Boston Photo Walks

Last Sunday, I went on a tour of the Freedom Trail for the first time (yes, after about 10 years in Boston I still had never done it...)

Given my interest in photography, I decided to try Boston PhotoWalks, a walking tour of Boston offered by Saba Alhadi. Saba gives you historical commentary during the tour, while also showing you the best angles for taking pictures of the sites you visit. It was an interesting and enjoyable mix of photography and history, and I got some great shots out of it. She also does tours of Beacon Hill and the waterfront, among other sites in Boston.

For our final stop, we visited old North Church in the North End. While listening to the story of Paul Revere and the "one if by land, two if by sea" communication system set up in the tower of the church, I realized we were talking about optical telegraphy.

There's my Emerging Communications Technologies class, showing me how communications has been and still is all around us...

ECT - Vacuum Tubes

This week's Emerging Communications Technologies class focused on the history of computers. While I admit, once again, that this is not the most interesting subject, I was once again fascinated by certain concepts. For instance, we spent 20 minutes talking about vacuum tubes that made up computers in the 1950's, and our instructor even brought in an actual vacuum tube from that time period. Assuming how each computer was made up of tens of thousands of vacuum tubes, we could imagine how it would take an entire room to hold a computer.

So when the transistor was invented and reduced the size of computers by a factor of 1,000, I was really impressed. I learned that transistors changed electronics forever, in the same way that later inventions in the last decade also changed electronics forever. I like finding these parallels between past and present experiences, like when I compared the initial reactors to the telegraph vs. the internet.

I'm also continuously amazed that even today, computers are all about the same principle of "and" and "or" gates and circuits, just as they were in the 40's and 50's - simply smaller and faster than before. It's like the Introduction to Computer Science class I took one summer at USF in Tampa, Florida. Those rudimentary programs I wrote for class are still relevant!

We also spoke about encryption, and I was impressed by the simultaneous simplicity and complexity of codes. The basic idea is simple: Encrypt a message, send it as gibberish, and decipher it on the other end. But the complexity of the gibberish itself, when using a factor of 2, can be amazingly complex. And so it should be, if it's protecting my credit card number!

So I have to admit that I really appreciate what I'm learning in this class, and I find that I'm thinking about it all the time - when I see my computer, when I buy something online, I think about my ECT class. Which must mean that it's working...

Ghostwriting Part 2 - In Class

After ghostwriting a letter to Starbucks on behalf of my mother-in-law and editing it slightly as I knew I would have done in reality, I brought it to class this past Monday night.

Our instructor had us form groups of 2 and trade letters - each one had to edit the other's letter, then give it back for consideration. This was difficult for a few reasons: first, because we don't really know the other people in the class yet, so it's awkward to give them constructive feedback; second, because almost everyone in the class is an experienced writer, so you don't feel like you can contradict them too much.

However, for exactly those two reasons, this was a great exercise. Whether you're giving feedback to a superior or subordinate, especially if they have a similar skill set, it's great to learn how to provide feedback with diplomacy. This is something I've learned from years in both diplomacy and writing, but I never dealt with both of the above two reasons at the same time before. Although tentative at first, my partner and I both were able to give constructive positive and negative feedback that we both appreciated.

The questions we asked ourselves about the other's writing were:
What are the strong points in this letter?
What are the weak points in this letter?
How could this message be improved? What would sharpen the message?
Our criteria was to be: balanced, specific, constructive, and gentle.

Then we had a class visit from a woman who works at the Scott/Ross Center for Community Service, a non-profit organization which encourages service learning. We learned about how Simmons students help this and other non-profits. For instance, I volunteered to be the team leader for a group that was tasked with writing copy for the website of another non-profit, a task which helps the organization market itself using an effective website while we get experience writing copy for one particular industry. It's an actual assignment for class, and I think it will be a great experience that will benefit both myself and the organization.

Pats Jerseys to Sox Jerseys

For my husband's birthday, I got tickets to the Patriots-Chargers game at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. It was my first regular season football game and it was incredible - tens of thousands of screaming fans eagerly waiting on every play. We stood the entire time, such was the excitement in the stands that no one could sit down. There was such a strong sense of camaraderie that we felt with each first down and touch down.

Since the Pats were ahead, we decided to leave a little early to beat game traffic. We had stood in traffic for one hour on Route 1 trying to find parking before the game, we didn't want to repeat it on the way out. Leaving half-way through the fourth quarter made a huge difference. Although dozens of people left when we did, Route 1 flowed normally and we returned home before midnight.

On the way home, my father called from Florida to a) ask how we had enjoyed the game and b) bring our attention to the fact that the Red Sox were trailing the Yankees 4-2 at Fenway Park. From an assured football victory, we turned anxiously to an unsure Sox loss. After we turned to AM radio to follow the game on our own, my father stayed on the phone to share our excitement. But oddly enough, there was a television delay, and every pitch reported on our radio came a few seconds before the actual pitch on television, resulting in an eery kind of hearing the future before seeing it happen.

