April has been a busy travel month for me (and it’s not over yet!), but I have had the chance to go to a conference I have never been to before and experience the wonder, excitement, and awe of the NAB exhibit show and convention.
Along with NAB, I had a chance to present at the BEA (Broadcast Education Association) conference this year. This was the first time I had gone and presented at the conference, but I know this was one many of my colleagues in journalism had gone to each year while at Tennessee and even at UofL.
The NAB show was nothing like I have ever experienced – booths and many displays highlighting the latest gadgets, toys, and technology programs to help create effective and visually telling stories. I could have spent hours there!
I had a chance to meet up with Jonathan Gantt and Nik Conkin of Clemson Athletics and hear their presentation over at the Adobe booth (this was one of my favorite booths!). I think these two are true leaders in the industry as well as being some of the best people in the business. The room was completely packed to hear their presentation on how they use the various Adobe products to tell their stories for Clemson Athletics.
So, how did I end up at BEA and NAB? Simple – I owe it all to Stephen Marshall, who is the Department Chair over at East Tennessee State University.
I first met Stephen the natural way we all seem to meet nowadays 🙂 – LinkedIn. Stephen reached out to me and we started corresponding and talking about social media, measurement, as well as what the growing changes we are seeing happening in practice and what we as educators need to do. Stephen is probably one of the most innovative, motivated, and really engaged professors I have seen – ETSU is super, super lucky to have him as part of their university!
The presentation I gave at BEA focused on how to teach social media measurement, primarily with Hootsuite. As I have written and talked about for many years, I am a huge fan of their program, tool, and the support they give to students and educators.
The presentation I gave was very well received and I was excited to chat with some of the fellow educators about the program, my social media class, and some of the assignments I have given over the years. Also, a major shout out to Kimberly Yu for sending me some Hootsuite and Owly swag to give out to the attendees at the conference! This was a HUGE hit! Thanks, Kimberly!
So, what were some of the main takeaways from this conference? There were a few I have walked away with. First, I was very surprised not to see as many PR professionals, agencies, or researchers at the conference or even the NAB show. We are getting more and more pressure to do video and visual storytelling, so why are we not going to these events and having a presence?
Second, partnerships are absolutely key to make with some of these brands and organizations. I was very impressed with how Adobe was engaged across all different industries and how they were able to tap into different presentations with different professionals from sports to Star Wars (this was a SUPER packed session as you can imagine!).
Third, we need to create a stronger bridge for the practice and educators. As a professor in PR, I sometimes think this is what we are experiencing in our field, but this is something that is apparent across disciplines in communication and in the media. We all need to come together and see what we can do to make this bridge stronger and formulate these partnerships to make sure we are all on the same page for our students.
Overall, I had a great experience at BEA and checking out the NAB convention – special thanks again to Stephen for organizing this great panel and allowing me to participate.
Have a great day!
Best Wishes,
