Teatro ZinZanni is the premier dinner theater show on The Embarcadero in San Francisco. The show is a three hour performance, blending European cabaret and cirque to create a magical and unforgettable evening, while enjoying live music and a five-course meal.

I attended the show License to Kiss twice and each time have laughed so hard I almost cried and was just as awe struck during the second show watching the Vertical Tango as the first.

At TZ, not only does my creative side get to shine through while re-creating the Marquee displayed on The Embarcadero, but also my analytical marketing side through researching ways to increase TZ’s visibility and build consumer advocates through online strategies.

Coming soon for Teatro ZinZanni, San Francisco, a new blog and a Facebook page. These online communications will not only help to keep current fans excited for new events at TZ but also generate buzz among people new to TZ. This should help increase my generations exposure to TZ.

While this activist group, The Yes Men, may call important attention to “the other side” of the story of corporate news, they are not journalists and cannot be considered credible or truthful in their satire news stories.

However, their ability to impersonate news sources through great Web skills is impressive.

The Yes Men’s online pranks raise important issues in terms of journalism, truth and credibility, and the Web.

This faux New York Times Web site exemplifies the ease at which anyone on the Web can take images and information from a Web site, and use them for his or her personal Web site. For this case in particular, the issue is taking images from a credible news Web site to make a non-journalistic Web site appear credible. The Yes Men even go as far as to try to appear as if their site is in fact the New York Times Web site.

However, these practical jokers would not find themselves in violation of copyright law, which protects original authorship on the New York Times Web site. Online this law generally protects Web pages, emails and postings to discussion groups and writings artwork and photographs. This is true because satire is considered protected speech under the law. It appears even Internet law has a sense of humor.

“If it isn’t on the web, it doesn’t exist,” Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web, says. This quote exemplifies my feelings about the Web.

Though this is a great ideal, this statement leaves out almost 1/3 of the American population. Do they not exist, because they do not have access to the web?

This is a large group of Americans that do not network. But it doesn’t mean its ok to just ignore them when talking about the innovations that the Internet allows for among networked people.

This number shows that the digital divide is still significant to be aware of in the United States and even across the globe.

Only when the web is accessible to all, will Berners-Lee’s phrase be accurate. According to Berners-Lee, it should be the goal for the telecommunications industry to connect everyone with permanent access.

However, even if access becomes available to everyone, other research reports show that the people that do not have Internet access do not plan on ever getting Internet access and that they see the Internet as having little value.

This group of people will remain marginalized in the digital age as Tim Berners-Lee’s statement will become increasingly relevant in the future as technology progresses.

Today, almost every newspaper has a Web site with its online edition and most of these are no longer Web sites that only contain shovelware. They offer interactive articles with multimedia that readers can interact with. A journalist with the skill to create this for his or her publisher will be considered an asset to the organization.

Being web literate is even more relevant in today’s failing economy. Being web literate will give recent graduates an advantage over their peers when trying to get entry level journalism jobs.

I believe having the skills to be able to proficiently write for the web will be a huge asset to my fellow classmates and myself. It is no surprise that the course, Introduction to Online Journalism, is becoming a required part of the curriculum at CSU, Chico.

Even more confusing and frustrating to learn than writing for the Web, is learning the skills to build a web page. However, this is also a valuable skill.

This skill is not only valuable to journalists, but to any recent graduate entering the workforce. Today, any legitimate company has a website, a place where stakeholders or potential consumers can learn about the company and contact the company if they desire.

It can only benefit the potential employee if he or she can offer these competencies to the organization.

I have become great at saying the same thing in multiple ways. While this may have greatly helped my vocabulary, it does not help the reader. However, blogging has made me re-think the best kind of writing style.

The web is doing some truly positive things to reading. Bloggers and journalists must get to the point in their writing. They are pressured to write concisely if they want the reader to read and understand all or most of what they write. Since the writer does not have to worry about filling the page, there is no room for extraneous information.

The fact that 79% of people scan what they read on the web is a strong argument against the benefits of what the web is doing to reading. However, scanning of newspapers and other print material occurs as well. Scanning is not a new issue and is not unique to online journalism.

On the web the reader can go find exactly what they are interested in and read about it as much as they want and from various perspectives. In this way, the Web is making reading a more rich and interactive activity.

Journalists should take note of how bloggers personalize news stories, reveal information sources, and provide ways to get more information/opinions on the topic. These suggestions will help journalists be more relatable and therefore liked, by his or her audience.

An important lesson traditional media should draw from the rapid social and technological changes facilitated by the Web is that content is not limited by time or space on the Web.

Traditional media has only a limited amount of either space or time to provide the news to the public. Therefore, editors are forced to choose only the most important or popular stories to disseminate.

The Web allows for news organizations to place unlimited content online, which can be accessed by users whenever he or she wants. In this way the news is also less perishable, then traditional media. On the Web, news sites can archive stories, as well as provide links to other news stories that are related. The Web also allows for rich media, which can add appeal to news stories.