We all waited breathlessly as David Ortiz came to the plate, potentially to save the Sox one more time. From pitch to pitch, we could hardly contain our excitement. When Ortiz hit a pop-up and the Yankees won, we were deflated. I bid good-night to my father and hung up. As we drove through a crowded Kenmore Square, I realized we had gone from Pats Jerseys to Sox Jerseys, and the people in the latter ones weren't smiling.

But this is what Boston sports is all about, I thought, moving from one game to another, each one just as important as the last.

And this is what technology is all about, I thought, using it to live a sports moment with one's father, no matter how far away or through what medium. We watched the game together, him in front of his television in Florida and me on I-93 North from Foxboro to Boston.

The social benefits of communications technology come will always come down to this.

The Death of Distance

As part of my Emerging Communications Technologies class, we're reading the book "The Death of Distance", by Frances Cairncross. I'm a few chapters into the book and I'm liking it more and more.

Initially, I found the book a little outdated. This new edition was published in 2001, so it spends a lot of time predicting what will happen as a result of the world's increased interconnectedness. It's difficult to read someone's predictions when you're living in the period they're predicting about. At the same time, I have to admire the author's predictions, since many of them have come true.

This book seemed to be a precursor to Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat, a fantastic book that talks more about the amazing things going on now, rather than what will happen in the future - a wise treatment considering how many times predictions are wrong. It almost seems like The World is Flat picked up where The Death of Distance left off.

However, after reading the second chapter, I've realized that the book delves into history more than I thought. It talks about earlier communications technologies, such as the telegraph, the radio and the telephone. It comes back to the democratizing effect that expanding communications technologies have, since the technologies of the rich are now more accessible to the middle and lower class. Friedman also spends a lot of time on this when he talks about a more level playing field, whether it's within a society or between nations.

I'm now enjoying the historical aspect of the book much more, especially since the author draws parallels between past and present disruptive technologies, comparing the telegraph and the internet, which incurred strikingly similar public reactions in their respective times.

One of the most amazing facts I learned was that some of the most widely-used communications technologies started out with completely different goals. The internet, the phonograph, and the telephone all took time and constant modification and evolution before they became the raging success that they were. Much like the Post-it note was developed for another function (and failed at that function), many times the most useful inventions start out in another field completely.

It shows the power of invention across all industries, because you never know where the next killer app. will come from.

Ghostwriting Assignment

For my business writing class, we were given the assignment of ghostwriting a letter of complaint to Starbucks on behalf of a significant other - spouse, parent, etc. The challenge is to write in their voice, not in ours.

I've ghostwritten articles, speeches, and letters many times throughout the years, so this is not new to me. However, it's still a great exercise, especially since I'm writing on behalf of my mother-in-law, who has an actual complaint against Starbucks.

But it leads me to a significant question - do I write the letter in her actual voice? Or do I write it in the full knowledge that she would have brought me the letter first, and I would have changed it to make it sound more professional?

In the working world, when we ghostwrite for someone we do it because we write well, sometimes even better than our principal. The principal (the person we're writing for) wants his/her voice, only better. So how authentic can you be when you know that the authentic style is incorrect?

I also find it difficult for our teacher to grade such an assignment, because she has no way of knowing if we are doing it correctly. I asked this question, and she responded that we would know if it's correct or not. But I think that's giving us too much benefit of the doubt - if you've never ghostwritten before, it would be difficult to know if you're doing it correctly or not.

If I were giving this assignment, I would have asked us to all write a letter on behalf of the same famous person - George Bush, a newscaster, someone people have heard speak before. Then we could compare the letters to one another and recognize which were effective and which were not.

But it's still a great exercise, and I'm enjoying writing the letter with my mother-in-law's complaining voice in my head. My husband is amused as well.

ECT First Class

Tonight was my first class in Emerging Communications Technologies (which I recently switched into after being registered for another course).

Our instructor described the goal of the course as "learning enough about technology to go head-to-head with the tech people at your company." So, enough to manage people who work in technology, and have a basic understanding of what they're talking about, while still letting them do their thing.

Nice goal, especially for someone like me who does not count this industry as a forte. I've always been more of a "front of the house" person, to use a term from the restaurant industry, while Comm. Technologies seems to be more of a "back of the house" field. But it's an important component of communications, and if I am to count myself as an experienced communications professional, then I need to study this field.

We started out by discussing the history of computers and networking, from carrier pigeons to optical telegraphy to electric circuits. Decimal code, binary code, octal code.

I admit it's a bit confusing and I'm not enthralled by it, but it's kind of like spinach - it's good for me and will make me strong.

In the meantime, I can recognize the benefit of becoming more familiar with network bandwidths, and learning the meanings behind all the terms associated with my computer - RAM, ROM, Flash, Hertz, MIPS, etc.

At least it won't get stuck in my teeth before a speech.

Writing for Communications Professionals

It seems I'll be able to switch into a required course entitled Emerging Communications Technologies, which sounds really exciting.

