Entire Site
Drury University Selects Accolades PR to Launch Social Media Certificate Program
Media Contact:
Cynthia Baker
Accolades Public Relations
512-586-8278
-Communications firm assists with public relations and social media campaigns-
Springfield, MO, July 13, 2010 — Drury University, a nationally accredited institution of higher learning, has tapped Accolades PR to assist with the launch of its Social Media Certificate program for graduate credit. Accolades PR will develop public relations and social media campaigns that will increase brand awareness and enrollment in the university’s online webinar course.
Drury University offers both on-campus classes and the new online webinar class as a means of providing training in the best practices, texts and research compiled in new media communications. Students who successfully complete Drury’s social media graduate course will receive three hours of graduate credit that is transferrable to accredited universities accepting social media courses within their degree offerings.
Deltina Hay, social media pioneer and author of “A Survival Guide to Social Media and Web 2.0 Optimization” will facilitate the webinar program, teaching students how to use social media and Web 2.0 technologies. Serving as a social media instructor, Hay will be leading students in how to connect and expand a brand on the social web. Covering RSS feeds, widgets, applications and plug-ins, the webinar will turn social media students into seasoned practitioners by teaching them how to apply these tools to fulfill specified goals.
“Since Accolades PR has taken a leading role in applying Web 2.0 technologies to their PR practice they are an appropriate firm to represent Deltina Hay and our curriculum,” comments Dr. Curt Gilstrap, Director of Graduate and Continuing Studies at Drury. “The PR 2.0 firm’s progressive marketing strategies are what we needed to increase visibility online about our program.”
Students will be taught how to design and pilot social media campaigns. Going beyond technology skill development, students will gain media management skills and the ability to adapt to the changing landscape of integrated media. Upon completion of the course, they will receive a social media certificate from Drury University to demonstrate competency in social media gained through an accredited, graduate level curriculum.
“The Drury team and I are thrilled at the opportunity to teach social media practices that will impact the business lives of students,” responded Deltina Hay. “Knowing the success and dedication that Accolades PR had delivered to their clients in the past, I recommended that they take on the promotion of the Drury program.”
The first graduate-level social media webinar program began July 5th. Drury’s Social Media Certificate program is open to anyone with a bachelor’s degree. The course counts for three credit hours toward Drury’s Master of Arts in Communication, which is transferrable to other accredited institutions.
For more information and to register, visit Drury University’s Social Media Certificate Web site at: www.socialmediacertificate.net
About Accolades PR
Accolades Public Relations is a results-oriented communications firm committed to progressive strategies in public relations, social media and marketing. It is a new breed of PR 2.0 firm where the clients’ needs drive solutions – whether in media exposure or news online.
The firm’s mission is to set the standard in what carefully executed public relations and communication strategies can do for sales, lead generation and the bottom line of ROI. Accolades’ team of public relations strategists practice a blend of traditional public relations along with optimized PR and social media. They provide integrated communications solutions, including tactical web marketing strategies designed to sync public relations initiatives to B2B agendas.
Collectively the team has garnered media placements in The Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur Magazine, VentureWire, New York Times, Red Herring, BusinessWeek, CNBC, Franchise Times, USA Today, Self and Family Magazine along with a host of trade publications, regional business journals, dailies and broadcast outlets. These traditional PR efforts complement the integrated communications campaigns the team develops and executes for clients to assist each in growing an interactive presence online. Based upon an initial, strategic plan, the Accolades team consults and assists with blogging, integrating social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and building community engagement.
The agency focuses growing and protecting its clients’ most valuable asset – their brand. With expertise in corporate communications, brand management, media relations, social media, product launches, and special events, the firm’s capabilities empower client initiatives. Accolades Public Relations is based in Austin, Texas and serves both regional and national clients in the education, technology, advertising, financial, franchise, restaurant and business sectors.
For more information on Accolades PR and the clients they serve, visit www.AccoldesPR.com
About Drury University, College of Graduate and Continuing Studies
Drury is an independent University, church related, grounded in the liberal arts tradition and committed to personalized education in a community of scholars who value the arts of teaching and learning. Education at Drury seeks to cultivate spiritual sensibilities and imaginative faculties as well as ethical insight and critical thought; to foster the integration of theoretical and practical knowledge; and to liberate persons to participate responsibly in and contribute to a global community.
For more information, visit www.drury.edu/strategicplan.
