Blogs

Image 1: 2024 Guest Speakers at IMC Connect!

Supplemental Video Content: Full PROMO Video about IMC Connect! 2024 coming later this week…Here are daily recaps from 2024, however. Notably, these videos were generously compiled and donated by our sponsor, Red Window Communications, and are not student-produced as previous videos were in order to make the workload more manageable for student participants.

2024 Day 1 Recap

2024 Day 2 Recap

2024 Day 3 Recap

Video about IMC Connect! 2023 (Student-produced)

Video about IMC Connect! 2022 (Student-produced)

When I came to the University of Mississippi in Fall 2021, I was charged with planning a new conference designed to bridge research and practice in integrated marketing communications to primarily serve our students, and secondarily to engage the community and to reach external stakeholders, such as prospective students. The general vision was to bring together some of the senior leaders in our field to come to Oxford, MS for two days for a “signature event” in Spring 2022. Since event planning is a field which is growing rapidly according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, I immediately proposed creating a graduate-level event planning experiential learning seminar around this event, which we named IMC Connect! Students were charged with developing branding for IMC Connect!, assisting with programming and speaker invitations, creating a marketing and recruitment strategy, developing social media content for the event (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok), implementing, and evaluating the inaugural IMC Connect!

Now three years in, this initial Spring course has transformed into a Fall/Spring course sequence, which allows ~25 students an immersive deep dive into event planning, promotion, and management. This fully in-person course experience allows student groups the chance to take full ownership over their assigned portion of our three-day IMC conference, which includes leading a half daypart as well as facilitating a VIP experience for two to four assigned guest speakers, which is commensurate with the Southern hospitality that Oxford is known for. As the student-led event has grown, breaking students into smaller groups with clear accountability for end-to-end responsibilities of their particular daypart, guest experience, and breakout role (e.g., design, writing, logistics), has been a major key to our success.

IMC Connect! was designed to align with three priorities, outlined in the School of Journalism and New Media’s strategic plan: 1) attract top talent – both students and faculty-- who represent diverse viewpoints and groups, 2) inspire and engage students and the larger communications audience, and 3) cultivate lifelong relationships with graduates and professionals. Notably, of the 42 speakers we have had at IMC Connect! since the first event in 2022, seven have been Ole Miss alumni--or people connected to the UM alumni network. We have served more than 1,000 student attendees with our programming over the past three years, with IMC Connect! 2024 being the biggest yet (see 2024 metrics from the Whova digital event app below).

Pedagogical Approach

During the first week of the course, student groups are selected based on student responses to a course interests questionnaire. Student groups include a group leader, who is also in charge of recruitment, a logistics coordinator, writer, and designer. Students are given creative freedom as far as how to implement their daypart, in tandem with the professor, and work to design a comprehensive event experience which engages the five senses and includes every detail from food and drink to decorations to music (see the following 5 images for examples of the student-designed event experience for just one session!).

For instance, one student group masterminded the concept of Greek Connect! in 2024. Given that one-third of the Ole Miss undergraduate student body is involved in Greek life, these students created related programming in which our guest speakers discussed how Greek students may best showcase their substantial experiences in philanthropy, leadership, and fundraising on a resume, shared how to best leverage their Greek-affiliated network on the job market, and advised on how to translate these skills to a future career path. A reception followed at a local brewery, in which students and speakers alike enjoyed a photo booth activation which allowed them to pose with their various Greek letters, and the Greek organization which brought the most members won a social event. This endeavor was entirely student-led, from inception to execution, and was a major success and highlight of 2024.

Greek Connect! Panel- IMC Connect! 2024

From L to R: Chris Sparks (Moderator), Tiffannie Hedin, Dr. Phillis George, Lisa Houghton, Dr. Amanda Bradshaw, Elizabeth Whittington, Jeffrey Young, Amanda Brown-Olmstead, Dr. Brett Robertson

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Greek Connect! at Circle and Square Brewery- Delta Tau Delta members had the most attendance and won a free social at the Oxford Golf House.

