Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with communications

What would you use to "build your own" wire service for a company?

dadici — Wed, 15 May 2013 15:29:09 -0800

I'm developing a proposal to overhaul the way my company thinks about communication. One of the major components that would allow this to work is the creation of what is essentially a "wire service". What software already exists to do this? (lots of details inside) We have a "noise" problem in our communications - all the departments are shouting so loud that our stakeholders aren't HEARING the message. In an effort to practically streamline communications I'm proposing a complete overhaul of our comms procedures. The centerpiece of this would be a central repository that:

All creators could submit articles to

Creators could write an abstract of their article

Would allow multiple types of tags
- Role Based Tags (ie, Manager, End User)
- Content Based Tags
- Action Based Tags (ie, FYI, Distribute, Complete)

Would then allow reports to be run based on tags or multiples of tags, so there would be a "Curator" in charge of the manager mailing list, they would see all articles tagged manager and decide what was relevant based on the abstract

My company has about 30,000 employees, all of whom are potential content creators. Realistically we'd be looking at about 1,000 active creators. This may be accessed (reading only) by our client base as well (200k+) so I'm looking for something robust. Cost is not a major factor at this juncture.

Realistically the actual software is outside of my scope for this, but it will make my presentation much more credible if I have something I can at least refer to myself for a realistic view of what capabilities are available on the ready made market.

What should I look for in a Public Relations/Communications program?

winterportage — Mon, 06 May 2013 09:12:25 -0800

I'm thinking of enrolling for Fall 2013, and I'm interested in a practical, skills based (as opposed to academic) program. What courses are absolutely essential nowadays? My dream job would be to do Communications for a performing arts theatre, music festival, non profit organization, trade association or something like that. I'd also like to have these skills in general, in case I decide to volunteer for a political party. Yes- I know I would be poor forever- but for now this is what I'm going with. If I have to work in the corporate world instead some day that's fine too.

I am looking for a one-year post grad program in Ontario or Quebec (Montreal would be my #1 choice-- so much so that I'd consider going there even if the program is not as good because I think it's the best place for what I want to do). Some of the choices I'm considering are McGill, Concordia, Loyalist and Algonquin.

Courses I think I would need:
Fundraising
Event Management
Digital Media

Internship/Coop placement?

I know volunteering is going to be my way in moreso than the college diploma, but I want to go back to school and I think something like this would make me more confident in feeling like I would know what I'm doing on the job. Also, based on an informational interview I did last week, it seems like a college program in addition to my arts degree is a good combo.

Basically, if you are in PR, what courses would you deem essential to any college program that is worth doing? Also, I know that there are no jobs anywhere, I'm going to be poor, etc etc, but for now this is what I'm considering.

Nonprofit Headhunters in NY?

Violet Blue — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 07:44:24 -0800

Wanted: Names of headhunters that place communications professionals in nonprofit jobs in NYC, plus advice. Got any? I asked a question about finding a Content Strategy position (in a digital marketing agency) here a month or so ago, and got excellent advice. Among other things I was counseled to put together an online portfolio, which I've been avidly doing. And I'm just about ready to send some resumes out ... but I'm wondering whether I shouldn't weigh the pros and cons of working for a straight-out nonprofit at the same time.

I've got more than a dozen years of editorial experience (books) and 2 1/2 years working exclusively for nonprofits. In my nonprofit role, I've primarily worked with Web content, research/discovery, content organization, usability, navigation, and mock-ups hence the content strategy angle.

But I've also been working with design, video, social media blogging, and the creation of newsletters, press kits, fundraising kits, and the like.

My current title is Senior Content & Communications Strategist, so I'm straddling both worlds. And the key to my interests is I'm very much a Jill-of-all-trades, and happily so, with an overall focus that encompasses communications in all its forms. And, in some ways, it strikes me this skillset would be most useful to a nonprofit. Thoughts?

Okay, so my questions are:

Is this enough nonprofit experience to get me a communications job for a nonprofit?
If so, what kind of title/level would I be looking at?
How much would such positions pay?
Finally, do you have any recommendations for NYC nonprofit placement agents or agencies?

Many thanks!

