Here’s the best of what I got. What’s your favorite? Let me know in the comments. Check below the jump for the rest.

@alexpriest I didn't watch, but twitter stream tells me this: Bachmann wore a sailor suit, Perry got pissed, Cain was lame. #cnndebate

October 18, 2011 9:09 pm via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite

@cajunjen

Jenna Sauber

@alexpriest They’re all loons. (too long?)

October 18, 2011 9:09 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@NathanDunbar

Nathan Dunbar

@alexpriest Hate & paranoia.

October 18, 2011 9:10 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@zentaratea

Zen Tara Tea

@alexpriest Romney pwns Perry, Herman Cain electrocuted immigrants, Rick Santorum’s may as well not have been … http://t.co/HlJ2OVGn

October 18, 2011 9:11 pm via UberSocial for AndroidReplyRetweetFavorite

@TheHarrisWalker

Harris Walker

@alexpriest really though: Perry vs Romney slapfight, Newt chided all, Bachmann brought the crazy, Cain a kook, Paul & Santorum irrelevant.

October 18, 2011 9:11 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@NathanDunbar

Nathan Dunbar

@alexpriest Apples, oranges, anchor babies, Bach loves moms, Obamacare & Herman Cain invites you to do your own math & to show your work.

October 18, 2011 9:12 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@kaotate

kaotate

@alexpriest Obama sucks; Muslim sharia pizza; batshit crazy googley eyes

October 18, 2011 9:14 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@myerman

myerman

@alexpriest More of the same I’m afraid #thatisall

October 18, 2011 9:18 pm via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite

@FineProperties

Nick Downes

@alexpriest Didn’t see it but I’m assuming something like: candidates spend hour demonstrating their own ignorance and incompetence.

October 18, 2011 9:18 pm via Twitter for MacReplyRetweetFavorite

@ipenguin67

Mike Knerr

@alexpriest Libya is in Africa. Otherwise, same shit different day.

October 18, 2011 9:28 pm via EchofonReplyRetweetFavorite

@LacyMB

Lacy Baugher

It’s been a good week, but hectic and stressful. I found out we’ve secured a new townhouse across town, so I will be moving soon. I guest lectured with TechChange on Wednesday, which was a blast. I attended the NASA tweetup on Thursday with Chris Golden (@chrisgolden), which was obviously awesome. And then today I hit up the Give To The Max Day training event at AARP.

On top of all of that, I got my new iPhone 4S. Obviously, also awesome. See my first iPhone 4S photo below, as proof (of course, it’s a photo of Walter Cronkat).

Tomorrow, Joe Gizzi (@districtjoe) and I are taking off for New York City on the Bluebrain DC to NYC trip. It’s going to be an amazing weekend. A little about the trip:

Please join Bluebrain for an exclusive excursion to New York City to experience their new location-aware album Listen to the Light in Central Park. Trip includes bus transportation, Listen to the Light experience in Central Park, You Are Here: Washington DC art exhibit featuring DC artists, and an after-party at Lit Lounge (featuring DC’s Shark Week and Cracked Latin). We are truly excited so many awesome DC things are happening at the same time.

In other words, it’s going to rock.

I probably won’t be online much during the trip, but I’ll be taking pictures (on my new iPhone!) and tweeting my way throughout the weekend. Rest assured there will be an awesome wrap-up blog post once it’s all over. If anyone is living and/or staying in New York this weekend and wants to meet up for an impromptu tweetup, let me know! Just give me a shout on Twitter, @alexpriest.

shortformblog: soupsoup: Visualization of Twitter Town Hall topics Press focuses on conflict/politic

I’ve been busy the past few months, though. Honest. I haven’t just been sitting around writing blog entries in a notebook instead of sharing them with you here online. Here’s a little of what I’ve managed to get done:

• Developed, designed, and launched the the new AU Social Media Club website —twice, actually, after our original host had a server crash the day after I finished it the first time, losing almost everything. v2.0 is definitely a little more awesome than v1.0 though, so I suppose at least some good came of that.
• Survived two more months of classes to get me to this point, now only a little over three weeks from graduation (say what?!).
• Coordinated and pulled off probably the coolest event I’ve ever had the pleasure of working on, the 2011 Social Learning Summit, a conference aimed at bringing together students, educators, and professionals to learn from each other and with each other about the latest in social media, technology, innovation and education. It was a tremendous success, with more than 300 attendees, almost 10,000 tweets for the weekend, 80+ speakers across 21 panels, and overwhelmingly positive reviews by all in attendance. I’m still a little giddy about it.
• Dove headfirst into the job search, seeking out any and all cool opportunities, mostly here in DC. Haven’t made a decision yet, but I’m real excited about whatever might be in store for me next.

So there’s your obligatory update on my life. Alas, don’t expect to hear a lot from me over the next couple weeks as I work to get through finals and graduation, but I’ll do my best!

I used to think 2007 was the most pivotal year of my life. In that year I graduated from high school, traveled to Europe, spent six weeks in Japan, and then moved to Washington, D.C. for college. Quite the radical change from the tiny little town of Leitchfield, Kentucky.

Then, of course, 2009 rolled around and I spent my first summer in D.C., started tweeting, then studied abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark for four months. I came back with a completely different perspective on the world. Then finally we made it to 2010.

I didn’t expect it this time last year, but 2010 ended up being possibly one of the most important years of my life. My perspectives on work, school, friendships and relationships all changed. I moved into a new apartment with a new roommate—my best friend—and got a cat. I started networking in D.C. and built an incredible network of friends that have absolutely changed my life in amazing, amazing ways.

