Tuesday, October 11, 2022, 8:30 AM - 9:15 AM CDT
As digital natives, college students bring a savvy to social platforms that’s often the envy of seasoned communicators. They grasp the lingo, spot trends and build channels of with so much ease that a common notion is, “Put a young person on social media and get out of the way.” That idea is majorly flawed.
Students bring the raw talent, but we in higher education need to shape that talent into marketable skills, taking students from digital natives to digital pros. In the process, we’ll get more out of the student agencies, interns, ambassadors and street teams helping tell the stories of our institutions.
Penn State lecturer Bill Zimmerman reflects on teaching courses such as Digital PR and Social Media Strategies, as well as coaching students working for his college’s creative firm called CommAgency.
Professionals who teach, mentor, supervise and advise will learn strategies for helping students grow into communicators who are mindful of brand guidelines, strategy, research, experimentation and measurement. Further, he’ll share how to:
- Tap into the expertise of alumni.
- Help students write better copy.
- Pool the collective brainpower of teams.
- Build habits and routines that set students up for professional success.
- Cheerlead students as they grow.
