Fall Courses & Workshops
Here’s a roundup of my new communications studies this summer and fall.
Breaking writing into progressive steps, from before the writing begins to after you’ve completed the first draft, whether a screenplay, manuscript or blog post, Writing Boot Camp features assigned and spot writing opportunities and my detailed feedback. Course topics include pre-writing habits, tips, tools and resources and immersion in writing as an art and science. I instruct in selecting the format, designating a topic and formulating the theme of what you aim to write. Writing and editing are studied, examined and practiced, both one on one as well as in collaboration with the class. Students are tasked with active thinking, writing and reading aloud. So, it’s called boot camp for a reason. I introduced the course last year after creating a 90-minute workshop on assignment and, while it is structured based on what I have learned in classes I’ve attended, the course is proprietary and fundamentally grounded in my own professional writing experience. I’m enthusiastic about the new material and I hope to have my first guest instructor, a published author of dozens of books, this coming semester. I plan to expand Writing Boot Camp in the future (follow the fall course on Facebook here).
Who takes the adult education course? Everyone from screenwriters, poets and published authors to police officers trying to improve clarity in reports and lawyers, doctors and other professionals. Past students include songwriters, teachers and entrepreneurs, also a studio executive in charge of writing talent, a social media manager aiming to improve his storytelling and a celebrity actor’s manager seeking to better ascertain quality scripts. Some students come for acquiring knowledge and practice in a disciplined approach. Others seek to replenish a creative supply through immersion with other writers in an encouraging, guided environment. Register for this fall’s Writing Boot Camp, which starts on September 15 near Los Angeles, by going to the link included here.
My social media series starts that week, too (follow this fall’s All About Social Media on Facebook here). Space is limited for both of these 10-week courses, so if you’re in Southern California, mark your calendar and sign up soon as enrollment has started and both courses are filling up. Improving the social media course based on student feedback, I make time for new, live demonstrations and tutorials and plans for computer laboratory instruction. I want to include guest instructors for this course, too, and I’ve already updated lessons based on the latest social media trends, tools and failures, including experience from my own client projects, campaigns and branding.
The course remains a general orientation to social media with emphasis on best editorial practices, so I want to be clear that this is not a course on every feature of Instagram or Facebook. This approach leads to interesting exchanges as you can imagine. Students often come expecting me to tell them what to do in each part of the social media experience. But, as advanced users know, you learn by doing, too, and trial and error is integral to mastering new technology. Also, the downside of social media stems from plunging in without purpose, direction or clarity in one’s highest goals, which feeds drift, distraction and aimlessness. So, I’m careful to instruct students in how to guide social media based on their own decisions while pointing to certain uses and specific features. Past students include adults who want to know more about this amorphous new industry, from filmmakers and artists seeking a better grasp of distribution means to grandparents, activists and merchants seeking to better connect, persuade and cash in. To register for All About Social Media go here.
Additionally, I’ve been asked to help individuals who are looking for work, so I’ve created a new 90-minute workshop on writing the resume and mastering the job interview. This one-time class is scheduled at the adult school for August 26 and it’s free to the public (details below). So is another one-time 90-minute class I’m giving on social media in downtown Burbank on the upsides and downsides of social media. “Making Sense of Social Media” also examines a range of recent social media examples, trends, success and failure.
Go here for details and here to follow “Making Sense of Social Media” on Facebook.
All About Social Media
Tuition: $89
Burbank Adult School
Mondays, 6pm-8pm
Sept 12-Nov 14, 2016
Call to register: (818) 558-4611
Writing Boot Camp
Tuition: $89
Burbank Adult School
Thursdays, 6pm-8pm
Sept 15-Nov 17, 2016
Call to register: (818) 558-4611
Free Workshops
Jobs, Resume & Interviews
Writing the Resume
Mastering the Job Interview
10am-11:30am | FREE admission
Friday, August 26, 2016 at Burbank Adult School | Call to register: (818) 558-4611
Of course, let me know if you are unable to attend the classes, which are offered in downtown Burbank at the library and at the Henry Mingay campus of Burbank Adult School near Bob Hope Airport. Otherwise, if you want help, I can probably work with you remotely or meet if you’re in LA. Contact me to schedule a private session. Follow my events on Facebook and feel free to connect and follow on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
Each class includes a visual presentation, Q & A and access to private instruction. The course, which is regularly updated with lessons from my experience managing business and celebrity social media, covers various media including Quora, Pinterest, Instagram and the newest formats, tools, apps and sites. Tuition is $69. Call (818) 558-4611 to register or try 