Kamakura

Kamakura, the world heritage home of the samurai, was a pleasant day trip just 1 hour from Tokyo today.

While it was once again very cold, it added to the atmosphere as we explored Engaku-Ji temple, Kencho-Ji temple, Tsurugaoka shrine and Daibutsu (Great Buddha).

Many of these places are important in the development of Zen culture. Some if the buildings are over 700 years old and still in use today. There are a few pictures below from them.

One if the other highlights has been getting to know Japanese culture a little better - especially the food. Whether it's from a vending machine (strangely everywhere selling drinks mainly), street vendors, tiny restaurants or department store food halls the variety is mind blowing.

Farewell to Tokyo tomorrow - we're off to visit Hakone.

Shibuya, Shinjuku and Harajuku

So much hanami today. Our day started at the Shibuya intersection, famous for having over a million people cross it everyday. Not so many people when we were there but as the day wore that changed.

Everywhere we went was popular today. Meiji Shrine, Harajuku, Shinjuku were all bursting at the seams with shoppers, hanami worshipers and tourists. As the photos show it's not a good place to be if you need your own space.

Venturing outside of Tokyo for the first time tomorrow, hopefully the rain stays away and the temperature gets above 8.

Tsukiji, Ueno, Asakusa

We covered an enormous amount of ground around Tokyo today. The morning started of in Tsukiji with the world famous market. We weren't up at 5am for the tuna auction but it was still amazing to see the vast array of seafood (example below).

Next stop was Ueno and some beautiful Hanami. When the wind blew it looked like it was snowing. The Ueno Park had a number of trees with blossoms and people everywhere.

Onto the train again, this time for Asakusa. The shrine, pagoda and temples were quite beautiful. Lots of Hanami and people to go with it.

After a long walk around Asakusa we headed across the river to Tokyo Sky Tree. Not even open a year yet , it dominates the surrounding skyline. We decided not to wait for 4.5 hours to go up to the observation points.

Instead we headed to Roppongi Hills and it really hit home just how vast Tokyo is.

Tomorrow more adventures around Tokyo.

Touchdown in Tokyo

After what seemed a very quick flight from Sydney to Tokyo we managed to disembark and clear customs in 15 minutes. That's better than most of the domestic flights I've been on!

We were so early that the Express Train was not due for an hour so onto the local train. Those images of people being pushed into trains is real and let's say having a suitcase in the middle of them all was an experience we wouldn't ever want to repeat.

Today has been spent exploring the gardens around the Imperial Palace, visiting Akihabara "Electric Town" and Ginza. The photos below are a taste of this. Even though peak cherry blossom season passed last weekend there are still some amazing spots on bloom.

One of the highlights of the day we didn't photograph was being asked questions by 4 high school girls and their teacher to improve their English. Very funny and surreal.

So off to bed for today, and hopefully some more interesting tales tomorrow.

Off we go!

After 10 months of planning, researching and trying to get our heads around it we (Tamie and I) are finally off to Japan! Unexpectedly we have been given an upgrade to Premium Economy - thank you Qantas! So as I write this post waiting in the lounge in Melbourne, we're very much looking forward to the adventure to come and hopefully a lot of photos to share with you (and not too many lines like the airport).

Change of Direction

To date this blog has been based around the Social Media learning's I have experienced while undertaking the Communication Management subject. While it is always good to keep a journal, share your learns and reflect; the social media aspect of this subject dictates a number of different forums can (and should) be used to do this apart from just a blog.

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading my fellow classmates blogs around their social media experiences, found Google+ to be a wonderful way to keep track of blog updates along with sharing resources found and Twitter for finding breaking news around social media. As I expected , I've gone overboard with RSS feeds to the point I need start again to reduce the volume of information coming in!