Early on, students learn how to align their creative ideas with SMART objectives set by the class to build on the success of the previous year, to coordinate and transform their grand visions from their initial event mood boards to meet budgetary constraints, and how to present return on investment (ROI) metrics. A student-led sponsorship model was added in 2023, which has been quite successful and has thus far raised approximately $55,000 in revenue to assist with event costs. A student sponsorship chair leads this endeavor from helping the professor to develop the sponsorship pitch deck to showcasing an example sponsorship presentation for classmates, and then we collectively pitch various businesses, community partners, and alumni to raise funds. We are proud to have had more than 36 sponsors of IMC Connect!

This has allowed our conference to expand on campus. A unique selling point of our event is that each year it is slightly unique and is held in different venues: this year alone, we hosted events at our home base—Farley Hall/The Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics, at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium overlooking the football field, in the ballroom at the Inn at Ole Miss, and at Memory House, a charming and iconic house on campus, which now houses the UM Foundation.

This past year, IMC Connect! was selected as a Southeast District Conference for the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), and as part of their district conference requirements, we also added in a joint high school outreach and community service component. Community Connect!, included participants from five different high schools as well as representatives from the six other universities who attended IMC Connect! Participants involved in Community Connect! developed evergreen social media content for United Way of Oxford-Lafayette County to spread awareness about critical topics, including: food insecurity, housing insecurity, early childhood literacy, and mental health challenges. The winning student video—a joint effort between high school students, college students, and one of our guest speakers-- can be found here.

In addition to learning event planning concepts such as creating sponsorship decks, managing sponsorship assets, and developing a granular run of show, students also gain firsthand project management skills via Basecamp, our shared document repository. Examples of our Basecamp shell can be found below for reference.

Partial Basecamp Home Page Organization

Within Design Folder:

Likewise, we foster consistent internal communication via Slack, an app used by the majority of Fortune 500 organizations. In addition to the general channel, which the whole class participates in, each student team has their own Slack channel (which involves the professor, too), and we have channels specifically for breakout functions (e.g., design, writing), and one to keep track of supplies so that nothing gets lost. These tools have been strategically integrated into the course in order to facilitate a smooth, collaborative experience across the board. In 2024, we also added the interactive digital event app, Whova, in order to reduce printing budget and to promote sustainability. Students are graded based on their professionalism and participation in these digital channels throughout the course, participation in weekly reading journals, lead-up, and post-event assessments and their attendance at the event and leadership during their daypart. Event participation involves a threefold score which is comprised of self, professor, and peer evaluations.

As a result of our efforts, key stakeholder feedback related to IMC Connect! 2024 was extremely positive. For instance, one speaker shared with the students:

 “The conference was extremely well done because of your hard work and creativity. I’d highly recommend to anyone and would love to come back if it works out.”

In a post-event survey, 93% of respondents reported being able to network and to efficiently make connections. Qualitatively, at least two students from the class directly landed a job and internship, respectively, based on their efforts in the experiential learning course.

Summary of best practices and lessons learned:

·      Divide students into small groups with clear accountability given to each “role” within the group (e.g., leader, designer, writer, logistics)

·      Utilize Basecamp for all assignment submissions, in addition to the University’s e-learning dashboard (e.g., Canvas, Blackboard) so that the project is more collaborative.

o   Student leaders assign their team members “To Dos” each week, based on the group’s assignment for the week, and team members should check these items off as part of their grade that week.

o   Upload all designs, written content, and logistical information (e.g., invoices, receipts, flight logistics etc) into clearly defined folders in Basecamp to have a clear record of information.

o   Assign students as “Clients” rather than administrators so that they cannot delete content—or the entire Basecamp shell-- by mistake.

·      Utilize Slack for helpful internal communication during the event—and grade students for their participation on this channel to ensure that everyone uses it and it is most effective.

·      Have students keep a clear track record—complete with photos—of their efforts to plan for, attend, and manage the event so that it is easy to see who did what, which assists with grading.

