By RYAN ANGLIM
Mass Media and the revolution in communications were the topics of discussion at The College of Saint Rose’s first Hearst lecture on innovation in communication.
George Kliavkoff, the executive vice president and deputy group head of Hearst Entertainment and Syndication sat down with Rex Smith, an editor from the Times Union. College students and professors arrived eager to hear Smith and Kliavkoff banter back and forth and read questions from the audience through twitter
The event began at 4 p.m. Monday, Apr. 15 in the Saint Joseph’s auditorium on The College of Saint Rose Campus. Smith started by asking Kliavkoff interesting media related questions.
While on stage, Kliavkoff elaborately answered each question that Smith asked without hesitation. The two men covered topics such as Social Networking, the rise in recent mobile media consumption, Hulu and Netflix compared to traditional television, and the need for media experts in today’s job market.
Both of the media experts talked about how the current revolution in communications is less about comparing the old media outlets to the new ones, but deals more with the convenience of getting what you want, when you want it.
“I don’t waste a follow on someone with no value,” Said Kliavkoff, speaking in the nature of twitter. When Smith asked about Facebook and its history of success, Kliavkoff told the audience that Facebook is officially old news and that new social media like Pinterest and Twitter are now talked about more than Facebook.
What especially came as a shock for the students in the audience was when Kliavkoff talked about the involvement of social media in the hiring process. Overall, Kliavkoff told the audience that more than a quarter of potential hires at a business will not make it to be offered a job because of something they have posted on Twitter or Facebook.
“Be careful of what you tweet,” Said Smith.
While the discussion amongst Smith and Kliavkoff continued, the tweets kept coming in from audience members. Most of the tweets were either questions or comments that really showed that the presentation was doing a fine job of captivating the viewers.
After the presentation was over, the audience and the people involved in the production walked over to Massry Center for the Arts for snacks and refreshments. It gave the students who attended an interesting opportunity to personally interact with the guest speakers over a drink or two. Joanne Crupi, the project head of the presentation, was pleased to see that attenders of the lecture were interacting so much with Kliavkoff even after the lecture was over. “The back and forth between the students and the guests were good indicators that students were thinking about the topics that came up,” Said Crupi.
