VC SocialSanta Paula trading co is located in Santa Paula, CA. I was founded in 2017 and in 2020 it was under new owner ship by Tracy. It is a cool and unique store with so many great finds. They sell so many great finds like candles, jewelry, clothes, ceramics, and many more. This is one place everyone needs to check out, they have such a friendly community when walking in. So, if there’s one place you need to find some cool stuff, Santa Paula Trading Co is the place to go!
I took some time to highlight a local business that a dear friend created and is loving what he does by servicing the community and helping people in their busy day to day lives. Everyone gets busy from time to time, so i can speak for myself and admit I don’t have that much free time anymore. I work a 9am – 5pm weekday job so trying to get errands done can be a hassle but having one less thing to worry about like you’re tires can be a life saver, Kyle has personally come to me and serviced my vehicle and it didn’t take any time out of my day. If you’re ever in need, reach out to Kyle on his Instagram page and you can get back on the road in no time!
https://www.instagram.com/apexmobiletires/?igshid=ymmymta2m2y%3D
Another semester at Ventura College is coming to an end, and I’m so proud of how far the Social Media Marketing program students have come. This is now just the third time that I’ve taught the Digital Content Marketing class, BUS V52, and the VC Social brand has evolved so much in the past couple of years.
The first time I taught this class was in Fall 2021, in the midst of the pandemic. There were only 11 students in the class, and when we met, we were all wearing face masks. The second time was last year in Spring 2022, and that course was fully online with 12 students.
This semester, we’ve been back in-person again, without masks (hooray!), with a classroom filled with 24 students. Considering the nature of this course, I’ve had to adapt and make some significant changes in order to keep up with the number of students compared to previous semesters. For example, I’ve had to give up some control over the social media profiles and draft vs. publish status of posts on the website, needing to trust that the students will follow the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics we studied in week 1. As you can imagine, this was a bit nerve-racking, as the blog and social media profiles are public. And I have to give it up to the students, they handled this responsibility with respect and professionalism. Not that I’m surprised.
Perhaps the biggest change I made, though, was giving control of the final project to the students. Rather than assigning a topic and making rules about groups, we agreed collectively to let the students decide what type of content they wanted to create and with whom. Some students decided to work in groups, while others opted to go solo. Content ranged from reviewing local businesses to showcasing artistic skills, with a variety of multimedia created for the blog, Instagram profile, and YouTube and podcast channels. From a quality standpoint, I didn’t micromanage, but instead asked students to push their boundaries and create something they could be proud of five years from now. This led to some incredible articles, graphics, videos and more.
I could ramble on about this semester forever, but since I know the students reading this are waiting for their prompt to reply to, I’ll bring this to a close by saying that I think Spring 2023 has been a huge success, and while I know I have a lot of work to do to continue making this class and program of value to the community, I believe this cohort of students is so incredibly talented and will go on to do great things in life. I only hope to be able to keep in touch with them over the years so I can continue celebrating their achievements.
Now here’s the question that I’d like students to answer in the comments section…
What is the one thing you learned from that class that you’ll take with you to the next stage of your career and/or education?
Last week, Melissa, Ella, and Davey of Ventura College, visited Boccali’s Pizza & Pasta in Ojai, California. Continue below to read about their experience!
18 miles north of Ventura, is Boccali’s, a family owned and operated eatery that has been around since 1986. The menu at Boccali’s, features a variety of choices including hand tossed pizzas with all the toppings you can think of! There is also a list of pasta’s, ravioli’s, salads, and sandwiches to choose from. Boccali’s also has its own wine vineyard on property, in which you can take part in an exclusive wine tasting experience, available Saturday’s and Sunday’s from 12-5pm.
We decided on ordering personal sized pizzas which were much bigger than we expected them to be! (as you can tell in the image above) The outdoor seating made our eating experience extra enjoyable, seeing the beautiful green aesthetic of Ojai on our left and right.
For dessert, we ordered Boccali’s most famous dish, which is the strawberry shortcake
This delicious treat left us incredibly satisfied, and eager to go back for more. Who’s joining us for our next trip?
Overall, our meal at Boccali’s is one we will continue to praise, and recommend to all looking for their next place to visit.
Check out our Instagram Reel to see our experience!
Graduation season is just around the corner! Decorating your graduation cap is a fun way to add a personalized touch to your big day. Let’s talk about 3 easy ways to decorate your grad cap, so that you can get inspired and make your cap your own!
The items needed to make each cap can be found at your local craft store or even on Amazon, so they are all easily accessible. Customize the colors and design to your liking… let your imagination run wild!
Items needed:
Our family and friends play a huge role in our success as students. What better way to honor them and their support than on your grad cap?
Grab some Polaroids or print out small photos and get to work! This one is super simple. Arrange the photos however you’d like, leaving room for text or other decorative elements. You can stick the photos onto your cap with double-sided tape or using a hot glue gun!
Note: Your stickers should stick right on, but feel free to use some hot glue if they don’t feel secure. You don’t want to be worried about them falling off during your graduation ceremony.
Items needed:
Add some personality to your cap! Show off your interests or academic major with a design like this. Grab a piece of glitter cardstock in a color of your choice and use your scissors to cut it into a square that fits your cap (mine was 9.25” x 9.25”). Then, use an X-ACTO knife to cut out a circle in the center of the cardstock that fits the button on your cap (mine had about a 1″ diameter). This will be the base of your cap.
Now for the fun part! Add a phrase or quote using alphabet stickers and decorate using 3-D stickers. You can find a variety of colors and designs at your local craft store, so the options are truly endless. You can even go with patterned cardstock paper instead of glitter, if that’s more your style! Attached the decorated cardstock to your cap with double-sided tape and you’re ready to go.
