On Saturday, October 21st, Mass Communication Majors from our campus had an opportunity to attend the CommNEXT Conference in Shreveport. With Innovative Communications on the rise, it is important that young professionals stay up to date with the latest trends in the Communications Field. Successful individuals with skills in Public Relations, Social Media, Journalism, and film attended to speak and share their stories. This included Key Note Speaker Tracey Altman, one of the founders of “Holy Guacamole.”

The conference started out with lunch and “Guacamole Taught Me Everything I Know About Marketing.” Attendees were given Tracey Altman’s top ten list of tips and lessons she learned while building her brand “Holy Guacamole,” and how to apply them to their future careers. These included:

1. Agencies are Partners, Not Vendors
2. Think Outside the Box
3. Consumer Counts – If you target everyone, you target no one.
4. Social Media is About Quality, Not Quantity
5. Business Marketing v.s. Marketing Business
6. Know Your Brand Voice – Mandates Consistency
7. Read
8. MISTAKES ARE GOOD
9. Be an Intentional Consumer – Shop like you target.
10. Love What You Do – Intrigue=Love=Energy=Passion

She emphasized that mistakes are inevitable and everyone in these fields will make them. Attendees were left not only with yummy samples, but with the question, “What is a mistake you have made and how have you learned from it?”

After the Key Note Speaker, there were 3 different breakout session times for students to attend, and learn about topics and fields they were interested in. The sessions A&M Students attended were “Tear Down that Wall,” “How Social Media Has Changed Journalism/The Impact of Social Media on P.R.,” and “Break the Creative Bank.”

“Tear Down That Wall” was led by Scott Anderson, Executive Editor of the Bossier Press Tribune. Due to social media, the job market for journalism in the news room has dropped significantly. He emphasized that the industry now sees everyone as storytellers, and that  Journalists need P.R. Professionals just as badly as P.R. Professionals need the journalists. A worker from “The Times” was in the room and she said “We used to have 35 on staff, and now we have 10. Where we used to have 7 photographers, we now have one.” This shows how much of a need there is for the bridge between P.R. and Journalism.

“How Social Media Has Changed Journalism” and “The Impact of Social Media on P.R.” was a session split with two speakers. Dr. Pickens, the Chair of Communications and General Studies for SUSLA was the first speaker. She focused on Citizen Journalism and how we now live in a “see it, snap it, send it world.” With social media becoming more and more popular, everyone has the opportunity to be their own journalist at the touch of a button. She encouraged the idea that not all information is necessarily news and you need to fact check the sources you view. Dr. Joa, Assistant Professor of Mass Communication at LSUS talked about social media and P.R. She talked about why it is important for business professionals to know the importance of what is trending on social media, and the particular important of hashtags. She also talked about how use network analysis and ethnography to build campaign effectiveness.

“Breaking the Creative Bank” was the personal favorite breakout session of our students. It was hosted by Jazmin Jernigan, a former communications student who is now a successful freelancer and owns Aesthetic Innovations, LLC. She spoke about the pros and cons of not only starting out as a freelancer, but what it takes to be successful with your career. Her 6 Successful habits included:

1. Creative Value
2. Honor Your Time and Talent
3. Educate Your Clients
4. Find Balance
5. Partner and Collaborate with Competition on Bigger Projects
6. Break the Starving Stereotype

She stressed that as a freelancer, more often than not, your home becomes you workspace, and the biggest challenge is learning how to be productive but also find balance. Aspiring freelancers should “Find their niche.” What is it about your services that will make you stand out? She said “You want to bring a unique presence in a saturated market.” Jazmin also warned that starting out is hard, but in the long run, it can be worth it if you stay committed to what you are pursuing.

The conference closed with speaker Gregory Kallemburg, founder of the Film Prize Foundation. He talked about how important it is to invest in and build your local community.

The day was long, but very productive. With opportunity  to meet professionals from all over the country, it is something all Mass Communication students should consider attending on a yearly basis.