Way to mix traditional, social media!

At Philander Smith College's Bless the Mic lecture last night, we witnessed a great blend of social and traditional media used to reinforce the institution's messaging.

As guests entered the auditorium, we received:

• an attractive program, as you'd expect 
• a notepad to jot thoughts and questions that advertising all six Bless the Mic events
• a data card to leave behind with our contact information so we'd receive further news and info from the college

On the back of the program, the university printed a QR ("quick response") code (full disclosure: First Class Communication created the QR code for Philander).  Members of the audience were encouraged to use their smart phones to key in on the QR code, which took them to the college's online donation's page. Clever, right! We could donate right then and there.

The lecture -- a really fantastic talk by national journalist Eugene Robinson -- was preceded and followed by impressive pleas from articulate students. All three asked that we support the fine work of the college and its efforts to raise money for a new student center. The students incorporated these pleas into the traditional welcome to the campus, introduction of the speaker and closing of the programs. Again, anyone so moved could pull out his phone and give.

The college also provide hash tag information on the program needed for tweeting about the event. Again, we were encouraged to use our phones to tweet about the lecture, which would serve to keep the more fidgity of us engaged as we promoted the college and the Bless the Mic series.

So, word of mouth, printed pieces, an event, QR codes, Twitter ... a creative mix of social and traditional, indeed!