·      Try to manage student workload, as the course can be overwhelming for them. Ideas include breaking the work into two semesters, cutting out certain components (e.g., outsourcing video), and narrowing focus to the essentials of event planning during the lead-up to the event.

More about IMC Connect! may be found on our official, student-created website, linked here.

Students from the IMC Connect! 2024 Planning Team, University of Mississippi

(From L to R) Front Row: Katherine Lorusso, Sandip Rai, Ryan Sockwell, Amarie Raymond, Olivia Young

(From L to R) Middle Row: Caroline Tibbs, Naima Ferduous, Madalyn Huey, Carleigh Harbin, Chloe Calo, Ansley Baugh, Kathryn Slaughter

(From L to R) Back Row: Jiwon Lee- Sponsorship Chair, Carson Miller, Tatum Chenen, Evelyn Gosseck-McNeal, Nicole Merlo, Sophie Droke, Madalyn Dudley, Molly Pledger, Erin Prince, Anna Grace Hand, Sophie Williams, Dr. Amanda Bradshaw

A few of our 2024 guest speakers pictured above in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

(From L to R) Back Row: Will Kiss, Senior Director - Media Relations, Las Vegas Raiders; Chris Chiames, Chief Communications Officer, Carnival Cruise Line; Will Hunt, CEO and President, HUNT Marketing, Jeffrey Young, Vice President, Marketing & Communications, National Hot Rod Association; Dr. Todd Holmes, Associate Professor of Entertainment Media, California State University Northridge; and Elizabeth Whittington, Senior Director of Executive Communications, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

(From L to R) Front Row: Marti Powers, Vice President of Communications, Boeing Defense, Space and Security (BDS); Dr. Rita Men, Professor - Department of Public Relations and Director of Internal Communication Research, College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida; Dr. Holly Overton, Associate Professor in the Department of Advertising/Public Relations, Director of Research for the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication, Pennsylvania State University;  Amanda Brown-Olmstead, CEO and President, A. Brown-Olmstead and Associates, Lisa Houghton, former VP Communications & External Affairs at BP Lower 48 Onshore, Radina Russell, U.S. Corporate Practice Chair & General Manager, Atlanta Southeast Market, Edelman

Not pictured: Jennifer Anderson, Chief Marketing Officer, C Spire; Tiffannie Hedin, Corporate Communications Manager, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Mississippi; Steve Holmes, former Chief Communications Officer for The Home Depot, Dr. Brett Robertson, Assistant Professor, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of South Carolina; Jenny Robertson, Senior Vice President of Global Brand Communications, FedEx; Lucy Schultze, Founder and CEO of Red Window Communications, Victor R. Scott II, former Vice President and Chief Communications Officer, Pharmaceutical Segment, Cardinal Health, and Yanique Woodall, Vice President, Communications, CVS

IMC Connect! 2023 Guest Speakers and University of Mississippi representatives pictured at Swayze Field

Dr. Shawnboda Mead, Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Community Engagement at the University of Mississippi, Dr. Glen Nowak, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, Co-Director of Center for Health & Risk Communication, Professor, Advertising & Public Relations, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, the University of Georgia; Jeff Motley, Vice President of Communications at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Sonoma Raceway; Elizabeth Whittington, Senior Director of Executive Communications, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital; Jennifer Anderson, Chief Marketing Officer, C Spire; Dr. Amanda Bradshaw, Assistant Professor of Integrated Marketing Communications, The University of Mississippi; Dr. Andrea Hickerson, Dean and Professor, the School of Journalism and New Media, the University of Mississippi; Marti Powers, Vice President of Communications, Boeing Defense, Space and Security (BDS); Dr. Jonathan Schroeder, William A. Kern Professor of Communications, Rochester Institute of Technology; Dr. Maria Len-Rios, Professor and Associate Director, Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Minnesota; and Dr. Hua Jiang, Associate Professor at Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University