Storytelling and Content Strategy
During my “Covid Gap,” I have been fortunate to be able to sink some quality time into professional development. I am currently in the final quarter of the Storytelling & Content Strategy program offered online by University of Washington Professional and Continuing Education.
The program has been useful in so many ways. My student cohort is amazing, bringing all sorts of experience and skills to bear on the class discussions. The teachers have been insightful, introducing us to the core concepts that define content strategy across a wide swath of sectors. Seeing how the skills I have used to create museum exhibitions also apply to field like marketing, filmmaking, and UX design is exciting! The guest lectures have also been fascinating, highlighting how these communications principles are being put into play right now in real-world scenarios.
Our group projects have also been a major highlight. In fall quarter, my team worked on optimizing the user experience for the website of a sustainable athletic clothing company.
Data from Google Trends helped us create recommendations for search terms.
In winter, we explored the power of context and relatable narrators to develop ideas for a targeted vaccination campaign.
Relatable narrators and trusted clinics with deep community roots are two elements of public health storytelling.
This spring, we will be diving into data analysis to help a nonprofit film festival expand its impact. If that isn’t a good reason to brush up on my statistics, I don’t know what is!
“Average” can mean a lot of different things…
I am extremely grateful to have received a generous scholarship for the UW Professional and Continuing Education Program. Bouncing from my layoff right into a virtual classroom has absolutely helped me in my job search. My virtual classrooms have been an invaluable source of camaraderie and moral support as I connect with talented peers who are also trying to forge new paths in this shellshocked economy. This certificate program has let me shift from treading water during the pandemic to moving my career forward with confidence! If you’d like to support UW’s scholarship campaigns, check out their Husky Giving Day website.
