Day 4 - writing blogs, random notes from meeting with Alex Phillips!

[samanthacsik]

• have 2 hours for instruction and drafting blog posts (want something that is mostly feasible during that time)

• can have pre-work

• have students think about audience (possibly next year's MEDS students?), scoping (should be relatively short and simple)

• tone?

• communications guide / brand guide -- a worksheet that they could fill out for themselves

• audience: potential employers and other students; could include other personality things; have their blog

• branding is a tool that you can come back to time and time again; doing this isn't to make your website pretty -- it serves to guide the purpose of your website; if your aim is tor each employers -- does adding a travel blog help you with that?

"here's how I see my brand and this is how I'm executing on it"

• scaffolding what resources they might want to have on their page (brainstorm ahead of time)

• Alex wanted her blog to be a resource for her clients (scaffolded it into her website)

• have a list of blog post topics ahead of time -- why would someone come to your website and what can you provide them? no one is just going to come to your website -- when no one does, they discover why they should come back; see resource / interesteing story; build a pattern of trust with your website and brand

• what would be somehting that would bring someone to my page; be strategic; give options for ideas

• highlighting how a function works; advice that you wish you had before (don't be prescriptive, but give them ideas)

• NEW SECTION IN BRANDING DOC: resources and potential topics for blog posts; SAM DO THIS; e.g. how it feels to teach data science (imposter syndrome);

• have them read 2 posts in class and highlight what they do or don't like about them in class; can think about tone, framing, humor, illustrations/visuals (what did they add/subtract); writing is subjective!

• have a draft outline of a blog post; by end of course, there should a fully finished blog; can amplify on social media

• storytelling -- core pieces + embellishments (e.g. humor;j should add some but don't have to add all of them)

• rescue was usign a super frustrating fxn but then found a new bettter one!

• can break the rules; should have a story but not all of it has to be a part of the story necessarily

BEFORE CLASS:

• add to their branding guide sections on interesting resources/potential blog post topics that fit their brand identity and intended audience(s)

IN CLASS:

• storytelling
• read some curated SECTIONS of blog posts and discuss things like tone, audience, humor, visuals (things they liked/didnt like as both a reader and a writer
• draft an outline of their blog post in class and maybe exchange with someone for thoughts

AFTER CLASS: