Shayna Blumenthal

What do you do with a Masters in New Media Management, Part 2

In July 2011, I began my masters program at Syracuse University thinking that I wouldn’t graduate with two degrees until at least May 2013. As of December 2012, I have completed all the requirements for a Masters of Science in New Media Management, and have since received my diploma. Despite the fact that it is somewhat unreal to already have a degree before actually graduating from graduate school, I’m surprisingly relieved that one of my masters degrees is already completed.

My New Media Management Masters degree, which I received yesterday

For the past two years I have focused not only my studies, but my outside work on social media marketing and strategy. Last summer, I interned for the digital advertising agency 360i as an Account Management Intern. During the summer, I learned how to manage a cross-functional team, work with a client, and manage a campaign on budget. I was able to see the agency from all perspectives, as I spent a day with each department learning what they do.

This year, my MBA program is fundraising for the Special Olympics as part of a competition against other business schools across the country. To raise awareness, and possibly to get donations from outside our own community, I created a social media presence for our team, and have been tweeting/facebooking about our events and fundraising efforts. Through social media, I was able to get over 200 people to come to our first fundraising event, which raised over $200.

As part of a school project, I am working with an outside company, and examining the state of their advertising practices and social media presence. Although the project is in its infancy, I am looking at how to best create a social media advertising campaign for a start-up with a clear brand message. In addition to that, I am looking at how social media will be useful in expanding knowledge of the brand in our target market.

Now that graduation is less than three months away, and one masters degree is done, I’ve started applying for jobs in advertising, social media, and marketing.

Tags: advertising, masters of science, New Media Management, Newhouse School, social media, Syracuse University

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Categories Education, Social Media, Syracuse University

What do you do with a Masters in New Media Management?

9 Feb

As of December 2012, I have officially completed all the requirements for the Masters of Science degree in New Media Management. With graduation only three months away, and one masters degree completed, I am thinking about what I want to do afterwards. Many of my projects and outside work this past year have focused on Project Management, Community Management, and Market Research.

Although I’m debating between Social TV and Sports Social Media Marketing, I believe both areas of social media are innovative, and have a lot to offer. Both TV fanatics and avid sports fans want to be connected all the time to their favorite show or team, and always want more information (whether its from the actors or the athletes). I can see myself in either area, as both are fast paced, and are constantly pushing new boundaries. No matter what I do, I want to be continually challenged in my career.

Applicable Skills:

Social Media networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, Foursquare, WordPress, and Linkedin, as well as others

Knowledge of Analytics sites such as ComScore, Wildfire, Google Adwords, Google Trends and Google Analytics

Social Media Strategy

Account Management

Community Management

For more info, please see my resume, visit my Linkedin page, or contact me

Tags: masters of science, New Media Management, Newhouse School, social media, social tv, sports marketing, Syracuse University

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Categories Communications, Job Hunt, New Media Management, Social Media

What I learned running a Social Media campaign, Part One

16 Jan

This year I created, and managed, the social media platforms for the fundraising efforts of the Whitman Team for the Duke MBA Games. I believed that utilizing the power of Social Media would amplify our message, and would help our team gain more donations from outside the Whitman and Syracuse community. This experience has taught me more than any classroom exercise.

I started my efforts by writing an email to the school’s daily newspaper, The Daily Orange, telling them of our efforts, and of the launch of our social media platforms. Additionally, every tweet mentioned Syracuse University or the Whitman School, and all used the hashtag Special Olympics or DukeMBAGames. My goal was that anyone who followed that hashtag (mostly the Special Olympics, or any of the state Special Olympic boards), would see the tweets, and start following our handle, and retweet us.

I didn’t realize how difficult it was to gain followers if you aren’t a known business or cause. Additionally, without the assistance of the school paper or other news outlets on campus publicizing our efforts, most of the school community never knew of our efforts, either this year or last year. Even worse, we won last years games, and the majority of the campus never knew.

Our first fundraising event of the year was a ’70s themed ice skating event at the Syracuse University Ice Rink. In addition to making flyers, which were put up around campus, I advertised and reached out through social media. Using both the Whitman Duke Games Twitter account, and my personal account, I tweeted at the University, the Special Olympics of North Carolina, Newhouse, and other Syracuse accounts, using the hashtags #DukeMBAGames and/or #SpecialOlympics. By using these hashtags, my goal was that other universities would start to use them, and by the Duke MBA Games, one of them would trend. The ice skating event raised over $200, which we were very pleased about.

After the ice skating event, I continued to reach out to the University to through social media, promoting our fundraising activities, the Duke MBA Games, and our donation page. In early January, the Syracuse University Twitter handle didn’t just retweet, but tweeted about the Duke Games (of course after I had tweeted at them).

I am still managing both the Twitter and Facebook pages for the Whitman Team, and will be until the Duke MBA Games in April. As I continue through the rest of the year, I am optimistic that we will gain a larger social media presence, which will increase our fundraising efforts. Additionally, as I continue through this process, I am sure I will continue to fail and I learn what doesn’t work, but I am sure I will succeed as well as I learn what does.

WHITMAN TEAM – DUKE MBA GAMES
Syracuse, NY, November 2012 – April 2013
Social Media/Community Manager: Syracuse University’s team to raise money for the Special Olympics of North Carolina. Created and managed the Twitter and Facebook pages for the Whitman team. From the social media pages, created awareness throughout the Syracuse University community.

Tags: cause campaign, fundraising, social good, social media

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Categories Communications, Social Media

Award-winning pages from The Miami Hurricane

5 Jan

Below are samples of my work that won awards during my tenure at The Miami Hurricane.

The Miami Hurricane Newspaper, September 2008, Coral Gables, FL. Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Circle Award, Photo Illustration, Second Place.

The Miami Hurricane Newspaper, October 2008, Coral Gables, Fl. Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Circle Award, Second Place, Feature Page Design.

The Miami Hurricane Newspaper, January 2009, Coral Gables, FL. Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Circle Award, Photo Illustration, Honorable Mention.

The Miami Hurricane Newspaper, February 2009, Coral Gables, Fl. Special Section: Baseball Doubletruck. Columbia Scholastic Press Association, Honorable Mention, Special Section Feature Package.

The Miami Hurricane Newspaper, April 2009, Coral Gables, Fl. Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Circle Award, Honorable Mention, Feature Page Design.

The Miami Hurricane Newspaper, September 2009, Coral Gables, FL. Second redesign the paper had been through in 3 years.

The Miami Hurricane Newspaper, February 2009, Coral Gables, Fl. Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Circle Award, Computer Generated Illustration, Second Place.

The Miami Hurricane Newspaper, March 2009, Coral Gables, Fl. Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Circle Award, Page One Design First Place, Hand Drawn Illustration Third Place.

The Miami Hurricane Newspaper, November 2009, Coral Gables, Fl. Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Circle Award, Feature Page Design, Second Place.