs a catering business out of her home. Her husband is a financial advisor. They have three young children and one on the way. They have recently built there dream home and have switched out all of the old furniture they have collected in their earlier years of marriage and have changed the style in their home to a more modern style, clean lines, lots of white and stainless steel. They have asked me to create a large wood panel piece to fill a large wall in the great room with a bright bold modern painting.

Well Informed 2.0-Racism

I read an article from the Huffington Post written by Roberto Montoya he as a teacher, student, lecturer and co-founder of R.A.C.E. studies, teaches and writes about the topic of racism.   In his blog post he gets comments ranging from full support to "stop being a puss."  A recent comment from a college asking him to stop fueling the fire and look more for solutions.   This comment is what really got to him.  He feels that writing about his feelings is what gets to the cause.  The cause he felt, is not racism but a larger problem of white supremacy.  He pleaded to fight to end white supremacy and asked whites to work against their own unearned privilege to make this happen. 

I feel like I don't truly understand racism or white supremacy for that matter.  I know it exists I know it is real but I just don't understand it.  My first racist comment the I recall was that of my Grandma talking to my mother I was probably only 7.  She commented that so and so white girl was marrying a black man...scandalous! I remember thinking so what? I didn't understand what the problem with this was.  I went to schools in Arizona where there were always black kids probably more white kids but a good number of black kids too.  one of my first "boyfriends" that I "went with" in 5th grade was black.  I dated other black boys in college as well. 

 I was able to live over seas recently  for a couple years and noticed totally different dynamics between black and whites living in the UK vs USA.  In the UK they talk, walk, dress the same as white folks where as in the USA there is often a difference in these mannerism.  I feel like the mannerisms generally express hostility and a attitude .  I feel like if our country was built up without the wrongful acts of taking humans from Africa ripping them away from their family and culture and bringing the here to build up our country as slaves, that the attitude  and interaction between whites and blacks would be more like it is in the UK, not a issue. But can the wrong be undone? Will we ever be able to undo the damage that was done?  How can the wrongs that were done be made right?  For one I feel like white folks should never tell black folks to "stop being a pussy" or stop venting their anger.  We will never know the pain and suffering that has been endured and how it has affected the next  generations.  If I could I would give all the African Americans a big hug and apologized to them for the things that my ancestors did to their ancestors I would.  I feel like this kind of attitude, an apologetic attitude is a starting point.  Beyond that I don't know what the answer is.  Maybe we should be asking this question to this gentleman instead of basically telling him to shut-up. 

As far as the comment where this gentleman asks whites to work against their own unearned privilege to make this happen. I don't understand this comment.  Do I feel privileged because I am white?  I don't think so, maybe I do?  Obviously he feels this way for a reason.  But truth be told I have always felt like white folks are envious of black folks, I am.  If any thoughts of supremacy are going on in my head it is black supremacy!  I am generalizing but I feel like the black culture has more culture. I once was at a drill/band competition at a military base in Chicago where I was the only white person in an entire stadium.  The feeling was incredible! Everyone elderly to toddlers were dancing to the music. The band sounded like no High School band I had ever heard!  There was so much love, sass, attitude and support.  Is it racist for me to say that it seems like black folks do everything better then white folks?  Music, sports, dancing?  In a Music in the USA class when we studied the first American made music it was... you guessed it made by black folks.  It was the campfire fun and dancing that white folks tried to copy.  The early minstrel shows where white folks dressed like black folks, they painted their faces and tried to sing and dance like blacks.  This now is seen as racist, but I personal feel like this is just the start of a continuing trend of white folks trying to emulate blacks in their innovative music!   This started with these minstrel shows and was followed by marching bands, vaudeville, ragtime, crooning, jazz... on and on to rock'n roll and now days rap.   Its always a pattern of blacks inventing music it and whites copying it.  This is my opinion.  This is also my way of fight white supremacy.   I disagree with this idea.  If I had to choose a superior race, I think that the African Americans  are a superior race.  I am apologetic for how they arrived in this country but am glad they are here contributing in arts, music, and sports and many other way to this county!

