Twitter takeover

While ordering my books this semester from Chegg like I always use since more than 50% of the time it is the cheaper option, I had an issue where one of the CDs that I ordered didn't come in the packaging. So naturally I went online to find a number or email address that I could use to notify them that this had happened and to my surprise there was no email address, but there was a phone number to call, which told me to tweet them any issues or concerns.

Now I understand that using Twitter is easier and more helpful since it allows you to answer numerous people at any time without much of a delay, but what if you don't want to tweet your problem or if you don't have a Twitter, what do you do then? I found it a little odd and strange that I had to tweet Chegg about my order, but they did answer me very quickly (within 5 minutes) and I did get a replacement CD within a week. I just find the whole process of tweeting them a little inconvenient because what if I don't want something like that on my Twitter account where I have to tweet complaints instead of being able to pick up the phone and speak to a real live person. I would have preferred to have other options besides the Twitter option, but what can you do in a society where technology has pretty much taken over.

Clever Samsung?

So as some people may know Apple's new iPhones the 6 and 6 Plus have been bending due to people keeping them in their back pockets and even their front pockets. The new phones which is said to be made out of a strong aluminum has been bending for some of its owners causing many people to worry about their phone bending on them one day. Now the story is a little odd and different, however, I find Samsung's ad above pretty smart and great marketing wise. It took a recent event and spinned it in a way to favor them and make their phone look superior. Even with the ad I am still "Team Apple" I just find their products easy to work with and simpler without all the extra unnecessary stuff. Apple is currently looking into the situation and will do visual inspections for owners who have a bent phone to see if it is able to be replaced.

Busy busy busy

I always wonder how I go day to day without going crazy with the amount of things that I do throughout the week. Between working everyday that I have off from classes and then having class all day on Tuesdays and Thursdays with meetings in between, I just don't know where I find the time to do all my work and keep up with my life. I know it will all pay off in the end and I kind of like the feeling of always having something to do, but sometimes I just wish that I could take a day off and have absolutely nothing to do. Even when I have the opportunity to do nothing I somehow manage to find something to do and there goes the day of doing nothing. Being busy does make time go by so much faster, which I do like, but I can't wait to have a vacation!

Free is always great right?

So as many people may know already during Apple's recent event they also announced that all iTunes users would be receiving U2's new album for free. I thought nothing of it cause I figured you would be given the option to download it if you wanted to or not. So fast forward a couple days later and it's time to update to iOS 8 (which has been giving me more problems than anything since I downloaded it) in order to be able to download it I had to make space on my phone. So I began to delete apps, photos, and my music since I could just put it back onto my phone afterwards.

Well as soon as I put my stuff back onto the phone there goes the new U2 album in my library of music without my doing. So I try deleting it and nothing happens, but I'm able to delete my own music without a problem. So after numerous attempts to delete the album from my phone I finally decided to google how to get the album off your phone and what I found surprised me, I had to actually use a tool that Apple created to remove the album from my phone. Apple had received such negative feedback from their decision to give everyone this album for free that they actually had to make a tool to delete it.

I found this surprising and interesting that something that started out as a free gift to users became such an issue that they were forced to do something about it. I mean this was great for U2 fans since they received an album for free that they were otherwise going to purchase, but it would have saved a lot of time and online bashing had Apple just given users the option to download the album or not. A free gift is a free gift, but when it causes so many issues and backlash it just gives you a bad image, but it's Apple people will soon get over it and forget all about it.

If anyone needs help removing the album from their iTunes account here is the link to remove it from there, all you need to do is enter your Apple id and password! http://itunes.com/soi-remove

Last minute customers

This is something that really bothers me and makes me wonder why people do this sometimes. So imagine this you're at your job 2 minutes before closing and BOOM! You get a rush of people into your store who decide to walk around and stand around while you're trying to close up and head home after a long tiring day. You can't clean or lock up the store because that would be considered rude and look unprofessional. With this group of people now standing around in the store not deciding what they want to do you get another group of people and yet another. Once they have decided what they want to do finally, they decide to stick around and eat/talk, looks like you're going to be here a little while longer watching them and listening to their pointless conversation that could be had somewhere else.  

Your store clearly has the time that it closes posted on the door yet people just continue to walk in, so what do you do in this situation? It's a very frustrating feeling when you really just want to close up and get home, but you're forced to deal with it. Now the people who I know would be able to sympathize with this post are people who have actually worked in a retail or food environment. In my mind I always wonder what makes a customer feel that they have 1 minute to walk around and do whatever they want just because we don't close till a certain time. Yes we don't close until that time, however naturally the people in the store are preparing to close if business is slow and having you walk in right before closing sets them back another 15-20 minutes sometimes even an hour or more. 

