by Crystal Davis | Mar 30, 2011 | News Slider
Lipscomb’s communication department prepares its students to be successful professionals, which is evident in Jenny Barker, APR– a Lipscomb alum and public relations practitioner who headed up Gaylord Opryland’s post-flood public relations campaign. On Monday, March 28, the communication department held its regular COMMA (Communications Majors and Minors Association) meeting with Lipscomb alum Jenny Barker as the guest speaker for the night. Barker majored in public relations here at Lipscomb and was a part of the 2004 graduating class. She started her career at Atkinson Public Relations working in crisis management positions. Barker finally landed at Centennial Medical Center where she stayed comfortably as Director of Public Relations until a rare opportunity came her way. In October 2010 she got a call from Gaylord Opryland to assist them with PR in the aftermath of the May 2010 flood. Barker saw this as a “once in a career opportunity” to work with a company in this type of crisis. At the COMMA meeting Barker gave detailed background information about the hotel during the flood and its resurgence. “The biggest fear was that the hotel would lose power,” Barker said. Hotel workers feared that the “miles of tunnels under the hotel that contained the IT and the power supply” would fill up with water and the main power source for the hotel would be lost. Before power was lost, and before water even reached the building, the hotel decided to activate the Alert Pyramid for Gaylord Opryland, a plan set in place in case of some kind of evacuation emergency. Hotel officials realized the severity of the situation and decided to...
by Kathryn Claire Watts | Nov 3, 2010 | News Slider
Eleven Lipscomb students spent Tuesday evening at the WSMV studios, where they collected poll results from Tennessee counties to help in the televised news coverage of the heated elections. They were asked by WSMV’s Belinda Coffee to assist the regular news team by making phone calls to election results from each county. The students began the evening by getting a quick tour of the studio and then they received instructions on how to make the calls. While the task was simple, the students learned important details on the relationship between politics and communications. Click here for more information on election night. Leah Raich, a junior public relations major from Memphis, said she enjoyed the lessons learned. “This experience has really exposed me to technicalities that come with not only reporting but with preparing information for the air,” Raich said. Kathryn McKinley, a sophomore public leadership major from McMinnville, Tenn., said the experience exposed her to some of the ins and outs of the broadcast news industry. “You always hear people say a lot goes on behind the scenes, and I didn’t realize how true that was until this experience,” McKinley said. Dasha Tammark, a junior mass communication major from Okinawa, Japan, said the exercise — which was sort of a “field trip” by members of COMMA (Communication Majors and Minors Association) — offered up a lesson in American politics. “Being from Japan I know very little about politics,” Tammark said. “This experience has made me want to be more involved with politics and just generally more aware of what’s going on.” Please upgrade your...
by Hunter Moss | Nov 2, 2010 | News Slider
On Monday night, COMMA (Communication Majors and Minors Association) students had their November meeting featuring Gregg Morton, President of AT&T in Tennessee. He spoke on the future of telecommunications locally in the state and nationwide. Morton agreed with common thinking, stating that personal landline telephones are diminishing in American households. “About 30 percent of Americans have cut the cord completely with traditional land-line telephones and have wireless only in their home,” Morton said. Please upgrade your browser Students raised interesting questions about how technology is converging on a various platforms. “The convergence of the three screens (computer, smart phone and television) will continue to be technologically evident,” says Morton. “Consumers will still hold preference for mobility.” The executive reiterated that AT&T provides a strong wireless and broadband service to consumers. Morton emphasized that Tennessee receives the most capital investment from AT&T than any other state in the United States. AT&T is committed to provide network availability for the entire state. He concluded his remarks, saying the future will offer emerging devices with technological advances. For example, pill bottles could notify individuals to take their medications and a dog collar might soon contain a tracking chip, making owners aware of their pet’s location. Being a South Carolina native, Morton graduated from Clemson University’s College of Business and Behavioral Science. The 31-year AT&T veteran is highly involved in the Nashville community, as he is a board member of the Nashville Symphony and chairman of Tennessee Chamber of Commerce. In his role at AT&T, Morton works closely with community leaders and state policymakers to bring the best new technology to consumers. He...
