Wow. That’s all I can really say about the second half of Mass Comm week. I saw some very interesting, insightful, inspirational panels. It was such a great experience.
First, I caught Mike Cox’s presentation about media relations at 2pm on Wednesday. Mike is a columnist for Texas Escapes. He has had a very interesting life/career. Mike has worked in media relations for a few Texas Governmental agencies including DPS and TXDOT. During the time he worked for these agencies, he witnessed some horrific tragedies such as the David Koresh incident and a shooting at a shopping center in Killeen. These events have taught Mike a lot and have stuck with him. Mike also discussed the changing of the times and technology and how he is open to new technology like social media. He discussed how things were different when he was handling such things as the shooting and the David Koresh tragedy regarding media. Mike gave some tips for handling a crisis such as thinking on your feet and having a plan. Mike’s stories were sad and tragic but also insightful on story telling which was the main point and something we all share in our field.
Next, I caught the Texas Parks and Wildlife’s panel which was during my social mead analytics class with Dale Blasingame. Dale, was the moderator and the panelists where Whitney Bishop, social media manager and Earl Nottingham, chief photographer. I really enjoyed the visuals in this panel. Earl is a fantastic photographer and his work is amazing. I’m somewhat into photography (not as much as I would like to be because it’s very expensive) and this panel inspired me to pursue it more as much as I can. Whitney gave some great insight on what kind of work TPWD does on social. It’s fascinating because TPWD doesn’t seem like an organization that would even be on social. When you think about TPWD you think about outside and nature which is the complete opposite of what the stereotype of social media is. In reality, TPWD is perfect for social because of all the content you can share. 
From connecting with people, asking them to share pics of the parks, to sharing your own awesome pics of your parks, it’s a great way to get people to come out to specific parks. Dale and Earl talked about drone usage to get some different kinds of pictures and video for parks…and then Dale flew a drone into a wall, which was pretty funny.
I caught Annie Boysen this morning (Thursday). Her presentation was about generational changes and the evolution of media. She is a Futurist and is very interested in the next generation, Gen Z. She gave a lot of tips on understanding the future generation and how they will consume media. She pointed out that WE cannot decide how the next generation will consume media or what future trends will be, it is up to the next generation. She talked about how we are on the verge of collecting vast amounts of data which can be used to look at future trends when they are happening and understand why. She noted that there is not one future, but many, meaning there can be many different scenarios. She went on to give a lot of information about the next generation based on studies. It was very interesting and I think it is very important that we understand the next generation to know how to communicate with them.
Next, I went to check out the Crisis Coverage: The Memorial Day Flood panel. The panel consisted of people from 
various media outlets including the University Star and KTSW that covered the events of the devastating Memorial Day flood here in San Marcos. Their stories were remarkable. It was such a crazy and hectic day for everyone. Definitely interesting to hear how that day went for everyone in the media.
Last, but not least I went to the social media engagement panel with Meg Turney from Rooster Teeth, Annie Werner from Tumblr and George Kiel from NiceKicks. Now, this was the panel I was most excited for because I absolutely love NiceKicks and I have been following them for a long time. I’m a huge sneaker geek. Their panel was very interesting and entertaining. George and Meg are alum and Annie is a San Marcos native so hearing them talk about moving up to doing what they love was very real and inspiring. George basically has my dream job. I love blogging about sneakers. Just to know that his job exists and is obtainable with hard work is a breath of fresh air to me. I caught up with him after the panel and got a quick interview for an assignment for Dale’s class. It was really awesome to see people so passionate about what they do and to know that I am going to the same school they went to, in the same program they were in, is very exciting.
That wraps it up for Mass Comm week. It was a great experience and I’m pretty sure even after I graduate I’ll be coming back to Texas State to check out Mass Comm week.