Landmark of the sad state of Oklahoma

Landmarks: the State Capital building from inside the Blue Belle Saloon

If there is a symbol of Oklahoma's sorry condition, it may be the historic old State Capital printing building in Guthrie.
This is personal to me for two reasons. I have many fond memories of the place, having taken University of Central Oklahoma journalism and photography students there when it was The State Capital Publishing Museum. And I'm a newspaper man.
It's full of antique hot metal publishing equipment, presses and more, dating from pre-statehood. It had operating Linotypes, job presses and more, which delighted my students as a peek into the early days of journalism in this state. 

My students in editing and advanced editing classes on field trips helped with printing and more, getting  hands-on education. You can literally smell history inside.

Then several years ago, the boiler in the building quit and the state and Historical Society couldn't afford to replace it. It's been closed since.
I read  a valuable article by Laura Eastes in this week's Oklahoma Gazette, "Historic Guthrie building's future is uncertain," about a possible developer wanting it, and the city wanting it to be restored as a museum.
That brought to mind a recent visit to Guthrie, an easy Saturday trip on the back roads, and we ate at the

It's a sad sign for our state

equally historic and reopened Blue Belle Saloon,  just across the street from the impressive old building. That's when I took these photos, waiting for a prompt to write about them. 
To me, the dangling sign on the front of the locked and decaying building says everything about the sad state of Oklahoma.

Zen and the art of twitter--#clarkclass speaker

"This class is nothing like I expected," said one #clarkclass Twitter for Journalists student today, talking to me, @okieprof, and her colleagues. 

@jdaverhea, @okieprof, in December

She was talking about our latest speaker, Dave Rhea, @jdaverhea, general manger of The Oklahoma Gazette,  @okgazette.  Lots of people think twitter is shallow because of its 140 character message limit. They needed to be in class today.
He talked about twitter for sure, but so much more, including his work as a band musician, with a YouTube clip. There was philosphy, leadership  advice, the relationship of music and writing, life and time, and much more. He usually talks about the "bat belt" analogy but since we posted that article yesterday, it was a new free-wheeling discussion.
 I half joked it was "Zen and the art of twitter," and I think there's an article there. Check other student tweets under the hashtag #clarkclass today prove it.
After class, we debrief, and each student comments, recorded by fellow student @JenniferHasel.  Here's the debriefing.

• I like how he knew himself and had a deeper meaning of life
• Mechanical thinking is what you have been conditioned to think and it limits ways to think about yourself; you have to produce great content and get yourself out of mechanical thinking
• He met people through Twitter; “Twitter is the best networking tool I've ever experienced"
• He thinks it's not the past or the present but now; how to think about being in the moment and that how Twitter is that way
• He's very deep with everything that he does and says
• Producing content constantly changes and you have to adapt
• Continually educate yourself
• I was able to relate to him and the way he talks to himself and how he thinks about himself the whole time realizing that everything else going on around you is just a distraction
• Be yourself on Twitter
• I like his concept of leadership
• That psychological views and relating to journalism
• His management style
• Writing is like a marriage and music is like an affair; successful writing takes a lot of work and is a long journey; music is fast and provides instant gratification
• Every journalist should be a generalist, well-rounded, and interested in everything
• I like his idea about group feeds on Twitter
• His story on the Meyer Briggs survey and how finding out who you are can help you communicate with people that are different than you
• I like what you said about storytelling; whether you’re using Twitter, songwriting, etc., you’re still telling a story
• You have to portray your story; you can know it or experience it but you have to put it on paper
• People already have the capacity to be awesome so just be awesome now; don't wait
• He gets locked in; when you’re more focused, you're more motivated
• “This isn't going to be cool later because it's cool now”
• Forget about the past and the future, think about the present
• He uses Twitter like a brain pause or smoke break to keep focused
• "When you're conscious, your tweets are better than when you're unconscious"
• His thoughts on action awareness, emotional awareness, thought awareness and consciousness awareness
• Social media is just another too--like a ratchet--you're not a ratchet expert, you're a mechanic. You're not a social media person, you're a storyteller.

#clarkclass--the "Bat Belt" returns

Tomorrow's #clarkclass  Twitter for Journalists is Dave Rhea, one cool guy, former musician and now general manager of The Oklahoma Gazette, @okgazette, returning perhaps for the fourth time. He first spoke when he worked in online media for The Journal Record, @journalrecord, the daily business newspaper, and has since changed jobs. But his message to students, about being versatile and serious, hasn't changed, though it keeps evolving. Here's the article he wrote for his blog, about the "Bat Belt" analogy. He'll talk about "disruptive technology."

Disruptive technology, twitter & an ex-rock star

@okieprof #clarkclass 

Speaker in the twitter for Journalists class today was friend and multi-talented journalist Dave Rhea, @jdaverhea, now general manager of the Oklahoma Gazette.

Dave Rhea and @okieprof

He spoke about still having to write, even though he's now in management--formerly with the Oklahoma City Journal Record business newspaper. 
"If I didn't write, I wouldn't be a journalist," he said. (He writes for Blade Magazine, about knives.)
A former rock band star and musician with a record contract, he related the changes journalism is going through to the changes in the music industry where making money off records collapsed, talking about the Internet as "disruptive technology." He urged students to always adapt to the new technology, or to better yet, invent the "disruptive technology."
I, and my students, were really impressed with how many people he knows in many different fields , and his wide range of reading. He's always learning. My students are amazed at how many really cool people this old prof knows.
So after he left, here's what the students commented on in our debriefing. Thanks again to student Lacey Rhodes @laceymrhodes for the note-taking. More student comments by searching #clarkclass on @okieprof.

• Twitter is just a tool in the toolbox.
• Don’t worry about the outcome, focus on the work to be happy.
• Do something for a half hour a day that you thoroughly enjoy.
• Don’t do your writing for the outcome but remember what pays the bills.
• Disruptive innovators create new ways to do old things.
• At the end of the day publication credibility is the most important thing.
• The bat belt of many different skills is to create story-telling abilities.
• Twitter distributes power.
• Be here now, live in the moment.
• Story telling is always going to be there.
• Be a Renaissance man, have a big skill set.
• Classic forms of networking aren’t always as important anymore.
• How he uses his personality type to do his job to the best ability.
• Pay attention to the creative flow.
• Journalism isn’t stiff and old school anymore.
• The more ways you can tell a story the more ways you can sell that story.
• Be authentic in your work.
• Use writing to give yourself a creative drive.
• He says his personal tweets are personal and do not represent the company.
• When you get calls it’s not usually someone praising you, unless it’s your mom. 
• Everybody is a critic.