We were asked to do an e-market paper for class. The assignment was to select two websites that both target a certain online customer and provide an analysis of how the two sites responded to the markets they target. What factors account for one website being better than the other?
I chose the online book buyer as my customer and target market, and researched the differences between Amazon.com and Abebooks.com.
The paper was submitted by hand to Professor Boone if you care to read my findings you can obtain a copy from her or send me a request. I also wanted to provide you with a helpful tool for evaluating websites if you are having trouble finding research to validate your thesis. This evaluation sheet was provided to our class by Professor Booone.
http://infoacrs.com/nm/evaluatingwebsites.html
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Question #8
Question #8
Discuss how one international group (country, city, or group) uses the Internet or Internet technology.
I believe all city's around the world are using the internet to help boost their tourism. Even right here in Boston, as citizens we use these websites to gain information, find forms and search events in the calendar section. International city's are no different. Take the City of Venice Italy for example. The official website has information for locals providing news feeds and happenings, and offers a municipal portal to the city administration offices. http://www.comune.venezia.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/EN/IDPagina/1
It also is heavily designed with the tourist in mind. There is an overwhelming amount of information for travelers who might want to make plans for a visit. The sites provide hotel information, restaurants, museums, libraries, concerts, movies, tours, transportation etc. All this information is extremely helpful in planning a trip if you are a town away or a continent away. Before this information was found in guide books that you either purchased, read at a bookstore or borrowed from the library. Now you can get most of this information for free from the comfort of your home. Plan your trips, sign up for email alerts with hotel deals, and airline tickets sales. The internet lets the city come into your home to explore and learn about. I am sure the tourism in Venice has profited from the ability to plan with the use of the internet.
Discuss how one international group (country, city, or group) uses the Internet or Internet technology.
I believe all city's around the world are using the internet to help boost their tourism. Even right here in Boston, as citizens we use these websites to gain information, find forms and search events in the calendar section. International city's are no different. Take the City of Venice Italy for example. The official website has information for locals providing news feeds and happenings, and offers a municipal portal to the city administration offices. http://www.comune.venezia.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/EN/IDPagina/1
It also is heavily designed with the tourist in mind. There is an overwhelming amount of information for travelers who might want to make plans for a visit. The sites provide hotel information, restaurants, museums, libraries, concerts, movies, tours, transportation etc. All this information is extremely helpful in planning a trip if you are a town away or a continent away. Before this information was found in guide books that you either purchased, read at a bookstore or borrowed from the library. Now you can get most of this information for free from the comfort of your home. Plan your trips, sign up for email alerts with hotel deals, and airline tickets sales. The internet lets the city come into your home to explore and learn about. I am sure the tourism in Venice has profited from the ability to plan with the use of the internet.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Question #7
Question #7: Discuss how one brand or nonprofit uses online blogs and online advertising.
The New York Times online site has an amazing array of blogs from which to view and participate. http://www.nytimes.com/ref/topnews/blog-index.html
And from the look of it, people are utilizing them in a major way. One of my favorite blogs in by chef Mark Bittman. His blog posted today already has 319 comments at the time of writing this entry. There a media blog that has a reporter blogging his interview with the President of TLC on the Jon & Kate issues. Some of the blogs have a consistent contributor and some go out and get notable people you would want to hear from together blogging about certain topic of interest pertaining to a specific blog.
The blogs are a great way of advertising for the Time and you can sign up for RSS or ATOM feeds for as many as you like. Great portal of information and some is more user friendly than attempting to read the entire paper. Plus you get content on areas you are specifically interested in and I am sure many feel a sense of community being apart of the blogs.
The New York Times online site has an amazing array of blogs from which to view and participate. http://www.nytimes.com/ref/topnews/blog-index.html
And from the look of it, people are utilizing them in a major way. One of my favorite blogs in by chef Mark Bittman. His blog posted today already has 319 comments at the time of writing this entry. There a media blog that has a reporter blogging his interview with the President of TLC on the Jon & Kate issues. Some of the blogs have a consistent contributor and some go out and get notable people you would want to hear from together blogging about certain topic of interest pertaining to a specific blog.
