The blog that I will be evaluating today comes from the Frito-Lay Snack Chat Blog. The blog in particular is titled: 'Supporting the communities where we live and work'. The blog goes into detail about the long-running partnership between Frito-Lay/Pepsi-Co. and the organization known as Feed the Children.
For the past 9 years, this partnership has helped countless people in need with over 15,000 families being fed in 2018 alone. Thousands of employee volunteers get together at the events to put together care packages made up of donations collected for the event. The events go as far as to personally deliver care packages to the homes of families that have no transportation or are unable to leave their homes due to medical or physical reasons.
In conclusion, this blog brings to light the strong connection between the Frito-Lay/Pepsi-Co. and the communities of people who live within the area. Everyone involved in these events are affected in a positive way. The families in need are supplied with food and living essentials, Frito-Lay, Pepsi-Co., and Feed the Children are all given good publicity for their involvement in these events, and everyone who volunteers their time for the event represent communities coming together to help one another. I believe that this partnership is a good way to inspire other companies to put their efforts into giving back to the communities their customers live in.
So we've come to the end of my run of example posts. I'll still post things every so often (let's not lose any sleep over it), but for the most part, I'll be looking to hand over posting duties to other authors. The purpose of the past four posts has been to provide workable examples for future contributions.
This fifth post in the series should be one that reflects on everything that was done for a particular section, and an evaluation of what was learned. I don't necessarily feel like I should evaluate my own work (because it's a bit self-serving), but let me try, at least, to give a basic framework for what other posts might look like when they're written by someone other than me.
Over the past week, we covered the topic of letters of inquiry or direct request letters. Hopefully, we learned a little bit about the format, and a little about the reasons why we send these types of letters. We practiced writing them once or twice before sending real requests out to actual companies. If, for example, you learned something that you didn't know about before, then this would be a good place to mention that. If there are things that you still have questions about, this would also be a good place to elaborate a little bit on that. What did you like or dislike about the process? What might you change about this section if you had the ability?
In addition to our letters, we also had posts that evaluated a corporate blog, discussed a textbook reading, and posted links that gave us a little more information on our topic at hand. Did you find anything in any of those posts helpful? Did you have trouble finding information to fill up your posts? What advice do you have for the group that will take over after you?
In general, this last post should just be something that reflects on how everything went. It gives you the opportunity to think back and examine the work that you did and what you learned. Consider that, and everything that came before, when writing your own reflection!
As we wrap up our letters of inquiry, one of the things that we've hopefully taken away from it is that they're not too tough to put together - the key is understanding who you are sending a letter to. This is true from both an organizational and personal level; you have to know a little bit about the company that will be receiving the letter, but you also have to know something about the individual to whom you'll be addressing the envelope. Who might be most likely to respond to your letter, and how can you write to that person, even if you've never met him or her before?
There are a number of online resources for you to check out with regards to these types of letters. Many focus on the basic format, which is fine, but a few go into a little more depth. Let's look at a few resources here.
First off, let's start with a few links that provide examples of different letter formats. These are, honestly, very similar to what's in our own handbooks. Like I said, formatting is one of the simplest aspects of this type of writing.
Our first linkgets right to the point, giving us real-world examples of letters with notes written directly on the examples. There are probably more examples here than are really necessary, but it gives you the full range as far as formatting goes.
Our second link (from publisher McGraw-Hill) gives you just one example, but there's more in-dept explanation on just what each section's purpose is. The page follows a very simple design, but I think it's very helpful if you've ever wondered why the format is what it is. Just roll the cursor arrow over the links for the description.
Our next handful of links go into a little more expository depth on writing a letter of inquiry for a specific purpose. A website called "The Balance" seems to be a good place for this type of information.
Overall, this second set of links might be most helpful from an information standpoint, but from what we're looking do to, the first set might help us out more in the short term. Check them out and see what other people have to say about letters of inquiry!
"If these individuals could realize that they can learn to write ... and that they must focus on other aspects besides correctness, then they can overcome many obstacles confronting them."
Michael E. Adelstein's "The Writing Process" offers up a concise, step-by-step evaluation of what he considers to be the most important aspects of writing. Writing is often seen by students (and plenty of others) as a mysterious process, something that one person might possess and another not by virtue of some mystical birthright. Adelstein, however, provides a well-intentioned breakdown of what it takes to write in a formal setting, empowering us all to accomplish our goals when attempting to complete assignments.
Adelstein breaks down his formula right at the beginning and spends the rest of the short reflection expanding on the different categories. A short summary follows:
Worrying:This term is probably a bit on-the-nose, as others might describe this section as "thinking" or "internalizing". But Adelstein is correct in that many people begin to worry the second after they know of an assignment or task to be completed. This is the idea creation stage. By thinking (and worrying) about a topic, one considers how he or she might solve the overall challenge. Writing down thoughts as they come is one way to make it to the next stage, as is doing research on the topic at hand.
Planning:This term might be synonymous with "organizing" or "outlining", terms which by themselves can cause stress. But, as Adelstein says, "the efficient person plans his work". By planning, a writer can eliminate bad ideas in favor of more clear, concise ones.
Writing:You'll notice that "writing" is given a value of only 25% on this list, which is probably a surprise to some. This is because, as Adelstein puts it, "few authors are so talented that they can express themselves clearly and effectively in a first draft". We often want to write something and move on to the next task, and at some point we do all have to move on, but looking at writing as a process means that it doesn't always stop after the initial salvo.
Revising:Adelstein gives the most attention to this fourth section. Revising often requires that we take a step (or two) back from our own work with the purpose of looking at it with an objective eye. This is often difficult to do, which is why it's okay to bring in someone else for this stage. "Only by attacking your paper from the viewpoint of another person can you revise it effectively."