Now I'm all for that joyous moment of I made it before closing when I thought I wouldn't, BUT I'm not for the whole I'm just gonna sit here and take my time because I have nothing else to do. The same way it looks rude that a store is cleaning around you while you're eating or standing there is the same way you look rude when you decide to walk in at closing and hang out. Now I may sound like I'm complaining which I am somewhat, but you would have to be in one of those situations or experienced it to understand what I am talking about. Yeah you can say the customer comes first, but what about the employees who are also human and have lives do they not matter?

Where has time gone

So just the other day I went with a friend to the registrar office in Kehoe while there I remembered I needed to fill out an application for graduation so I grabbed one. As soon as I got into the elevator to leave it hit me. This is my last year here and my final two semesters. It just doesn't seem real it feels like just yesterday I had arrived at Plattsburgh for my freshman year and now here I am graduating in a few months!

Now it is a bittersweet feeling knowing that soon I won't be in school anymore and thrown right into the real world where I'll need to find a real job and start paying back loans, but in a weird way I am ready and excited for it. It's like if you aren't excited for it then you just won't be prepared for it. I don't necessarily want time to go any faster because I am enjoying my time here and the things that I am involved with on campus and in Plattsburgh, but I think I'm ready to be back home (or anywhere honestly) and apply my knowledge that I have gained here in the real world at a job that I enjoy!

College Students and Pets

This topic is something that I can relate to being that I am a dog owner of two dogs right now while being a student. Many people will frown upon college students having pets while in school because they feel as if they are not fully prepared for the expenses and amount of responsibility that it takes to own a pet. I agree with this thought somewhat as I have seen many pet owners either have to get rid of their pets or simply not take care of their pets properly. While in college you do make some very quick decisions on impulse without fulling thinking the whole process out. I admit when I got my first dog it wasn't really thought out or accepted by the adults around me. Thankfully though all has worked out and I currently have two healthy loving dogs at college while being away from my home in New York City. At times it does get difficult having to juggle school, work, my personal life and having to take care of my dogs, but I wouldn't change anything I love coming home to the two of them and being able to provide and take care of them properly. It is always great to see them run around and play with each other every single day.

What made me want to write about this topic was posts that I've seen online and people in my neighborhood here in Plattsburgh being rude and condescending while I have been walking my dog around my block. Just this summer I had a resident in my area take photos of my dog and me while we were walking because he thought that my dog had gone to the bathroom on his lawn which she didn't and I also always carry bags to pick up anything that is done outside. The situation bothered me because being the responsible dog owner that I am I would prefer to be able to walk around without feeling like I am being watched or judged for the simple fact that I am young and own dogs. I know that this comes from the people around me who do not properly care for their dogs which is unfortunate because it gives other dog owners a bad look. Though many people will always judge before knowing any situation it is unfortunate that others have to suffer because of the carelessness of other people. 

Chartwells Rebrand

This semester Chartwells, SUNY Plattsburgh's on campus food service has decided that it was going to rebrand itself and become more appealing to students. As a part of their rebrand they are changing their name from Chartwells to "Campus Dining." Included in this rebrand are new uniforms, name tags, vehicles and other various things.

The rebrand is interesting and important to me because I am currently doing a practicum for Chartwells (soon to be Campus Dining) where I am trying to improve the accessibility and knowledge of our on campus catering options. The practicum started out from my Public Relations Management class last year during my Fall 2013 semester. Initially my group started out as the ones who were against Chartwells and wanted to see what our other options were for on campus dining services. My group all agreed that we thought that Chartwells prices for their portions were expensive and not worth it, however, through our research of other universities and their dining options we found that we really do have an affordable and flexible meal plan option. We found that our school has a large selection of places to eat at at various times while other schools have one or two options that they can only eat at during certain times of the day. Here on campus we have dining locations that are open from the morning until midnight almost every day throughout the semester. We also have various meal plans that are customizable to fit our needs where as other schools only have one or two very expensive options that they can pick from.

Through this research we learned to embrace Chartwells and tried to find out a way to help them out and make students appreciate their services more. We ended up picking catering because almost everyone in the group had no idea how to access our on campus catering services or that we even had any. By doing this we found out the real problems with our services and worked to improve it. I am glad that I am still working with improving our on campus catering service because it has been a great learning experience and has given me real-world experience. I feel I am more prepared to deal with difficult situations and last minute changes when they occur thanks to this experience. What I learned and am still learning from this practicum is that don't judge a situation before you actually do your research and really get into the small details of things.