Experts Help!!
Writing curriculum? After 20+ years in technology market development I have written and delivered a lot of presentations, however I am now working with the community college system and I have never written curriculum! Filling 20 to 40 minutes with imaginative slides and conceptual revelations has been my forte, yet the thought of writing curriculum for five workshops at three hours each scares me to death! I thought I was prepared, having scoped out the goals, objectives, identified relevant internet applications and even described some student exercises, then I froze – a veritable deer in the reflected glow of my laptop.
So I decided to contract with an expert. There is a time to ‘do it yourself’ and a time to ‘outsource’ to an expert. Coincidentally, that is a key component of this curriculum…an answer to the question: When to outsource, hire or train to effectively utilize new media in a small and medium business?
My audience, excuse me, students, will be incumbent workers and unemployed office workers who, by completing the workshop, will be able to help a business or department begin using new media applications more sensibly and know the difference between a ‘do it yourself’ situation and a ‘hire somebody’ situation.
For example, with a little insightful training and common sense most experienced business people can see the value and risks of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, collaborative wiki’s, mobile apps, Google doc’s, Google Analytics, as well as become familiar with sites that aid on-line marketing, security and referrals. However, upgrading a website or evaluating how it supports the business objectives requires specialized expertise. Integrating online activity with internal systems is obviously an area reserved for an expert.
The fun begins with each student selecting a company, perhaps where they work or would like to work, to take it through an internet exploration for five days. Every aspect of the company’s online presence, perception, its competitors and prospective customers that can be wrangled or pried out of the internet will be pursued and the results will be fascinating. Properly responding to the internet information, utilizing appropriate applications to advance the company’s interest and contracting with an internet expert are tools to be covered.
For those participating incumbent workers, there will be an interesting debriefing when they return to work. As for those seeking employment, rare meat for the job interview!
In a short time the knowledge we share about today’s new media for business will become second nature to most people, but newer applications will surface. For this we plan a continuous refresh of the relevant apps and curriculum to appear on our website for our students and business followers.
I wish that expert would hurry up and call back!
Duck Sexing Video on YouTube
I now work with a team of economic development pros throughout the California Community College system. After many years in a corporate environment I am impressed with what good teachers can do.
Recently our team, The New Media & Entertainment Initiative, elected to find, facilitate, refer or incubate 300 new jobs this year starting, right away
And speaking of incubate, that is exactly where Eric Brown, a video production student at Hartnell College …. NMEI’s newest center, ended up after being referred for an internship by newly awarded NMEI Regional Director Jerri Nemiro.
Metzer Farms, a Salinas Valley area hatchery…incubator…, hired Eric to produce videos for it’s website. Check out the You Tube for the Metzer Farms video on sexing baby ducks ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnvQADgH1YY ). It’s may be the only way you learn how to tell the sex of a baby duck!
This is the second video production intern that was hired this year based upon Jerri’s referrals. The other, Justin Cheshire, started as a video production intern at KSBW TV in Salinas. He is now employed by the KSBW TV news station and does video editing, camera operation and is learning studio floor direction.
Duck sexing you-tube videos, video production as well as on-line catalogues, mobile business applications and social media marketing are more relevant for business growth than just the artistic ‘graphic arts’ skill set.
Whether it is to gain employment or to grow the economy, these interactive internet-based business and consumer applications require hybrid skills where technological capability, eye catching creativity and business sense come together. At a time when economic and workforce development is needed to rebuild the California economy we see companies of all sizes and industry types in need of help in utilizing new media and internet based technologies.
In conjunction with the new Hartnell College NMEI Center, existing centers in Los Angeles and Orange County will continue to search for media applications that lead to jobs so we can provide the training…or the referral. And we will be counting! Two down, 298 to go! Look for more interesting results for new media in the workplace!
Contact:
Steve Wright, New Media & Entertainment Initiative Director
805 496 8583, , swright@cccewd.net
Christie Campbell: Regional Director NMEI,
Orange County Digital Media Center,
North Orange County Community College District, Anaheim, CA
714-808-4617,
Richard Holdridge: Regional Director NMEI
IDEAS, Los Angeles Valley College, Valley Glen, California
818-947-2453
Jerri Nemiro: Regional Director NMEI
Central California New Media Center
Hartnell College, Salinas, CA
831-755-6797
New media isn’t just for entertainment companies
New media isn’t just for entertainment companies.
As the new State Director of the New Media & Entertainment Initiative for the California Community Colleges – after a twenty year business career – part of my mission is to find ways to help people become trained and employed in new media and entertainment technologies.
