Are Online Comics "Real" Comics?

     While reading "The Right Number"  by Scott McCloud, I was immediately intrigued.  This type of story is not something I would normally be interested in reading.  It is an online comic that takes you from one frame to the next in a very unique way.  The only way to fully understand the uniqueness of the graphic novel is to actually read it.  Although the format is not what I am used to reading, the story was well written and kept me very interested.  Just the concept of the story made me want to find out what was going to happen next, regardless of how it was presented.  Since I have not read very many comics in my life at all, reading an online comic was not a much different experience from physically holding a comic book and reading it.  However, normally I enjoy being able to turn pages and be able to actually see the progress I have made on any book.  This was not true for "The Right Number" though.  My first thought was that the content was so intriguing and interesting to me that it did not matter the medium it was conveyed through.  Personally, it was very hard for me to distinguish whether I liked the form of online comics without reading more.  I felt that my decision solely based on this comic by Scott McCloud was completely biased because I genuinely enjoyed the story so much.  Therefore, I set out to read another online comic to better determine my actual thoughts on the topic.

"The Man of Many Shades" Graphic Novel

     As I began investigating other online comics, I soon discovered that I, in fact, do not like this type of medium.  I had a hard time finding a comic that even made sense to me.  One graphic novel I did read was called "The Man of Many Shades".  This story is about a man stuck in a young girl's drawing and actually had a pretty interesting story line.  The pictures were well drawn and appealing to the eye.  Like most of the other comics I looked at, this graphic novel followed the traditional idea of a graphic novel more than McCloud's novel.  Each page had several frames in a specific order, unlike "The Right Number", which followed a more untraditional approach to frame lay-out.  In fact, the only real noticeable difference from this story than a print graphic novel is the lack of a physical book.  Like I mentioned earlier, this does bother me.  Since McCloud's novel was so unique, the lack of a physical book was not as noticeable as the other novels I looked at.  In addition, from the graphic novels I browsed through, conveying a story in this manner appears much harder than a print graphic novel.  Thus, McCloud's story must have been pretty exceptional and his story telling is not even comparable to any other online comic I read.  McCloud's unique experience actually enhanced his story, even though it may not fall into the specific category of a graphic novel.  This may be due to the fact that McCloud is a professional graphic novelist and the other online comics I read could have been completed by anybody.  A lot of the online comic websites seemed to encourage nonprofessionals to submit their work to be displayed, which is actually a great way for anyone to display their work.  Overall, most online comics do tend to follow the traditional graphic novel rules and I would consider them as part of the graphic novel genre.

Resume Experiences

An example of a resume

     In my tenth grade year of high school, my English teacher helped me write my first resume.  Fortunately for me, I had already held two jobs, including working at the convenient store at the end of my neighborhood and babysitting children in my neighborhood, and was able to include some minor accomplishments I had at that time.  Since I had some experiences, but not too many, writing my first resume was just simply placing my experiences where they each fit.  To this day, I use the same format I was taught in tenth grade and utilized it to obtain three different jobs and my internship.  As my experience and accomplishments grow, though, I am constantly updating my resume to showcase my best and most impressive skills and accomplishments.  Also, I am always looking for ways to better my resume.  After all, a resume may be the only opportunity to land an interview.  Thus, if my resume is not up to standard or not impressive, I may find it hard to find a job, especially after I graduate in the spring.  Since I am hoping to find a career in the communications field, I took away some helpful tips from the book, "Resumes for Communication Careers".

A Virtual Resume

     To begin, it is always a good idea to put the most important information into a resume without making it very long.  Additionally, there are some universal headings that are in many effective resumes, such as references, work experience, and education.  Other special skills and accomplishments make for effective headings as well.  A heading with contact information is another vital aspect of a resume.  Along with the actual content in a resume, the language used is also very important.  Using strong actin verbs may impress or interest the reader, which is a potential employer.  After gathering information for the resume and rewriting it appropriately, assembling it in the right place is important.  For example, my name and address should be at the top.  Furthermore, certain things are optimal but optional, like a email address or cell phone number.  For a communications career, email address may be very important, though.  Electronic resumes are another type of resumes that may prove to be very beneficial in the communications world.  Using links to a website I made or my blog may help to show my talent.  Cover letters are also an important tool to showcase specific skills for a specific job.  This could give me an opportunity to individualize a letter to an employee and may help to land an interview.  Finally, proofreading EVERYTHING is one of the most important things to do when applying for a job.  A resume needs to be completely error free so employers take me seriously.

