It seems like yesterday that I arrived in Morgantown for the IMC Weekend Event. The event is focused on bringing in all of the faculty and students in the IMC program together for a face-to-face meeting and gathering for networkng and talking about the current state of the progarm, and where we want to go from here.
The weekend started off by flying out of Knoxville to Memphis, and then to Pittsburgh. Morgantown is about an hour and a half away from Pittsburgh, so we rented a few cars to head down to the WVU campus. I had the pleasure of riding down with some amazing faculty members (Bryan, Melvin, and Alexia) – we had a fun trip! The first stop was at Dorsey Knob Lodge, which is where the welcome reception and faculty meeting took place. This place was really amazing – and the first thought that came across my mind was how it must be just magical during the winter time.
Friday was a busy day – we got a chance to tour around the WVU campus in the morning before heading for lunch and the faculty meeting. The campus is just gorgeous – lots of brick historical buildings that just fit with the national landscape. One of the things that my friends at WVU said that was unique about the campus was the people movers, or “The Disney Land Ride.” I was like – okay, is there a roller coaster on campus or what? But they are mini trams that people can jump on and go around campus. But – to truly have the WVU experience as I have been told – you have to be in one when it breaks down. I had such an experience – but it was all settled and all good. 🙂 In addition, we got a chance to get our faculty ID Cards – which made everything seem very official and I thought – wow! This is very cool! 🙂
The welcome session that we had was at the Hotel Morgan in Morgantown – which was really amazing. It was great to meet students, prospective students, and the rest of the faculty and community in Morgantown. The setup was really spectacular – the food was very good and the atmosphere was warm and energetic. I felt really part of the IMC community and welcomed.
Saturday was a busy, busy day! This was when we had all of the presentation sessions and breakout sessions, and ended the day with a picnic with everyone from the program. I was part of the crisis communications panel with Professors Rebecca Andersen and Tina McCorkindale. It was very good – we had some great questions and the panel was available on webcast as well. I was able to talk about social media and crisis communications and a few of the case studies that are being used as key examples of what not to do, and what are some best practices that we can take away from these cases today.
Overall, my time at West Virginia was absolutely amazing! This online program is indeed cutting edge in both its classroom setup, classes offered, and how they are viewing the various disciplines currently. It was a pleasure to meet the rest of the faculty – they are all very energetic, intelligent, and outgoing – very fabulous! The students were also great as well – I got a chance to meet some of my students for the first time in person, so I was very excited about that. 🙂
I would like to thank Chad Mezera (director of the IMC program), Rick Bebout, and the rest of the WVU IMC faculty and staff for making the IMC Weekend event such a success – thank you for inviting us out for a fabulous weekend! I thoroughly enjoyed my time at WVU and Morgantown! 🙂
Hope you all are having a wonderful day!
Best Wishes,
Karen
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