Assignment #3 - COMM 597

While my time in London was shorter than most, I still feel like I learned a lot.  The onsite class visits were interesting, informative, educational, and entertaining.  Such visits included trips to the British Museum, BBC, and Euro RSCG. 

Onsite Class Visits

Although the first class field trip to the British Museum did not directly relate to social media, it did give us a glimpse into British culture.  During this excursion I saw exhibits on world currency, the history of writing, animals, and different countries.  I enjoyed reading the artifact captions about writing and its origins, specifically a young king’s first attempt at writing and his teacher’s editing marks.   

The visit to BBC, at Bush House, was my favorite onsite class visit and London excursion overall.  I enjoyed listening to Abigail Sawyer, senior producer, and Ramaa Sharma, multi-media trainer, both of BBC World Service, talk about their jobs and social media.  Both Sawyer and Sharma embrace social media and encourage others to be more open and accepting about its uses and what it has to offer.

The class excursion to global advertising company Euro RSCG was exciting, informative, and well-organized.  We were lucky enough to meet with seven members of Euro RSCG staff, including CEO Russ Lidstone, to learn more about the company and their individual roles.  Like BBC, Euro RSCG also has a team of employees dedicated to social media.

A second visit to BBC, this time to Television Centre, gave us a behind-the-scenes look at BBC’s TV newsroom and studios.  We listened to stories about the crazy demands of the rich and famous who are interviewed at BBC.  For example, singer Mariah Carey asked for a box of puppies to play with in her dressing room, and Madonna wanted a portrait of the Pope.  We also learned about BBC’s weather forecast, watched part of the taping of a live show, and ended the tour with a mock game show in an interactive studio.

I learned a great deal from the class excursions, specifically the visits to BBC and Euro RSCG.  After listening to employees at both companies, I reflected on the similarities and differences between the two and what I learned from each experience.  BBC and Euro RSCG employees encouraged us to be creative, experiment, take risks, and build a personal brand. 

Be Creative

A common theme throughout presentations by Euro RSCG staff was creativity.  Gerry Moira, chairman and director of advertising, shared his take on “How to be Creative.”  Moira believes that an individual’s creativity is suppressed with age.  “I believe creativity is like a muscle; the more you use it, the stronger it gets,” he said.  Moira is an open admirer of Arthur Koestler, a British-Hungarian Jew, whom he quoted several times during his hour-long presentation.  Koestler believed that “Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and the pupil are located in the same individual.”  Moira agreed, and added that to be creative you need to embrace all of your senses.

Claire Adams, head of social media at Euro RSCG, shared with us an “Introduction to Cupola Lab” and “Creative Ideas in Social Media.”  The Cupola Lab, which consists of seven flat-screen TVs on the walls, acts as the company’s crisis center.  It also streams live social media and acts as a “lookout,” according to Lidstone. 

Adams shared her thoughts on “bringing creative ideas to life through social media.”  In doing so, she showed a powerful, fast-paced video about social media packed with facts and figures about the different kinds and uses.  “Word of mouth is on digital steroids,” Adams said.  Fifty percent of mobile Internet traffic in the United Kingdom is Facebook, she said.

Experiment

It’s important to experiment and continue trying new things until you find something you’re good at that you enjoy, Sharma said.  She advised us to expand our knowledge by learning new skills that will make us more appealing to future employers.  “Can you develop specialism?” she said, adding that it’s advantageous for us to identify what we are “good at effortlessly.”  “Go experience, go explore,” Sharma said. 

According to Sawyer, it’s also wise to experiment with social media.  She suggested choosing one type of social media to try out at a time, such as Twitter.  It takes time to understand the social media service you are using and its content, and to build a following, she said.  Sawyer stressed that patience is key when first experimenting with social media, and so is persistence.  Using a social media service is work, she said.  It requires time, attention, and upkeep.  Sawyer’s example was remembering to update your status often on Twitter.  She said this is important because followers will lose interest and move on if you do not make refreshing your status a priority.

Take Risks

Experimenting also leads to taking risks – and assuming responsibility from what results.  Moira, of Euro RSCG, and Sharma and Sawyer, of BBC, stressed the importance of taking risks, especially when using social media.  Moira believes that you can’t be creative unless you’re prepared to fail.  Sharma has similar thoughts.  “If we didn’t take any risks, we wouldn’t make any progress,” she said.

Since social media is new and changes quickly, so do the rules that govern it.  Social media law is primarily determined by case law, Sharma said.  According to Sharma, it’s best to be transparent and publish disclaimers on social media.  However, when mistakes are made you have to accept responsibility and learn from your mistakes, she said.

Both Sharma and Sawyer encouraged our group of young professionals to troubleshoot with social media and not do anything in isolation.  It’s important for someone else to know what you are doing, Sawyer said.  When using social media in the workplace, Sawyer urged us to document everything and be prepared to show it when asked.    

Build a Personal Brand

Social media can also be used to help professionals create their own personal brand.  This is especially important for young journalists to do before entering a newsroom, Sawyer said.  Social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Flickr, and Storify, can be a great way to showcase work online.  With social media, you come across as being far more confident than you are, Sawyer said.  Journalism aside, it’s advantageous for anyone to create a personal brand.  A personal brand is a way for you to decide how you want to be seen by others.   

Conclusion

I had few dislikes about our onsite visits, most of them factors we couldn’t control, such as the weather.  I really enjoyed venturing out into the city for the visits, spending time with classmates, and learning more about the culture I was lucky enough to be a part of for two, short weeks.