Hello WVU blogosphere! I’m Matt and I’ll be your IMC Student Blogger for the early fall session. (Please hold your applause until the end.) Before I begin to tell you a little about who I am, why I think the IMC program is a great value, and what class I’m taking these nine weeks, let me post a disclaimer. There may very well be something wrong with me. Try as I might, hosting a blog that reads more like a nuclear physics textbook is just not in my DNA. What I will attempt to do over these next few weeks is provide, as interestingly as I can, a look inside the life of an IMC student. Yes there will be jokes. Many of them will not be funny. For that I apologize in advance.

The content will be written from my own twisted point of view, but that doesn’t mean I’m not interested in hearing from you. Yes I’m talking to you, Mr. or Ms. Current IMC or Prospective IMC student. Let me know what you would like to hear more about and I’ll be happy to oblige. The more this blog resembles a conversation, the less I’ll feel like I’m talking to myself. According to my shrink, that’s a good thing.

Moving on, let me say a few (more) words about me. I’m 325 years old, but look remarkably like a slightly overweight 31 year old. Good genes I guess. I stopped dying my hair after my son, Miles, was born in late 2005. When you start going grey at 16, you learn to be creative with your choice of head follicle hues. I settled on black for the better part of my late 20’s, but then I got married, had a son and figured, hey game over. Ouch!!! (My wife, Abigail, just lovingly punched me in the arm).

The Silver Surfer look does help in my day job however. I’m an Assistant Director of Graduate Marketing and Admissions for a large public university in Virginia. The average age of our graduate students is around 40, so the grey plays, so to speak. I enrolled in the IMC program as a way to build a more solid background on the various entities that make up integrated marketing. My previous experience included a stint selling television advertising, then renting medical equipment, followed by two other higher education recruitment gigs. Most of my marketing expertise was developed on the fly. The rest I just faked my way through. Now I can actually have a discussion regarding marketing strategies, objectives and tactics and not sound like my son explaining why he decided to pee on the floor instead of his Elmo potty.

What I also found over the past year and half (this is my ninth IMC course) is that the program more than delivers on its promise of integrating the curriculum into your life, as the lessons and assignments have been directly applicable to my day-to-day work. If you are not familiar with the program, I’d highly recommend taking a look at the rest of the Web site, as well as contacting someone currently enrolled at WVU (I’m happy to answer any questions!). There is a rhythm to the program that permeates through each course, with deliverables due on the same days, and the same naming conventions/grading policies utilized. This enables you to structure your nine weeks accordingly to your life. Knowing when things are due in advance helps you not drop the ball at work, allows you to squeeze in a date with that special someone or to attend a WVU football game this fall (I’m going to my first one on August 30th. My liver is already quivering with anticipation.)

That being said, I do not intend this blog to be a sales pitch on the IMC program. Trust me; their staff can do that much better than I can. Plus, I think there is some value in hearing a relatively unfiltered depiction of the weekly ebb and flow of a class before you sign up for it. My goal is to give prospective students an inside peek, and to provide current students with some anecdotes that they can relate to. And if I don’t enjoy writing something, I won’t post it. Hopefully my enthusiasm for what I’m describing will translate into something that you enjoy as well.

One final note, I just started the IMC 619: Emerging Media and The Market class on Monday. It’s always great to see some familiar names on the roster (Denil, Matt, Shannon, Carol, etc). Prof. Perez really impressed me during the few moments I was able to chat with him during the most recent IMC Weekend, and I truly look forward to diving head first into the “digital landscape.” As a head’s up, you are required to create and maintain a blog throughout the nine weeks, focusing on “the impact emerging media is having on integrated marketing communications in the world around you and in your own life.” Depending on how well the content comes together, and if my fellow classmates don’t mind me cherry picking their ideas, I may link to our class blogs in future posts.

Well, that’s all I got for now. If you managed to read through all of my ramblings and are now at the bottom of the page, thank you. It’s a pleasure to be able to contribute to the IMC program lore and I hope you’ll stick around for the rest of the story.

Sincerely,
Matt