A 'Professional Disruption Specialist' telling stories

@jdaverhea and #clarkclass

 @Okieprof

Dave Rhea, @JDaveRhea, calls himself a "professional disruption specialist" because of his previous experience in both music and newspapers. Now he's officially the director of marketing for Phillips Murrah law firm,
I met him when he was doing digital media for The Journal Record, and found out he used to have a rock band, and had worked for New York Times papers in Florida. That's where he was affected by disruptive technology...turning established businesses upside down, as digital media has.
He's taken that experience and self taught expertise to now operate  the marketing operation of this large Oklahoma City law firm, perhaps a job that didn't really exist a few years ago, because of the advent of digital technology. 

He describes part of his job is "trying to figure out what's going to happen next."
What I appreciate most about him though is is insistence on the basics, knowing digital media are just the latest tools:
"Communication. How to tell these great stories. That's the fundamental part."
After class, we debriefed. Here are student takeaways, recorded by @AngelaNapier:

@Jdaverhea debrief

• Created his own way- it’s interesting that he mixed marketing with law
• He went from a boy band to doing social media super fast
• You have to get attention directed to your website to get higher on a Google search
• He found a way to make money with his skills
• He is doing what the attorneys cannot or don’t want to do (marketing and communications)
• It’s less about a degree and more about the willingness to put yourself in different situations that will allow you to grow
• It’s hard to convince people who don’t see your point of view to latch onto your ideas
• It’s cool he writes for a knife magazine
• He is a jack of all trades- video, website, law firm, knives, etc.
• Writing is important and getting yourself online is imperative
• You have to take the initiative to learn and do things
• He has to explain hard things in a relatable way
• You have to build digital trust
• Twitter is a distribution method
• Twitter has become part of our voice
• Twitter is whatever you need it to be, we control it, it doesn’t control us
• You can have an incredible track record, but unless you are posting online you are a no body
• Every industry is a people industry