These attributes allow the user to get as much additional news as they desire in a more stimulating way. Traditional media must recognize the value that going online can do for their organization.

The single most important thing traditional media can do to retain existing audiences and gain new ones is to better personalize the print paper for the reader. Many writers have stressed the importance of the news being relatable to individual readers. Why else would hyper-local news Websites continue to pop up on the Web? and alternative weekly papers continue to be read even as the newspaper industry declines?

It is clear that citizens of this country value their first amendment rights. However, when you put information for all to see on the World Wide Web, you may find that your right is restricted, as with the case of LiberalViewers account on YouTube last year.

Americans love the freedom of the web, but with great freedom comes great responsibility.

Traditional journalists usually have the intent that when they write something, the objective is to put out relevant and accurate information to the public. His or her goal should be to remain a credible source. This is the reason it is appropriate for his or her copy editors to ensure that the content the journalist publishes is accurate and the reason the publisher takes the rap if invalid information is put out to the public.

However, with new media, people seem think they can publish anything they want online without any repercussions for inaccuracy or libel, and they are simply wrong.

With new media the individual is their own editor and responsible for his or her inaccuracies. Many court cases have made it clear that the IPS provider is simply the host and you, the writer, are the editor.

Though the Supreme Court has been involved in this issue since close to the advent of the Internet, many young people don’t seem to realize the consequences of putting distasteful information on the Web. Also, the serious repercussions it can have on their future, specifically getting or keeping a job.

People need to take personal responsibility to put information out on the web that is tasteful and useful and stop wasting their time posting embarrassing pictures of themselves and other people on the Web.

Recently I have found that there actually are true, educated experts writing blogs on the web. Through discussions in my online journalism class, it became evident to me that not only are my past feelings towards bloggers shared with many journalists, but that the recognition for the need to change our Keenian attitudes has come.

This semester, it became necessary that I explore Internet blogs for three out of five of my senior level classes to better understand topical issues. The discoveries that I have made have been valuable and exciting.

One discovery was Beth Kanter, a true expert on leveraging social media to help non profit organizations.

Influential business leaders even recognize the benefits of the blogging world.

Business expert’s blogs allow for anyone with an Internet connection to learn from him or her. However, in the past a person would have to pay money to get their expert advice through seminars or consulting meetings, if they could access them at all.

Blogs are increasingly necessary for businesses to monitor consumer trends and preferences about their products or services and their competitors. This is absolutely necessary for businesses to remain viable in the turbulent business environments of today’s society. This is a fact that people are coming to terms with.

Upon graduation in December, I hope to secure a job in the marketing or public relations and I know that blogging will be a part of my future as well.

Every college freshman seeks belonging first and foremost. You throw yourself out there to find others that embrace the things that you feel make life worth living. For me it was embracing different cultures.

I have met more then a few people who have dramatically redefined themselves; change their name to something flashier or something they find more fitting, color their hair, wear eccentric outfits, and choose an exciting area of study. You can do what you want to do, when you want to do it, with whomever you want. College students have the luxury of throwing parental oppression out the communal bathroom window along with any bad experiences from adolescence.

Hello to the blonde, new and improved, Jo.

Online communities take this a step further, in that they transcend space and time.
You can easily seek out people that have the same interests as you, no matter how far-fetched. You can also join communities that have the same political views as you. If vices are your thing, there’s a place for you online too. Web communities offer a place for self-discovery.

In Online communities you can change your name, your look, your genetics, anything! No one has to find out and they can’t judge you for what they don’t know (or more accurately, can’t see.)

Luckily after four and a half years in college I am back to brunette, but the name stuck. Now to find my perfect online community…

What if this actually worked? A day in the United States of America with the entire Internet down would warrant this excuse.

Not only would students get off scot-free for not doing their homework, employees would not have to do their work and the unemployed could have an excuse not to job hunt.

The majority of the US population would have nothing to do. The widespread panic that would ensue is easy to entertain in one’s mind, but what interest me, is the extra activities American’s could add to their daily routine.

My MacBook sleeps on my desk in an unusually close proximity to me in bed.
I am my computers wake up call. I don’t even have to roll out of bed. I can reach over, grab it and wake up its sleeping light.

Immediately I’m navigating to Gmail, then to CNN to check the news, Amazon to track my order, then to Facebook if I have a few minutes to spare before class.

My connected morning is not unlike other American’s all over the US. I don’t need to go into the living room and turn the TV on or go outside to grab a paper.

If the entire continent lost Internet connectivity, we could revert back to traditional medias. Of course only after much time was wasted swiveling in our chairs waiting for the Airport to show a signal, crawling under our television disconnecting and reconnecting the Internet cable.

The Internet has become America’s favorite pastime.

People could walk their dogs, Read a newspaper (in print), watch TV, meet a friend in person instead of through Facebook chat, call their parents on the phone, prepare a meal, go to the mall, or even buy a new CD.

Luckily my airport menu display shows full connectivity, so I’ll post this blog and check Facebook.