The blogs are a great way of advertising for the Time and you can sign up for RSS or ATOM feeds for as many as you like. Great portal of information and some is more user friendly than attempting to read the entire paper. Plus you get content on areas you are specifically interested in and I am sure many feel a sense of community being apart of the blogs.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Question #6
Question #6: Find an effective use and an ineffective use of PR online.
I am not sure I understand your question entirely. Are you referring to PR in the sense of marketing and utilizing the web to self promote in a good light and by making yourself, business or product accessible to its users? Not knowing for sure, I will continue with that understanding and have found a website that provides many helpful topics for its both current and potential customers. The site I am choosing is Fidelity Investments https://www.fidelity.com/
It is user friendly, topic organized, easy to use for the common man as well as a more seasoned investor looking to access his personal account information or conduct a transaction. The website makes the user "feel" important, understood and part of the process. I would assume that this strengthens the Fidelity brand and is a win win for their image and customer satisfaction.
I am not sure I understand your question entirely. Are you referring to PR in the sense of marketing and utilizing the web to self promote in a good light and by making yourself, business or product accessible to its users? Not knowing for sure, I will continue with that understanding and have found a website that provides many helpful topics for its both current and potential customers. The site I am choosing is Fidelity Investments https://www.fidelity.com/
It is user friendly, topic organized, easy to use for the common man as well as a more seasoned investor looking to access his personal account information or conduct a transaction. The website makes the user "feel" important, understood and part of the process. I would assume that this strengthens the Fidelity brand and is a win win for their image and customer satisfaction.
Question #5
#5: Discuss one important policy issue for the Internet.
I often think that the problem we face with policy as related to the internet, is that the technology and access to the technology is so completely far ahead of any policies. Issues arise that most could not predict and thus we find most policy or laws being extremely reactive, as opposed to proactive. There are many obvious issues facing the internet right now, but I gave your question a great deal of thought, and think a critical issues we should investigate and discuss is How to handle hate speech. Can it be censored and should it be? The first amendment of the US Constitution prohibits the broad regulation of speech. However one can look for themselves, with very little effort, on the internet and see sites that claim the hollocaust was a fake, and blame the Jews for all that is wrong in the world with anti-semetic rants, or sites that claim that lesbians and gays are subhuman, or other racist sites that claim similar disgusting ideas to further hate. We see social networking sites posting innapropriate pictures of people and saying terrible things about others as a form of bullying. So if we are to uphold the ideas of free speech in America, how can we introduce policy that can help stop this spread of hate online without it being unconstititional or seen as sensorship?
Monday, June 8, 2009
Question #4
Find three examples of ineffective websites.
I must admit, it is not easy to find bad websites. The first one I would suggest is my office website from the MIT Career Development Center. Not only does it look terrible, even those of us who know what content it holds can not seem to find anything!
http://careers.mit.edu/
This one totes itself, self admittedly, as the World's Worst Website!
http://www.angelfire.com/super/badwebs/
And finally I found an entire website dedicated to "websites that suck". Who knew?
http://www.angelfire.com/super/badwebs/
I must admit, it is not easy to find bad websites. The first one I would suggest is my office website from the MIT Career Development Center. Not only does it look terrible, even those of us who know what content it holds can not seem to find anything!
http://careers.mit.edu/
This one totes itself, self admittedly, as the World's Worst Website!
http://www.angelfire.com/super/badwebs/
And finally I found an entire website dedicated to "websites that suck". Who knew?
http://www.angelfire.com/super/badwebs/
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Question #3 - Find and comment on a photo online that adds to a website
Question # 3 Find and comment on a photo online that adds to a website
http://boston.langhamhotels.com/en/restaurants/bond_restaurant.htm
As a fan of hotel bars, for just the picture alone, I am dying to try out the bar at the Langham Hotel in Boston. The setting looks like a fun place to escape and be pampered. The venue looks like it is right out of a palace and I am can't wait to be treated like one in this amazing venue! Cocktails anyone?