Tell me just what a communications campaign is exactly.

pinetree — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 06:03:35 -0800

I've been asked to invent a mock communications campaign for a non-profit organization based around their primary cause. There's just one problem: I've never done that before. Like, I literally don't understand what a communications campaign is in a tangible "this is what you put on paper" way. I'm supposed to identify messages, timeline, key audiences, plus vehicles and strategies to reach the target audiences. Finally, I'm supposed to say how I'd measure the campaign's success. The whole thing is only supposed to be a couple of pages.

Given my work background in communications and marketing, I think I have a decent grasp on the various parts I just listed above, but I still feel really intimidated. I'm worried I would approach this mock campaign in a style that won't adhere to some sort of standard format.

To clarify, I'm not asking for MeFites to tell me ideas for what I should include in the campaign. I have plenty of ideas, but I've never ever been asked to "write" a communications campaign before and I feel like I'm in over my head.

I'm looking just for examples of a communications campaign in this particular format described in the first paragraph. Are there industry websites or blogs out there I should look at? Is there a book I should borrow from the library? I'm honestly stumped about where I'm supposed to turn to get a clear picture of what my finished product is supposed to look like.

I'd greatly appreciate answers from anyone in the Hive Mind who does this sort of thing for a living.

Thanks so much in advance.

Managing difficult stakeholders: Bad writer edition

embrangled — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 18:17:52 -0800

Professional communicators of Metafilter: Please give me your tips for handling subject matter experts who write poorly, but don't know it. When a colleague is adamant that their disorganised writing and grammatical errors Must Not Be Changed, how do you respond? I am responsible for the final copy, so one way or another, the problems are going to be fixed. Lines like "A large amount of volunteers..." are not going on the damn website. (Unless said bad writer starts mincing them, I guess...)

But being a grammar nazi wins you no friends, especially in an organisation which is still adjusting to having a communications professional on staff. I want to take a kinder, gentler approach. Please give me your best advice on how to make the necessary edits while keeping relationships intact and egos relatively unbruised. How can I get the bad writer to see me as an asset, not a threat?

(To head off any derails: 90% of my colleagues are happy with my work; they tell me that I help them say what they wanted to say, only better. The bad writer is a notable exception to this trend).

What's wrong? jacking mic and headphones for Frankenstein headset

cheesyburgercheese — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 07:26:57 -0800

I really want to combine my headphones with my microphone so that I can use it as a headset on my home phone. So I got a 3.5mm splitter and a 3.5mm to 2.5mm adapter so that I can plug the mic and headset together, then reduce it to 2.5mm so it can plug into my phone. It doesn't work. Why? More details inside... I did all this and I can hear calls great over the headphones, but sadly the microphone is not feeding through at all. I tried switching plugs, and I've tested the mic on my computer so it is not faulty. Clearly since I can hear callers the headphones are not faulty so I suspect that it may be a problem with the jack or splitter....

I have used a cheap crappy headset/mic combo on my phone and that works - but that is what I was trying to replace so I can still make and hear calls easily when my kids are happily playing (and making noise). I also wanted to do it this way so that if a component breaks I can replace it... of course since the components don't seem to be playing together well it's kinda a mute point.

I'm kind of at a loss as to what is wrong - shouldn't it just work?

Formatting question: including an infographic with a press release

dottiechang — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 18:04:45 -0800

I work for an advocacy organization and we're getting ready to send out a press release. I know this will make me sound old fashioned, but I'd like to include an infographic we've developed and I'm not sure what the right way to do it is. I know sending images and graphics with press releases is very common now, but I've never needed to do it before. I usually send things like that as a follow up to interested reporters. In this case, we want to send the graphic to everyone off the bat. We're in between communications directors, so I don't have guidance within my organization.

Do I include it as a part of the press statement before the ### or include a link to it or include as an attachment? I usually do the press statement in the body of the e-mail I send instead of an attachment.

I'm just looking for advice style-wise as to what is the norm.

If anyone on here is a journalist, I'd love to hear what you prefer and any other things I can do to my press statement to make it more useful/attractive to you.