Proofreading

     Although I already have a decent existing resume, I can use these helpful tips to improve my resume to increase my chances of obtaining an interview.  At my internship, I have learned the importance of proofreading anything that I do, especially when working for a company.  If I send out an email that isn't fully proofread, I make the whole company look bad.  These resume tips are also helpful in an everyday work environment.   

A More Indepth Look Into the Environmental iPad Game

     As I begin to think more and more about a potential iPad game dealing with environmental learning, so many different ideas come to mind.  I have begun doing some research into the current top iPad games and playing different games to see what I personally enjoy about them.  For instance, the games I stick with the longest are the ones where I am actually playing other players.  Some of those players I actually know (which makes it even more fun) and other opponents are random.  With that being said, I also enjoy playing games with individual missions.  In general, though, after several days, weeks, and sometimes even months, I become bored with those games and move on to different ones.  The games I move on from the quickest are the ones that become less challenging or the ones that I feel that I'm not making much progress.  So, with this being said, I want to design a game that encourages online play with others as well as individual challenges.  Thus, players may not get as bored as quickly with the game.  Also, it is important to keep the game challenging and keep players feeling like they are making progress in the game.  Overall, I want there to be one final goal players reach.  Once they reach that goal, they can either try playing the game on a different difficulty, try beating their top scores, or play the multi-player version of the game.  In addition, I want the multi-player version to be somewhat different than the individual version so players are less likely to become bored.  Finally, education is still the main goal of the game, so that needs to be kept in mind when actually designing it.  In my opinion, this will be a tough task to accomplish, but with some planning and determination, an appropriate game can be developed.  In the end, though, testing and experimenting are the only real ways to determine the amount of fun the game actually is; however, I am confident in my ability to produce a game that others will enjoy.

Gems With Friends

     Currently, Gems With Friends is my favorite iPad game.  This game is even appealing when just browsing through the iTunes store for different apps.  It is very bright and colorful, two of my very favorite things!  This is a great idea to attract initial interest into any iPad game.  Once that initial interest is caught, though, the game needs to keep players equally interested.  So, my first idea for my iPad game is for a very colorful and visually appealing game.  If the game does not look fun, it might not attract as much attention as a game that looks fun.  Now, the hard part is to come up with a game that is as fun as it is visually appealing so players enjoy it.  I feel that if the game is interactive with other players and is fun, players will encourage friends to download the game as well, attracting more attention. 

Food Chain

 My initial ideas for the actual game play of the game has to do with actually developing food chains or something along those lines, and obtaining more points and power-ups once that is done.  After 1 or 2 minutes of making food chains with different animals that are randomly given to players, who ever has the most points wins that rounds.  Each player would begin with five blocks that have different levels of the food chain and once those blocks are used, new ones would spawn.  The sun would be the most basic block since it is the starting point.  Then would come grass or plants, then animals, then humans.  My first idea would be that each player has to connect 3 suns and then the block would transform into grass.  Once 3 grasses are connected, it would move up the food chain again until the block turns into a human.  Once this happens, 3 human blocks can connect and a lot of points would be earned.  Players can work on developing different food chains at the same time on the board.  My other idea would be that players would have to connect food chain blocks in the correct order instead of 3 of the same.  Whoever can successfully make the most food chains would probably score more points and win.  Although these ideas are just very basic and the start, I feel that there is some potential in both of these games.

The Structure of Essex County

     The graphic novel "Essex County" is separated into three different books.  The first book, Tales From the Farm, follows the story of a young boy named Lester.  After Lester's mother passed away from cancer, he is sent to live on a farm with a relative.  Although Lester never truly connects with this man, he begins to form a close and unique friendship with another man who owns the local convenient store/gas station in the small town.  Together, the two play games and pretend to be super heros.  Also, it is revealed that Lester's friend, Jimmy, used to play hockey and can somehow easily and effortlessly relate to this young child.  The second book, Ghost Stories, is narrated by Lou Lebeuf, Lester's great grandfather's brother and Jimmy's grandfather's brother.  At this point in the story, though, Lester does not know that Jimmy is his father.  Lou is obviously a very senile older man and is living in the present, but paints a picture of his life through flash backs and memories.  At times, the story is even a little hard to follow because Lou is clearly not just living in the present.  In fact, it seems that he is better at remembering the past than the present.  His memories are clear and vivid, though.  He reveals much about his life during this book, including have relations with his brother's wife.  The final book of the graphic novel, The Country Nurse, follows the story of Anne Byrne, as she tries to take care of her son after her husband has passed away and visits Lou Lebeuf regularly.  This book also delves into the life of Anne's great grandmother, as she deals with losing her husband.

