Delish Vertical

Fashion and Lifestyle — Cline

I haven’t known for long what might be classified as a ‘vertical’ but it turns out that I’ve been following one for quite some time. I’m incredibly interested in the food arena of “lifestyle”. Though I know how to dress myself somewhat professionally, I certainly feel far more comfortable aligning myself with the culinary portion of this beat. In my free time, I often spend far too much time watching ‘Tasty’ videos on Facebook or exploring Delish.com.

Delish.com is very similar to the Facebook page Tasty, in that they specialize in putting out sped-up cooking videos. Who has time to sit and watch an entire cooking show just to learn how to make one dish? No one. That’s the entire point behind these one to three minute videos. Anything from boozie slushies to bruschetta pasta to four ingredient chocolate truffles can be found in accelerated video format.

These videos are paired with lively music and beautifully clear resolution to put forth an aesthetically pleasing final product for their website.

These recipe videos, though my favorite part of Delish, are not all the vertical has to offer. They keep up with weight loss stories, create entertaining listicles about kitchen renovations, and even have a category devoted entirely to the professional food industry.

It’s safe to say that Delish.com is a good example of not only a well done vertical, but a delicious one!

Portfolio

I created my professional portfolio last fall with the help of Rebecca Burns. It is organized very specifically to help professionals navigate through my strengths and understand what I have to offer. I have just recently updated the image of my portfolio to more accurately express myself as a professional and to make it appear far sleeker than before. I am quite proud of my portfolio and am pleased with how far along I’ve brought it.

Katherine’s Portfolio

Rachel Cohen’s Portfolio

I started my portfolio this past summer, and I have added some of my previous work to the pages. I have used this site to display work done at my internships, held under the menu item “Off Campus”. Work linked to the menu item, “On Campus,” includes my previous substantial projects done in class and this is where work for this class will go. Most pages on my site are placeholders and need descriptions added. This semester, I need to work on adding the right amount of detail to all content I post on this site without it being too much for a potential job application.

View my profile HERE

Self Magazine Food Vertical

A vertical that I follow regularly is the food section on the Self Magazine website. The section has a drop-down menu consisting of healthy eating, recipes, recipe roundup, drinks and a recipe finder. This is a great resource for me since moving into my own apartment and cooking for myself. All content is updated on a daily basis, giving readers plenty of recipes and articles to choose from. The content ranges from recipes to kitchen gadget reviews and beyond, and I consider the source to be a great place to go when needing cooking suggestions and advice.

The vertical can be found HERE.

Module 2: Beats and verticals

Introduction:

News organizations these days, including magazines, newspapers, and online ventures, are organized into beats, sections, and/or “verticals.” A vertical is the modern shorthand for a section of a website dedicated to a specific subject, such as an industry or aspect of culture or whatnot.

Learning objectives:

Design your own website in WordPress to reflect your expertise and professional interests.
Examine verticals in professional publications to understand strategy and audience.
Take the first steps to develop verticals on the class website.

Steps to completion:

Background:

Read portfolio requirements.
Find a vertical or website related to your own interests, something you look at regularly either by visiting the site or through social media. Write a short blog post about it and post in the coursework blog using the Module 2 category and the tag “vertical” by August 22.
Build initial WordPress site using WordPress.com or purchasing your own domain. Post the domain and a short description of it using the Module 2 category and the tag “portfolio” by August 26.
Find a vertical or website related to your beat and write a short blog post about it on your vertical page on the class website using the appropriate category and the tag “vertical” by August 24.

Reflective:

Class discussion August 23: Portfolio requirements, beat categories, experts
Class discussion August 25: Suggs absent; free time to write portfolio site critiques (add comments to at least two of your classmates’ domains) and interview contacts

Exploratory

Revise your own WordPress site based on feedback from peers and from me by August 29.
Find one of the people on your beat and interview him or her in person or over the phone about the beat. Ask specific questions about how the world (the community, the profession) whatever is changing as well as ideas for profiles, stories about news and interesting innovations. Post a transcript of the interview as a blog post using your beat category and the tag “first interview” by August 29.

Schroder – Portfolio

After lots of trial and error with WordPress this weekend, the domain – maryannschroder.com – represents an initial phase. I’m reasonably satisfied with the format and glad that everything “works” in terms of navigating. There are only two items posted. One is the “About” section and the other a piece under “Essays”.

I went by just the description in the syllabus of what a web portfolio should be (in addition to googling for some ideas, which did not prove particularly helpful). I understand that it should be a place to display work for the purpose of promoting oneself professionally. And that sounds good to me! Although there is not much content as of yet, I look forward to adding more and to getting feedback about how to best present oneself.

Schroder – A Writer’s Almanac

Garrison Keillor, well known for his radio show, A Prairie Home Companion (from which he has now retired), continues to do his daily broadcast of The Writer’s Almanac. This has been meaningful to me for years. There were times when driving and listening to the car radio that I pulled off the road to listen more carefully. There were even times when I’d drive to a favorite destination for the purpose of being in a location where I could focus and connect more deeply with his words.

Now I am at home most mornings and have lost the immediacy of hearing it on the radio. However, Keillor has a website from which all broadcasts can be retrieved! Instead of listening daily, I’m more inclined to binge listen every now and then. On The Writer’s Almanac, Keillor presents stories about the significance of that day in history in particular writers’ lives. There is always reference to a writer born on that date and other tidbits related to the day in history. There is also a poem of the day to close the show. Besides the content, which is consistently thought-provoking, Keillor voice and tempo are very soothing. I swear he could make reading of the phone book sound profound and have us contemplating its existential significance.

You can find it at writersalmanac.org. When the mood strikes or you have time to kick back, hope you’ll enjoy it!