NO CARRIER

furtive — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 10:48:12 -0800

Let's say you have a global disaster where the traditional web is no longer available (all ISPs are down, or a virus/cyber-attack incapacitates the web for entire regions of the world). What are the data communication alternatives in this sort of context? Is anyone still running a BBS? Does anyone even have a dialup modem anymore? Is there something better than this? Is there an established alternative, much like Short Wave Radio is an established global emergency communication network? Are there ad hoc networks people can join given the right software and hardware?

What would the solution be, and what equipment would be required, POTS? BBS software? The Canadian military used IRC as an alternate communication channel in preparation for Y2K. Has anything evolved beyond that? Is anyone spearheading an alternative or planning for this?

PR resume building

dfc5656 — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 16:12:31 -0800

I am a recent PR/communications graduate. I was wondering if there was a place to find freelance/volunteer opportunities in order to build my resume and experience?

Help me figure out a job title for myself?

attercoppe — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:47:55 -0800

In my organization, we're not great at job titles. Mostly they aren't really needed. But for what I do it would be helpful, when contacting people both within and without the organization, to have a title to use that both speaks to what I do and gives folks an idea that I'm someone who is authorized to [get information/make changes to accounts and procedures/make decisions/spend money/whatever]. The organization is a medium-large church, with multiple sub-ministries spread over a handful of campuses in a smallish city. I'm the de facto assistant to the sort of second-in-command of the Facilities department, whose title, if he had one, would probably involve Special Projects. (I told you we don't do titles well.) He does a fair amount of the day-to-day operations of managing the maintenance side of the Facilities department. He also (as do I) does things like logistics for events like conferences; traffic and parking (mostly on Sundays); oversight/planning on remodels and office moves; and we generally try to prevent problems from happening and solve them when they do.

I am additionally involved in some of the other areas of Facilities (which also includes custodial, security, transportation, and room scheduling), and am increasingly our technology guy. We have an IT department - that's not me (though I do work with them too; I run and terminate nearly all the network and phone cabling). I'm the researcher/consultant for things like the proximity card access system and the computer-controlled HVAC on the building we just bought. I'm the guy that comes up with higher-tech solutions that others in Facilities don't, just because I know more about what's available to throw at an issue.
I also do quite a bit of low-level logistics work, just seeing that things run smoothly and that good communication happens; that when there is a proposed change the people who will be affected have input and buy-in, and the things and processes that will be affected won't break or be obsolete.

And coming up...I'm currently training on AutoCAD, the plan being we will get all the as-built plans for all our various buildings digital and in-house, and update them as we make changes (like the aforementioned remodeling). I also have been doing some number-crunching on growth statistics - facilities management kind of stuff like square footage of space as compared to number of maintenance personnel.

So as you can tell (if you read all that), I do a variety of things. As a group my tasks are largely related to technology and (what I refer to as) logistics. So what's a good title for me that indicates the area(s) I work in yet signals that it's legit for me to be poking into other areas as well? (Feel free to totally make up titles too, they don't have to be existing real-world examples.)

Help me become a social media marketing expert

pwnguin — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 19:34:48 -0800

I want to transform my department's social media team into the campus experts on social media. What are the books, workshops, tools, websites and communities I should be looking into? The person who managed this stuff left a year ago, and it's clear that our student team that was hired in the lurch isn't getting enough attention or guidance. What I'd like to do is learn enough to mentor this team, partially to help build my own niche within the dept, and partially to become competent enough to relieve our director of the duty of managing this team.

I know how to use most social media (except maybe Pinterest) on a personal level, but I'd like to figure out the 'srs bsns' side of it. For example, Twitter. We have a few accounts, with a total of around 3500 followers. I'd like to have some guidelines on what / how much to retweet, when to use a hashtag, and what relevant metrics (other than the obvious, followers) to track.

I'd also love to have some software (preferably open source) to queue up stuff and release it over time, to help compensate for variable student schedules. You can tell which days our social media student employee is in, for example, because we get five to ten tweets / posts that day, and none on the others. I think having a buffer will help smooth things out, and let us focus on reaching goals.

I know there's a lot of sketchy advice on SEO and social media, so I'm turning to the metafilter for advice!

