“The evolution to digital marketing and public relations was very natural,” says Mehraban. “We’re packaging information differently because people are getting their information differently.”
Ingenex delivers marketing solutions for a digital world by focusing producing results through social media marketing, web design, SEO, SEM, internet marketing, digital public relations, and web analytics.
The New Media Driver’s License course “is for any student who wants to learn to be digitally savvy,” says Mehraban. “We’re empowering students to get jobs or become more valuable at their current jobs because they can put these skills to use for companies right away.”
“Brand is the focal point of communicating who you are and what matters to you, and it’s the way you narrow down that communication so that you can really get a fine point on it so people can understand who you are,” says Swain.
“It’s not what you think you are; it’s what everyone thinks you are.”
Swain says MSU has had a brand for a long time; now the university is trying to communicate it clearly in a way that people can grasp quickly and easily.
“Spartan Sagas is taking our people and featuring them and really digging into the stories of how our students, faculty, staff and alumni are contributing in ways big and small making a difference in the world,” Swain says.
“Spartans have so much enthusiasm and identify so strongly with the institution, and we really want to let that bloom and take off.”
From MSUPRSSA: MSU Head Servant and Spartan Podcast creator Scott Westerman talks about the state of social media in 2010 and what PR people should know about how to use it in their profession. He also offers his advice for PR students about to enter the industry and encourages us all to join the MSU Alumni Association!
The radio program is collaborative effort between MSU and WJR and is heard Fridays from 7 to 8 p.m. on WJR (760 AM). The show explores a broad range of issues related to sustainability. Topics range from the construction of “green” buildings to the development of energy-efficient automobiles to the creation of the biofuels that will help power autos and buildings of the future.
“We thoughtfully consider such critical issues as land use, water quality, alternative energy, biotechnology and organic agriculture,” Heinze said. “We talk with experts who have varying perspectives on these issues, and our listeners form their own judgments based on what they hear.
The partnership expanded in February 2009 to include MLive.com.
“The Internet has evolved so much from something people were doing just to be there to a huge revenue driver for most companies,” says Vartoogian. “And in many cases it’s now the core of how they do business and generate revenue from their customers.”
Social media gives people and companies a democratized view of the Internet where they can easily publish content.
“Social media today is very much like where the Internet was back in the late ‘90’s,” Vartoogian says. “Most organizations are thinking about just being on Facebook to be there because they know enough about it to know they’re supposed to be there.
“We see the future of social media being more on the application development side. More rich experiences will engage people in a more effective way than the conversation that takes place today.”
The transition to mobile will continue to evolve.
“You’ll always need a desktop to do things like long term research,” Vartoogian says. “But I think over the years we’ll start to see a shift in how our mobile devices interact with more traditional computing devices.”
“We lost Mr. Quello on my birthday this year when he was 95,” says Reid. “He always made time for everyone and made everyone he was around feel better. And he impacted the communications industry as much or more as anyone in history.”
“For a while people joked that NAB stood for ‘nothing about broadcasting,’ but now it’s become ‘national association of broadercasting,” Reid says. “The theme this year was ‘where content comes to life,’ and the on-demand nature of the media we consume will continue to grow.”
Impact Radio is in its 22nd year, and Reid tells of WDBM’s plans to debut the station’s HD2 service later this year.
“Most people are familiar with word of mouth; I’m talking about world of mouth,” Qualman says. “Word of mouth has been a pretty efficient way to get marketing out cheaply.
“But with world of mouth when you think about posting something on Twitter that immediately goes to a hundred million folks and the communication doesn’t get changed over time like in a kids’ game of telephone, in a social media world those messages are passed along digitally and are less likely to have their meaning changed.
Qualman says the main message of Socialnomics is that we should all have fun and common sense and that we should have plenty of both in the social media world.
“In social media you need to do rather than deliberate,” says Qualman. “You need to fail forward, fail fast and fail better. You’re not going to get it right the first time so make sure you get out there and just learn better and fail better.”
Westerman adds that today’s MSU Alumni Association is the perfect way to stay connected to the Spartan magic that helped us get where we are today.
“Every MSU Spartan’s life has been fundamentally changed based upon his or her relationship with MSU. “That relationship doesn’t have to end at graduation.”
Westerman is the father of Spartan Podcast; thanks, Scott!
