US African American Chamber President Ron Busby
(download)
So, here's a copy of the radio interview that aired Sunday June 12th on the radio show Austin Lifestyles hosted by Bo Chase. I go in depth about the E4 Youth Summit and our latest wrinkle. We're establishing Vertical Teams of business leaders, Grad and PreGrad students and the youth we serve around the four broad disciplines of Media Communications, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics), Entrepreneurship & the Arts. Exciting stuff. Enjoy!
- May 28, 2011
- carlsettles
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MCC 2011 “It Could Be U” Summer Program Mentor Job Description
Do you have experience and/or an interest in working in the fields of Education, Business, Science & Technology, Math, Media or the Arts? Do you have any experience working with middle school students? Can you see yourself inspiring students and helping them work towards their dreams? If the answer is yes to one or more of these questions, them the Media Communications Council (MCC) wants YOU to be Mentor in its 2011 “It Could Be U” Summer Program!
MCC was established in 2008 as a way to use the real world excitement of media creation and production to address the leadership and academic gap that many students in Austin area public middle schools are faced with on a daily basis. Formed out of the Texas Diversity Council, MCC uses media as a tool to help students to discover, own and be accountable for achieving the dreams they have in their life. The primary learning model used in MCC was developed from the Intellectual Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Texas at Austin.
MENTOR Job Responsibilities:
- Lead a group of 4 – 6 middle school students throughout the five day program, with a focus in one of the four major disciplines of Media Communications, (STEM) Science/Technology/Engineering/Math, Business or the Arts
- Work with a team of 3 other Pre Grad or Graduate mentors to plan and execute a series of three 5 day camps.
- Work alongside an assistant that will document your activities through video and blogging tools as you develop and complete your group’s project for presentation during each week’s Capstone Ceremony.
- Supervise your students during two off-campus field trips
- Attend a two-day training during the beginning of June.
- Attend daily morning check-ins and end of day staff meetings.
The 2011 “It Could Be U” Summer Program will last throughout the month of June and will consist of three weekly summer camps to be held in Housing Authority of the City of Austin (HACA) sites in the North, East and South sections of Austin. The financial compensation for MENTORS is $500.00 per week.
Interested applicants should send a Resume/Vita, Cover Letter with Major Area of Study included as well as preference of discipline (Business, STEM, Media Communications, or the Arts) to mentor@mediacommunicationscouncil.org.
All applicants must be able to pass a background check.Leave A Reply
Ratings for Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and other hyperpartisans are declining as listeners seek honest talk from hosts like Michael Smerconish over angry rants. A more civil conversation will add value to our political debate, writes John Avlon.
There’s new evidence to suggest a demand for something different than hyper-partisanship in the world of talk radio and political media.
It’s not just the sunset of the Glenn Beck Show on Fox or the dispatch of Keith Olbermann from MSNBC to CurrentTV. It’s the shuttering of a pioneering conservative radio station and data showing the demographic decline of Rush Limbaugh.
In contrast, growing numbers of listeners are tuning in to independent voices who can be honest brokers in debates and don’t just angrily parrot talking points.
In February, I wrote a column asking whether right wing talk radio was dying and ruffled some feathers in that flock. A more accurate means of measuring listeners showed that conservative talkers’ ratings had either declined or flatlined in the heat of the 2010 election, while the world-journalism focus of the John Batchelor Show had seen a decided ratings climb. Now, a look at radical centrist Michael Smerconish’s national ratings growth since the start of the year provides more evidence of this emerging market.
First, here’s a snapshot that puts the shift in perspective: Just days after the 2010 election, the nation’s first all-conservative talk radio station, KVI in Seattle, switched back to a classic-rock format after 17 years. Its innovation had become media saturation—and music became an appealing alternative to the drone of a dozen Rush Limbaugh imitators.
Limbaugh can sell bedpans and resentment forever. But the demographic trend is not his friend.
