Lehigh Lacrosse Takes San Francisco/Alcatraz

The Lehigh Men's Lacrosse Team traveled this past weekend to California to play in the San Francisco Classic Presented by Levi's.  The Fall is considered our "off-season" compared to official competitions in the Spring.  This event was created to promote the sport of lacrosse in the West coast and the event brought a great number of spectators.  Prior to the game which took place on Sunday, we arrived in California Friday night and we took the day to travel and get to the hotel where a little gift bag was waiting for each of us which included a t-shirt and magazine as a thank you from Levi's.  Additionally, our coach had pizzas delivered to each of our rooms.  Saturday we had a walk-through practice just getting prepared for our game the next day, and then we went to the pier to travel to Alcatraz.  It was a tremendous experience and although I been to San Francisco before, I never made it to the island of Alcatraz.  It was truly fascinating and I learned a lot about the history of the infamous jail.  Also, our competitor Ohio State was also on the island and it was a great experience.  We got to see that we are out here to promote lacrosse, that this game is a "friendly" game although very competitive and we want to win, we are here to help with the growth of the game.  That night we had a combined dinner with our teams and it was a very friendly environment.  My friend is on Ohio State and it was great catching up with him and seeing his parents.  The following day, Sunday, we went to Kezar Stadium which is the old San Francisco 49'ers Stadium.  We began with a clinic for the children, which was great to see the kids smile and sign autographs.  Of course, I was chosen to shoot in front of the kids for the shooting demonstration, where the little kids were in goal and I shot on them.  I tried to shoot slowly so the kids can save the ball and be happy, but of course everyone wanted me to shoot fast and impress Ohio State who was behind me and watching my shooting demonstration.  A lot of the kids came up to me and asked for my autograph which really made me feel good about myself and happy to be out here in California promoting the sport and making these kids happy.  But ultimately we were out there for a mission, and that was to beat Ohio State.  After a slow start, we did end up beating Ohio State by a score of 15-13.  I had 2 assists on the evening.  Lacrosse is a brotherhood and even the Ohio State coach said that we are all part of a fraternity, and although we were competing against the other team, we are both on the same team and want to see our sport of lacrosse grow and reach new levels.  We took the red-eye back and after a long journey, I was happy to back at Lehigh and able to blog about my trip.

 

Organizations Don't Tweet..People Do. Reflection

First, I(@KSS213) would like to say that I thoroughly enjoyed Euan(@euan) Semple's Organizations Don't Tweet People Do.  It was very well constructed and provided an insight that is unique and modern.  The use of technology in today's world is enormous and necessary.  By not using and adapting technology, people and companies will be passed over and even forgotten.  Simply by using technology the benefits we can reap are numerous and plentiful.  Take for instance our in-class live Tweet.  We are communicating instantaneously with the author who was located in London.  Within seconds Euan would respond back to our questions, comments, and concerns.  It is truly amazing what technology can do.  In the book, it mentions that as we(people) mature, so does technology.  It seems as though technology has developed and matured so much over its life and I asked Evan "how much more can technology mature," he responded "We aren't even teenagers yet" touching on the fact that the internet and the supplemental technologies are very young and still have a long path of developing and becoming more sophisticated and even more helpful.  Furthermore, I asked Euan about using technology and social media in the finance world, and he said that with technology and social media we can use a intricate form of checks and balances and it could help with preventing "the next banking snafu."  Pulling directly from his book, Euan mentioned that "we build webs of meaning using these linked ideas and construct shared meaning in a way totally different from the heavy, disconnected documents of the past"(42).  When I read this, I thought of the social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter and how we have developed a "web" of relationships, knowledge, and "ideas" that have been formed in a internet space but feel so real.  This web is symbiotic and that we can learn from each other and teach each other.  There isn't only an inflow, but also an outflow.  In his book, he talks about organizations adopting social media.  He says a boss can prevent the use of social media.  I mentioned earlier that social media really isn't used in the financial world and he writes "disapproval is a very strong force especially if it is coming from the one who determines your salary"(64).  However, this is where my questions arise.  I don't believe the financial world is ready for the use of social media not because it can't adapt such technologies, but because in doing so, this would become groundbreaking and will not be accepted in the eyes of others.  We treat our social media as a representation of ourselves and now you will also be representing the company which will add a larger sense of representation.  I believe that it will take the actions of a few individuals and companies to adapt social media and be groundbreakers, and innovators, in order for others to take notice and have social media be part of every industry and see that by not using social media, companies aren't tapping into this area of unused resources.  Only time will tell, but those who don't use social media and technologies will be left behind and forgotten.  

I learned a lot from Euan's book and I recommend others to read his novel.  He provided a unique insight and really provoked thought, ideas, and reflection.  Prior to this class, I never participated in a live Tweet, and it was a really cool experience.  It shows that the world really isn't all that large, that it is a lot smaller and connected than we think.