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

Using and adapting to 'disruptive technology' for success

@Okieprof

Dave Rhea, marketing director at Phillips Murrah law firm, is the embodiment of what he preaches about having a "Batbelt" of skills to adapt and be successful in a career. He's spoken several times to #clarkclass and become a good friend, since the first time I met him as a social and digital media editor at Oklahoma City's Journal Record business newspaper.
The University of Florida journalism grad began as a recording artist and band member  with record contracts before the internet changed the industry. 

He brought that experience in "disruptive technology,"  --a new invention destroying the old business model--to newspapers in 2004, also struggling with the Internet. 

He helped New York Times company newspapers in Florida experiment with digital experiments, and working with  Journal Record its digital efforts beginning in 2008. He worked briefly at the Oklahoma Gazette before eventually being hired by the law firm to utilize his journalism skills in revamping those efforts. 

The first thing he did at Phillips Murrah was change the website, and work on twitter.  When he started a few months ago, the twitter had around 11 followers, now has over 500. He also buys ads, works on business

developments and contact management, saying business development is the future of the marketing job.
In addition to talent and skill as a journalist and adapter, he's also a master of analogies, including the "Batbelt" image.
Here are some of his comments and student debriefing notes, recorded with the help of @Cassjack12.

• Fundamentally you are telling a story
• Learn how to distribute it in order to get paid in the real world--writing-news and features-video/audio version
• Authenticity is important, make sure you can be authentic wherever you are
• Develop skills then take them with you – all lead to new functions
• New leadership trait: emotional intelligence --empathy and mindfulness Disruptive technology -- new invention coming in and destroying the old business model --Napster
• Twitter is many things to many people
• Take your things and put them on the internet and draw people in
• Twitter is like a music amplifier--Input = Output 
• Twitter is a conversation
• It's more of right in the moment conversation
• On Twitter, if you keep outing out things over and over and not having an actual discussion it won't be effective
• Twitter can be used as a distribution center
• If you had good motivation behind your tweet it is better than you just trying to get followers or more popular--they won't find any value in you
• When your output is good, people will find value in you
• Twitter can be used for A/B testing to see what works better
• Twitter can be used for #microbitching --customer service
• Authentic is eliminating the drama, seeing it and acting rationally not emotionally.
• Being authentic doesn’t mean just yelling out everything you feel 
• The way you are approaching Twitter now, is how you should approach everything 
• Continue to educate yourself.

              Student debriefing take aways

• Never finish learning, broaden your horizon-Don’t stop at college
• Try new things
• Develop the love of learning
• Be an amplifier because Twitter is a conversation
• Use it for what its meant for
• Authentic- be logical and rational and it's not spontaneous emotion
• Bad date analogy, don’t talk talk talk, there are other people out there who have a voice
• Tweet stuff to have your followers find value in you
• Have quality followers
• Twitter is like a crescent wrench, a tool to meet people
• Don’t ever tell someone they are doing something wrong but let them know what they can do better
• Just because you have a degree, you can use anything you have learned to navigate what you want your future to be
• Tell a story
• If you’re authentic, you cut out the drama
• Facebook-snail mail (you can post and respond late, things that have throughout the day) but with Twitter you miss things if you are gone for 3 hours, like a real life conversation

 

Enthusiastic UCO alum and journalism ambassador

@okieprof

Some people win you over with their immediate smile, enthusiasm for life and work.
Mike Sherman, UCO journalism alum and sports editor of "The Oklahoman" is one of those. He's a regular speaker for the Twitter for Media class, and I still get carried away listening to him. There are repeated stories and comments of course, but there is always new "stuff" as well. In fact, he's a constant stream of storytelling, illustrating every thing he says.
It's so refreshing and exciting to find a journalist with confidence in the future these days. He's a great ambassador for journalism.  So much so that I forget to stand up and take a photo while he's talking to the class. Ah well, he'll be back.
And something else all our speakers have said, and the students notice, is the emphasis on reading. They all spout off names of people you need to follow or read.
And my students came up with a hashtag for Mike, #MikeontheMic!
(Again, all of this should have been posted much earlier. The fault all belongs to @okieprof. Sorry.)
So here are some of his comments, and the class debriefings, recorded with the help of @cassjack12:

• twitter is a way to learn, it's an antenna
• Twitter is antenna to find conversation, not an open window to scream out of "
• "Twitter is one giant sports bar." 
• “Creeping is what the cool kids call it, I call it research”
• the way you act on twitter, You are.
• it's a better listening device than it is a broadcasting device
• look up Andy Carvin, Seth Godin, Jay Spear
• “have a brand before you start trying to build it”
• know what you want to provide
• “your brand isn’t what you say it is, its what your customers say about it “
• this generation lives out loud – everything is on the web
• twitter makes the world small
• you can follow prospective customers 
• don’t let you Twitter be too self-centered 
• don’t be too busy building your brand to see your neighbor
• what would we do if we were all in the same room 
• how would we talk 
• how would we interact 
• twitter is like Sam’s samples--tweets are samples, you pay with attention 
• “people don’t have to follow you to know what you’re saying”
• homepages of websites are dead as we knew them
  have to find ways to get on people's screens 
• twitter allows you to see what readers care about 
• my growth game is strong 
• "there is no done"--there is no deadline in journalism today 
• advice: 
• learn how to interview  
• “you cant write what you don’t report”  
• when writer’s block happens 
• show don’t tell 
• make people see 
• read “Making Words Dance” a book about Red Smith

 Student debriefing comments about what stood out:

• writers block is just about having not all the information 
• I'm not the same two years ago...always changing and growing
•  things you put on social media is public, you put it out there so expect people to see it 
• use twitter to follow along with conferences you can’t go to have empathy to get the real story 
• twitter is a great way to learn because you get to go to places you are not
• your brand is what other say about it, not what you say about it 
• ask compelling questions-what do people want to know, and tell that story
• journalists are servants
• be a human first
• never done, constantly transitioning
• read a lot, even beyond your field