Emotions Sure Are Peculiar

Many of you know that I study, among other things, emotions and how people respond emotionally to media. But, even though I study them and make predictions about how certain types of media variables will move people emotionally -- doesn't mean I have a clue about how things move me emotionally.

I just got back from our T600 series where today's speaker was a guest from the Singapore MIT Game Lab, whose name was Jesper Juul. The title of his talk was "Games for making friends and enemies: a small theory of games in social contexts." The study of games -- computer games, online games, even boardgames -- has become a big deal here at IU telecom. Since I'm not a gamer, but I have been working with several students who are, I try to attend as many such talks as I can to get a feel for what interests them.

During Juul's talk he was discussing the personal stories that often surround and individuate videogames for people. An example he gave was the game Animal Crossing something which I (of course) had never heard of. But beyond merely talking about the game, he directed us to this website that told a very personal story of Animal Crossing.

Now I'm also a researcher who studies music and its effect on people emotionally. And of course, this animal crossing tragedy has a very touching and emotional soundtrack to it. But there I was in the middle of the T600 meeting room surrounded by a packed house of graduate students and faculty from both IU telecom and SLIS, experiencing a perfect storm of emotional hot buttons. The music. The fact that my wife and kids often circle around the computer monitor at home playing Funkeys. The fact that about a year ago I lost my own mom to MS. Never mind that my mom never played Animal Crossing, never even touched a computer. Didn't matter. Tears came and it took all I could to keep from leaving the room to have a huge cry.

Emotions are peculiar.

Spring Break Storm Reminds Me of Music's Influence

As my friend Sam Bradley wrote in a recent blog posting, one of the things you get by living in the midwest is and unpredictable, cold, and snowy winter. Here's how my family and I spent Saturday...the first full day of Spring Break.

The storm actually came through Friday morning...starting while I was waiting to meet a friend at the Bloomington Bagel Company when the power went out. There were about a dozen or so of us sitting around there...a few of us "regulars" who know each other primarily as faces we recognize we see several mornings a week as we take advantage of their good bagels/muffins/coffee and free wi-fi. Three was the chatter of people making or filling orders and talking amongst themselves. And, as usual, in the background was the music of XM Radio. They usually have The Loft playing.

So, anyway, after a subtle 'pop' sound all the power went off and we sat there in only the natural light and silence. After about 45 seconds the power came back on, allowing the sound of orders being placed and filled. The chatter started up again....but something was wrong. What was it? It was the music. It was absent. And the place just wasn't the same. The energy seemed the drop down about 20 notches! It was amazing. I've recently been thinking more and more about the influence of music. I've published a piece with Francesca Dillman Carpentier in Media Psychology on tempo as a structural feature in music. Plus, I've been reading a great book on the topic recently...a title that I hope to finish over break.

But, this personal experience really drove it home.

Sales Professional Talks to Sales Class

Today in my Electronic Media Sales course, T343, we had a departmental alumn come and speak about his 18 year career as an Account Executive at WGN Radio. I first met Tom Bortz at last year's Multivisions Convention and he was kind enough to agree to come talk to my class this semester. (It helps that he, like so MANY IU alumni loves Bloomington...and that tonight was IU senior night for the basketball team!).

Tom did a wonderful job of connecting with the students and reinforcing some of the things that I've been teaching and that they have been reading.

For example:

1. Sales is not for the thin-skinned, but rejecction from a prospect is not a rejection of YOU. But, you need to learn how to turn the objections into positives...and the more you can practice it the better you get at it.


2. The importance of finding out as much information about the prospect as you can in the discovery meeting.


3. It is helpful to learn as much as you can about the station and its product [For example, new AEs at WGN begin by spending their first weeks sitting in on all the show hosts/talent].


4. The world of media sales is not 9-5...you are always looking for prospects, clients, ideas.


5. The client renewal starts the first day you get the order...you must service them.
   
   

But, there were also new pieces of information--things that I haven't gotten to yet (or that I might never have gotten to). For example

1. He discussed intricacies of commission...that commission is based on net sales while goals are set on gross--prior to subtracting of agency commissions etc.


