The sixth annual UT Social Media Week will kick off Monday, February 27, and continue through Thursday, March 2.
All UT Social Media Week events are free and open to the public.
Panel discussions—on topics ranging from politics to sports to crisis management to entertainment—will feature social professionals, many of them UT alumni, representing organizations such as ESPN College GameDay, POLITICO, World Food Championships, the Tombras Group, and area media outlets.
Some of the other speakers include:
- Hadas Gold, media reporter, POLITICO
- Tommy Thigpen, UT football linebacker and defense run game coordinator
- Donald Page, assistant director of digital media, UT Athletics Department
- Katherine Hughes, associate editor of social media, ESPN
- Bruce McCamish, local photographer known for his photos of the Gatlinburg wildfires
- Kristin Farley, WATE 6 On Your Side anchor
- Marshall Ramsey, award-winning cartoonist
University experts will lead workshops providing students with hands-on experience in creating infographics and doing research.
National radio host and FOX Sports analyst Clay Travis will deliver the keynote address at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, March 2, in Alumni Memorial Building Room 210. In his talk, “How to Go from Zero Readers to Over a Million a Day: My Online Writing Life,” Travis will explain how he uses social media to build his personal brand.
Travis hosts Fox Sports Radio’s Outkick the Coverage with Clay Travis, a three-hour national radio show. He created the blog Outkick the Coverage and maintains strong engagement with almost 300,000 followers on Twitter and millions of readers of his blog.
UT students can participate in an agency crawl, which will enable them to visit the offices of local advertising and public relations agencies, including fletcHER, Moxley Carmichael, and Pyxl. The visits will allow students to learn more about how these businesses operate and integrate social media into their practices.
UT Social Media Week 2017 is sponsored by WATE-TV, Bacon & Co., Dunkin Donuts, Threds, and the VolShop. All events will be livestreamed, and a full schedule can be found on the Social Media Week website. Check out #UTSMW17 for more information relating to UT Social Media Week.
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C O N T A C T:
Catherine Willis (865-974-5013, cwillis@utk.edu)