Digital arts and information communication technologies have become much more accessible to small business and private consumers. What could once only be done at a Hollywood studio can now be done in a modestly equipped home office. This ‘democratization of technology’ is driving the monumental changes in today’s media world.
Combine the power of rapidly emerging applications such as social media, GPS, remote-wireless devices with personal preferences and the intelligence based functionality of our interactive internet and we have entered into a new dimension of work and play.
For everyday business, this means more cost-effective and revenue-generating ways to market products, provide customer service, collaborate with other businesses and be productive. These technology trends suggest that small businesses would be eager to get the necessary training in new media to compete.
However, as I talk with small business owners I find a sense of caution and confusion. I think of a patient contemplating surgery, calculating the impact of downtime, questioning the risk of failure, suspecting the Doctor’s true motives and ultimately being tempted to do nothing.
But by choosing to do nothing, small businesses are taking themselves out of the competition.
Large companies, when contemplating a major new media plan, hire a consultant, release a Request for Proposal (RFP) and distribute it to top vendors requesting ideas, responses and service level assurances for every aspect of a proposed project. These proposals, once received, are then scored and legally reviewed before negotiations begin. Micro- small- medium-sized businesses cannot mirror this process.
With WEB4 we plan to zero in on the need for a decision matrix that would help micro, small and medium businesses select the best new media solutions for them and how to negotiate for that solution.
This need when filled will result in increased jobs, training and business growth. By helping micro- small- and medium-sized business decide what is right and profitable for them and show how to get it; i.e., how to source it, hire for it or train their own people to do it that need will be met.
Once that need is addressed small business will do what it always does…lead the way for others to follow.
We start by asking, what do you need?
Three months ago I was on the phone with my friend, Mark, who has a successful custom kitchen and bathroom remodeling business north of Malibu, CA that serves upscale clientele and celebrities.
“I just laid off 30% of my workforce!” Mark revealed.
His intense personal drive, staff of 50 and advanced CAD integrated design and equipment production systems had placed him technologically ahead of his competition for over 15 years. His remodel business has always been advertised word of mouth within a 50 mile radius of customers who may use him once in a ten-year period. However, like many, his business is down 40% during these challenging times.
I asked him what he was doing in the way of marketing, and he said, “Only 1% of the market is buying,…if I send out a piece [direct mailer] it is a waste of money.”
I suggested that he conduct a little experiment and try to find his company by using an internet search engine. When Mark could not easily find his website utilizing a customer type of on-line search, i.e ‘kitchen remodel Malibu’ I asked a question. “What if I could put someone in front of you who could improve the visibility of your website for searches, add some links to all those Architectural Digest articles that have featured your work, include some You Tube customer testimonials and write a blog about kitchen and bath remodel trends”
“I’d hire them in a minute,” he said.
But the big question is ‘Who should he hire?’ Mark gets 10 to 15 e-mail or direct mail offers a week to upgrade his on-line presence, and he knows he needs to take action. However, he is uncertain of the credibility and the value of the offers. He believes his existing 12-year-old website is not outdated, although he has no idea where it is hosted, or how to change even a phone number on it. We discussed how emerging technologies and customer demands have revamped the marketplace on the internet, replacing yellow pages, direct mailers and simple websites like Mark’s with rich interactive user-friendly information sources that no only talk about Mark’s company but also share customer opinions, exceed expectations and close sales on-line.
As the owner of a small business, Mark’s responsibilities don’t allow for enough time to take a course in New Media. Even if he did, he would not have the time required to enact or teach what he had learned to someone else. Should he look to contract or hire a company to do this for him, he has no idea what to ask for, how much it should cost or how to get guaranteed results and measure the value of his investment. Mark risks becoming a dinosaur or perhaps losing money and time simply by making one poor choice to upgrade his internet presence. For small businesses, this is a challenge. Minutes are as precious as dollars. Investments need a visible and tactile reward in a short period or they are rejected.
If business owners like Mark could be assisted in the basic decision-making process to learn where and how to source, hire or internally train resources, there is a potential for increased revenue and increased employment for California businesses. This Web Essentials 4 Business (WEB4) blog and the interactive WEB4 website in development, will probe and discuss the needs of micro-, small- and medium-size businesses throughout the state of California. We will start by talking to small business owners and learning about their needs. This effort and blog is a program of the New Media & Entertainment Initiative, Economic & Workforce Development program, California Community Colleges, and we welcome an open dialogue for all interested participants.
