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| Photo courtesy Alicia Pryor |
We had a particularly good turnout for the event. Lots of our communications students were there, fellow faculty too, plus a sprinkling of other SC State faculty and public relations professionals. We invited communication students from our neighbors at Claflin University and some of them came as well.
Through SC State's University Relations office we were able to get some nice publicity for our forum on and off campus.
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| Sheeka Sanahori speaks as the Cocktail Bandits listen |
The panelists were, from right to left, Sheeka Sanahori who is a digital video producer with USA Today. She is based in Atlanta and drove all the way to Orangeburg that morning. Thank you Sheeka!
We were also excited to have, from Charleston, the Cocktail Bandits, Taneka Reaves (center) and Johnny Caldwell.
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| The entrepreneurial Cocktail Bandits and the book they wrote |
These savvy, sophisticated ladies used Instagram to build a substantial (30,000!) legion of followers for their insights and photographs of Charleston's restaurant scene, especially the beverage (i.e. cocktails) side.
They have blown up to the point of, in recent months alone, being flown to Italy, Mexico, New York City and Los Angeles (all expenses paid!) to participate in forums, to serve as competition judges, brand ambassadors and learning expeditions.
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| Book signing after the forum |
Their expertise led to a book deal with Charleston's Evening Post Books that resulted in the recently published book, "Holy Spirits: Charleston's Culture Through Cocktails."
I was happy to see Reaves and Caldwell sign and sell a number of books after the talk. I bought one myself and have enjoyed reading it so far.
Check out the link above for book details and purchasing information.
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| Promotional flyer I produced |
These contrasts in today's media world and also how they can work together and complement each other were neat to explore and learn about from these professionals.
I enjoyed my role as mediator and co-organizer (with Ms. Pryor).
The event seemed to be very well received and we look forward to offering more illuminating discussions in the future.
QUOTABLES
"Make yourself an expert in something." --Sheeka Sanahori, USA Today
"Credibility is all you have. It is important to take ethics seriously. If you do something questionable, people will call you out." --Sanahori
"We don't do any negative news." --Taneka Reaves, Cocktail Bandits, when addressing social media attacks she and her partner receive time to time. She says they don't respond to such criticisms.
"We don't do any negative news." --Taneka Reaves, Cocktail Bandits, when addressing social media attacks she and her partner receive time to time. She says they don't respond to such criticisms.
"They wanted our blog in book form. This is the first cocktail book in the United States written by black women." --Johnny Reaves, Cocktail Bandits, on the origins of her and Taneka's "Holy Spirits" book.
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