Scott Westerman – the father of Spartan Podcast – talks with Dave about a variety of MSU technology issues from the bandwidth MSU consumes each month, to the future of broadcasting and the growing popularity of MSU’s library system.
“Our library foot traffic at Michigan State is increasing year over year and has been for the last 15 years,” Gift says. “For a while we were bucking a national trend as people were going to the library less and less.
“Now nationally visits to libraries are beginning to increase.”
Gonyea has been reporting for NPR since 1986 and has been White House Correspondent since 2001.
“In my new role as national political correspondent, I’ll be covering the same stories I’ve covered for 10 years at the White House,” Gonyea says. “Now I’ll be covering those stories from somewhere other than inside the gates of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”
Gonyea talks about NPR’s Web presence and strategy for the future, too.
“It used to be that our Website was there simply to give you a place to find what was on the air,” Gonyea says. “That is no longer the case.
“We want to create something that is every bit the NPR brand – looks and feels like NPR – but that is branded NPR News. NPR News is the brand because NPR is becoming much more than just what is heard on the radio.”
“That means I’m interested in the way that online tools help shape human behavior and the outcomes of that behavior,” Ellison says.
Ellison looks at self-presentation and deception in online dating environments and social capital in Facebook use.
“Social capital describes the benefits we get from our social relationships,” Ellison says. “Social networks allow us to maintain relationships with more people and perhaps make it easier to access these benefits.”
“Our goal is to be among the top journalism schools in the country in both professional preparation and research excellence,” she says. “These priorities go hand in hand, and we will be bringing professionals and scholars together to achieve this goal.”
In addition, Davenport will work with the college to facilitate significant curriculum updates.
“There is so much potential in the field and the school,” she said. “Our faculty members want to create and embrace a journalism curriculum for the future and ensure MSU journalism graduates move into successful careers.”
Dean Whitten talks about her short and long-term goals for the college. And she talks about how technology has impacted the college and its goals for the future.
“This college has been a national and international leader for years,” Whitten says. “We’re comprised of five very different departments – journalism, advertising, communication, telecommunication and communicative sciences and disorders, but we do have underlying things we do in common in terms of our mission.
“We’re in the forefront of activity in terms of how we communicate, share and disseminate information in all ways that impact the lives of human beings. And we have the best faculty in the country if not the world who are even hungrier to get more aggressive in research and scholarship, as well as new ways to teach students.
“Today’s MSU Alumni Association is the perfect way to stay connected to the Spartan magic that helped get you where you are today,” Westerman says. “Every MSU Spartan’s life has been fundamentally changed based upon his or her relationship with MSU.
“That relationship doesn’t have to end at graduation.”
Westerman talks about trends in technology and cable televison from his perch at Comcast.
Westerman is the father of Spartan Podcast; thanks, Scott!
He reflects on his time with the late, great J.P. McCarthy at WJR and talks about how he models his show after J.P. and attempts to “leave out the boring parts.”
He discusses the current and future state of the journalism and media industries and talks about how he got started as an author.
On video: Shelton talks about the best way for PR people to pitch to journalists and about the blurring of journalism and public relations in the multimedia era:
Tobin describes what social media are and how they’re different from traditional media. He talks about his bestselling book “Social Media is a Cocktail Party.”
He looks ahead to social media’s future and discusses the skills needed to succeed in this fast-paced world.
Dr. Greenberg talks about the college’s goals and mission. He discusses how the college and its students have changed over the years. And he reflects back on some of his own research of which he is most proud.
“The college is forward-looking and has always been a step ahead of most other communication colleges and programs in the United States,” says Greenberg. “This faculty tends to be able to anticipate what the next decade will look like in terms of media and is able to create courses relevant for our next generation of students.”
Reid talks about how WDBM got started and discusses the station’s mission. He talks about how the Impact – and the radio industry in general – has changed over the 20 years WDBM has been on the air.
And Reid looks ahead to the Impact’s next 20 years and looks into his crystal ball to predict where the radio business is headed in the future.
From MSU Today on Impact Radio: MSU alumnus Derek Mehraban is the CEO of Ingenex Digital Marketing and co-creator with Rick Cole of MSU’s wildly successful New Media Driver’s License course.
Hear the Conversation 14:34 – 8.3 mb mp3
