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Thanks for Cheers & Tears ... But No!

4/13/2012

10 Comments

 
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Must one explain himself for telling the truth? Today, it appears necessary here. This morning WISN-TV's Marianne Lyles interviewed me for a segment tonight about the Social Media Tourism Symposium. Milwaukee and El Paso, Texas, are the finalists to host the event, and Lyles wanted my professorial perspective on the power of social media. (Remember, the Marquette Journal recently named me one of the university's Top 5 tweeters.) 

Enjoyed it! “@MarianneLyles: just interviewed @herbertlowe at @MarquetteU about the power of social media for a story tonight on #WISN12”

— Herbert Lowe (@herbertlowe) April 13, 2012
My tweets are linked to my Facebook newsfeed, and it got a "like" from my good friend, John Yearwood. About the same time, though, I updated my status with the following 39 words: "Mira Lowe and I spent time yesterday afternoon deciding from 32 names for a baby girl. The final four: Gabriella, Adrianna, Sophia and Nora. Gabriella beat Sophia to become the winner. As usual, Mira ended up getting her way." Then I went to three back-to-back meetings.

Seven hours later, well, here's another example of the power of social media. This particular post so far has 55 likes and 58 comments. Apparently, all these folks – our families, friends from NABJ and various newsroom stomping grounds, my Marquette students and colleagues – have concluded that my wife and I are expecting a baby. It's also clear that Gabriella is a very popular name, though some of our friends and my students want theirs reconsidered.

All of the comments showered us with love and well wishes (for example, "Beautiful news. Thanks for sharing": mentor Monte Trammer). Some were dramatic ("OMG! Literally have some tears right now, I'm so so so happy to hear this news; Gabriella couldn't be coming to better parents": student Marissa Evans). At least one was threatening (Yay, a baby! Congratulations! This better NOT be a Friday the 13th joke": journalism stalwart Sonya Ross.

Meanwhile, my cell phone is blowing up, and Mira – hers was, too – is texting me nonstop, with one saying that "you need to come clean about the maelstrom you have started!!! Lawdy." Another text: "We either need to get a puppy named Gabriella or get pregnant fast. Running out of options ... lol." Problem is, I'm in those back-to-back meetings, which turned out to be good because it gave me time to figure out ... how to tell the truth about telling the truth.

OK, honest to goodness, Mira and I did spend time yesterday afternoon deciding from 32 names for a baby girl. A colleague and his wife are expecting another child in May and there's this little effort seeking input for choosing their daughter's name. Not sure how it works, but I called upon Mira to choose between the names. Plain and simple.

Thought it was notable and so I posted it on Facebook. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
10 Comments
Halimah link
4/13/2012 09:31:43 am

Awww. I was one of those former colleagues who skipped with joy at your post. Oh well... The name is lovely though.

Reply
Tim Cigelske link
4/13/2012 02:52:08 pm

I agree with Mira, "We either need to get a puppy named Gabriella or get pregnant fast." :) This is a great story, and you didn't disappoint by turning the explanation into a blog.

Reply
Heather Ronaldson
4/14/2012 03:36:33 am

Haha this is a great post. I think I was one of those dramatic commenters. But I'm still glad to hear the truth about the baby bracket! If its still up for discussion, I say baby > puppy.

Reply
Gee Ekachai
4/14/2012 05:32:26 am

Such a fun blog post. Enjoyed it! You are such a great writer, Herb. One good lesson for readers to read more carefully and distinguish between "a baby girl" and "our baby girl." Sounds like many just assumed it was the second one :-)

Reply
Wayne McLean link
4/14/2012 11:35:16 am

Really interesting chain of events, Herb. First of all, it shows how quickly things can be misinterpreted and how that can snowball out of proportion. Secondly we all need to be better editors of our tweets, blogs, updates, texts, etc., Not everyone has the command of the written word and the ability to use it for a positive fun learning experience like you do. Remember, Herb, with great power comes great responsibility.

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Ashley De La Torre
8/29/2012 02:26:33 pm

This was hilarious because I remember when this happened LOL. However I love the link between the Marianne story and the baby name. Of course you ended it with you favorite line "that's my story and I'm sticking to it." smh

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Christopher Chavez
8/29/2012 03:23:52 pm

That's his kicker and I'm a fan of it

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Jacob Born
8/29/2012 03:51:31 pm

Absolutely love the idea of a March Madness bracket for a baby's name. It reminds me of an episode of How I Met Your Mother when Barney uses a bracket of 64 to find out who his crazy stalker is.

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Kevon Albright
8/30/2012 05:26:27 am

This is hilarious, great story!

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Patrick Leary
9/4/2012 01:51:10 pm

I remember this controversy this caused in our class last year. Kind of ironic that Gabriella won and an African American girl named Gabby ruled the pop culture world this summer.

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    My journalism DNA remains strong as I learn and teach new ways to tell and present stories, especially via digital and social media. This blog is where I share what happens in my classroom and my life and, from time to time, offer my views on current events. I appreciate your feedback – either as comments herein or in an email to herbert.lowe [at] marquette [dot] edu.

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