Family Tree

     Even though this graphic novel has three separate books that are about three separate people and are told in different ways, all of the books come together and interrelate.  The first book tells the story of the youngest member of the Lebeuf family and the second book tells the story of the oldest living member of that family.  A lot is learned about the dynamics of Lester and Jimmy's relationship.  He eludes to the fact that he knew his mother, but does not reveal the relationship between the family.  The second book solidifies the fact that they are related.  Also, the third book tells the passing away of Lou and even shows a family tree of the both families.  This makes all of the intricate relationships much easier to understand.  Jimmy never admits to being Lester's father; however, that conclusion can be drawn from other things that are said.  But, the family tree shows the relationship.
     Overall, "Essex County" is set up in a very strange and unusual way.  The entire novel has to be read to fully understand the complexity of the story.  Although the books discuss different people, all the people are related and these relationships are eventually demonstrated as the stories go on.  I believe that the book was set up this way to keep readers wondering and guessing.  The author could have easily just set up the novel revealing all of the information in the correct order.  However, I feel that the story would not have been as entertaining or rewarding to read.  For example, I knew Lester and Jimmy had to have a deeper connection than just friends.  Although Jimmy did not want to admit it,  clues were revealed.  The story almost was unraveled like a mystery.  Additionally, I think that showing the family tree with pictures was incredibly helpful and necessary to fully understand the graphic novel.  Any questions readers had would be answered after studying this page.    

First iPad Ideas for Environmental Game

iPad

     When deciding which content to select for the iPad game I am expected to develop and story board out, I am choosing the most interesting content (in my opinion anyway).  Thus, this will create the most interesting and fun game.  Our first assignment in class was to construct an unique and creative game to inspire learning in fourth graders dealing with specific environmental objectives.  My group constructed a simple board game outlying different environments and stressing the different food groups.  My plan for my iPad game is to use some of the same ideas but construct a touch screen, Internet and gamer friendly alternative version of the board game.  I want to utilize some of the ideas from the board game, but will have to develop new, more appropriate ideas to successfully make the game.

Words With Friends

     So, when developing an iPad game, out of the different objectives that I could chose from, the food chain is the most appealing to me.  In addition to the food chain, I may like to include extra information objectives as well to add different aspects to the game.  This type of information includes contamination and other fun things about different environments and their specific food chains.  My ultimate goal is for players to have an opportunity to gain a lot of information on several different but related topics.  Adding in different information about environments will add more of a fun element.  Using realistic and vivid graphics will allow players to feel like they are really in the game.

     Finally, after doing some research about the top iPad games and playing different games, I find that the games that provide the must fun are the ones that allow for the most player to player interaction.  Utilizing the Internet to allow players to actually play against other real players may be the most fun for players.  Personally, the games I stick with the longest are the ones where I play others, such as Words With Friends.  Keeping this in mind, at times, iPad players may not have access to the Internet all of the time or may not choose to use that feature.  Therefore, I want to create a game that allows for players to play with others but also have a version of the game without having to use the Internet.  Also, I want to offer other shorter, mini games that encourage learning.  Although I am not sure how I will completely transform my board game into an iPad game, I have some starting ideas to develop the game and will continue to develop the game.

Learning Vocus at My Internship

Logo

     One of the best skills I have acquired over the course of my internship at Platinum PR this far is learning the software Vocus.  Vocus is an incorporation that provides over 120,000 businesses with cloud marketing software.  Vocus offers software for public relations and marketing.  Although I have never used the marketing side of Vocus and am unsure of the differences and similarities to the public relations side, I have been able to use the public relations side.  From my experiences, Vocus allows users to search media contacts by name, location, outlet, specific subject of reporting, and many other qualifications.  Contact information is included with the media contact as well as additional information that may be useful to the user.  For example, if a particular media outlet does not like to be emailed then the additional information section may inform a user of that.  Then, once a list is comprised, mass emails or individual emails can be sent out to the media outlets.  Vocus is a great tool for public relation specialists who are producing press releases and pitches.  A specific group of outlets can be reach by doing some research and their contact information is given as well.  In addition to all of the wonderful things Vocus can do (and I'm sure there are many more than I just described), its headquarters are in Maryland and it offers jobs in Maryland, North Carolina, and even in other countries.  Thus, it is a great opportunity to find a job, which I am incredibly worried about after I graduate in Spring 2013.  It looks like a pretty nice place to work and the company keeps growing too.  Another great Vocus tool is that it offers free online training sessions so users can learn the software thoroughly.  I have yet to take the online class, but am planning to do so.  This way I can learn all of the benefits of functions of Vocus.  Overall, I feel that my experiences with Vocus will make me more marketable in the future.  The more skills and experiences I have, the more impressive my resume looks!