Not "Watson" ... But Close: IBM Communication Team Visits Marist

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY -- In the wake of Watson's success (IBM's new Jeopardy champion and deep question answering computer), Marist College will host an IBM "dream team" of communication experts who will meet with students and faculty on Thursday, Feb. 24, to answer questions about communications, public relations, marketing, social media, and technology. The team's visit, hosted by Marist's School of Communication and the Arts, will include information interviews about IBM communication internships; a workshop covering new technologies, social media, and careers in communication; a luncheon with invited students and faculty members; and presentations to public relations classes.

Chris Andrews

The IBM communication team includes Mr. Chris Andrews, Marist alumnus ('92) and manager of communications for IBM research; Mr. Jim Keller, Marist adjunct communication faculty member and director of communications for IBM.com; Mr. John Rooney, Marist alumnus ('95) and program manager for IBM innovation and collaboration; Ms. Jenny Sussin, Marist alumna ('09) and associate marketing manager for IBM's software group; and Ms. Adrienne Sabilia, Marist alumna ('10) and communications professional for IBM's IT analyst relations.

John Rooney

Dr. Mark A. Van Dyke, an associate professor of communication at Marist, encouraged students, faculty, staff and administrators from around the Marist campus, regardless of academic discipline, to attend the workshop, which will be held in the Lowell Thomas Center from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. According to Van Dyke, "Workshop attendees are in for a real treat. Many people outside of the communication profession might not realize the talent represented by this IBM team. These are leaders and future leaders of an organization ranked among the top 15 Fortune 500 companies in the world ... and they're at the cutting edge of where the communication profession is heading."

Jenny Sussin

Van Dyke, discussing the composition of the IBM team, observed, "John Rooney wrote the book on social computing at IBM and helped the company create its social computing guidelines. Jim Keller has held many high-level positions at IBM and currently is an IBM communication director. He devotes many hours of his time to mentoring Marist interns at IBM and teaching courses in our communication program. Chris Andrews is a master at managing crisis communication and has a knack for demonstrating how to apply textbook knowledge to the real world."

Adrienne Sabilia

Van Dyke added, "Jenny Sussin and Adrienne Sabilia, as recent graduates, are well-known around Marist. Both were outstanding students at Marist and they have demonstrated their capabilities by making a smooth transition to the career field and quickly establishing a professional reputation at IBM."

During the workshop session, the IBM team is expected to address:

• growing pressure on businesses to become "social," effects on business relationships with external media, etc. 
• expectations that newer employees (and interns) will intuitively understand how to use social media and be social media experts 
• leveraging different communication media for business value, what IBM currently does, what IBM looks to do in the future  
• IBM's DeepQA computer Watson.

The communication internship information session, to be held in Lowell Thomas 207 from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., is open to all communication majors who have completed 60 credits. According to Mr. Gerry McNulty, the internship program director for the School of Communication and the Arts, "IBM will give strong consideration to students with a high GPA and previous internship or work experience in public relations, advertising, or related fields. They are also looking for candidates with strong interpersonal and organizational skills, knowledge about social media platforms, and other emerging areas of the communication field."

Communication majors may "drop in" for an information interview; however, students interested in attending are asked to send a resume via e-mail to mark.vandyke@marist.edu and gerald.mcnulty@marist.edu no later than Wednesday noon, Feb. 23.

If you cannot attend, the School of Communication and the Arts will provide a live feed from Twitter. Follow the flow of the workshop on Twitter @MaristSCA (http://twitter.com/MaristSCA, trend topic #IBMMaristSCA). If you don't have a Twitter account, follow a blog feed from the workshop at http://bit.ly/fBUyFl (see http://twitpic.com/42cn3m).

Contact Dr. Van Dyke at mark.vandyke@marist.edu or (845) 575-3000, ext. 2679, for additional information about the IBM communication team visit.