Power Drive Network Expo tomorrow!

The Bert Oliva Wealth Academy is hosting the First Annual Power Drive Network Expo tomorrow, Saturday September 25th, 2010. The event will run from 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM. Come join CBT College as Bert Oliva will be showing you how to network and work your business by meeting and greeting people in an expo or networking environment. If you are a business owner, there are booths available, in addition to main sponsor spots. There will be tons of prizes, food, activities, and entertainment! Join us there friends. The event will be taking place at the Hilton Airport Hotel Griffin Road in Dania, FL. For more info, call (888) 711-2044.

-Danny
www.cbt.edu
www.cbt.edu/facebook

Giving Back to the Community

As an Event Coordinator and Social Media Manager, I am tasked with putting on big events for CBT College. One thing I have realized in my time as Event Coordinator, is that there is nothing more rewarding than giving back to your community. Here's the greatest thing about that: there are so many ways you can accomplish it! From events, charities, marathons, walks, and fundraisers to nursing home and homeless outreaches, we can truly make a difference in our community and world! Here are some great ways to get involved and give back.


1. Homeless Outreach: There are countless churches, and charitable organizations that go out there and take food and clothes to those less fortunate. You can volunteer at a soup kitchen, or join your local church's "Help the Homeless" ministry. There are various homeless shelters and organizations (Camillus House, Miami Rescue Mission, Homeless Voice, Salvation Army)that could use some volunteers. It would only take a few hours out of your Saturday afternoon. Maybe, instead of going to the beach or eating at Yardhouse one Saturday afternoon, we could all just spend a few hours helping people who need it!

2. Nursing Home Outreach: I know this one doesn't seem like a big issue, or something of importance, especially since we often don't even make the time to visit our own family. I assure you though, if you were to put yourself in the shoes of these men and women in nursing homes, you would appreciate a visit every now and then. Just a few hours one random afternoon to sit with them, hear their stories, and show them that there are still people out there that care. Again, it doesn't seem like much, but they will appreciate it more than you know.

3. Be a mentor: All across the country, there are young people making all sorts of wrong choices and falling in with the wrong type of people. One thing that you will find is that often, these kids just don't have anyone to look up to. Without a proper role model or support system in place, these kids look to anyone they see as important, and often times that person is not the right kind of role model. Volunteer at places like the YMCA, Boys and Girls Clubs, sign up for mentorship programs with the public school system. I'm not suggesting you became a social worker, or that you put yourself in a situation you don't feel comfortable with, but just that we make an effort to help the youth around us reach their potential for a good, happy, and full life. If it were your child, and you were unable to care for them and parent them, you would want them to have the right influences around them...

4. Child Care Assistance: Volunteer to bring some healthy snacks to a local day care, take part in the day care at your church or former elementary school. If you have a younger sibling at an elementary or middle school, help out with any functions and events. As I said earlier, the right influences...

5. Charities, Walks, Marathons, Relays, etc.: There is no shortage of charitable organizations. They are always having some sort of event. We all know about the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Relay for Life, NFL Play 60, March of Dimes, and several others, but there is a myriad of other great causes. Give a few dollars to help these great causes, maybe volunteer, or sign up to take part in a marathon/walkathon.

6. Animal Shelters/Plant a Tree/Save the World: Now, I have to admit that I'm not one of these people that cries when I see the Sarah McLaughlin commercial with the sad puppies and kitties. I'm not really an animal person. I like to eat meat. I'm all about Texas De Brazil, Grimpa, and Fogo de Chao (Brazilian Steakhouses), because it tastes so good to me. I am not however, an advocate for cruelty, abuse, or violence towards animals. We can volunteer at an animal shelter or hospital. Maybe we can help the environment by planting a tree, volunteering to clean our beaches, or any other activity that helps preserve this planet.


I know we all have very busy lives and finding time do anything is tough, let alone giving back to others. Sometimes we don't even make time to spend a few minutes with our families. So, why would we bother to spend time helping another family? Why give back when I myself don't have enough, right? It's difficult to imagine, in this Instant Gratification/Me, Myself, and I culture, that people would be willing to sacrifice some of their time and resources to give to someone who isn't as lucky. We live in a world that tells us that we are all individuals, to look out for number 1, their is no God, no afterlife, no hope, no purpose...so how can we expect anyone to care about their fellow humans or this planet?

