The Voices of the Digital Influencers Class

 

This semester our graduate class at Johns Hopkins on PR in the Age of Digital Influence maintained a NING social network instead of individual blogs. The Digital Influencers social network and conversation can be found here. You will see a really interesting string of conversations about our reading - Influence, Measurement, Co-Creation, Word of Mouth, Social Web Design - and more.

Meanwhile, wre have been working to solve two client problems. Each semester we take on real client engagements to apply what we are studying. Within the next two weeks the class will deliver their individual and group engagement plans for:

PBS.org - through PBS Engage, PBS has really upped their use of social media throughout the organization and are in the midst of transforming a TV network into a media (agnostic) company. Our team looked at additional ways we can acquire and engage a new, younger audience. (and check out pbs.org's new website design - very social)

Seeds of Peace - I have been a fan ever since I saw the Seeds documentary at the Silverdocs Film Festival. They are doing some tremendous work in training the next generation of regional and world leaders in the Middle East. Our team will look at how social media can gain new, more diverse funding sources and raise awareness and relevance for their mission and activities via social media and word of mouth.

Check out what the students have been talking about at the Digital Influencers Social Network

Comments

[Michael Ntzley]

John, thanks for sharing. I am curious how large your class was? The idea of using Ning and centering the class on only two clients is very interesting. For me, I get stuck thinking about the limits of the university system--an individual grade for each person. So, I still use many individual assignments. But your approach seems an interesting alternative in that it seems to offer better opportunities for interaction. Much to think about...