Speaking Engagement at the University of Tampa #UTampaSocMed

Been a while since I last wrote a post, so figured it was time to hop back on here and attempt to get into the habit. I actually think it was one of my New Year's Resolutions to blog more, but I guess that speaks more to how people tend to not follow through with resolutions.

Getting to the point, I wanted to hop on and talk about an event that I am working on with the University of Tampa and the TECO Center for Leadership. First though I need to give a little background on how this all came about.  

Dr. Judith Washburn is a former professor of mine from UT and over the years we have kept in contact. About a year ago, I agreed to in front of one of Dr. Judith Washburn's graduate level marketing courses about my job and responsibilities at Tampa Bay & Company. At first I can honestly say that I was hesitant to accept the offer as this was my firs real speaking engagement, but I decided to do it anyway, if for no other reason than professional development.

I ended up doing the presentation and rather enjoyed the experience. It was really cool to see how many questions the students had about my job and interactive marketing in general. I think I ended up speaking well past my allotted time, because we had such an energetic group. The next day I got back in touch with Dr. Washburn to thank her for having me, and we started to brainstorm about how we can bring great content to the students, but do it on a much larger scale.

That's when we came up with the idea to put on a few events or panel discussions that are centered around Internet marketing trends and techniques. The first one that we decided to do is Social Media Marketing Panel where we invite local and national experts and help the local business communities to leverage Social Media within their marketing mix. We were able to partner with UT and Dr. Michael Weeks, Senior Associate Director, TECO Energy Center for Leadership. Together we were able to put together a great program, with Dr. Weeks moderating and thus far have a little under 100 people registered.

Myself and Travis Claytor, our Communications Manager at Tampa Bay & Company will kick off the event with a brief history of the Tampa Bay & Company Blogging and Social Media program. Afterward the panel will begin, and we have some great panelists line up to participate, such as:

• Doug Karr – President & CEO of DK New Media 
• Anne Fischer - Lifestyle and Digital Marketing Senior Manager Busch Entertainment Corporation (Busch Gardens, Islands of Adventure, SeaWorld, etc…) 
• Kevin Hourigan – President & CEO Bayshore Solutions 
• Tom Wagner – Public Relations Manager The Florida Aquarium

The event will be held at the University of Tampa on the 9th Floor of the Vaughn Center on March 16, 2010.The event will run from 7:30 - 9:30 am. If you or anyone else you know is interested, please feel free to register and spread the word for us. Admission for students is $10 while general admission is $25, which is a steal, believe me!

I'll have updates as we draw closer to the event, but hope everyone can make it out for the event!