How do I write a blog that's professional and personal?

kat518 — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 13:48:43 -0800

I work in communications and would like to start a blog that I could link to from Twitter and LinkedIn. But I'd also like to write about my personal life. How do I thread this needle? I'm a mid-level communications professional for a major national nonprofit. I also organize a regular get-together for fellow professionals with an email list of 900+ members. I consider myself a writer so I would like to write more and start a blog to show off my writing skills and (barf) build my personal brand.

I'd like to write about work, including writing, social media, communications, as well as work life, like networking and dealing with colleagues. However, I don't just want to write about work life. I'd like to write about things that interest me, events I attend, organizations I volunteer for, activities in which I participate. I'd even like to write about friends, family and my generally boring life.

I'm lousy at self promotion but I pride myself on being genuine, perhaps painfully so. I would like to motivate, encourage and inspire and I think a good way to do that is to write about things with which I have struggled. But I don't want to be in a position where I am applying for a job, someone reads my blog and thinks, this person is crazy. I do enough to self-sabotage :)

Do I need to start two blogs - one under a fake or non-name and another under my name? Do I need to approach everything I post from the perspective of, if a potential future employer saw this, would they freak out? I realize that to some extent, I don't want to work for people who would freak out if they knew some personal things about me but I worry that if I self-censor all the time, I won't have anything to write about.

Not having things to write about is another concern of mine. I frequently sit down to write and nothing happens. Do I have to update on a schedule or is it better to focus on quality writing occasionally than half-hearted writing regularly? Are there places I can look for writing prompts that would be helpful?

I've heard bloggers say and I've encouraged others to just write and see what happens, that the things you write about are the things you write about and therefore what you blog about. I'm concerned that I might be writing a blog about doing yoga badly and weak communications advice.

If I wanted to blog specifically about work or link to work, is that something I should talk to a manager about to cover my butt? When do you start promoting your blog? I would like to use the blog as an opportunity to discuss that which can't be covered in 140 characters on Twitter, so I'd like to be able to tweet blog updates but I don't want to do that right now because there are so few posts and the ones that are there are about doing yoga badly and weak communications advice. I do not want my personal brand to be that of a person who does yoga badly and offers weak communications advice.

I also feel frustrated with the idea of blogging because I worry that I don't have much that is truly unique to add to the conversation. But I still think it's a good idea because, well, who really does? Also, there is that line in The King's Speech where Geoffrey Rush asks why anyone should listen to Colin Firth and he exclaims, "Because I have a voice!" But I would watch Colin Firth read the phone book so maybe that's not the best idea.

TL; DR - I'd like to start a blog but I worry that what I'm starting with isn't very good. I don't want people to read mediocre stuff I've written and judge me based on it. What do I do (besides become a better writer)?

Considering an MA.

Think_Long — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 14:24:58 -0800

My employer will pay for 75% of my tuition in a graduate program. Would a Master's Degree in Communication Studies be a worthy option? I have very few specific career goals for myself. That said, the University I work at will pay for 75% of the tuition on any courses that I take. It seems foolish for me not to take advantage of that offer while I still work here.

I am drawn to the MA in Communication Studies because I would eventually like to move into a position that involves more writing and/or public speaking than I currently do. I don't know if this would be pr, marketing, or a specific communications department, but it seems like this degree may help get me there.

Additionally, I would ideally like to find some success as a writer of my own shit (maybe not on a professional level, but at least on a personal level), so I'm hoping this degree would help me improve my own writing and editing skills at the very least.

I have seen this question. Most of the answers assumed that the OP wanted to go into journalism. I have no intentions of doing that, and if I did, that is not the route I would go.

SO, with all of my vague half-formed thoughts, has your MA in Communication Studies helped you at all? In what ways? In what fields?

Need advice on NGO work in Glasgow!

cendawanita — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 03:14:31 -0800

Would appreciate advice on part-time jobs in Glasgow, for a mature student with an eye on building her CV more than earning pocket money (though that would be good too!). I'm about to begin my Masters at the University of Glasgow in September. My student financial situation is quite secure, so I'm not too fussed about looking for work to augment my living allowance (though I won't turn down the pocket money). Because of that, I am thinking that I should be exploring opportunities that's in line with my interests (politics, communications, media) and my working background (international development; international NGO - in programme management/grants administration capacity; journalism), instead of simply looking for a waitressing/tending gig.

