Experience: UW-Whitewater Social Media Forum

Mission: As a marketer and business professional, I consistently strive to meet new challenges, thirst for knowledge, improve upon and learn new skills, and expand my educational tool box.

As the weather grew cooler and the darkness engulfed the sky, I steadily moved indoors to review my calendar for the next day. On the evening of September 27th, I quickly glanced at the blocked off area written with black pen and wildly circled in pink marker. The calendar read in capital block style letters "UW-WHITEWATER SOCIAL MEDIA FORUM".

The thought of attending a social media event was not only motivating in theory, but also comforting. As a University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (UWW) M.B.A. graduate, I would be encountering the UW-W Innovation Center for the first time. I was not nervous about navigating to the new location, but excited for the opportunity to learn and be inside the classroom walls again. I thoroughly enjoyed the M.B.A. program at UW-W, which presented scores of challenges, networking, and international experience.

As I trekked to the UWWIC on Wednesday afternoon, I thought of the many topics which may be discussed during the three hour block of time: social media. As a marketer by trade, education, and experience, I honestly couldn't wait to learn about rising technological advances, movement of technology and trends, and expected growth rates. As I drove into the freshly finished parking lot at the UWWIC, I quickly scribbled a few notes upon future growth expectations in social media.

I navigated through the halls and found my way to the classroom of where the forum was to be held. As a seat strategically positioned in the right front corner row of the classroom, I patiently awaited for the keynote speaker, Sarah Meaney. As the forum began, I keenly listed to the first speaker as if there was not an eye-catching PowerPoint presentation rolling. Throughout the event, I patiently was intensely in-turn with the technological trends underway and growth areas within marketing and social media. As the social media forum steamed forward, the breaks came and went, and the event commenced almost as quickly as it began.