Official blog of #clarkclass, Twitter for Media class at UCO Mass Comm Department

Thursday, January 5, 2017

Student debriefing of twitter speakers

Each of these speakers deserves an article, with quotes and photos, but as #clarkclass 7.0 draws to a close in another two days, here are the student debriefings  of this week's speakers. More to come soon.
After every speaker, we go around the room, and each student has to mention a main "takeaway," or something important. I'm impressed with how quickly the hands go up, the competition to get their views in first. Each statement begins with "I like...."
I like these students. 
I'm overwhelmed with comments from students, former students and the speakers. I took a risk forming this class because I saw a need, and was ignorant. I'm still learning.
This is not a typical college class--everyone says so--it breaks rules, it discovers, it pushes the traditional. That's the way college should be. 
The class is a success because of its speakers and my students.The class is NOT about twitter. This is a bare summary of student "takeaways." These are recorded by a class student who wants to be a newspaper reporter:   @TheJessPhillips.


Mike Koehler

  •  Strict no assholes policy
  • Honesty about the industry, future of newspapers
  • You HAVE to know how to write – compare to previous speaker who said no
  • Simplicity of mission statement – makes decisions easy
  • Not afraid to do what’s new first
  • Empower your writers and you will know your readers
  • Transparent about starting Smirk New Media
  • Runs business and attitude – unlimited vacay, etc. motivates employees to do better
  • Soft skills plus business acumen gets jobs
  • Strategy development
  • Take advantage of digital tools
  • Ads will follow you
  • Journalism can’t survive without giving readers what they want
  • Word of mouth and references builds reputation
  • 30 days to develop a strategy
  • Mission statement: “Happy clients, great content and strategy, making money.”
  • Writing is the gas in the tank
  • Work ethic is number one, writing is next
  • Everything will work out: take the risk
  • Value your work. Don’t do something for nothing
  • Writing and transparency
  • What happens when the Millennials grow up?
  • Time is always on Smirk’s side. Knows the trends.
  • Inverted pyramid – writing
  • AP Style
  • Persistence in Smirk. Foresight to invest in social media
  • Journalism lost connection to the public in social media – community matters
  • Conflicting info from speakers – mike likes blogs, Scott said they’re dead. Audience matters
  • Necessary skills: writing, work ethic, shoot and edit video

Jenny Grigsby

  •  Take off the corporate speech, be genuine and be honest
  • Jenny found a job that doesn’t stress her out – found how to manage stress
  • UCO Theater major who self-taught social media
  • Started with no plan, just tried different jobs, took opportunity as it came
  • Text message marketing could be huge
  • How to get your brand out here – engage the community
  • Go back to check on scheduled tweets
  • Arby’s and Wendy’s social media – staying in touch with others
  • 4-6 weeks before clients trust them with total control of accounts
  • Wendy’s handling of interaction with troll
  • Don’t set it and forget it, take off corporate speech
  • Get in the community to be successful
  • Be genuine, Jenny was honest
  • Drink more beer
  • You have to do social media in real time for it to feel real
  • Self-taught in social media
  • Digital Communication term
  • Office is artsy, especially compared to the neighbors
  • Who you know is important
  • Personable social media
Mike Sherman

  •  Forget the technology, be who you are
  • Learn from those who disagree
  • Won’t hire people not on Twitter
  • Decide who you will be when dealing with trolls
  • You’re the same person on social media and in real life
  • Twitter and relationships
  • Establish yourself and build a village
  • Stand out by providing heat or light
  • Be well-read, curious and resource
  • Who you are on Twitter is who you are in real life
  • Be interested in others more than self
  • Pause.
  • All publicity is good publicity?
  • Be who you are
  • Good reader = good writer
  • No conclusion on Twitter, but questions
  • What we really long for is real connection
  • Produce great content to gain a following on twitter
  • Something worth having is worth paying for
  • Good writers must be well-read
  • Those who disagree are the best teachers
  • Twitter is a distribution device
  • Sports connects the community
  • Second with stimulus and response
  • Happier when more interested in others than self
  • Response to trolls depends on who you want to be

Lauren Vargas
  • Importance of books, reading and being educated
  • Vargas continuing in education and developing self
  • Focus too much on content marketing, need to look at analytics
  • People who know what’s happening are often the least visible
  • Social media for activism
  • Vargas is pretty awesome – taking class, teaching, work, personal life…
  • Must share amongst ourselves and admit mistakes
  • Be prepared for what’s next – death of Twitter is coming
  • Tattoos in corporate job
  • Don’t hang your hat on social media
  • It’s okay to have tattoos
  • We’re all just winging it
  • We’re all leaving a permanent, digital footprint
  • Twitter will have a slow, painful death because of management
  • Not active on social media, but making progress and keeping busy in life
  • Those making change are least likely to talk about it
  • Be humble
  • She created her jobs – find what’s not being done and do it
  • Shift in how content is delivered – more advertising
  • Dr. Pepper method – schedule bursts of checking in to social med
  • Adaptation is a key to surviving the industry
  • Design, build and fly the plane at the same time
  • Everybody’s learning
  • She started social media from the ground up

Steve Lackmeyer
  • Break the rules, but explain why you did it
  • The best PR people are in the community
  • It’s about your passion, voice and heart
  • News and PR doesn’t happen in the newsroom
  • “I believe in getting out in the community”
  • don’t be strident, be smart
  • Be weary of what you see on social media, regardless of the source
  • It’s our generation’s job to fix this mess
  • Something you think you know is wrong
  • Easier to ask forgiveness than permission
  • Give more attention to the victim than to the perpetrators
  • To be successful, don’t get too cocky
  • Don’t take risks for the hell of it
  • Don’t believe what you see on social media
  • It’s not about building a portfolio, it’s about relationships
  • If you want something that you’re not getting, pretend you don’t’ want it even if you do
  • Gatekeeper role is gone
  • Being in this class means you’re a little bit touched
  • News is not in the newsroom: it’s on your phone and in the community
  • Keep on creating
  • Don’t take things so seriously that you can’t see the ridiculousness
  • There’s value in knowing your news sources
  • We have a responsible voice, but can’t pretend that things are not happening

 


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