My Time On Wikipedia

I just joined Wikipedia on August 13th, 2010. I started one article - on a woman I had just heard in an interview - and it was a dismal failure. I edited three other articles in my first week. If you are new to Wikipedia, I highly recommend finding a mentor to teach you the ropes before you get started. I have noticed a lot of seasoned or senior editors are not really all that friendly to newcomers. Some are but so far, I have found that to be the exception. I imagine it is because - I have learned - a lot of people come here to edit/add articles only for promotional reasons and then they disappear. If that is your intent, I would seriously consider finding a seasoned editor who you can provide factual, documented, information to and see if they would be willing to review that information and write your article. Otherwise, it is likely to quickly get nominated for deletion. That wasn't even why I came here (more on that below) but I was suspected and accused of it - making for a long (argumentative) week - so that is the place from where my advice is coming. I do plan on sticking around and really learning this process, and how to do it right, unless the hostility continues. I can't take that on a daily basis so we'll see...

About Me

I have been involved in academia and the academic side of marketing for 16 years. I have taught at both the high school and college levels and have been a College Administrator as well. I currently own my own business teaching the elemental side of marketing to small businesses (things like Strategic, Marketing, and Business Plan creation). I have always loved to write and have ghost written several non-fiction works and textbooks, as well as edited the same. I also do a little graphic and web design here and there and teach a course on social media marketing.

The Real Me

Sara Rockworth is a pen name. When I decided to try my hand at Wikipedia, I was advised to not use my real name. The thought was that there are likely many editors who would recognize me if I used my actual name. Consequently, that would bias their opinions about my writings - either positively or negatively - based on my background and professional experience. After the past week, I am not sure that was the best advice/decision I could have made. Nonetheless, it is what it is. Sara Rockworth is a pseudonym I have used for some writing in the past so I decided to resurrect her. This is the only name I have ever used on Wikipedia, have never edited with another IP, and this is the only name I ever intend to use.

Why I Came to Wikipedia

I was asked to teach a Social Media Marketing course to the members of a company. I figured I needed to get out of the "theory" of Wikipedia that I had been teaching and offer practical advice. I had recently read a work by a particular individual and then heard that person on an Internet radio program. I was highly impressed with what I read and heard so decided to use that person for my first article. Big mistake. I have since reported back to the people who asked me to include Wikipedia in the course that it is my professional opinion that it should not be part of any social media plan and I will not include it. However, I am glad they asked me to do this because I think it is actually a much more valid process than I had previously believed and I am currently planning to stick around and learn - and participate - even more.

Wikipedia Lessons I Learned

Here are three important things I learned to make one's "life" here easier:

Hang around and edit quite a few articles - on subjects of people of which you are knowledgeable - before you attempt to write your own full article. Make sure you have proof of any facts before you edit and review the talk page to see if the information you have has either been deleted or ruled down by others in the past.
Make sure you have really done your research before starting a complete article of your own. If you are writing about a person, make sure you have independent, third-party, sources establishing notability
Start any new article (as Wikipedia suggests) in your personal userspace. If you have any kind of background in marketing - or are too close (or even just "fond") of the subject - see if you can find an experienced editor to review (and hopefully "pre-edit") your piece while it is still in your own workspace and before you make it live (I tried my best to be - and thought I was being - "neutral" and to nearly everyone who participated in my article's AFD I still sounded "promotional").

I am obviously not the best Wikipedia editor out there...yet. But if you have a question, or something you want me to look at and comment on based on my academic experience - or the experience I just went through (I learned a heck of a lot) - I will do my best. I will be honest but not rude. You can take my opinion and advice or leave it. And if I don't have the knowledge to answer what you need to know, I would highly recommend Cindamuse (talk · contribs). I actually "met" her in here by going to her talk page after she was a little snippy to my article at first. So went and and asked her for advice. Odd approach, I know. But she ended up being very helpful - yet necessarily brutal at times - but she made a valiant attempt to help save the article with her amazing research abilities and experience. The article still got deleted but she taught me a tremendous amount about the "right" way to write in Wikipedia. Thank you Cindamuse (talk · contribs)! Also, as far as Admins, you could definitely do much worse than JamesBWatson (talk · contribs). He is actually very helpful in giving timely, unbiased, critique and assistance.