I just got a call from a student hoping to make it in the television industry- she was referred to me by my college professor and mentor, Bob Walker. She seems to be a good student, but as a professional trying to gain contacts, she needs work. But then again, when you're a sophomore in college, professionalism isn't exactly high up on your to-do list. So here's a few quick tips to help you out.

1. Learn to talk to people!
Talking to people is a game in and of itself. People who constantly Facebook and text tend to be lacking in real time face to face conversational situations. The best way for you to get better at it is by talking to as many people as possible- starting conversations with random people in places like an elevator is great practice. Say something about the book in their hand, their outfit, their cell phone....anything! Whatever you feel most comfortable talking about, strike up that conversation!

2. When asking a new contact for something, be specific!
Bright, young, chipper new interns get referred to certain contacts on a daily basis; it's not uncommon for someone to get emails from 40-50 new interns a day. Because you never know how many interns your new contact is speaking with, you need to set yourself apart. Simply stating "I need an internship" isn't going to cut it. Be specific in what you want, and make yourself memorable. I don't care if your dream is something as crazy as wanting to have a TV show about pepperoni pizza- you can either be Doug, the guy who wants his own pepperoni pizza show, or you can be Doug Who?- it's all up to you!

3. Do not inform a new contact that you can be texted at this number.
Ah, texting- the wave of the future. Teenagers who send thousands of texts a month are now becoming college students who send thousands of texts a month. Even social media marketing firms have phones for calling people. In 20 years, everybody from the age of 45 downward will be proficient at texting. Those people on the older end of that spectrum will be the ones running businesses, but until we get to that point, calling is the only way to go for the older generation. When you tell a new contact that you can be texted, it makes you look like you don't have enough social skills to get up and call someone.

4. Clean up your Facebook page.
This one is the most common one to address. Making your profile public means that just about everybody can see your pictures, comments, and whatever else, good or bad. Either set your profile to private or untag yourself from photos that show you in less than a positive light. The more you permanently get rid of, the better. If possible, only use a Linkedin account when asked for a website.

That's all I've got for now. What tips do you have?

An In-TEXT-icated Country

I love texting. I think it's a highly useful form of communication when in situations where you can't or don't want to talk. However, I believe it should be done in moderation. I think I send quite a few when seeing that I go through 500-600 a month, but it turns out that I'm considered an infrequent texter by teenage standards.

The average teenager sends about 1800 text messages a month, but considering how much I see them text, it's not surprising. I was first exposed to the enormity of teenage text mesaging almost a year and a half ago, when a teenage girl in Wisconsin sent almost 20000 text messages over the course of a month; that rounds out to nearly 700 per day. It would have been fine had her father paid for an unlimited texting plan, but he didnt. The result? a $4,700+ cell phone bill. Even worse, she had received 5 Fs on her report card. Not surprisingly, her father smashed the phone. Literally. With a hammer.



She sent 20,000 text messages? On THIS?
There's not even a full keyboard!



Anyhoo, fast forward to 2010. Teens are texting everywhere. School, church, at the dinner table, and even while they drive. Let's not even go to sexting, which thankfully has begun to decline. What is one cell phone company doing to cut back on this potentially dangerous phenomenon? THEY'RE REWARDING IT.

For the past 3 years, LG has hosted the National Texting Championship, a competition to find the best teenage texter in America. Contestants advance through rounds by accurately typing a given text message and sending it to the judging panel. Contestants who are too slow or make even just one error in their message are eliminated. The winner of the contest earns $50,000. For an activity that's so dangerous, I'd hope that LG would be promoting safer texting situations, not paying kids to do it more.



The LG National Texting Championship pays 50 large to the winner.
I think LG loses a lot more than that in the end.

Some peopele will try to rebuke my claim, saying that there are plenty of competitive beer pong championships out there. But the difference is that a beer pong federation/league is sponsoring those, not a beer company. Leave the text competitions to the private organizations to sponsor, because as a cell phone manufacturer, with more and more distracted driving cases being attributed to cell phones and texting, this isn't something I'd want to put my name on. It's not even like LG is a cell phone SERVICE provider, where unlimited texting plans put money into the corporation's pockets. This, in my opinion, is a bad move by LG, especially when the event wasn't even publicized enough to improve their US market share.

I guess it could be worse...they could be sexting for $50,000. But on the other hand, texting, as are most activities, is best when used in moderation. I'm not going to go off on some Glenn Beck/Rush Linbaugh-esque tirade that ends with me blaming every teenage problem with lack of prayer in schools, especially when adult texting is on the rise, too. But I will say this; it all depends on what each parent allows and teaches. If a parent wants to allow their kid to text at the dinner table, then wants to complain about a lack of family time, then that's on the parent. If parents instill good driving habits and conversational skills in their teenagers, then texting isn't as needed, although it is still effective.

Here's the best thing for me to say: If you hit my car, and I find out that you were texting, you and I will have a serious problem; I don't care if it is 2023 and your car drives itself. You've been warned.