Post #7: Professional Learning Network

Reflections on the Professional Learning Network
Nov. 25, 2014

While the RSS feeds were my focus early in the course with regards to professional learning networks, I've also started to shift my focus to how Twitter can be a huge benefit to professional development.

One of the Cal Poly Pomona Public Affairs' staff members wrote a story that we shared on BroncoAthletics.com and because of that collaboration, that same staff member invited me to be the first 2014-15 presenter at the regular Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) meeting on campus.

I enjoyed sharing best practices and career development ideas with the students at the meeting. They also asked plenty of great questions about my career in athletics and public relations. I gained several Twitter followers and the @PRSSAatCPP account even provided an infographic recap of the points I made at the presenation.

Obviously Twitter is a great resource for news and other headlines. As I've especially learned through this quarter, it's also a tremendous tool to connect with colleagues and share best practices.

Journal #6: Self Reflection in GED 512

Through my time learning and working with web development and content management, I've always been tentative working with HTML and CSS coding. While working in college athletics and handling team publicity, I've primarily relied on the content management software provided for our department.

Thanks to the progression of the assignments in GED 512, I've become more comfortable with the fundamentals of HTML and CSS. I've always focused on the design and aesthetics of a site, and that helps me realize the importance and usefulness of CSS to set a structure and layout that's easy for a user to look at.

In terms of the hardest and most rewarding assignments so far, I think those two would be separate assignments. The hardest assignment was working with the tables (http://www.csupomona.edu/~ialber/512/table.html) because I'm accustomed to the easy content management software that enables me to create tables quickly.

For the most rewarding assignment, I thought that the form creation was very neat (http://www.csupomona.edu/~ialber/512/exercise92.html). Forms are obviously a very important and useful part of a web site... and I didn't realize how easy it could be to structure a form with different options (radio, check box, etc.).

- Ivan Alber

Blog/Journal 5: Trying Twitter

Although I started my personal Twitter account around 2008, I only began regular activity in July 2014 (@IvanAlberCPP). My first posts in 2008 didn't include any mentions of other accounts or hashtags. Now with a better understanding in 2014, I've done a better job of "interacting" and promoting other users and topics.

I think Twitter serves as a very important tool within the world of collegiate athletics, the career field I'm in currently. One of the best uses is the weekly Twitter chats that are available to those working in sports. Some of these regular chats include:

#sbchat – Sundays, 9:30pm ET (sports business focus)

#SportJC – Every other Monday, 8:00pm ET (focuses specifically on getting a job in sports)

#social4tixsales, Tuesdays, 8:00pm ET (best practices in ticket sales)

#sportsPRchat – Tuesdays, 9:00pm ET (sports PR focus)

#smsportschat – Thursdays, 9:00pm ET (intersection of sports and social media)

Because of time constraints, I haven't been able to participate in many of these chats. I still check in periodically and read the recaps of the chats. There are many mentions of best practices and advice from those folks considered "experts."

Another great aspect of Twitter is the idea of reaching media members easier through social media than it might be through the normal email distribution of press releases. Recently, I was able to contact a Univision sports anchor about an upcoming story. I don't think that contact could have been achieved through regular email communication.