katelynshelby: March 2011

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Petite Lap Giraffes

I'm going to be a mom! A mother of a beautiful Petite Lap Giraffe, that is!

Petite Lap Giraffes are very peculiar animals. The average adult is 76 centimeters tall and weights a mere 4.5kg "unless the giraffe is a fat cow, then 5.44kg." They are on a strict diet of bonsai tree leaves and distilled water and have no reported reoccurring health problems. They are very tame creatures that never bite, get along with children and use a litter box. The only special care these darlings need are lots of love and hugs and kisses "otherwise they make tears"!

The Petite Lap Giraffes are bred exclusively in Russia at Sokoblovsky, the one and only purveyor of petite lap giraffes located just 80km outside Krasnodar. As history tells us, it all started when Nicolas Sokoblovsky escaped from a traveling circus with his best friend, Alex the PLG. For the next century, the Sokoblovsky family have been successfully breeding PLGs in Russia for the wealthy.

Today I quickly became infatuated with PLGs after seeing a tweet about them, @LapGiraffe, then seeing their prime time debut in the new DirecTV commercials.

I just had to know: Are Petite Lap Giraffes real?!

The obvious answer would be no... but this DirecTV campaign has made PLGs incredibly believable. Just go to www.petitelapgiraffe.com and see what I mean!

The Sokoblovsky Farms homepage features an about section, a PLG photo album, information on calves and a live feed of the farm.

The photo album is perhaps my favorite, mainly because of the picture of the PLG lounging on a luxurious couch. It is in this section that the DirecTV commercials are shown with the explaination that "our customers always supreme happy with the babies. So much so they send photographs and even commercials."

Sokoblovsky Farms explains that there are no calves available at this time. However, they are currently expecting the arrival of Vladimir and Svetlana's calf in approximately 156 days. What I find confusing is how they are breeding PLGs when they originally only had one. Very peculiar.... Despite my doubts, I signed up to adopt one and I was put on the waiting list--#181,124!

Curiously enough, I have yet to see a PLG walk into view of the live cameras that are set up. I've been watching the stream for about an hour, but I am told that if I don't see him, not to worry, he'll come back. Okay then, I'll just wait for him!

I'm still on the fence about whether or not Petite Lap Giraffes are real or not. I'm leaning a little toward the fictitious side of the fence though.

This is an ingenious advertising campaign for DirecTV. In a culture that is obsessed with internet sensations, this was a great way for them to generate buzz and keep the bloggers talking. An urban legend, a few hours of Photoshop and a good Russian accent will get you months of entertainment and a definite viral campaign. Good work!

UPDATE: A few minutes after posting this, one of the giraffes came into view.

Friday, March 25, 2011

#TigerBloodIntern Round 3 (video)

As you know, I made it to Round 3 of the #TigerBloodIntern Race! This is my video submission in which I answer the question: Which company is currently using social media the best and why?

I know a lot of people are going to point out the fact that I am talking about the amazing social media powers of Microsoft while sitting in front of multiple Apple products. But, like I said at the end of my video, this just shows that I am able to support any stance whether I agree with it or not because of my professionalism and dedication.

Show your support and follow me on Twitter! @katelynshelby

#TigerBloodIntern Round 3 Video Bloopers

I'm working on editing my video interview for the #TigerBloodIntern race...

Stay tuned!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

iWore: My Interview

What iWore:

Blouse: Forever21 ($20)

Jacket: Victoria's Secret ($80)

Pants: Express ($50)

Shoe: Steve Madden via DSW ($50)

Why:

No matter what the job is or how laid back the company is, interviews always call for business formal. This means a suit. No ifs, ands or buts about it!