Rush Limbaugh (L) Glenn Beck (Photo from L to R: Ethan Miller / Getty Images; Alex Brandon / AP Photos)
Rush is a giant in his field, reaching more listeners than anyone in political talk, but even he has seen erosion in his numbers. Analysis of industry data shows that in market after market, Rush’s ranking has declined decisively over the past five years among advertisers’ coveted 25-54 age group. For example, in Charlotte, North Carolina, Rush fell from sixth to 12th between 2005 and 2010. In Portland, Oregon, he fell from fourth to eighth. In San Francisco, he’s seen a similar decline. Among listeners 65 and older, Rush remains No. 1. He can sell bedpans and resentment forever. But the demographic trend is not his friend.
It’s not that “the angry white guy conservative political talk format”—as consultant and former Clear Channel talk radio programming director Gabe Hobbs calls it—is over. It’s just got little room to grow, going forward.
“Rush has been around for 23 years. They’re not necessarily making new Ditto-heads. You have to fish where the fish are,” says Hobbs, who helped launch the radio career of Glenn Beck, among others. “We’re singing to this choir, that’s great, they’re worth a lot of money and they do a lot of wonderful things, but boy, there’s a lot over here we could do.”
“This civil and smart approach—like [John] Batchelor and Michael Smerconish and some other shows—to me is kind of a ‘duh,’ '' adds Hobbs, indicating that it should have been obvious long ago. “The numbers that NPR is drawing clearly portends to something. I’ve seen it myself in research. It’s the tone; it’s the approach. Some people don’t want to be engaged at that loud, angry level—that hard right or left ideological approach where it’s my way or the highway.”
A Republican turned Independent who supported President Obama in 2008, Smerconish is a pioneer, putting himself out in the world of daytime political talk radio as a radical centrist, surrounded by the old hyper-partisan voices. He is currently an island, but he is far from alone, reflecting the 41 percent of American voters who now identify as Independent but are seriously underrepresented in our political and media debates.
This is no mushy middle. Smerconish memorably described his policy profile in The Washington Post as “someone who supports harsh interrogation, thinks we should be out of Iraq but in Pakistan, doesn't care much if two guys hook up, and believes we should legalize pot and prostitution.” (Note the Pakistan comment—Smerconish has been beating that drum long before most Americans had heard of Abbottabad.)
“I choose subjects and offer my opinions without regard to any party's talking points,” Smirconish says. “I have plenty of opinions, but they do not fit neatly into those faux, talk- and cable-created ideological boxes. And it matters not to me whether the audience at the other end is a conservative, liberal or independent—I don't check registration cards."
This is an interesting article I found in Inc. Magazine. The advertising and marketing landscape is quickly being reshaped and it serves businesses to be in touch with youth. In fact, it's a worthwhile investment in the future of your business. Enjoy!
Would You Take Business Advice From a College Student?
Why Jen O’Neal, founder of Tripping, created an advisory board of young people
By Jennifer Alsever | From the May 2011 issue of Inc. magazine
Courtesy Company
Student Teachers Tripping co-founders Jen O'Neal and Nate Weisiger (front) lean on young people for marketing advice.
Before launching a new marketing campaign, Jen O'Neal first ran the idea by her board. O'Neal is CEO of Tripping, a San Francisco–based Internet start-up that connects world travelers with local hosts, who offer sightseeing tips, conversation, and sometimes a free place to crash. To promote the site in Barcelona, O'Neal was considering hosting evening events on college campuses. Board member Jacopo Bordin shot down the idea. After class, he said, young Europeans aren't hanging out on campus—they are relaxing at wine bars and outdoor cafés.
Bordin should know. A 23-year-old student at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, he grew up in Italy. Bordin sits on Tripping's social media board, a 10-person team of twentysomethings who advise O'Neal on marketing to students, the site's primary users.
