One of the things I have tried to do in my social media class is to connect my students with professionals both online and through guest speakers. We had the wonderful opportunity and privilege of having Chris Kerns speak to our class. Chris, who is a data analyst for Spredfast and author of Trendology (if you have not gotten this book – buy it now on Amazon) spoke to our class about RTM as well as social data.
Chris did a truly amazing job in the presentation to the class. In the years I have taught social media, I have never seen a group of students so captivated by a speaker sharing insights about social data and RTM. The students were reacting both in class as well as sharing their insights on Twitter (by using the hashtag #Freberg15) about the talk. Most of the students have never had a guest come in via Google+, so this was a cool way to see the power of technology and engage with a leader and visionary in the field.
Chris talked about his work not only with Spredfast, but also what he has done with his work with athletes at the Sochi Olympics. We got to see examples of social media codes from tweets and posts on Instagram to showcase the power of both hashtags as well as geolocation.
What I also took away from Chris’s presentation was not only the expertise, insights, and resources he was sharing, but he really resonated with the class to make it both educational and entertaining. Chris was able to make the students laugh with his jokes and helped create a dynamic and energetic learning environment.
Overall, it was a really awesome class today in #Freberg15. Special thanks again to Chris for taking the time to share his insights with all of us – I actually had students request for Chris to come back to class again and were actively sharing their feedback to Chris via Twitter. I would consider this to be a huge success! 🙂 If you want to check out what the conversation was like in class, you may want to check out this Storify.
Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
