Living the Dream through Continuing Education

Mix one dream with an Emmy-award-winning instructor, attend a six-week class, and end up one step closer to turning the dream into reality. That was my recent experience with UNLV Continuing Education. After living through and witnessing some amazing events and interesting displays of humanity, I had a vision of writing a television pilot. I figured the time was right, presuming that I wasn’t the only one growing tired of the never-ending supply of reality television. Surely people would want more storytelling and less lie living!

I went online to take the easy route–download a screenwriting app, get a template for a spec script, and start writing. Could it really be that easy? Perhaps it could, but I personally didn’t get very far without feedback.

I decided to jumpstart the writing process with a Continuing Education class, How to Plot (Novels, Plays or Scripts) taught by John Hill, a former professional Hollywood TV and movie screenwriter (do you remember Quigley Down Under?) and Emmy award winner (I’m sure you’ve heard of L.A. Law). The first class enticed me to take another with John, How to Write a Screenplay.

I gained the beginning skills and knowledge to move forward with a little more confidence. I now knew how to set up a scene and write conversational dialogue. John also shared resources for finding an agent and selling a script, and informed us of the reality of working as a screenwriter. He even told us what it would take to write the next Hollywood blockbuster. His honesty will probably lead more people to write novels rather than screenplays, but at least they will make a well-informed decision. As for me, I am even more convinced my TV show needs to be seen weekly, and the show’s lead character absolutely needs to be explored more deeply in a made-for-TV movie.

So what’s your dream? Perhaps UNLV Continuing Education can help bring it to life.

Here are John Hill's upcoming courses:

How to Write a Short Story
03/31/14
How To Make A (Cheap) Feature Film In Two Weekends
04/02/14
Posted by LaNelda Rolley
 

SOCIAL MEDIA TIPS AND TRENDS FOR BUSINESS

Many people see social media and feel intimidated by it or adopt the stance that it’s a childish medium that a 13-year-old can do. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn can build your brand awareness in ways that have never been possible. A company can focus on marketing, customer service, entertainment, and education all within one medium. This new form of online marketing certainly needs to be taken serious.

As you get ready remember the saying, “Keep it simple, stupid.” Break everything down to the basics and build from there. Select the social media platforms that suit your needs. Will you make videos? If not, there is no need to worry about YouTube. Are you looking for a lot of business-to-business integration? If not, you might want to hold off on focusing on LinkedIn. The largest population of users on social media can be found on Facebook and Twitter, so my suggestion is to start there. Once a week I hear, “but millions of people are leaving Facebook every day!” It’s a true statement, but is it wise to turn your back on the 1.23 billion monthly active users on the site or the 650 million users on Twitter? Of course not. Don’t jump to the newest outlet just because it’s fresh or cool. Focus on the largest amount of users that you can reach for your business.

The first steps in setting up a business page for both Facebook and Twitter are to fill out the company information clearly and fully. Ensure you have a graphic or logo that best represents your company and upload it for your avatar and page header. Enlist all your friends and employees to like the page for Facebook and follow you on Twitter. Depending on your business, post on your page multiple times a day or at the very least every other day with insightful, interesting, informational, and interactive articles. Ensure to mix up the post with links, pictures, videos, and questions to drive user reaction. Most importantly, check your page frequently to answer any questions or take care of any customer services issues that may arise.

To learn more about the basics of social media in a business environment, check out the Business & Finance section of our catalog - http://continuingeducation.unlv.edu/catalog

Post by James Palmquist