MMC Partnerships Sow Advantages for Students and the Community
On Tuesday, December 17th, students in the Business Division had the opportunity of a lifetime. Two local non-profit organizations, the Eviction Intervention Service and the Harlem Center for Education, collaborated with MMC students to develop fresh strategies and marketing campaigns through social networking and online communication. Students were given guided activities, projects, and goals to accomplish by Professor Trista Wang which were developed over the course of a semester and then presented to these community service organizations at the end of the semester.
Professor Wang’s Interactive Marketing Using the Web course focused on creating social networks and online advertising for the Harlem Center for Education (HCE). The Harlem Center for Education provides free educational services to low-income residents of Harlem. Students in this course created various social networks for HCE, utilized websites such as reddit and buzzfeed, and produced viral videos to increase HCE’s online web presence. As a whole, the Interactive Marketing class garnered hundreds of likes, re-tweets, favorites, and follows, increasing the visibility of this great non-profit organization.
Professor Wang’s Entrepreneurship class worked with the Eviction Intervention Service (EIS), a non-profit organization that attempts to prevent homelessness. Wang’s students were given a ten dollar start-up investment with the goal to increase that capitol on behalf of EIS. Each group used this start-up investment in distinctly unique and different ways. One group used their start-up to organize a bake sale, the profits of which went to a month-long ad on the New York Times’ website for an upcoming comedy show fundraiser organized by EIS. Another group chose to donate the money directly to EIS and sought out free online marketing and PR strategies to raise awareness of EIS and their fundraiser. Each group also presented comprehensive social networking strategies to EIS’ Executive Director and two EIS board members, who were extremely enthusiastic about the ideas and were looking forward to taking steps to implement them. Executive Director Audrey Berman Tannen shared her appreciation with the group and said, “there’s a lot [of ideas] that we want to follow up on and continue.”
MMC and EIS have had a long partnership. Berman Tannen explained that EIS’ relationship with Marymount Manhattan has been, “nothing but beneficial.” In the past, MMC students have interned with EIS and one student even designed the EIS website as a community service project. Marymount Manhattan is proud to give students these types of opportunities to actively engage in their field of study while giving back to the community.
Published: December 20, 2013