Road 2 Graduation

0

Maybe this post should have been title ‘where do you get the information’, but I decide on the above for ‘best fit’. Hmm…. where am I going? Well, this little post is for me to share a little bit of information with you – where I get my information/inspiration from to give me the information in the posts on the R2G blog.

The information

I was reading, just earlier today, a student (ex student) blog that I found through a string of different discussions and other blogs. After I published a post last week on Which information is best? I was directed to the University blog, a blog very similar to R2G – the fact that it markets towards students in their university years, and brings them hints, tips and news from the academic arena it became relevant for me to read. It felt like I was reading my own understanding of the situation of students being where they are and what information they need. When I read Martin’s post on Campus chatter and where I’ve been, I started to get Deja vu. In this post he wrote that he would take quotes from his friends, and watch people walking and talking around campus.

Stranger than strange – I actually go to a campus to bring me some inspiration too. Usually I take a seat in the library and watch everyone, not forgetting to take my trusty notepad with me (I forget lots!). I write down all the titles that ‘pop’ into my head and the information just starts spiralling out of control; once I write a post title down another just appears into my head – it’s crazy, but this is what happened to me all the time when writing essays too. Thinking outside the box has always helped me concentrate on the topic or area I’m thinking/writing about – bit of an oxymoron huh? It is strange that I too remember funny comments and get a lot of ideas when on campus.

So, where’s the inspiration? – You. Students and lecturers reading this blog, people going about their daily business with no knowledge of me ever being there for the perpose that I am – information gathering. Listening to conversation, watching how people react and noticing different cultural tendencies allows the information to flow about what I can write! I’ve only done this ‘research’ twice on one campus, but I’ve got fantastic results, I’ve setup a spreadsheet with the next 3 months post titles, descriptions and resources that I will use for each one, and I attempt to do this more in the weeks to come.

For the Future – I have to admit I didn’t believe that going to campus would produce that much information for me to use. I thought I might get a few ideas, but not as many as I did. The second time I ‘produced’ information, it resulted in lower ideas than the first attempt, but this is understandable isn’t it? Yes and no. I wanted to test a theory that I think will work – oh and I’m not really a technical person, so stats and all that are out the window!

So, what is my theory? – that different environments will influence my thoughts and ideas – I’ve decided that I will take a trip to a different campus at least once a month and stay for at least 3 hours ‘sight seeing’ on campus. This will allow me (hopefully) to observe people, with the potential to generate some ideas for new content. Also, I’ll be taking photos as I tour the campus to bulk up my photo collection that I use with the current posts on the R2G blog, so watch out for some interesting clips.

I may be coming to a campus near you, so if you see a guy sticking out like someone who isn’t meant to be there, then that probably isn’t me! – I’ll be covert and you just never know, I may even post your picture on this blog.