Print this pageUCY Hosts Social Media Conference
On Thursday 11 March the University Centre Yeovil (UCY) hosted a conference looking into the possibilities and considerations of Social Media for local students and businesses.
The event was organised to detail the potential of social media and address the belief of a large number of companies that social media activities involve people spending excessive amounts of time making trivial comments about themselves, posting indiscreet photographs, and providing personal information very likely to lead to identity theft or worse. Resulting in many companies banning the use of social media in company time, and IT departments keep sites off company equipment.
The event was organized by UCY lecture Brian Doidge, who said “With increasing numbers of consumers using Social Media and reading fewer newspapers and watching less TV. Companies have to seek and engage with these existing and potential customers in what is considered to be their own personal space.”
This event was held in conjunction with the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) the world’s largest organisation for professional marketers who play a key role in training, developing and representing the marketing profession. The UCY has worked in conjunction with the CIM for many years offering CIM qualification to local students and professionals and hosting local Marketing conferences for businesses, CIM members and students.
The key speaker at the conference was Mike Redwood BSc, MBA, FSLTC Mike Redwood works on marketing strategy and innovation mostly in the leather and leather using industries including sports, footwear, leather-goods and glove sectors. He works with SMEs, global brands and even on sector strategy advice to governments. He is a part time Teaching Fellow in Marketing at the University of Bath a Part-time at the UCY and a Visiting Professor at the University of Northampton where he advises the Vice Chancellor on matters related to leather in Applied Sciences and the Arts.
Mike said of Social media “previously companies who’s income came from a small proportion of their customers had to focus on the large clients as it was too expensive to market to and deal with the smaller clients, now companies can access customers on an individual basis with information targeted to very specific audiences for little or no cost and deal with transactions through automated software opening up the potential of a global audience to all.”
The event was a great success with previous Marketing student of the University Centre Edward Thompson saying “it is very easy for us to create a negative view of social media and neglect the positive potential it offers local small businesses, where else can a small Somerset company gain a global voice with little of no cost, the truly negative involvement with social media would to not be involved at all. If companies fail to get their message out about their company somebody else might!”