As far as I'm concerned, that philosophy is so misguided and 100% influenced by the selfishness of humans. All problems humanity has ever faced come from our lack of consideration for others. Religion is not to blame for wars fought in their name. God is not to be blamed when a priest does unspeakable acts of evil. Maybe it's time we stop hiding behind our beliefs and blaming them, and start taking responsibility. God didn't command that clergy person to commit those acts. In fact, God abhors that type of behavior. It has no place in the church. When we blame Islam and the teachings in the Koran for extremist groups and their actions (911, and many other attacks), we are in the wrong. Islam does not teach them to do these things. Rather, they are twisting words and distorting Islamic doctrines to suit their agendas. The individuals who commit the acts are solely responsible, not the belief system they claim to follow. I promise you, any person who commits tyranny in the name of their deity, knows nothing about that deity. John Lennon was wrong when he said that if there was no religion, the world would be a perfect place. Humans would find another avenue in order to achieve their horrible, and selfish agendas. Sorry for the little rant there....

Anyway, it's time we stop thinking about me, me, me...and realize that life is about relationships, connections, and love. Love makes the world go round. Love for humanity, love for nature, love for all creation, love for oneself....these are the things that make life worth living. If we give just a little bit everyday, imagine how we could change the world.

Finally, I'm sure you are wondering how I will find a way to tie this to college life, and our professional career. It's simple: Volunteer work, charitable associations and activities look absolutely amazing on a resume. Believe it or not, employers look very favorably on employees that give back to the community. It's especially great for young people, and college students with little or no work experience. You should absolutely list your charitable work on a resume. It could help you land that first great job!



-Danny
www.cbt.edu
www.cbt.edu/facebook

Social Media in the Classroom

Have you ever taken an online class? As an FIU student who worked full time, I became accustomed to the convenience of online classes. At FIU, we used Blackboard as our online education LMS (learning management system). Miami Dade uses Angel, and Keiser University uses CampusVue as their portal. Many people in the education industry assume that in order to run online courses, it must be done through an LMS. Those systems were originally designed to allow faculty to transition their on campus courses to fully online without having to learn HTML coding. Anyone who has messed with HTML knows it's no walk in the park, and certainly not something a busy college professor wants to learn just to facilitate a group of students. These systems, like Blackboard, provided all the tools necessary to deliver an online course in one simple, and easy to use (somewhat) package.

Take it from someone who took almost two full years of classes though Blackboard; it's not that simple. These systems are flawed, glitchy, and not without confusing elements. They may be convenient, but they're not flawless. As online learning has grown, so did the functionality of course management systems. As the systems grew, they became more and more complex and fragile. The systems that were once managed by faculty is now monitored and kept up and running by IT guys, and webmasters.

Now, professors around the country have taken control back from system administrators by implementing social media sites (such as this one)into their curriculum. Blogs, Wikis, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, and VoiceThread are being used in ways never imagined. From using Twitter as a real time discussion forum, to writing assignments being turned in via Blogger, professors are learning to maximize these free resources we thought were only around to post pictures from that Pi Kappa Phi party, and tell everyone that, "I'm going to the beach on Friday with the chicas!"

The beauty of using these sites as an online learning tool is that they are free, and easy to use. Instead of spending hours upon hours stocking modules into an LMS, a faculty member can simply write a blog in minutes, start a Twitter discussion in seconds, and spend all of his/her time communicating with the students. It creates a great platform for learning because it is interactive and personal. The professor can help individuals out more easily than through Blackboard emails and forums, which often go down for hours at a time due to glitches.

These methods of e-learning have started to catch on with select colleges and universities, but most do not have a social media strategy in place at the moment. They still believe online classes must be run through an LMS. Some systems, like Blackboard, are adding social media modules like blogs, but they are locked down in the LMS, thus restricting the openness and exponential power that gives these forms of media its value.