Does this sound feasible? I am looking for advice in terms of the sort of civil society/NGO/media organisation in Glasgow, or the UK/EU at large (if I have to or should plan for a summer internship). I'm from Malaysia, and I've been to London, but this would be my first time in Scotland, and I'm quite conscious that a year-long Masters programme is a short time!

Changing careers: PR edition

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 12:59:56 -0800

How do I prepare for a career in public relations? I am currently a doing a graduate program (part time) while working full time in a job closely tied to the university I'm studying at. While I find my degree fascinating, I don't feel like it's moving me anywhere closer to a new job or a better career.

Due to budget pressure, there is a chance that I'll either have to take a substantial pay-cut or my job won't exist in the next 6 - 12 months, so I am hoping to move on pretty quickly.

I've decided to go back to school for PR. I have a bachelor's degree in English and have done some marketing and communications work in the past (as well as at my current job), but getting a job in marketing, communications, or PR in this town seems almost impossible without having an education in one of those areas. The program I'll be taking is a 10-month accelerated program for those with previous post-secondary experience, followed by a 2-month practicum (which, for many of the students, results in a full-time job).

However, because the program only takes a small number of students each year, I might not be able to get in until the fall of 2013 instead of this September.

Knowing that I'll be starting school full-time in either September of 2012 or September of 2013, what can I do in the meantime in order to help boost my career prospects once I finish the program? This question was somewhat helpful, but isn't quite the same as what I'm asking.

Throwaway email: metafilter.prquestion@gmail.com

Is being ruthlessly overworked as an NGO employee par for the course?

Anonymous — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:19:38 -0800

I've been working in my current position for a little over a year now, and I love most things about it. But: I'm very overworked, exhausted, and I can feel burn-out creeping in. If I leave to work at another organization, will I still be just as busy? Is NGO work only for the super-committed? I've been working in my current position as a community manager/communications coordinator at a small, young NGO for a little over a year now. I love nearly everything about the job - what I'm doing day-to-day, the work I'm supporting, and the potential I can see for my career growth if I stay here.

However, I'm intensely overworked. I feel like I'm doing the jobs of three people; I'm often working solid, non-stop 16 hour days and most of my weekends. In theory I have a month of vacation; in practice I don't see any way I could possibly ever take it. We're a young organization - less than 10 years - and scaling very quickly without a lot of core funding (so we can't hire anyone to support operations). Everyone who works here takes on a lot, but I seem to be in a position that has me taking on a lot more than everyone else (mostly because I have some pretty useful skills that no one else here has). Part of this is my direct supervisor, who is aggressively growing our section without much thought for the limited resources we have (um, me) to support this growth.

I do a lot of professional networking, and I think I could easily move on to another organization at this point. But: given that I am very happy with the exact position I have, and I really, really like the organization I work for, I'm hesitant. The only thing that is making me want to leave is how overworked I am, and I'm worried that it's like that for every NGO; I've certainly heard that everyone is at least a little overworked. I've never worked in this sector before, so I'm not sure if what I'm experiencing here is standard. I'm also not sure that any position I move to will be as interesting to me as this one, and if I leave I'm reasonably sure that I won't be able to progress my career as quickly as I'd like (I can see myself as Director of Communications within the next few years if I stay; that could take a long time to achieve if I were to leave for another organization).

I should also mention that I really value my free time: I have an outside project that I work very hard on and love doing. In my current position it is badly neglected, leaving me feeling stressed out, guilty, and annoyed.

Is this just a normal thing I'm going to have to learn to deal with? If I move on, will I still have just as little free time & regret giving up a good thing?

Do I need to go get a Marketing degree?

Weng — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 21:42:17 -0800

Applying for jobs that fall broadly into the Marketing, PR & Communications field, and need a quick reality check on the issue of qualifications and experience. I have read elsewhere on AskMe that employers will usually have higher regard for a broad liberal arts education than a specific Marketing degree. Is this the case in Australia too? If so, it doesn't seem to be reflected in job advertisements.