Proofreading: This stage is reserved for issues concerning grammar, punctuation, and other aspects of a paper's appearance. It takes time, but a paper's appearance is a reflection of you as a writer.
This short essay goes through the steps that make up the writing process. Some might quibble on the category names and the weight that Adelstein gives each of them, but the overall message is clear: writing is not something that happens all at once, and it takes commitment to create a complete document.
After the last post about how much I like Frankenberry, how could I choose anything else but the General Mills blog for our first example of a corporate blog? To find this site, I did a quick Google search which made it to the main page. So let's take a look at corporate blogs in general and then "A Taste of General Mills".
Corporate blogs have sprung up as a way for corporations to take a more personal approach to marketing their products to consumers; before companies had online presences, many relied on direct marketing campaigns (such as catalogues) as a way to keep in touch with potential buyers. Catalogues, of course, still exist, but they don't have the focus that they once had, as they used to be the size of phone books (also a dated reference). These things probably took all year to put together, but if you wanted to see what new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys were coming out, it was a sight to behold:
Look how massive this this is! Also, in the '70s, there were displays in it like this:
Today, corporate blogs (and other electronic corporate outreach programs) serve as a way for companies to market products, give instructions on how to use an item, relay information directly to consumers, and to gauge interest in different items or topics. Companies have staffs whose job it is to run and maintain these blogs as an extension of customer outreach and service. And while many companies also duplicate these services on other social media platforms (most companies have an official Facebook page and Twitter account, for example), blogs give them a way to provide information - sometime long-form - in a way that they weren't easily able to before.
So let's again look at the General Mills corporate blog and see what kind of features it has. At first glance, it seems to be very modern with a simple display option. A scrolling list of articles fills most of the page, giving it the impression of having a lot of content that seems to be updated regularly.
At the bottom of this home page, we see the editorial staff, the ones who provide much of the content for the site. The blog makes it clear who is in charge of the content. If you click on any of the names, you'll find a short bio for the staff member and a list of articles written by each person.
The top of the page has links to just about every other type of social media platform known to man, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. They even have a podcast that you can listen to! What do they talk about on this podcast? Who listens to it?! How many of them deal exclusively with Frankenberry?!?
The tabs at the top of the page help to express the corporate identity that General Mills wants to portray, with all of the categories covered.
The "history" tab allows the company to participate in the telling of corporate stories - an important aspect of organizational communication. With these stories, the company is crafting its own identity for both members of the organization and for the public in general. When an organization has a history we can understand and feel a part of, it strengthens organizational identity and helps members of that organization to feel like they are a part of something bigger than themselves.
I made quick use of the search bar to easily find just what I was looking for: posts about Frankenberry. Apparently they do have a podcast dedicated to the monster cereals. That is weird. Also weird is the post dedicated to people who have monster cereal tattoos, featuring this one from Instagram:
Most of the posts are fairly short, which is probably a good thing for what this site tries to accomplish. A lot of the information is obviously carefully curated to not read as an advertisement, which in fact most are trying to, at least indirectly sell a product or a brand. And, importantly, most of the posts have other links to more information at the bottom, such as where one might find a particular product.
The posts at one point had a space for comments, but it seems that those have been removed, probably because people would use it to complain about cereal and other incredibly important topics.
Overall, I think that the site has a modern veneer, and while it might be light on some content, it's pretty much what you should expect from a company who sells, among other things, breakfast cereal. It seems to have a good design for what its purpose is - customer outreach and product advertisement.
Let me start out by saying that I'm pretty excited about our letters of inquiry. Specifically, I'm excited about the prospects of getting free stuff from random places. I have no idea if any of our letters will be successful or not, but I'm going to think positive and assume that some of our groups will at least get some responses, even if they're "screw you, kid!" One of the reasons I chose this as an early assignment was so we'd have enough time to get some packages in the mail. Here's hoping! Also, I wonder if anyone will try to get a free pizza party for the class. I am not specifically saying that someone should try and get pizza that I can then eat. Why would I put that out there? Certainly not so someone would try and do it, that's for sure. Sheesh.
I decided to write my own letter of inquiry as an example. You can look at it as a template, or at least my own attempt at something like this. Also, I like Frankenberry (everyone likes Frankenberry), and I want to get Frankenberry delivered to me for free.
The examples in our textbook are always very professional and often pretty generic. This is probably a good thing for our class, as we're just starting out and simple is usually better in these situations. I would like to think that there is SOME room for creativity in these assignments, and that's one of the things that I want to impress with my example. My letter is probably a little too tongue-in-cheek, but I guess it is what it is. You can compare it to the example from the book and come up with your own twist on it. Remember, your goal is to get a company to send you something - there's more than one way to accomplish this, so don't feel like every letter has to look exactly the same.
Lastly, let's talk about Frankenberry. It probably turns your insides pink and the marshmallow-to-cereal piece ratio is dangerously high, but I can't get enough of it. In the '80s and '90s, I could find this cereal at pretty much any grocery store, but there was a good 10-year stretch when I couldn't find it anywhere. I figured that it was gone for good. In recent years, though, General Mills has released it (along with Boo Berry and Count Chocula, whatever) during the Halloween season. This is, of course, better than nothing, but I always feel a little silly at the beginning of September going through the checkout line with 20 boxes of Frankenberry in my cart. Do I get looks from everyone else in line, as well as from the cashier? Yes I do. But I'm telling you - it's worth it.
Here's a picture of me from about 10 years ago. I feel like this picture answers several questions about me, like "what did Jeff look like with hair?" (Answer: beautiful.) But it also raises several other, maybe more intriguing questions, which you can either ask in class, or you can keep to yourself forever, where it will gnaw at you as you try to sleep for the rest of your life. It's your choice, I guess!