O'Neal and her co-founder, Nate Weisiger, came up with the idea for the advisory board last year after hiring an intern to manage the company's blog, Twitter feed, and other social media efforts. Some 200 young people applied for the position. After making her choice, O'Neal sat down to toss out the rest of the applications, many of which included enthusiastic stories about travel and studying abroad. "I didn't want to delete the e-mails," she says. "I hated the idea of releasing all these people and not coming into contact with them again."
At the time, Tripping had just three employees and didn't have the resources to hire any more. But O'Neal and Weisiger thought the young people would make great advisers. To determine which candidates had the most creativity and enthusiasm—and ability to get the word out about Tripping—the co-founders decided to hold a contest. They went through the intern applications and challenged the 40 most promising candidates to vie for spots on the board. The contenders had three weeks to generate as much online buzz as possible about Tripping. About half of the people O'Neal contacted took her up on the challenge.
The contenders used various tactics to get the word out about the company. Because Tripping markets itself as a place to get insider travel tips from locals, Katy Birnbaum, then a San Francisco State University senior, made an online video of the 1 a.m. swarm of people lining up for fresh doughnuts at Bob's Donut & Pastry, a popular hangout for college students. Lauren Nicholl, a graduate of the University of California, Davis, contacted popular travel bloggers and raved about Tripping. She also took to Twitter, posting information about Tripping as well as links to travel articles and famous quotes about travel.
Whenever O'Neal updated the company's blog, the young people would flood it with comments. The CEO was impressed by the group's eagerness. "You could see this rivalry," she says. "They were trying to edge each other out. We didn't think people would work that hard to get a seat on this new board we just invented." In the end, O'Neal chose 10 of the applicants for the board—Birnbaum and Nicholl made the cut.
The board members don't have daily responsibilities. They primarily act as brand ambassadors and offer the co-founders opinions, advice, and ideas. "It feels completely different than an internship," says Bordin. "You feel more involved, more rewarded."
Already, the board members have contributed many new ideas. "They have grown up with technology in ways I didn't," says O'Neal, who is 31. "Some of the best ideas came from people who barely had any work experience." Birnbaum, for instance, came up with a feature called video validation, which helps travelers vet potential hosts in other cities. Since its founding, Tripping has encouraged users to rate and review hosts, but O'Neal wanted to add another level of verification for young travelers who would be meeting up with strangers or staying in their homes. Birnbaum suggested that Tripping interview hosts remotely using Skype; Tripping would ask them to show their passports and proof of address during the video calls and would keep a record of the information.
O'Neal loved the idea and had Birnbaum head up the project. Not only has the video validation feature been popular with Tripping users, says O'Neal, but conducting Skype chats with hosts also provides valuable customer feedback that the company has used to improve the site.
Board members aren't paid, but they receive training from Tripping's co-founders. Weisiger teaches board members how to write Web code and create Facebook ads. O'Neal helps them with job hunting, polishing their resumés, and conducting mock interviews and introduces them to other entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley.
Each board member determines his or her level of involvement. Bianca Cloutier, a recent Dartmouth graduate, already had a full-time job at a nonprofit in New York City, but she joined Tripping's board because she wanted to get experience at a tech company and learn more about business development. Jeff Manheimer, Tripping's vice president of business development, invited her to tag along when he went to meetings on the East Coast. She watched him create promotional partnerships with groups like university study-abroad programs. Working nights and weekends, Cloutier eventually signed up six new partners, including the alumni network of AmeriCorps, a student volunteer organization with more than 600,000 alums. "This was perfect for me," says Cloutier. "The flexibility was great."
The social media board has also become a useful recruiting tool for Tripping. Since creating it, O'Neal has hired four board members as full-time employees. And she plans to keep adding members to the social media board as the company grows. "It's so easy to see who is passionate," says O'Neal. "Some of them really shined."
For tips on assembling an advisory board, including how to choose the right members, compensate participants, and structure board meetings, go to www.inc.com/building-a-board-of-advisors.