The different social media tools are useful in their own ways, but I can already see that there are some that I will continue to use and others that have limited appeal or value to me in the future. Rereading a lot of the earlier weeks content this blog was designed to be based around a personal area of interest or expertise. So I have decided to take on this challenge, try to keep everyone engaged with a different topic and have the view to keeping this blog running long after the subject has come to an end.

So before I start my new direction (a hint of things to come above) it has been worthwhile blogging about social media but its time for me to stop talking and start doing to truly understand it.

Growing Confidence

My wife had been following my progress with Social Media and Communications Management with lot of interest. So much so tonight she has decided that a wiki space will not do for a workplace project and asked for my help in starting a blog.

It was quite fulfilling to be able to help set it up, answer questions and offer suggestions. 3 weeks ago it would have been trial and error but now I am confident enough to help out.

Now to get my head around the other 1000 social media platforms!

#sxsw

One of the most enjoyable parts of engaging in Social Media for Communications Management has been being able to listen and read about the South by Southwest Music Festival (#sxsw) occurring in Austin, Texas at the moment.

While #sxsw is not only a music festival anymore (a lot of last weeks social media news) it has been the part I have enjoyed the most on twitter because of the instant access to photos, reviews and videos (recorded and streamed). In the past all of this was available a few days or weeks after the event but this week it's felt like it was happening just down the road.

I can see how events like this in future will become truly global with Social Media. For now I'm just enjoying the new music.

For a snapshot have a look at:

http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/zan/blog/sxsw13.htm

The Impact of Images

One of the most enjoyable aspects of being so involved with Social Media over the past 2 weeks has been some of the amazing images I have come across. The one in this post of San Francisco came up on Twitter this morning. It is a great way to quickly see what is happening all over the world and with smartphones now having high quality cameras inside the old saying "a picture tells a thousand words" has never been more true.

In fact one of the article I came across this week explained the high use of Infographics in Social Media is due to the easily digestible nature of the content. So much so, Infographics are the new standard for displaying information. I'm not sure this is a good thing as being able to interpret data is a vital skill but it is a lot nicer to look at Infographics then the old black and white tables.

Tweet today but not tomorrow

Before starting this subject I had no idea just how much information is quickly disseminated through Twitter by so many different source. It's easy to see how people can get carried away with it; and why there are a lot of people trying to develop ideas around it.

One of the biggest issues I've found is who to follow, and on which social media platform. And before I know it a new social media platform will become the flavour of the month, just like Instagram (http://bgr.com/2012/09/28/instagram-daily-traffic-versus-twitter-mobile-us/).

So many tweets so little time.

An interesting question

Speaking to a friend today about my Communication Management subject today, they recalled a question they had seen in a newspaper (yes a real newspaper) recently asked to a tech guru. If someone from 1950 was to arrive today, what would be the hardest thing to explain to them?

The answer: That we have a device in our pockets that has access to the entire knowledge of mankind, yet we use it to take video of amusing cats.

It made me think about he preconceptions that many people have about social media. For a long time now I have refused to engage in a lot of social media activities to keep my professional and social lives separate. I now understand its not the tools themselves but the way people use and engage with them. There is a choice to follow, share or post appropriately.

I'm now looking forward to finding ways to engage professionally with these tools.

A little bit about myself

Hello Everyone,

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog. My name is Luke Beeby, I am 31 and live with my wife on the fringe of Melbourne. I work as a Strategic Hospital Manager for Pfizer Australia that takes me across Victoria, Tasmania and, as of this year, South Australia. When I am home I enjoy getting out on my bicycle, following a number of sports, reading and travelling.

As for Social Media, it's been well over 10 years since I had anything in depth to do with it outside of some Podcasts and RSS feeds. At that stage the term Social Media wasn't coined yet, outside of talking to each other on ICQ and writing about life on Livejournal (both tools that just about no one would still
use today) email and SMS were the new ways to communicate.

I'm really looking forward to learning a lot more about this area over the next 11 weeks and hopefully it won't be so overwhelming by then.

Luke