Welcome to our official blog!

By Priscilla Tenggara

As technology continues to permeate in our everyday lives, social media has become an integral part of how we present ourselves. Whether it’s the photos you post on Instagram, the image you set as your profile photo, or your daily updates on Twitter, these digital marks shape your personal brand.

Now what is a personal brand? Your personal brand communicates how you want others to perceive you - what you want people to associate you with when they think of your name. In other words, having a strong personal brand is an integral factor of selling yourself, and it’s never been more important in the world of social media.

Thanks to social media, we now have a platform for us to broadcast our personal message. Because online platforms are so prevalent in our everyday communications, utilizing them tactfully can make a big impact on your online and offline presence. To help you shape your message I’ve listed 4 tips on using social media to boost your personal brand:

1. Post with a purpose:

When searching your name online, what do you want others to see? Knowing your core values and objectives creates a foundation of what to convey on your social platform. Posting strategically not only allows you to be in control of your online reputation, but also enables you to emphasize what you want to be known for.

2. Know your audience:

Whether you are using the platform for social or professional purposes, each media can be used to leverage your personal brand in different aspects. For example, if you are a business owner, your online persona can impact the success of your idea. People can learn a lot about you based on the information provided on your social networks, therefore influencing whether or not to invest in your ideas.

3. Be consistent:

In order to create an impactful online presence, having a consistent persona is important when utilizing different social networks. Your reputation online follows you offline. With that in mind, effective marketing is all about the memorability, so in order for you to stick in people’s minds, it’s important that your social networks are clear representations of yourself.

4. Provide insight:

To be unique online, it’s not just about posting with a purpose or targeting the right audience. Your sense of memorability comes from the the stories you tell, in other words the content you post. Personal branding online revolves around the value you provide your audience. Whether it’s knowledge about your professional industry, your travel recommendations, or list of must-try restaurants, the online substance associated with your name should highlight your unique values and emphasize what you would be able to contribute to your network.  

In short, utilizing social media to enhance your personal brand can play a pivotal role towards your future success. Being conscious of not only the substance you post, but also your audience can impact how you may be perceived. Most importantly, the insight you provide can greatly boost the credibility and uniqueness of your personal brand. By actively participating online, your personal brand gains credibility and exposure, thus helping you position yourself as an authority in your respective field.

Whether we've known it or not, living life needs a lot of improv. We voluntarily do it when we talk to someone or when we're driving without a GPS. Sometimes improv volunteers us to fix a suddenly collapsed bike or to wing a presentation. Both cases provide some context--an aesthetic one, a utilitarian one, a social one--in which we act, often unthinkingly and most of all, unplanned.

It's the last word of that sentence that makes people balk at improv even if we've technically done it countless times. Especially when combined with some form of artistic self-expression, the thought of having to do something on the spot makes people cringe and giggle. Whenever I'd sit in the car with a friend who puts on hip hop or soul while driving, I'd challenge them to freestyle. The usual reaction I'd get is:

"W-Wh-What?!"

That also happens to be my reaction to their incredulity--why wouldn't we want to give our own spin on something we've been listening to for a while? It's like remixing or doing a cover of a song, which isn't at all unusual or uncommon. No, I'm pretty sure the source of discomfort is a mishmash of unsettling ideas that:

One, we are artists,

Two, we have to have something to say, and

Three, we have to say it right now.

(Also, we probably aren't good at making end rhymes.)

We start imagining how amateur-ish and lame we're going to sound, sputtering uncoordinated syllables and grade-school vocabulary and lagging behind the music. We can't catch up. The drums, bass line, and other perfectly timed elements of the song march on without waiting for us and our heads begin to spin. Are they taunting our voice that’s hanging awkwardly in the air? At the same time, we start feeling as if we're doing everything wrong and we really shouldn't be trying to freestyle and we're not artists, and we should sit back down as mere passive consumers of stuff by people who seem to get it right.

Relax. We shouldn’t be so hard on ourselves.

Thanks to virtuosic jazz performances and the rise of professional improv comedy, we expect the products of improv to be either sparks of ingenuity or pure embarrassment. That's somewhat right, except for the most part, the average improv has a lot of chaff that doesn't really mean anything, the equivalent of us saying "I'm doing fine" to someone's "How are you?" And there are indeed those flashes of surprising cleverness that make us go, "Ohhh!" On the flip side, there are those skips in the flow that make us wish we hadn't said or done that. Kind of like committing a faux pas.

What it takes to do improv well has more to do with getting over how imperfect and capable we can be in sounding stupid than with conjuring mind-blowing stuff of the century. Put one too many words in a line? Keep going anyway. Didn't end with a rhyme? Keep going anyway. It's about hanging onto the beat and moving with the times.