I'm finding nearly every role in this area that I've been looking at has criteria such as 'Tertiary qualification in marketing or communications or similar' PLUS 'Solid experience in a communications role' or something along those lines.

I have a liberal arts honours degree with an English major. Would this be the kind of 'similar degree' they're referring to, or am I being naive? It seems so common for the specific Marketing degree to be mentioned that I'm starting to wonder if I'm wasting my time by applying.

I also have a few years' experience in roles that have included lots of PR/comms sorts of activities (writing, editing, events management, design, producing web content, public speaking, promoting my organisation in various ways). So I know that I have all the necessary transferable skills, but as marketing was not the central function of the job, it was not really expressed in the position title. It would be misleading to describe these roles as a 'Marketing job' - rather they are 'Jobs that include marketing'.

In your opinion, Hive Mind, am I wasting my time applying for these non-entry-level jobs when the first two criteria seem to specifically exclude me? I am just mostly applying and trying my luck anyway (which I have been doing) but I my motivation is fading and I would welcome a little reality check - should I consider getting a Grad Dip or something to get my foot in the door?

In case it's relevant - my dream job would be marketing a nonprofit organisation of some sort, by doing a diverse range of duties from writing to designing newsletters to public speaking to event management etc.

International phone help!

melizabeth — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 18:26:07 -0800

International phone recommendation, looking to buy an unlocked phone in the US before leaving, what should I look for and what works best? I am moving to China in 3 weeks. Looking for phone recommendations. Trying to scout out an unlocked phone - gsm capabilities, wifi would be preferable...any recommendations on brand or model? I'd like to purchase while in the states so that I just have to locate a sim card or wifi access to make calls over skype to tie me over.

I guess a few additional questions are regarding how the sim cards work-- do they work in any phone or is that a feature you need to look for as well?

Books on communications/PR

katopotato — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 02:01:58 -0800

Books on communications/PR I've been thrown in the deep end at work after only a few months in the communications field, and I'm trying to acquire a lot of knowledge quickly. Can you recommend good books on corporate communications and PR? (Blogs, websites, etc. are welcome suggestions too.)

General overviews or books specific to internal communications, media relations, crisis communications, brand strategy, reputation building, social media are all welcome.

Thanks mefi!

Help a Canadian iPhone travel to the US.

OLechat — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 18:01:38 -0800

My SO will be traveling to the US (from Canada) for six weeks, starting this weekend. Help us figure out an iPhone solution so we can stay in touch. SO will be biking down the west coast for the next six weeks. He's looking for a way to use his iPhone 4 (currently with Rogers) without paying outrageous data roaming fees.

Do US carriers offer prepaid data service for the iPhone? Voice service is not crucial here, as he will mostly be "checking in" on his phone for safety.

We understand that we will probably need to unlock and/or jailbreak his phone.

There are a few questions about this all over the web, but they mostly date from 2009 and 2010.

Marketing an internal website

heigh-hothederryo — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:11:30 -0800

Launching a global internal website...how best to market it? The site replaces a number of existing geography-based sites, and has an intended audience of several thousand (which is a fraction of total headcount) employees around the globe, all of whom speak English. Senior management will of course send emails and voicemails, and we'll have Powerpoint slides and the whole megillah.

But, how to really encourage deep interaction with this new resource? Considering screen-based video tutorials, but I doubt many will use them. Embedded video explaining site features? Audio-only instructions available by click? Something outside the site? What makes you really respond to an internal communication and then take action? I'm being vague, yes, but I want some funky ideas.

Ham radio 101, please

catlet — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 12:03:47 -0800

Please tell me about ham radio. This thread on the blue about the protests in Egypt contains a number of comments about ham radio and its utility in situations where the Internet is unavailable. Assume I know nothing about equipment or the process of becoming an operator (because this is true). (I put this in the sports/hobbies category because that's how I've always thought of ham and shortwave radio enthusiasts, but I know there's more to it than that.)

