As you well know, as the final project for Change and Innovation, the class was divided into several groups and were sent out into the real world in search of interviews centering around a chosen theme demonstrating change and innovation. As we come to the conclusion of this semester, I am anxious and interested to see what other groups have come up with for their video vignettes, but our group in particular focused on the use of social media and social networking in different small business settings. I posted the link to the videos we are going to present later, but after hearing what other business professionals have to say about their use of new technology, it is astounding to think about the possibilities of this new frontier. Five years ago, social media didn't even exist! Facebook was in its infant stages, blogs were awkward and unfamiliar territory, and nobody even knew what a "tweet" was. A company we interviewed named ThinkGeek, we met with a social media expert, and that's when I realized if this was three years earlier, her job would be obsolete. It is this idea of change that continues to get me to think what is next? In my personal opinion, I think we should look at social media as not only an effective networking and communication tool, but the bridge that connects communication studies with marketing. Inter grated Marketing Communications or IMC for the late person, is an area in the corporate world that is one of the most difficult but essential areas to manage. By using social networking sites and new technologies, I think we can see the fusing of public relations, branding, marketing, and advertising strategies into one evolving branch of communication tactics more than we ever thought about a year or two ago. Not only is it exciting to learn and think about all the possibilities this brings about, but I think the social and organizational world is in store for profound change within the IMC concentration.

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