Last thursday the graphic design department was fortunate enough to be visited by designer/illustrator/web wizard Cindy Li. The day was packed full of events including presentations, Q&A sessions, networking opportunities, and a delicious lunch at Easy Bistro provided by Medium. Cindy was an informative and exciting speaker, and her passion for her work was clear. She spoke to us mostly about the benefits of social networking. There are so many opportunities and connections that can be made today through the use of social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter. She discussed at length how to properly use these sites and maintaining a professional presence. She encouraged us to think of ourselves as a brand, and pushed us to use these sites to develope our brand.

I do have to admit, all the social networking stuff frightens me just a little bit though. I am the type of person that needs to disconnect from time to time (as many of us are). Though this is not a bad thing, it is important to consider when developing relationships on these social networking sites. For instance, it is important to consider who you are letting into your little online world, and to know that when you are participating in these networks, there is always somebody watching. Cindy discussed the many ways you can protect yourself using various privacy tools and options that these networks provide in order to keep the information you don’t want to share a secret while still sharing the stuff you don’t mind others seeing.

All in all, it was a very exciting day and a nice change of pace. Many thanks to Ms. Li for taking the time to come and speak with us!