I know I promised you sensible and low-priced options and this outfit is a little on the expensive side, but the truth is, I've own this outfit for quite a while and I've worn it to several interviews. My advice to avid job seekers: Invest in a good, (not too) expensive suit. Expensive means quality and the quality will show. Hold up a pair of Express pants next to a pair of slacks from Charlotte Russe and the quality will speak for themselves. This is especially important for those job seekers who are fresh out of college. Your interviewer and your future coworkers are more than likely going to be quite a bit older than you and have quite a bit more money than you and you want to portray that you can compete with them. Your interview is your first impression, if you fail to represent yourself well how can they expect you to represent their company any better?

I choose to wear a high-collared, teal, satin, blouse with layered ruffles instead of the traditional collared button-up shirt under my blazer for two reasons. The first reason being that I was interviewing for a social media job, which is a creative industry. I didn't want to be known as a boring black and white suit. This blouse is creative and has character, which brings me to the second reason why I wore it--it stood out. I wasn't sure if others were being interviewed so I wanted to make sure I made a statement with my words and with my wardrobe so I was not forgotten.

Since my blouse was a little on the loud side I paired it with a black suit blazer and black suit pants with a subtle pin-striping, which didn't add any more noise to the outfit. Both of these pieces I previously had tailored to ensure and exact fit. When you feel good about your clothes and good in your clothes, you will feel good about your interview.

On my feet I wore a pair of black, leather, pointed-toe pumps. Make sure you heel height is appropriate for the length of your pants (roughly a half inch to an inch from the ground) and make sure they are comfortable to walk in. What's even worse than being remembered as being badly dressed is being remembered for limping through the office! You never know if they'll take you on a tour of how far you'll have to walk from the parking lot.

What do you think of my first iWore post?

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Google Chrome 11 (beta)

This morning I decided to download the new beta version of Google Chrome 11 and give it a shot!

Chrome 11 promises to bring several improvements to our browsing experience but perhaps the most exciting one is its speech-to-text capabilities. I was pretty excited about this new addition because, quite frankly, I'm lazy! Plus I'd feel less pathetic for spending so much time with my computer if I could at least talk to it. Also, Chrome 11 allows for some fancy 3D CSS but I'm not even going to go there.

This new version of Chrome also includes and redesigned icon, which I hate by the way. I liked when it had more of a three-dimensional look. Now I feel like it is kind of an eye sore in my dock.

Even after downloading Chrome 11, you can not yet use the speech-to-text capability. However, Google offers a demo page where you can try it out. I figured what better way to test the speech recognition than to just use it to write the rest of this post.

To test the waters, I say to Google Chrome 11, "Let's give it a shot!" And Chrome comes back with:

So far so good! Then I really dove in, "Speech-to-text is a key element to web browsing because offers assistance to those who are physically disabled, suffering from arthritis and other hand and wrist ailments, or are just plain lazy like myself." Chrome spit out:

I tried it again, this time speaking slower and clearer. Nothing. Then I tried another sentence, equal in length, but with more simple words. Nothing. So I came to a conclusion and I told Chrome exactly what I thought about it...

"Apparently if I speak too long you have no idea what I'm saying." And Chrome 11 responded with:

I think it's pretty clear now why Chrome 11 is just in beta... what is probably its most exciting feature is failing horribly. I hope this gets fixed up fast because I'm anxious to use it for real. I'm also excited to see what CSS developers can/are doing with the new GPU-accelerated 3D CSS. In the meantime, I'm probably uninstalling it so I can go back to the old icon.

New Feature: iWore

Since I've been working at my new job, I've been complimented by several of my coworkers on how professional, but modern, I dress for work. I dress both appropriately for my age and for the workplace.

I've always considered myself fairly fashion forward (whether I want to put forth the effort to get dressed, is another question) so I've always found it quite easy to put together outfits. Over the last few months I've been having fun piecing together different outfits to wear in the workplace.

Since I'm young (only 23) and this is my first real job, I've basically had to purchase an entirely new wardrobe. Let me tell you, this hasn't been cheap! But I feel like I have been doing a good job spending my money wisely, buying quality pieces and keeping a fresh, modern, professional look.