In the meantime, tonight I went to my other course, Writing for Communications Professionals. True to its name and much to my delight, most people in the class are in fact already communications professionals in the fields of PR, marketing, writing, and advertising. I look forward to some great cross-pollination to take place during and after class.

Our instructor is really laid back, outgoing and self-confident. She did a great job helping us get to know each other. Our ice-breaker exercise was to introduce ourselves, jobs, etc, and mention three particular items: our worst writing skill, our best writing skill, and a writing story from our childhood. It turned out to be a great exercise, because people had to share their weaknesses (a humbling experience), their pride, and tell us a little about their childhood. For instance, we learned that some people had similar weaknesses, or had strengths that complemented one another. We learned if someone grew up in another country or state.

In the class, we are reading from a wonderful book called "On Writing: A Primer" by Wendy Bishop. It's the kind of $60 book that you groan when buying because who wants to spend that much for a book you'll probably never use after school? But after reading the introduction and first chapter, I realized what a valuable source of information it is for writers.

Near the end of class, our instructor handed out a letter written by the Development Director of an organization to a potential donor. It was riddled with type-o's and improper content. We moved into groups of 4 and collaborated on editing the content and style. The result was four very different but very good editing drafts, each one teaching us a little more about the numerous possibilities in editing a document. We then discussed the tact with which we would suggest those edits to a boss or superior. I feel like I have a lot of experience to add in this area - it's the very epitome of diplomacy.

For our homework, we need to ghostwrite a letter of complaint on behalf of a family member, using their voice. I'm a little unsure of how the instructor is going to recognize whether or not we are being authentic to the voice of our principal, but I guess she trusts us to recognize this ourselves. I think I'll hand the finished product to another family member to test for effectiveness.

All in all, an exciting class that will create many useful skills in writing and speechwriting. I look forward to the next class.

How to Study Communication?

I think I want to change my first class.

It's actually an elective, and it's about the dynamics of working in teams. It's a really interesting topic, and it uses different mediums to show you the different ways that people must collaborate - conference calls, webinars, in person, etc.

To that effect, our first class was a conference call. Unfortunately it was pretty underwhelming - some people were late, some hadn't received the instructions email, some had received it but hadn't read it...I know it's only the first class, but I was looking for a little more discipline. I've always been a stickler for discipline - at work, at school, even singing in a chorus.

In this first call, I realized how much I dislike working through certain mediums, like conference calls. I'm a people person - I love working with people face-to-face. I want to use my hands, my face, and my voice to express myself. I realize the importance of using different mediums, but the in-person dynamic will always be the most important. Furthermore, I ask myself what the value is of mastering a medium that I would prefer not to work in.

Listening to our professor explain the format of the course, it still sounded very interesting and extremely useful.

But she said that the outcome of our various team projects didn't matter - just the dynamics of the team itself as we worked on a project - and we had to write papers throughout the course about those group dynamics.

Which made me realize something: what is the best way to study communication?

Can you simply eliminate the importance of the project itself and study the communication that surrounds it? In that case, how do you get inspired to complete the project when it doesn't matter?

Or is communication something that happens when you focus on the project itself? Is communication only realizable in hindsight?

It reminds me of a similar question: Can you teach leadership, or is leadership something that happens when you're doing something else?

During my time at the Center for Public Leadership, I've realized that if you can break down leadership into its numerous characteristics (decision-making, negotiation, interpersonal communication, etc.), you can teach them to varying degrees. And you can be so inspired by other leaders as to take on their charisma and passion. You can also read "case studies" of leadership and learn from how leaders have acted in certain situations.

A colleague of mine recently said that leadership is an activity, not a characteristic - that's why you can fail from time to time and still be a successful leader.

Getting back to the team dynamics class, I am trying to transfer to a required class instead of an elective. I think the required class will give me a more accurate sense of the graduate program itself and help me focus on other skills that I really want to develop.

Stay tuned.

Graduate School

I've recently decided to get a master's degree and have been debating my options. Given that my current job is part-time and offers tuition reimbursement, it really seems like this is the optimal time to study. I'm willing to put my consulting work on hold, since whatever I study will help me significantly increase my offerings as a consultant.

I've been debating between two choices: an MBA or a master's in Communications Management.

The argument boils down to general vs. specific - do I want a general degree that will give me a set of tools that will be relevant in any sector, public, private or non-profit, or do I want a degree that allows me to specialize in my field, communication, with additional management training? This specialized degree is still relevant across industries since communications skills themselves are necessary everywhere. And whatever industry I work in, I'd still like to deal with communications.

I can fully rationalize both decisions, and I've been flip-flopping back and forth, depending on the day. I was registered for Boston University's Graduate School of Management and even sent in a deposit before realizing that the program would take longer than I anticipated. I took some time off to think and decided to take courses in communications management first, at Simmons College.

My first class was underwhelming, to say the least, which has led me to greatly rethink my decision. But I am willing to give it another shot, given that one course in one elective is not an optimal indicator of how the course (or school) really is.

Let's see how it happens. I intend to blog through this process for those in the field of communications who are considering such a move - and to discuss what I learn.