Producing a Future in Communication Management
Communication Management Student Profiles: Through hands-on class projects, Taja Glover, class of 2012, propels her career as a versatile communication manager.
Working in television and the entertainment industry has always been a dream of mine. When I was younger, I wanted to be an actress. Then as an undergrad, I found I enjoyed communications as well. A year ago, I chose to pursue a master’s degree in Communication Management at Emerson because I thought it would give me the flexibility and skills necessary to work in any field of communication. I have just completed my first year of graduate school at Emerson and in this short time, my work in the Communication Management program has brought me closer to achieving my goals.
I was assigned a research project in my Stakeholder Relations class where I had to identify the public relations strategies of a particular organization. I chose to conduct this “communication stakeholder analysis” on Black Entertainment Television (BET) network. While looking at BET’s communication strategies, I learned about the importance of effective communication to all stakeholders, whether the company is public or private. It is because of the stakeholders that a company exists. Through conducting my research, I also gained a broader network. I was able to develop a relationship with a communications industry leader. This networking opportunity, which resulted from my initial class project, eventually presented me with the opportunity for an internship with Boston Neighborhood Network (BNN), a local access television station.
During my next semester at Emerson, I was once again given an assignment that gave me an opportunity to pursue my own research interests. In Dr. Greg Payne’s Public Affairs class, we were asked to create an original communication campaign. We were given the option to do a video instead of a traditional research paper. I chose to film a documentary and used an idea from my first semester in Communications Theory class: Muted Group Theory. During that first semester, we skyped with the creator of the theory, Mark Orbe, which was very informative. Prior to making the documentary, I had created a Facebook page that was designed exclusively to gather the opinions and stories of minorities to help give them a voice in an otherwise muted world. Our documentary titled, “This is not a Game,” is about the experiences of African-American males in education from secondary school to higher education. I entered the film in a student-run nationwide film festival, Campus Movie fest, where my classmate, Tonia Watkins and I were provided with video recording equipment and given a week to produce the film. Through this experience I learned how to use social media and documentary film as communication tools designed to address and generate discussions about complex social issues.
Professor Payne frequently reminds his students that as communication specialists we must do as Aristotle said and be prepared to use “all of the means of persuasion.” Indeed, through this experience in the Communication Management program I have developed the skills and ability to use various communication and social media tools to deliver a communication campaign and how to brand an idea.
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