Items Needed:
This flower crown design is simple but adds a fun element to your graduation day outfit.
Pick out some artificial flowers in your favorite color. You should be able to pull them right off of the stems, but trim off any excess parts of the back side of the flowers if needed. Add some hot glue to the back side of the flowers and press them firmly against the bottom of the mortarboard (square part on the crown of the cap).
When you’re done, feel free to add a phrase with the alphabet stickers or other decorative elements on the top of the cap. I kept mine simple with a short phrase, but let your creativity flow!
Before you attach anything onto your graduation cap, don’t forget to check the inside of your cap! Most caps will tell you which side is the front of your cap. This will help you make sure your design is right-side up.
Have fun creating and congrats, grad!
Both of these recipes taste so good and are a GO TO breakfast meal in the morning! Not only are they very filling, but you can also add in your protein powder to both the drink and waffles. You can completely customize these recipes to your own liking and preferences. There is nothing better like a refreshing fruit smoothie and oatmeal pancakes to get you energized and off to the beach, truly just a chef’s kiss combo! Make sure you check out the Instagram reel at the end to watch a step-by-step video. Hope you enjoy!
~Splash of milk of choice
~Yogurt of choice
~2 frozen bananas
~4 fresh strawberries
~1 scoop protein powder
~1 cup frozen fruit/berries
~Handful of spinach
*BLEND* and serve
~1/2 cup oatmeal *blend* (or use oat flour)
~1/2 cup protein pancake mix *optional* (not used in this recipe)
~1 scoop protein powder
~2 eggs
~Splash of vanilla extract & cinnamon
~1 banana
*Now mix all together/ Or use a blender to mix ingredients together if you don’t want the texture of banana chunks in your waffles
We Bridge was a three-day music festival and expo from April 21 – 23, 2023 in Las Vegas to showcase Asian culture through music, art, fashion, beauty, and more! We Bridge acknowledges the growing Asian influence on mainstream pop culture around the world. So, their mission was to connect those creative expressions all into one experience. The We Bridge Expo held hi touch engagements, displayed art by influential Asian artists, showcased fashion, offered food samples, and featured activities as well as retail opportunities. We Bridge even brought in a lineup of highly influential K-pop artists to perform live! I was so fortunate and I am very grateful to have attended the expo and concert on April 22. Here is how my experience went!
Once my cousins and I arrived at the convention center, we were very nervous since we didn’t know what to expect. We registered, got our wristbands, then headed inside the expo. We were greeted with a welcome wall and as we kept walking in there were cardboard cutouts of artists displayed to take photos with. My cousins and I walked straight to the Grammy Museum stage but as soon as we got there, the q&a for the group Oneus, was about to end. We decided to take a look around and found a wall that we could write on. As I was writing on the wall, my cousin told me to move. Turns out that Enhypen, one of my favorite groups, was approaching the wall to write their signatures. It was such an unbelievable moment that I am so grateful to have experienced. After that happened, we were just in complete shock so we stood near the Grammy Museum stage for a while until lining up for GA hi touch. We waited about an hour in GA to see Enhypen on the stage. The group introduced themselves, answered a few questions for the q&a, performed their song “Polaroid Love”, and then prepared for their hi touch engagement. For those of you who don’t know what a hi touch is, it is basically an interaction with the artists to say hi and give them a high five! The hi touch experience itself went by pretty fast. My video of meeting the Enhypen members was less than a minute long. There were a lot of people doing hi touch which made the whole process go by faster. The moment we were anticipating the most was over and so we left to go eat before the concert started. We came back to the expo to look at some of the paintings and when it was almost concert time, we headed to the arena and found our seats. It was pretty cool to have five different artists perform in one night. Performing that night was BE’O, ONEUS, VIVIZ, BAMBAM, and ENHYPEN. It was pretty cool to hear some songs I’ve never heard before live. All I can say for the concert is that it was so exciting, fun, and it made me really happy. Just in case any of you guys were wondering, I paid a total of $242 for this experience and I would pay that much again to do it all over. I am I hope that you enjoyed reading about my experience, I would’ve been more specific but then this story would go on for a while! I’ll leave some links down below if you’re interested in looking at photos from the expo!
Check out my reel dedicated to the We Bridge Expo on the VC Social Instagram!
Do you know there is an organization that helps our community? Have you ever felt that you could do more for your community? Listen to my podcast. During our interview, Jason Hurst shared with us what Action VC is all about. How Action VC helps our Ventura County community.
Connect with Action VC
Social media is a growing multi-use tool for everyone. Surfers and skaters have been able to capitalize on social media as a way to grow their audience and earn money by promoting brands. It can be tough, for local surfers especially, to get good quality clips showcasing their skills. This is where False Front Media can help. False Front Media records clips of surfers, skaters, and more on a high quality camera and creates video edits for their social media feeds.
Here’s a YouTube video that takes a behind the scenes dive into False Front Media.:
False Front Media was created by Noah Gilbert, an Oxnard local. Him and his team help create and promote high quality videos on social media, they primarily operate on Instagram and YouTube. My experiences working with False Front Media have been positive. The process no matter the project has always been quick, enjoyable, and productive. Noah Gilbert has great ideas for video creation, once his vision is set and the video starts coming together I’m always able to appreciate the art of putting clips together to make a video a little bit more.
Here is a link to their Instagram page to see some of their work: https://www.instagram.com/falsefrontmedia/
Here is a link to their Youtube page to see some of their work: https://www.youtube.com/@falsefrontmedia
VC Social 