It's about time we started seeing social media as more than just a hang out spot to talk to our friends, and realize that it is a networking tool that can make or break our professional lives. An obscene amount of companies are looking into a person's social media portfolio before committing to hiring a person. Why would they do that? Well, we are living in a time of great economic discord, and jobs are difficult to come by. Companies don't want to waste their time and money on anything less than the best. They have so many options on who to hire because so many qualified people are unemployed. Who do you think will get the job between two identical resumes? The person with the professional Linked In account, and a Facebook that shows them to be responsible, mature adults worthy of ________ company, or the person who has a Facebook full of drunken escapades and shady friends?

Social Media will be a big part of the classroom within the next five years. I don't think it's a bold prediction to say that...

-Danny
www.cbt.edu
www.cbt.edu/facebook

Why Should We Stay "Linked In"....

So, there are quite a lot of Social Media websites out there. What's the big deal with social media, right? I mean, we all know that social media is only good for talking to your friends, posting crazy pictures from Space, and Nikki Beach, and adding famous people like Kim Kardashian and LeBron James. It also makes my iPhone look cool when I have all these awesome apps! That's all social media is supposed to be used for, right? WRONG! It's about time we throw that kind of thinking out the door. Here are some facts for you, friends....

Over 96% of millennials have joined a Social Network.
Facebook tops Google for weekly traffic in the U.S.
Social Media has overtaken porn as the top activity on the web.
1 out of 8 married couples in the U.S. met via Social Media
It took 38 years for the radio to reach 50 million users...
13 years for TV....
4 years for the internet...
3 years for the iPod....
Facebook added over 200 MILLION users in less than 1 year!
iPod app downloads of Facebook hit 1 BILLION in 9 MONTHS!!!!!
If Facebook were a country, it would be the 3rd largest...


I realize I haven't given you much in the way of reasons why social media is more than just a friend adding and crazy picture posting machine.... SO here goes...

80% of companies use social media for recruitment, almost all of it through LINKED IN!

That's right, more and more companies in the U.S. are shying away from Craigslist, CareerBuilder and Monster. Barely any companies are using staffing agencies. No, no, no my friends, the best jobs are found on Linked In. Why? Because social media gives a company all the tools to truly know a potential employee. Linked In allows you to create a fully interactive resume, with recommendations letters and all! It allows you to network with major companies and connect with others who may be the doorway to your career! Linked In is a social network for professionals to make the connections needed for success in this, the Application Age. Find people you have met through professional settings, create a network of your coworkers, employers, and fellow professionals in your field of expertise. For those who are still college students, or even those who have never held a job, this site allows you to make the connections necessary to set yourself up for the career you want once you graduate. Finding a job in this economic climate is no easy task. Even less easy....is finding the job you actually want. Chances are you won't find it on Craigslist, CareerBuilder, Monster. Why? When you apply for a job or submit your resume through any of those sites, you are just one of possibly 500 other people. Not so with Linked In. On Linked In, it may be you and 19 others who are submitting their resume. There is a much higher probability that your resume will get noticed if you are applying with 20 people, as opposed to 100, 300, or 500, right? So, do yourself a favor, and get a Linked In people!

Now, here's the kicker....
While Linked In could be very beneficial to you in terms of your professional career, your other social media profiles will play a role in this as well. If you are on Linked In, chances are you can also be found Tweeting, and updating your status on Facebook. In the world we live in, nothing is private anymore. You can try to keep your professional life and your social life separate, but the internet has made that difficult. Lying on a resume is nearly impossible today, because employers can simply research you on Google, You Tube, and social media sites. So, your Linked In may paint a picture of you that your Facebook pictures at Mardi Gras completely discredit. In other words: Your Linked In may be writing a check that your Facebook can't cash. And believe me when I tell you this: If they received your resume on Linked In, they WILL research you on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. A potential employer doesn't want to see pictures of you fist pumping in the club. Employers like quality employees who will not embarrass their company, and social media is an easy way to make sure who you are hiring. Everyone knows people are mostly putting on a facade at their interviews, but social media usually tells them all they need to know about your character....so just be very careful what you put on the internet. Just like a tattoo, think clearly about your decision to brand yourself a certain way. People are watching!

-Danny
www.cbt.edu
www.cbt.edu/facebook