Here's an audio podcast of the talk I did last week for the Austin Cosmopolitan Rotary Club on Social Entrepreneurship and Initiative Based Philanthropy. I go into some detail about the MCCs partnership with UT Austin and our philosophy of helping youth identify and create value.
The largest and fastest-growing minority group in the United States is also chronically underserved by the nation's public schools.
A report released Wednesday by the White House and the U.S. Department of Education details the current crisis in Latino education. While one in four American children is Latino, according to the document, the demographic has "the lowest education attainment levels" in the country.
More than 17.1 million Latinos younger than age 17 live in the U.S., comprising more than 23 percent of the country’s youth and nearly 22 percent of all K-12 public school enrollment, the report, titled "Winning the Future: Improving Education for the Latino Community," outlines.
But less than half of such youths are enrolled in early learning programs. Only half of the population earns a high school diploma on time, and when those students do, they’re half as likely to be ready for college. As the report notes, only 13 percent of the population hold Bachelors degrees.
“There is no doubt that the future of the United States is inextricably tied to the future of the Hispanic community,” President Obama stated in the document, which ties the state of Latino education to Obama’s 2020 goal of having the country lead the world in college graduates. As the report notes, if the Latino population continues to lag behind in education, that objective cannot be met.
Some Latino education advocates argue the 28-page report lacks new material, despite its public rollout. “It’s just telling me what we’ve known for years,” said Mariela Dabbah, founder of latinosincollege.com, an online resource geared towards preparing the Latino community for higher education.
Dabbah said she heard the president mention his goal during his inauguration speech, and immediately thought it would be unattainable without a clear focus on Latino learning. “I wrote about this two years ago,” she said.
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But the explicit spotlight on Latino education from the federal level is new, said Enrique Murillo, Jr., executive director of Latino Education and Advocacy Days, a program based at California State University, San Bernardino. “What is different here from this report is that other people have said it, but it’s important that the president says it explicitly: The competitive strength of the United States in a global economy depends and will continue to depend on the positive educational outcomes on Latino students.”
Murillo stressed that as the Latino population grows, the U.S. economy becomes more and more dependent on its success. “Our participation in the formal economy and civic engagement is not keeping up to par with our population growth,” he said. “Education is the economic imperative of our time. Latino students disproportionately bear the burden of the education crisis.”
The report offers a number of solutions, including various investments in early childhood, such as directing more funds toward programs that focus on comprehensive education like HeadStart and Race to the Top; a reliance on community colleges; private-public partnerships; and more attention paid to science and mathematics instruction.
The document also deemed currently-enacted No Child Left Behind legislation “too rigid, punitive, and prescriptive.” The administration’s proposed reform of the law, according to the report, would make parameters more flexible by emphasizing competitive grants for states and school districts.
Dabbah remains skeptical about the novelty of these approaches. “The truth is that I don’t think there are a lot of education ideas that are new,” she said. “It’s a question of what can be implemented and how.” She added that she thought the White House’s general focus on holding schools accountable for student performance benefited the Latino community.
The timing of the report's release, though, appeared suspicious to her. "While it would never be explicitly voiced by the administration, there clearly is an interest of satisfying the critically important Latino voting block, specially in view of the failure to pass immigration reform," Dabbah said.
The U.S. Department Education did not respond to request for comment.
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CONTRIBUTETO THIS STORY
Hello,
My name is Carl Settles Jr, Founder/Executive Director of the Media Communications Council. I have a varied background which includes 6 plus years in the public classrooms and 20 years spent in educational publishing, music, advertising and software development. Since 2008, I have traveled across Texas offering youth free tours, workshops and portfolio development opportunities in media and communications related industries.
Along the way, I have met many amazing and talented thinkers, teachers and innovators as I have distilled approaches towards media, education and entrepreneurship. This blog is where I leave my digital bread crumbs for friends, family and colleagues to share. Enjoy!
Web 3.0 Office Hours
Youth oriented social web portal