So now, picking out a “most pivotal year” seems just silly. Every year of my life has been pivotal, especially the last few. I’m confident 2011 will be no different. I’m already kicking off this year with a trip to Las Vegas for the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show. In January and February I’ll be giving workshops, guest lecturing in classes at my school, and even presenting at several exciting events. I’m starting my own independent consulting work, and in May, I’ll graduate with my B.S.B.A. in Marketing and B.A. in Public Communication from American University. Then, of course, off to the “real world”, and who knows what incredible experiences I’ll encounter there.

I’m starting 2011 with great friends, an exciting professional future, a fantastic city, incredible opportunities ahead, and God-only-knows what surprises. I’m excited.

So how does Miranda explain this apathy among us college students? Brilliantly:

I call it an inflexible system. Education has a fresh cornucopia of potential tools that have not been utilized to potential. That is a shame, and a failure on the part of the system to adapt.

As a student of marketing and public relations, one of the first things any budding professional is taught is to identify your audience. Identify your audience. Professors now have a very different audience today than professors even 10 years ago. My generation was raised with toys. With gadgets. My generation has a high processing speed and a low tolerance for filler. My generation learns in bullet points and status updates of 140 characters or less. Most importantly, my generation is endlessly engaged with a wide online community. This is the audience.

And moreover, this should be any professor’s dream. You have a venue for innovation!

She’s right. And it’s not just social media. As many of you know, I’ve made social media in education a big priority in my college life with the AU Social Media Club, but this isn’t just social media we’re talking about. It’s a simple failure to acknowledge passion and creativity, and a massive failure to help student unlock those passions in innovative ways.

Let me put this in some context. I’ll be blunt—I’m not a fan of my international business course. It’s not because I don’t like business; In fact, I love business. One of my degrees is a B.S. in Business Administration and the Kogod School of Business has been an outstanding place for me to unlock my business potential. But this one class is a failure, largely because our professor is deaf and blind to the needs, wants, and passions of our generation.

So far, the course has consisted of long—as in two and a half hour long—lectures, very little homework, two exams, and a significant group “business plan” project in which we develop our own international business. Sounds cool? Sort of. The problem is that it’s boring and honestly, couldn’t unleash the passion of even the most hardened and fascinated international business major. Our professor tries to be “hip” by encouraging us to text him (+ points), but then fails to grasp even the most basic functions of BlackBoard (- points). He tries to discuss current events (+ points), but then fails to mention anything about the state of the media (- points), how we’re receiving this news (- points), or what this news means in the context of our real lives (- points).

But I don’t mean to single out this one class. There are numerous classes—at every university, I’m sure—that can benefit from a more modern approach. An approach that utilizes modern technology, encourages discussion and debate, asks students where and how they get their information and why they get it where they do. An approach that allows students to express their knowledge in whatever way they know how—whether that’s building a website, tweeting a thousand times a month, starting a group on Facebook, or putting together a good old-fashioned scrapbook.

Miranda nailed it right on the head—our education needs flexibility. It needs to adapt not just to modern students, but to each and every one of us.

This might sound like we’re asking a lot, but really, we’re not. We’re asking that our professors use the time and the resources at their disposal to unlock our passion in new and innovative ways. We’re asking that they step outside of their comfort zone as we step outside of ours. We’re asking that as we work our asses off for that perfect grade, they do the same to not only help us reach that grade, but reach it in a way that gets us excited about the next course in that subject area.

I want to walk out of every class—regardless of the topic—feeling like I should major in it. I want to be that passionate about my classes. I want to care. I really, really, do.

So see? It’s not that we don’t want to care. I think I speak for most of us when I say: yes, we want to care, we want to be passionate. But unfortunately our education isn’t always stepping up to the plate.

Want to know more about the AU Social Media Club? E-mail us at smcedu@american.edu. Are you a student at AU and want to get involved? Sign up for our mailing list here.

I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t seem fulfilling. I just want something a little bigger. Deeper. Politics? Teaching? Public policy? I’m just not sure that shilling on Twitter is going to give me quite the fulfillment I’m looking for. I want to make communications better. I want to change lives with words and with new ways of using those words.

I want to think different. To come up with something brilliant and innovative. I want to talk about how people are changing the world with their words and with new ways of communicating.

Who’s with me?

Here’s the deal. I’m in a number of leadership roles at my school, American University. This semester, I am:

• Director of Entrepreneurship for my professional business fraternity, Alpha Kappa Psi, where I work to foster a spirit of innovation in our brotherhood through entrepreneurial ventures, speakers, and activities
• Director of Regional Activity for the AU chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), where I work to coordinate with the regional community to foster higher learning in public relations and communications
• President of the brand new AU Social Media Club for Education (AU-SMCEDU), working to teach social media skills to students and faculty, as well as encourage social media and technology use in the classroom for modern learning

My goal is to make this semester (and the next) one of the best semesters in history for all three of these organizations. That’s where you come in. I’m looking for entrepreneurs, professional communicators, and social media smarties to come speak, lead workshops, or even utilize our own resources for each of these organizations. You don’t have to be famous, have thousands of Twitter followers, or have started your own business to fall in these categories. I just need people with a healthy passion for each of these things who would be willing and able to speak to a bunch of fun, eager, and smart college students (think: potential interns! cheap labor!).

I can’t wait to hear from you. Thanks in advance, and I’m looking forward to an exciting year!