As a professor, one of the things I have aimed to do in and out of my classroom is to see what professional opportunities or “real world experiences” I could provide my students.
The marketplace is of course booming and growing in the social media space, but so is the competition. Everyone wants to have a piece of the pie as it would seem, and every year the job descriptions have lists of expectations and skills that keep getting longer and longer. It’s a challenge to keep up with these new changes, but that’s why it’s important to create unique experiences and stories for students to share that truly make them stand out from the crowd.
In Louisville, we are very fortunate to have many great companies, brands, agencies, and professionals in town who want to support and help the future generation of students in their careers. Of course, one of these events and brands that gets a lot of attention of course is the Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs.
For the past five years, I have had several students (as part of #FrebergAlums) work the Kentucky Derby on their official social media team. I am very grateful to Maggie for allowing these students to get this incredible experience working one of the biggest events in the sports community.
This year, I had four students (Michael, Danielle, Abbie, and Candice) work with the social media team at the Kentucky Derby. Each had designated tasks to create, evaluate, and execute content across social media channels. Some where focused on specific elements (ex. live video), and others were designated to specific features within the platform like Instagram Stories.
Here are some takeaways I wanted to share w/ you all about the Kentucky Derby and the work they did for this year’s event:
Being a team supporter. I felt in many ways like Mishu from Mulan when I was seeing my former students get ready for creating content for the Kentucky Derby. I felt they were going out and saving the social media world! As professors, we got to be the biggest cheerleaders and supporters for our students as they venture out into the real world. Having them know you have their back and are there to support them as they embark on these exciting new opportunities is so important!
It’s a team effort. A lot of people in Louisville are super supportive of the work our students are doing. That’s what it is all about – helping each other and making sure we are providing the best opportunities for our students as they enter the workplace! I am forever grateful for the mentorship and generosity Joey Wagner, Madison Hardy, and Bella Portaro-Kueber have shown my students over the years.
It’s a LOT of content creation. When you think about the amount of content that needs to be created for an event like this, it’s a lot. I mean, A LOT. Look at the amount of story slides just for Instagram Stories Michael had to create. 271! That’s insane and that’s just for ONE feature on ONE platform! Major props, Michael!
Always being prepared for what could happen. Along with these takeaways, there of course was a surprise that happened at the race, the first time in the 145 years the race has been held. The winner was disqualified, and of course, social media erupted. I was very proud of how the students reacted and did on social media in response to this.
This in many ways was a no-win situation. Someone was going to be unhappy with the call and result, and it definitely showed based on the social media traffic emerging across the different platforms.
Summary
In summary, I am very, VERY proud of the work these students did. They worked hard, created great content, and were able to show the world what they could do as storytellers on social for some of the most iconic sport brands in the world.
As professors, we have to explore these types of opportunities for our students so they can not only tell future employers what they have done, but be able to show them – hey! This is what I have been able to do in the real world.
Congrats, Michael, Abbie, Candice, and Danielle – you have all represented the Kentucky Derby and the University of Louisville extremely well! I am very, very proud of all of you! Special thanks again to Maggie for giving these students such a great learning and professional experience. You have truly made a tremendous impact on their career, Maggie!
Have a great day!
Best Wishes,