One the Media #1 The Digital Dark Ages

When I learned the the technology used to build the Pantheons unreinforced dome in 27 AD was lost and that we do not know how it was built, or that an entire city, Pompeii was destroyed in 79 AD and forgotten about for 1500 years and not rediscovered until 1599, it really made me think about the importance of written records.  Many people scan and destroy all of their hard copies of photos books and records into digital format, and get rid of their hard copies of these things.  Digital books and information are replacing textbooks, newspaper, magazines and the need for libraries.  It sounds like a good idea but when I think back to these two ancient examples of what can be lost without a written record it makes me wonder what would happen if all of our digital data was lost.

"The Digital Dark" age is the podcast that I was interested in for the "On the Media" assignment.  They explore this very same idea.  If we as a species lost access to electronic records by either passage of time and computers or their software becoming obsolete,  or suddenly by a cosmic disaster, we could no longer draw from the well of knowledge accrues through the ages, and would experience this "Digital Dark age"

It is very concerning that we are so complacent about our media storage.  Hard drives fail, DVDs or plastic deteriorates.   Even if your data survives 20-30 years will there be a computer or machine to read it?  Or can your current soft ware even translate it?  This problem is called "bit rot".

Some possible solutions to this "bit rot " problem are creating of a digital velum(animal skin) or storing information in a digital DNA.   These solutions pose questions.   Who will be responsible to do this?  Who will pay and store these massive amounts of information?  Where will if be stored?  How affordable or attainable will it be?   What institution should or could be trusted with all of this information-private or government?

In addition to bit rot, another looming threat is solar flares or Electromagnetic pulses that happen from time to time both large and small.  A very large solar flare just missed the earth in 2012, if it had hit the earth it could of instantly put us back in the 1800's.  In 1859 a large solar flare caused telegraph machines used at that time to catch fire.

I think that either way protecting the world of knowledge should be a priority.  We understand that all the knowledge we have gained could easily be lost through just one generation. Psychologically it is hard for people to want to spend time money and resources one a problem that is not currently seen like this problem or a problem like global warming.  Other issues that are more entwined with our daily lives seem to take priority.  Socially a setback with a sudden loss of satellite, TV, cell phones and power grid would cause chaos and the amount of time to restore these technological conveniences is unknown.  Some countries such as the UK have built alternative ship navigation systems but countries like the US have done nothing.

I enjoy the convenience of digital technology but  hesitate to toss hard copies of music, books and other written records. It make me nervous to see libraries of books being replaced by libraries online.  I do think this is an area that deserves more discussion and solutions to be found. 

My Social Media Campaign Plan

For my social media ad campaign I would like to do an art page where I can display, discuss, and sell my art.  I currently sell most my art from social media to friends, but recently have had people I don't personally know show interest in viewing and purchasing my art.  I don't really want to add them on my personal page where I post about my kids, other non art posts, and other personal things.   I want to make a page that has all my current followers but is separate from my personal page. I am interested in selling my existing art, in commissions, and recently have been painting special vacation spots that folks have visited for them to display and preserve special memories of traveling. 

#sotu

Obama, "I believe in you!"  or "I don't believe you!"  This is pretty much what I feel it boils down to.  I logged on to Twitter and since no one was commenting on the State of the Union address on Facebook or Twitter I clicked on the official #SOTU twitter feed which seemed to be screened because most of the posts were by the White House and were re-quoting portions of the speech or were positive or humorous comments.  The feed didn't have any strong reactive comments other then the "I don't believe you" tweet which I took a screen shot.  Ironically the ONLY comment on my Facebook was from a High School friend of mine that stated the exact opposite!  ""I believe in you..." As far as rhetoric goes the entire speech was full of persuasive warm happy comments that almost for a moment made me feel like things are fabulous.  Our economy, education, environmental issues, retirement and health care, all are doing well in the U.S.of A.  For a moment I felt like I did as a young child watching politicians on TV and believing what was said by our president and having faith in what he said.  But that was a long time ago, I no longer believe that politicians speak the truth.  I look at politics the same way I view advertising, fake and with a motive.  So although I may have been affected temporarily  by the rhetoric, the feelings are not lasting.  I want to hope. I want to believe, but in the end I feel like money and corruption are what determine the direction on our country.