College Town Life

By Tricia Robben
January 18, 2013 Fri

First off--It's our fearless leader's birthday today--so give a shoutout to him! Happy Birthday Zac!

After I graduated from college and moved back to Kansas City, I had no clue where I would end up. I didn't think I would ever live in Oklahoma, let alone Norman, home of the Sooners. I've been here a little over a year, and I've decided I could live in a college town the rest of my life. Here are some reasons why college town life isn't so bad. 

• Sporting Events.

This may seem like the obvious reason to many, but I have met people who don't even know it is basketball season right now. I love living in a college town because there are always some sort of game going on. Most the time, tickets are pretty easy to come by and inexpensive. A perk of being in Norman is it's in the Big 12 and I still get a chance to see K-State play when they come into town. (It also gives my friends a good reason to come visit!)

• Cheap Drinks/food

Dollar beers, $2 Wells, etc. College kids are broke, so there are always deals on drinks and food. Whenever I go home or to visit friends in other cities and have to pay $6 or more for a beer, I get so mad! It doesn't seem right.

• Other events

Colleges bring in concerts, speakers and a ton of other events throughout the year. If you aren't involved on the campus, you just have to search online and you can find out about some pretty cool things going on that is open to the public. Colleges also have so many international students, who put on really cool events and you can meet some really cool people. 

• Finals Week

I'm not going to lie, this is one of my favorite weeks to live in a college town. Mostly because I still look like I am in college, so I can look however I want to look when I go out in public. I can wear nike shorts and big shirts, hair up on top of my head and be fine. No one will think anything is wrong, because its finals week..right? 

• When college students are gone…but also when they come back. 

Summer in Norman is awesome. Not as much traffic, you can find parking spaces at Campus Corner, etc. When the students come back, it's also great. There is so much energy that is in the town. Its awesome to be around. Although, Target is not awesome to be around. 

What about you? What do you love about living in a college town? Let me know in the comments below!

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Photo Editing

By Traci Fuller
January 17, 2013 Thu

There's nothing like seeing a well put-together anything and then noticing that the photos aren't properly edited. I have to admit, I'm pretty OCD when it comes to this, most people wouldn't even notice that the color balance is off in a photo, or that the levels aren't balanced properly. Don't get me wrong, I'm no professional photo editor, but I can tell a properly edited photo from a run of the mill picture straight out of a point and shoot camera. A lot of it, I'll admit, is preference... but there's just no excuse for an under/overexposed image, or a photo with a yellow/green look being used in an ad or publication... or anything ever created by a designer.

When I'm working with any of my publications, the first thing I ever do before even placing the image into my file is give it a quick few edits just to give it a more balanced look. Then, I'll edit it from there depending on the elements around it or other photos used within the document. 

Our in-house photo expert Dustin, actually just a few moments ago, lent me a new photo editing software for me to play with on my photos for my new blog. Can't wait to dive in and edit to my heart's content.

(I'm sure Dustin is going to read this post and be like...uhh, who does she think she is, I'M the photo guy)

 

Just a few tips for anyone wanting to get some better quality photos:

 It starts with the camera, the setting and the lighting.

Natural light is always better than any non-professional indoor lights.

Fancy cameras are always better than dinky little point-and-shoots, as hard as you may try.

Pictures taken in front of a window will almost always be blown-out, meaning the subject of your photo will usually be too dark and the window in the background will look like the light of the heavens coming in. 

 

I know this isn't the best compilation of photography tips, but if you're really interested in getting some better quality photos, maybe shout out to Dustin... or look up some photography tips online (I've done my fair share of both of these).

 

If you, for some reason, are reading this and are interested in seeing my girly style blog, you can visit it at www.daytodayblog.com.

 

 

 

 

 

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Social Media and the Student Athlete

By Kelby Weiter
January 16, 2013 Wed

Not only is social media marketing a trending topic in the sports industry, but it is also a debate among athletics departments and its use by student-athletes. Many athletic departments are faced with decisions such as monitoring student-athlete's Twitter and Facebook accounts, following and friending student-athletes, retweeting student-athletes, providing education for student-athletes, coaches and staff, and so on. 

The NCAA Convention is in Dallas starting today and the session titled "Social Media and Student-Athletes" will be live streamed! You can view the session by clicking here starting at 4 est/3 cst.  

What does your athletic department do? Comment below. 

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