Home School of Journalism and Mass Communication Spring 2016 workshops: Social media, digital tools and video

Spring 2016 workshops: Social media, digital tools and video

Professor Chris Snider will offer three workshops this spring on social media strategies, new digital tools and shooting better smartphone video.

Snider has been teaching classes and workshops in social media and digital media at Drake since 2010. He has helped dozens of local businesses build strategies for how they should be using social media, including the Des Moines Register, RAGBRAI and Kohles & Bach.

Snider previously worked as digital editor at the Des Moines Register and editor of Juice magazine.

The workshops are sponsored by the E.T. Meredith Center for Magazine Studies at Drake University.

media workshops drake university

The workshops:

Social Media Strategies Workshop

When: Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016 – 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Where: Meredith Hall room 124B

Cost: $75 if you sign up in advance. $100 at the door. Free for Drake students/faculty/staff who sign up in advance.

This hands-on workshop will help you understand how businesses and organizations are succeeding in the ever-more-complicated world of social media in 2016. Participants will have the opportunity to create social media content for their business/organization during the class.

Topics covered will include:

  • An introduction to the core social media platforms
  • How businesses are using those platforms for success
  • How to analyze a company’s social media use
  • How to build a social media strategy
  • A look at emerging social media trends
  • Tools to help you be more efficient

New Digital Tools Hands-On Workshop

When: Saturday, March 5 – 9 am – 3:30 p.m.

Where: Meredith Hall room 104

Cost: $50 if you sign up in advance. $75 at the door. Free for Drake students/faculty/staff who sign up in advance.

We live in a world of constantly changing technology. This workshop will let you get hands-on with new technology in the media and communication world. Participants will have the opportunity to test out technology and then discuss how it applies to the media world.

All participants will have a chance to test out:

Smartphone Video Hands-on Workshop

When: Wednesday, April 13 – 5:30-9 p.m.

Where: Meredith Hall room 124B

Cost: $50 for public, free for Drake students/staff/faculty

Multimedia skills are more important for communication than ever. YouTube has more than 1 billion visitors a month. Facebook and Snapchat each receive billions of video views per day. This hands-on course will focus on core video techniques and how to tell stories using video that you shoot on your smartphone. This is not a day of lecturing. We will learn techniques and then apply them immediately by shooting and editing videos.

Accessories for your phones (tripods, microphones, etc.) will be provided.

Topics covered will include:

  • Composing great video shots
  • How to tell stories using video
  • Basics of setting up and completing a simple video shoot
  • Accessories to help you get great audio from your smart phone camera
  • Creative and useful video apps for your smartphone

How to sign up

Contact Shari Tenney in the Drake School of Journalism and Mass Communication office at shari.tenney@drake.edu or 515-271-3194.

Space is limited for all workshops, so please sign up in advance. Cash or check (made out to Drake School of Journalism) accepted. Questions? Contact Chris Snider at chris.snider@drake.edu.