When an internationally recognized author and speaker comes to town, many people and many groups stand to benefit from the experience. According to Laurie Dwyer, professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, students are certainly among them. That’s why she is urging students from all over the area to be in attendance when David Meerman Scott is in Rochester on April 19, 2013!
I was recently had the chance to ask Laurie some questions about her experience using Scott’s The New Rules of Marketing & PR in her “Advertising and Integrated Marketing Communications” graduate course at RIT.

What is the difference between using David Meerman Scott’s book to teach your course as opposed to a different, more traditional textbook? How did students respond to it?

There are many differences that, I believe, allowed students to interact and engage with the course content at a much higher level than other textbooks I have used in the past. The biggest is probably that Scott focuses much more on practical, real-world examples rather than theories that really smart professors think to be true. That can be boring to some students, but reading about organizations and campaigns that they are already familiar with can definitely hold their interest more effectively.

By the time students take my course, they have learned the basics of advertising and communication. Really, they are ready to dig in and execute. One of the class’ biggest projects is to create a complete marketing communications plan for a real client, so the students appreciated all of the ideas that they could take from the book and directly incorporate into their plans.

They responded well to Scott’s New Rules because is provided such an open window into what marketers are actually doing in the industry today, as well as the challenges they face. Of course, news releases and press kits are widely used and important to learn about, but New Rules went much deeper into content production, thought leadership and inbound marketing strategies.

Is there one thing from the book that stands out above the rest as something that the students really learned something from?

I was able to use Scott’s example of United Airlines mishandling a band’s equipment as a springboard into a crisis communication unit. Essentially, a flight’s crew destroyed an innocent musician’s guitar, and handled the resulting situation rather poorly. Unfortunately for United, that musician wrote a song about his dissatisfaction that went viral immediately.

A discussion over how United Airlines could have better handled the situation led to a number of key takeaways for students:

• Customers care about the way your company responds to a situation. Usually, if you respond honestly and acknowledge your mistakes, they will cut you some slack.
• Social networks allow negative comments about your company to be shared and viewed by a large audience.
• When negativity occurs, companies have two ways to handle it. They can ignore it and pretend that it isn’t happening, or they can change the discourse of the situation.

Stare the monster down, don’t pretend it isn’t there.

What’s something that you really hope David covers during his presentation?

I just hope that he does what he does best – brings in examples from the world of marketing to show what has worked and what hasn’t worked. Even better than highlighting other companies’ successes and failures, though, is explaining how people can achieve the same results in their own business.

Rochester is a community full of small to mid-sized businesses, and there are sure to be marketers in attendance that are looking for new ways to beat the competition. I hope everyone walks away from the event already knowing the answer to the most difficult question: “Where do I start?”

How valuable do you think it is for students to attend the event?

In a word: incredibly.

Obviously, the content of David Meerman Scott’s talk will be highly educational, but that’s just the start. Additionally, Scott will attract many of the big players in the Rochester marketing game to one location. It will be a great opportunity to meet and network with some individuals who have made successful careers and lives out of the things that Scott writes about in his books.

I expect Rochester marketers to be energized, inspired, and motivated by this event. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?

——————————————————————————————————————–

Editor’s Note:  Join AMA and PRSA to hear real-world examples from our dynamic and insightful author and speaker – David Meerman Scott. Be one of the first 50 to register and get your free book.

Register here: http://conta.cc/WvtiYA

Friday, April 19, 2013

3:30 pm Check-in & Networking
4:00 pm Speaker
5:00 pm Q&A
5:30-6:30 pm Networking & book signing

St. John Fisher College – Cleary Family Auditorium

Advance registration: $50 AMA and PRSA Members ($60 non-members). $20 students

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

**The author of this post, James Mignano, is a student of The College at Brockport and Digital Media Assistant at Carestream Health. Connect with James on LinkedIn, follow him on Twitter, or check out his blog atMillennial’s Marketing.