Lessons from Teaching Social Media & Blogging

I just came across a blog post by David Meerman Scott, author of the New Rules of Marketing and PR, about how social media has enabled authors to connect with the students who are reading their books.

I must admit, this new phenomenon has been one of the most unexpected and most exciting aspects of teaching this class. What has been even more remarkable is the speed at which these connections have been established. I think that Jackie Huba contacted us roughly a week after first launching the class blog, and it wasn't long afterward that Paul Gillin started commenting on some of the student blogs. Since then we have had people from all walks of life drop by our blogs (and sometimes even our class):

• corporate bloggers
• CEOs
• student bloggers from other universities
• professors from other universities
  
• people/organizations we examined as case studies in class
• internship supervisors
• and even parents!

I guess when you teach a social media class, you should expect to take the discussion outside your classroom walls, but I never imagined getting this level of interest from people outside academe.

Any designers out there looking for a simple project that will get in-community play/attention? Dave Coustan is seeking a designer to create a cool domain placeholder design. Help him out!

Guest Speakers: Richard Binhammer and John Pope from Dell

I'm delighted to announce that Richard Binhammer, from Dell Corporate Group Communications, and John Pope, Digital Media Senior Manager, will come talk to us on Thursday about how Dell is engaging its publics through social media. As you may know, Dell is considered by many to be a leader in the adoption of social media technologies and both Richard and John are part of the digital media team that has brought about Dell's social media revolution.

In preparation for their talk, you may want to check out some of the following resources:

• Jeff Jarvis' orginial DellHell post
• Jeff Jarvis' blog post about him interviewing Michael Dell
• August 2005 BusinessWeek article: Dell in the Bloghouse
• October 2007 BusinessWeek article: Dell learns to listen
• Forward Podcast on Social Media in Action At Dell
• Dell's social media initiatives: Dell conversations, Direct2Dell, IdeaStorm, Dell's Second Life Island, Regeneration, YouTube Channel