Another favorite place of mine is the Hotel Daneli in Venice. It has to be one of the most beautiful hotels ever! Not only is the micro location idyllic right on the Grand Canal, but the ambiance and architecture of the building itself, inside and out is just amazing!!!!! The staircase in this photo seen here is right out of an MC Escher print times the power of 10. The hotel also has the most wonderful roof deck terrace that if you play you cards right, you can get to even if you are not a hotel guest! Try it, it will change your life. http://danieli.hotelinvenice.com/ Ciao Bella!
http://boston.langhamhotels.com/en/restaurants/bond_restaurant.htm
As a fan of hotel bars, for just the picture alone, I am dying to try out the bar at the Langham Hotel in Boston. The setting looks like a fun place to escape and be pampered. The venue looks like it is right out of a palace and I am can't wait to be treated like one in this amazing venue! Cocktails anyone?
Another favorite place of mine is the Hotel Daneli in Venice. It has to be one of the most beautiful hotels ever! Not only is the micro location idyllic right on the Grand Canal, but the ambiance and architecture of the building itself, inside and out is just amazing!!!!! The staircase in this photo seen here is right out of an MC Escher print times the power of 10. The hotel also has the most wonderful roof deck terrace that if you play you cards right, you can get to even if you are not a hotel guest! Try it, it will change your life. http://danieli.hotelinvenice.com/ Ciao Bella!
Question #2 -Discuss 1 important event or person in the past 10 years of the internet
I wish I could name some of the people I expect to be responsible for wonders of the Internet. I picture them sitting in a garage, hyped on high test coffee trying to bring to life what we take for granted today. Amazon.com, Ebay, broadband. I guess the most important person I can think of is the creator of one of my favorite and most visited sites, Ebay. I imagine Pierre Omidyar was one of those guys programming and writing code for the auction website that we all admire today. Now not only is he extremely wealthy from all his efforts, he is a true humanitarian who gives back. He and his wife donated the single largest gift to their Alma matter, Tufts University to help fund students interested in being civic leaders.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Class Question #1
How do you use the internet?
How does your internet use compare to some other person in your family?
I use the internet to communicate. I can not go too many hours in the day without checking my email. It is my way of keeping connected and in the know. What are friends up to? What is going on in my office that I need to be in the loop on. Often it can be an indicator of who is actually work and who is not. I use the internet to shop. I buy clothes for myself and tons of stuff for my dog. I use the internet in my job. There are so many online resources to utilize and help students with the career decision making process. My favorite is sloancareercornerstone.com that is especially helpful for students wishing to work in the science and technology fields.
My brother is an avid internet user. Emailing, business transactions for his restaurant etc. He is really great at bidding on ebay for things and tends to swoop in at the exact right time to win a final bid. My Dad is 78, and he too is pretty good on the internet using it for email and uploading pictures. He has even purchased a few things on the internet, but tends to use it for viewing and information on a product and still prefers to call in his orders. My mom is using the internet for email and a few online purchases. She is trying to think more about using it as a resource tool. I often will be in a conversation with her and she will mention wanting to know more about something and I will say, check out the internet Mom. To which she replies, I never think to do that, but I should. I think overtime she will become more comfortable with this.
How does your internet use compare to some other person in your family?
I use the internet to communicate. I can not go too many hours in the day without checking my email. It is my way of keeping connected and in the know. What are friends up to? What is going on in my office that I need to be in the loop on. Often it can be an indicator of who is actually work and who is not. I use the internet to shop. I buy clothes for myself and tons of stuff for my dog. I use the internet in my job. There are so many online resources to utilize and help students with the career decision making process. My favorite is sloancareercornerstone.com that is especially helpful for students wishing to work in the science and technology fields.
My brother is an avid internet user. Emailing, business transactions for his restaurant etc. He is really great at bidding on ebay for things and tends to swoop in at the exact right time to win a final bid. My Dad is 78, and he too is pretty good on the internet using it for email and uploading pictures. He has even purchased a few things on the internet, but tends to use it for viewing and information on a product and still prefers to call in his orders. My mom is using the internet for email and a few online purchases. She is trying to think more about using it as a resource tool. I often will be in a conversation with her and she will mention wanting to know more about something and I will say, check out the internet Mom. To which she replies, I never think to do that, but I should. I think overtime she will become more comfortable with this.
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