I look forward to sharing my outfits and giving advice to other young professionals who may be in the same predicament as myself. Stay tuned for iWore!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

5 Things To Do When Netflix Streaming Is Down

After eating dinner tonight, I was devastated to find out that Netflix.com was down. All I wanted to do tonight was stream episodes of Lost that I've already watched more times than I can count while laying in bed eating powdered sugar doughnut holes. But since the universe hates me, my plans have been thrown out the window.

So over the last few hours, I've been trying to find something that can fill the void left in the absence of Netflix Streaming...

Refresh Netflix.com. I tried this a few hundred times over the course of an hour and was unsuccessful at changing its fate.
Pretend you don't care. Watch something else. After becoming so accustomed to Netflix Life, I wasn't too sure what cable programming had to offer these days. Needless to say, everything sucks and Glee was a rerun. But I was able to kill 20 minutes looking for my TV remote.
Browse Tumblr. This tactic can keep you busy for a long time but just when you're incredibly entertained by memes, the Tumbeasts will attack... then you will be lonely once again.
Go outside and see the light of day. Too bad it's nighttime other wise this would have been a viable option.
Do something productive. Do your homework or some laundry. Clean your house. Cook dinner. Pay your bills. However, no matter how much you get done it will seem insignificant compared to TV show marathon you previously had planned.

I hope one, or more, of my suggestions helped you survive the Netflix Streaming Blackout of 2011. I would love for you to share your stories of how you survived this tragedy by leaving a comment below!

Monday, March 21, 2011

#TigerBloodIntern Round 3

Like I said before, I'm currently trying to earn a job of social media intern for Charlie Sheen and today I found out I made it to Round 3 of the #TigerBloodIntern race! Rumor has it that only 200 of the original 74,000 applicants made it to Round 3.

Similar to Round 2, Round 3 requires the applicants to actually show they have the skills needed to fill this position. Applicants are asked to make a 2 minute video discussing one of the three predetermined topics and, surprisingly, applicants are asked to dress professionally and take the video seriously.

The Round 3 applications reads:

Congratulations on making it to Round 3 of the Team Sheen Social Media Internship process! Team Sheen has received many qualified candidates for this position, and in Round 3, we'd like you to demonstrate your social media savvy through a 2 minute YouTube Video interview.

Here are the instructions:

Create a YouTube video answering one of the three social media questions listed below. No video over 2 minutes in length will be considered. Only one submission is allowed.
Dress professionally and take your answer seriously. Your video interview will be judged on quality of content and potential for community engagement.
Clearly introduce your topic at the beginning of your video.
After you have uploaded your video to YouTube, copy and paste your YouTube video URL into the box below and click SUBMIT. The deadline for submission is Friday night March 25th at 11:59 PDT.

Social Media Case Study Interview Questions:

If you were the Social Media Director for a major humanitarian aid organization, how would you create awareness and raise money via social media in the aftermath of a global disaster?
In your opinion, what is the best company using social media today and why?
How would you advise a candidate running for public office to leverage social media in his or her campaign election?

Below is a screenshot of the Round 3 application.

I have yet to record my video but I will be doing it over the next few days. I'll post it once Round 3 closes!

Girly Nerdy Goodness - Episode 02x04 - Like A Boss!

The GNG girls get pretty bossy in this week's episode... discussing topics such as Jeopardy, firemen, and Justin Bieber's death.

Click here to check it out!

Monday, March 14, 2011

#TigerBloodIntern Round 2

A few days ago I, along with 74,000 other people, applied to join TeamSheen and be Charlie Sheen's Social Media Intern.

Today I was pleased to see I made it to Round 2!

As exciting as Round 2 sounds, it was really just a form I had to fill out with information that is typically found on a resume. This makes sense since this is the first time in the process that applicants have been asked for any real proof of their competency.

Round 1 simply asked why you should be chosen and your answer had to be less than 75(?) characters.

Well I filled it out... wish me luck!