One time when a friend of mine refused to freestyle, I explained how bad we're allowed to sound via demonstration.

"Yo, I'mma freestyle, don't have to compile--"

"Ahaha!" For some reason he began bursting into laughter.

"--nothin' fancy, I'mma bad rapper, sound like I came from the crapper--"

He didn't join me, but that was okay. It livened up the car ride, which is something freestyling in the car never fails to do.

Improv is an indispensable tool for the creative. Have you ever heard of "planned creativity?" I haven't. In fact, most if not all of my great ideas spontaneously come from taking a shower, buying groceries, or in midst of reading a book. Life, second by second, provides my brain the raw materials--context--with which to construct a stage where I play out ideas.

by José Ramos, TEDxUCIrvine's Executive Director & License Holder

**Please note that this was not written with the intent to express anger or disappointment. It was not written with the intent to confront certain persons; it is just an observation that I’ve become aware of. ** 

by Maria Khan, TEDxUCIrvine's Director of Outreach - Internal

If you needed 10 more reasons to attend TEDxUCIrvine's main event, The Adventure of Discovery, happening 31 May 2014, our Director of Outreach - Internal compiled a list of 10 great reasons to get your ticket today!

Envision a Better Future Together: Ten incredible speakers will provide insight into their envisioned future and invite you to join the movement!

SWAG: Your T-Shirt will allow your friends to ask “Hey, did you go to a TEDx conference?” and then you’ll get to tell them all about your awesome time at the conference! No effort needed.

Network with Individuals from a Diverse Intellect: From scientists to activists, you are bound to meet an individual with the same interests as you and hopefully can lay down the foundation for a future collaboration.

Redefine Your Perspective: Each speaker and performer will ask you to step outside of your comfort zone and explore various fields from a new viewpoint.

Name Badge: TEDxUCIrvine values each attendee and designs name badges as if they are art pieces.

Evok Lab-3D Printing: Explore the 3D Printing Lab in CALIT2 which aims to integrate social theory, art, computer science, and design to create new technologies and artifacts that evoke thought, debate, discussion, and consideration of a more harmonious mediated world.

Photobooth: Take pictures to remember your experience at The Adventure of Discovery.

Learn who’s behind McGaugh Hall: Get the chance to hear an amazing individual amongst many to share his inspiring story and ...maybe even learn about the interesting building architecture.

Watch Performers who Revolutionize Art: Each performer was not invited for their talent alone but the unique aspect they bring to the performance culture.

Xperience the TEDx Energy: Innovation, creativity, courage, and passion create an energetic and joyous atmosphere!

By Katrina Dela Cruz, TEDxUCIrvine's Director of Outreach, External

Being blessed with an insatiable hunger for wisdom, productivity and fulfillment is an experience I’m sure many other TEDsters can relate to. I consider these following books as some of my greatest mentors and teachers, and so I hope this list inspires you to pick up a new title, discover something new, and challenge yourself to continue learning and improving.

by Michelle Doan, TEDxUCIrvine Secretary

Each one of us has the capacity to think individual thoughts and develop unique moral values. Although we are all different individuals with unique ideas on how the world works, in order to expand upon these ideas and grow our minds, we need to be able to effectively communicate. In conversation, we need to practice True Listening without hastily returning a response. 

How many of the 1,474 acres of UC Irvine have you discovered? As a freshman, my friends and I anticipated the nights we would leave open to adventure around campus. UC Irvine is a beautiful campus with hidden areas and all access WiFi which means numerous spots to watch TED Talks! Check out my favorite spots to take a break from school and refresh my perspective with a TED talk! #XMARKSTHESPOT 

by Kent Pluntze, TEDxUCIrvine's CORE Intern

Today life is full of technology, and with this technology comes the naysayers who believe that technology will be the end of us. While this is not true, putting away technology every once in a while is not only peaceful but enjoyable. It took me a long time to come to terms with this concept, but once I tried it a few times I realized that some time unplugged can be very enjoyable.

Technology can help you plan your unplugged time. There are a large variety of apps out there that will turn off everything from just internet to an entire device for a specific period of time. You can download any of these and set times that you want your devices to be turned off for. However, in my opinion, the easiest way to enjoy some time unplugged is to simply go outside without any of your gadgets.

You do not have to spend much time without technology to recognize the benefits. Within minutes you will notice how relaxed you begin to feel once the constant barrage of information stops. This is the biggest benefit of taking a little time once in a while to step back from it all. Until you cut off technology from your every day life, you do not realize the vast amount of information you process on an average day.

There are many of ways to actually unplug. Like mentioned before, turning off your technology and taking a trip outside is the easiest way to get away from it all for a short period of time. For freshman at UC Irvine, leaving your phone in your dorm and walking to the park with your friends is a great way to bond with other people while remaining unplugged.