Remembering the Okie From Muskogee: Merle Haggard

Early this month Country Music lost a legend, Merle Haggard.

Haggard was an artist that sang about being Middle American, going back home and Mama. Haggard's songs have won him many of awards and countless Grammy’s; one of which was the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award back on 2006.

However, there was more to Merle than just words and awards, he was a simple man who wanted to sing and play guitar. He was a man who wasn’t afraid to sing about topics that would make him controversial conversation. Merle Haggard was a man who stood for more than just music. His life was one that told a story and he did just that when he sang.

With more than 50 years in Country Music, his voice will be missed.

I thought to write about Merle because of his long run with Country Music. When Country Music loses one of their own, they stand together and mourn as one. Artists Willie Nelson, Eric Church, Carrie Underwood and many others took to twitter to give their respects.

Fellow Country artists Vice Gill and Scotty McCreery both paid tribute to the legend. Vince Gill sang an inspirational song about a world without Haggard. McCreery took to the Grand Ole Opry while singing “Mama Tried”.

If you would like to view more of the impact Haggard had on the Country Community please go to my Storify, Okie From Muskogee, where there will be links to both performances and biographical articles.

Rest in Peace Merle Haggard.

Country Music and fans will help sing you back home.

Influencer Marketing

#MediaChat

A few days ago, I had the chance to participate in a twitter chat. I had never done one before and wasn't sure what to expect. In the hour it took for the Chat to chat, I had my questions answered and I left the chat feeling heard and happy.

The topic of the twitter chat was "Influencer Marketing". A subject all too new to me, even with three years of college communication classes under my belt, this term never came up. I was curious and I had an assignment deadline hanging over me. So I jumped on the tweetchat.com website and started to type in hashtags to follow.

#MediaChat was one on the assignment sheet so I typed it into the search bar and off I went... after I did a little time zone conversion. I even went so far as to tweet the host #MediaChat if I had the correct conversion for central. #MediaChat
was kind enough to tweet me back and confirm 9:00 p.m. was right.

It one tweet that got me to stay and continue to learn about what "Influencer Marketing" is all about.

The hour-long #MediaChat went fast. Many other people who were asking questions and answering other questions. Thankfully, the page was easy to navigate and I came out with some great information.

I came out learning a lot from both the host and special guest CamMi Pham.

 I was able to learn that Influencers are meant to go into things with personality and to be good you have to be smart about how you influence.

 As Sarah shared in the Chat, Influencers have a better chance if they speak up and have that personal touch. Sarah wasn't the only one who had this thought. Others were saying how Influencers need to remember to not be dependent on the market they have. Influencers should also remember to have conversations with their market or company.

I could go on with the knowledge I gained from this #MediaChat but it's best if you take the time to join in on one yourself. #MediaChat is held on Thursdays.
Before I leave you, go about chatting, I would like to share a few more tweets from the conversation.

Lastly, I'm still not a hundred percent sure actually what an "Influencer" is, but the idea, terms, and conversation around the topic made it seem like it's highly important. It seems to be an ever-changing job at that. 

Ending chat thank yous