Richmond's Panel Kicks Off a New Chapter

[Yong Lee]

The original posting can be found at Social Media Club.

On Monday night, SMCEDU-RVA held its kickoff event at Virginia Commonwealth University with a great panel discussion. Kendall Morris and Nathan Hughes of the Richmond chapter of SMC deserve credit for organizing an engaging forum that should result in greater interest for the academic community in central Virginia.

What struck me most was the diversity of both the panel and the audience. The range of questions and answers demonstrated the breadth of social media -- it touches many fields and serves many uses.

VCU journalism professor Marcus Messner served as the mediator for a panel that included 21-year-old journalistic wunderkind Trevor Dickerson, ReadWriteWeb blogger Jolie O'Dell, Ironworks Consulting recruiter Candace Nicolls, and University of Richmond graduate
Generra Peck. The four fielded questions from both students and teachers, young and older, and helped many form a better understanding of what social media is and what it's being used for.

Many questions centered around how social media affects potential employment. The consensus among the experts was to be genunine, but to use common sense. Although it seems straight-forward, there remains some ambiguity when it comes to guidelines; much of how you choose to express yourself depends on what industry you're entering, the company culture of the potential employer, and the personal taste of each individual.

Although there are plenty of students that are concerned with the keg party photos that are consistently brought up as evidence against Facebooking, it seems that many employers and teachers are understanding of a few "events." What undermines an applicant's chances for being hired is evidence of irresponsibility, false representation, or other character weaknesses.

All the panelists shared great insight:

• Trevor Dickerson advised the audience to learn the dos and don'ts of communicating, and to reach out to several online communities
• Candace Nicolls spoke on the need for applicants to distinguish writing skills for both Web and print mediums
• Generra Peck expressed the need for students to learn what tools exist, and how to use each
• Jolie O'Dell shared, and later wrote about the need to be an early adopter, to focus your learning efforts, and to expand your digital toolbelt by keeping up with the constant evolution of technologies

I was happy to speak to a few teachers that are enthusiastically embracing technology in their classrooms, and their presence and interest at the event was a welcome complement to the many students in attendence. Teachers, especially those in the marketing, public relations, journalism, and communications disciplines are already aware of the impact technology is having. Events such as VCU's Tweet That discussion will hopefully create a bridge for those that are curious, but haven't had the opportunity to seek answers from people that are utilizing these practices every day.

And that's exactly what we're trying to create with SMCEDU -- an opportunity to learn.

[Anna West]

I'd like to help with the Social Media 101 and a colleague I know teaches a graduate course dedicated entirely to digital media. Do you have anything established already for SM 101 or are we starting with a clean slate?

[Yong Lee]

Great questions, Anna!

To address your first point, I think to find the expert you're looking for, you first have to decide what you're trying to accomplish with social media. In a business sense, it's a means, not the end. As a PR professor, you'll run into many social media proponents (or at least, you should) and hopefully will find some here :) Beginners should have a starting point, and I'd like to get that "Social Media 101" segment of our project completed as soon as possible. For anyone interested in contributing or advising, I'd love to hear from you!

To your second point, I think the answer is evolving every day. There aren't any hard rules to follow yet, although last night's panel seemed to agree that using common sense and projecting your best image are the best ways to go.

I'm glad you're a part of our effort, we'll keep working at it!

[Anna West]

One of the best things I got out of last night events was a more specific idea of what questions I need to ask as I try to clear a path between the broad and varied world of social media and the narrow experience my students have. By far the biggest problem I see with my students and other people who are new to social media is a feeling of being overwhelmed. They don't know where to start.

I mentioned this to you last night, Yong, but my approach in class is 3 pronged. I give the students a case study to see how social media us in public relations is more than just tactics, there is a strategy behind it. I do this by having them reading Colin Delany's ebook, Learning from Obama: Lessons for Online Communicators in 2009 and Beyond.

Simultaneously, I bring guest speakers in who are professionals talking about how they use social media in their practice. This is a very practical discussion. Thirdly, I have them write their own social media campaign for a real client who they have to present to at the end of the semester.

But here are some ideas inspired by last night’s forum:

1) Everyone is quick to say "there are no social media experts" but there is no use denying that some people understand how to use it effectively. I haven't come across a lot of consensus on those people are. One thing that Jolie O'Dell said last night was that every niche of social media has an expert. Find out what your niche is and find that expert. But beginners need a broader view of the social media landscape before they can make an informed decision about what their niche is. So student DO need to know where to go for up to date developments in the broader realm of social media/digital media/new media....

2) As a public relations professor, and also as a practitioner who specializes in the non-profit sector, one of the things I'm interested in is how the new age of digital media is forcing us all to be more transparent. With our private lives seeping into public domain, sometimes without our knowledge, people in general are being forced to do away with pretenses. I mentioned previously that I liked Jolie O'Dell's statement: "You attract what you project." This affects us on a personal level, but it also affects the way businesses operate, allowing for businesses to express a personality like never before. I can only think that more transparency on any level is a good thing. How is this going to affect people's and businesses’ behaviors in the long run? Will this new transparency affect not only our behavior but, even deeper and after a period of time, strengthen our character as we are consistently held accountable by the court of public opinion?