2. And that even when the client goes with an ad agency it is important to retain a good direct relationship with a client. If the client likes/respects you they can influence the agency buy because the agency buyer works for the client.


3. We learned about tools like Media Monitors and how they can use it to estimate how much a prospect is spending on media in a city like Chicago.


4. That WGN radio has internships...including sales internships.

In fact, here's a picture of a student talking with Tom afterwards about an internship possibility.

Another great year for IU Telecomm @ ICA

One of my favorite academic associations is the International Communications Association.

Luckily, I belong to a Department that not only values participation in ICA, but is filled with people who do great work. Check out this press release:


March, 2007 - Two Top Paper Awards Among Seventeen Departmental Papers Accepted for Presentation at International Communications Association Annual Meeting in Montreal, May 22-26.

Information Systems Division
Top Paper Award:
Zheng Wang, Annie Lang & Jerome Busemeyer-- Motivational Processing and Choice Behavior during Television Viewing: An Integrative Dynamic Approach.

Ted Castronova--A Virtual World Experimental Test of the Law of Demand

Seth Finn, Robert F. Potter & Sungkyoung Lee--Every Word Matters: Correlating Word Information Value In Persuasive Messages with Physiological Arousal Responses.

Satoko Kurita, Sungkyoung Lee, Zheng Wang & Annie Lang --How much is too much?: Media Structure, Content, and Cognitive Load, and Overload

Robert F. Potter, Annie Lang, Josh Brown, Rena Fukunaga & Adam Krawitz-- Brain Activation During Risk: The Influence of Trait Motivation on ACC Activation During Choice and Consequence.

Robert F. Potter, Paul D. Bolls, Jacob Koruth, Kevin Wise, Rachel Bailey & Annie Lang--Heart Rate Variability Analysis Suggests a Reinterpretation of Cardiac Responses During Media Messages.

P.G. Nadorff, Sungkyoung Lee, Brian Wilson, Annie Lang, Bernice Pescosolido & Jack Martin-- Mass Media and Stigma: How portrayals of mental illness impact social stigma.

Andrew Weaver, Soyoung Bae & Robert F. Potter--Physiological Responses to Manipulation of Violence in a Primetime Drama.

Brian Wilson & Julia R. Fox-- Exploring the Effects of Audience Laughter on Information Processing

Narine S. Yegiyan, Brian D. Wilson, Ya Gao, Sharon Mayell, Zheng Joyce Wang & Annie Lang-- Approach? Avoid? Both? Processing Coactive Motivational Media Messages

Game Studies Division
Top Paper Award:
Chase Bowen Martin & Mark Deuze-- The Independent Production of Culture: A Digital Games Case Study

Law & Policy Division
Xiaofei Wang & David Waterman -- The Economics of Foreign Language Media in the U.S.: An Empirical Study of Radio Markets

Mass Communication Division
Betsi Grabe & Erik P. Bucy-- The struggle for control: Visual framing, news coverage, and image handling of presidential candidates, 1992-2004.

Betsi Grabe, Narine Yegiyan & Rasha Kamhawi-- Experimental evidence of the knowledge gap: Message arousal, motivation, and time delay.

Sojung C. Kim & Erik P. Bucy-- International Crisis News and the Evaluation of Threat: Viewer Responses to News Coverage of the North Korean Nuclear Test

Global Communication and Social Change Division
Enyonam Osei-Hwere & Patrick Osei-Hwere -- Nollywood: A multilevel analysis of the international flow of Nigerian video films.

Journalism Studies Division
Mark Deuze-- The Media Logic of Journalism

Great link forwarded by a former student

Several times a semester I remind my undergrads that, when they are rich and famous and working dutifully in the telecommunications industry, I would certainly appreciate it if they would remember to send me information and articles they come across that I could use in my current classes.

My thanks to Amy Alyward a former T344 student who sent me this terrific blog entry by Paul Grein of Yahoo Music.

It's a reminder of the importance of knowing the CRITERIA researchers base their findings on. In this case, the findings are the top music albums in the land. Turns out, the #2 album last week by numbers was Michael Jackson's 25th Anniversary Album of Thriller. Then, why doesn't it appear in the Billboard 200? Find out by reading Grein's article.

Find it here.