So what exactly are "cables"?

limeonaire — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 11:48:56 -0800

The WikiLeaks release of U.S. diplomatic cables, as detailed in this New York Times article, left me wondering a few things... Throughout the story, I wondered what exactly constituted "cables," as more than half of the diplomatic messages released are from 2007 or later. The NYT offers this brief explanation near the end (on page 4) of the story:

"In an era of satellites and fiber-optic links, the diplomatic cable retains the archaic name of an earlier technological era. It has long been the tool for the secretary of state to dispatch orders to the field and for ambassadors and political officers to send their analyses back to Washington."

The paragraph after that details some of the specialized lexicon still used to describe different types of "cables." But what I want to know is, how are "cables" transmitted and stored? Is there a proprietary system that connects the U.S. to its embassies? I feel like that's an important part of trying to understand the story of their unauthorized release, and the Times account confused me with its omission of those sorts of technical details.

Page 3 of the story notes that some of the cables go back as far as 1979. So it sounds like the body of U.S. diplomatic cables must have been moved from system to system, archive to archive, over the years, as it seems like there's no way the government could still be using the same computer systems to send cables as they were back in 1979—could it?

To recap, these are the things I'm wondering:

1. What is a "cable" today, and how are they transmitted? Is there a specific, proprietary system in place that connects the U.S. government to its embassies, via which such messages are sent?

2. Given today's technology, how does a cable now differ from, say, an email or text message? Are such messages only accessible via government-owned software and/or terminals on either end? Are they specially encrypted in transit or sent via some other special protocol as well? Do they go over special government-owned fiber-optic links, or through special government-owned satellites?

3. Does anyone—any government archivists out there?—know anything about how U.S. diplomatic cables have generally been transmitted, stored, and archived over the years? Is it possible that the U.S. is using a legacy system for these communications that goes back decades? Or is it more likely that the U.S. has simply moved the messages from system to system as it's upgraded over the years?

4. How far back does digitization of U.S. archives of diplomatic cables go?

Thanks in advance for any light anyone can shed on this—I'm just really curious about the technology behind the story!

Research Paper on Computers?

NotSoSiniSter — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 21:44:22 -0800

I'm writing a term paper (15 pages) in my American History class on the computer and its influence on America history. Topics of focus? For my high school Junior Year history class, I really wanted to try something a little out there. Everyone in my class is doing the same old topics, WWII, Vietnam, etc. I don't want to go down the same beaten paths. So, I decided on computers and its influence on American History. But I'm having a little trouble trying to get a super rough outline together that can make a 15 page paper. So far I have:

I. Wars

WWII
Colossus-code cracking
Coldwar
Weapons systems

II. 1980s (Computer Revolution?)

PC computer-affordable

III. Internet

Huge influence on culture
Social Networks

I have never written a paper as long as this. But I do believe that you include background research. Is that correct? I was thinking about including how a computer could be made of everything and go on to give examples of very primitive ones.

If you honestly think I can't write a decent paper on this topic, tell me. My fall back is if I can't get this to work, I'm just going to do the Cuban missile crisis. Even though thats so generic. But whatever. The grade I get is what really matters.

I got a chance to talk to my history teacher about this. He told me how my paper varies from others because its a "story that does not have an end yet" when you you look at WWII and other past events. Its over. But computers are still evolving. My biggest worry is I might stray off the path of a research paper and form this into something else and get dinged major points.

I also need a minium of 5 print sources. Book recommendations would be great. :D

Any input will be super helpful. :D

Thanks!

How to ace this job interview

Pademelon — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 13:21:46 -0800

Please help me ace the event planning component of this job interview! I have an interview next week for a job I really really want. It is for a communications role (internal) for a large company.

They sent me an assignment to work on prior to the interview. The brief is to plan an all-staff annual event, the purpose of which is to provide staff with a business update as well as to provide recognition to staff. I'm to plan the event and tell the interviewers how it would be executed as well as how the results will be measured.

While I have done some event planning in the past, my focus up to now has been more on writing for the web and intranets.

To all corporate event planners: any advice? What will the interviewers be looking for? Any tips are appreciated! Thank you!