This semester for BCM325 Future Cultures,I have been lucky enough to have been utilising my Executive role within the UOW Digital Media Society (DMS). I have been working closely with fellow BCM325 students Alex Mastronardi (Treasurer) and Callum Harvey (President), as well as the rest of the executive team – Meggen Pigram (Vice President) and Sunny Commandeur (Events Coordinator). We have been working hard to create a number of tangible DMS resources and artefacts to benefit the overall longevity of our society on campus.
Digital Artefact Group Components:
My Digital Artefact & Individual Contribution is The UOWDMS Website!
The Future Cultures DA Challenge:
We see can see a widespread necessity for setting BCM students and students from other facilities on a trajectories of career success after they leave university and “…involvement in student organizations has a strong association with psychosocial development, particularly on students’ establishing and clarifying purpose, educational involvement, career planning, life management, and cultural participation.” (Foubert and Urbanski, p.180). Combined with Callum’s 5 year plan and Alex’s CDP’s, we feel as though we are predicting a future where not only digital media literacy is key, but also applying learned conceptualising skills and iteration abilities gained through a BCM degree. Specifically, there is a website section dedicated to our short/medium/long term goals!
Social Utility:
I believe the social utility of this website is clear, as we have found an increasing demand for more organisation and straightforward resources within our club’s day-to-day function. Most students seem to struggle to find what they are looking for when navigating across multiple platforms, and the exec team has found themselves having to re-hash the same information many times to numerous people, but mainly it will be a hub for all things DMS.
Methodology:
As stated in my Pitch and Beta Presentations, DMS intends to create an online realm of effective feedback loops, workshops and work prospects for current students that are digital media inclined. We want to further build a community to support, motivate, engage and iterate so we can to create a wholistic digital media (and broader university students) experience. I felt I could help contribute and enable the projection of such services by compiling our offerings into one online space, and with constant feedback from our club members, exec team and my peers I believe I have been able to present what DMS has to offer in a sleek and easy to navigate site.
I have included in the site a permanent feedback section where anyone can provide us with direct feedback on both our website and university club. Here we could also attach other feedback mediums like Callum’s event/workshop Google Forms.
To compliment this, I have added all DMS Exec’s as Editors/Admins to enable fast iterations and edits where it may be necessary – whether it be adjusting dates of events or updating links, it will allow for more effective collaboration.
Additionally, there is a section where we can update and add all our upcoming events as well as our workshops and their respective Facebook event links. Combined with our events and workshops tab, I have made a compilation of highlights of previous networking and projects! This will enable students, members and the broader public to gain further insight into what we do.
Project development, iteration and trajectory – what works:
My main reiterations have stemmed from the OODA loop with the rest of the executive team and some of our most interactive members. I consistently check in with everyone to see what works, like the menu options & graphics, and what didn’t work e.g. The previous themes, not including banner on homepage, customising theme etc.
This has proven to be a highly rewarding process for both me and the club, we can’t wait to see what comes next for DMS.
References:
Colbert, A., Yee, N. and George, G., 2016. The digital workforce and the workplace of the future. Vol. 59, No. 3, 731–739. http://dx.doi.org/10.5465/amj.2016.4003.
John D. Foubert Ph.D. & Lauren A. Urbanski (2006) Effects of Involvement in Clubs and Organizations on the Psychosocial Development of First-Year and Senior College Students, NASPA Journal, 43:1, 166-182.
Diversity, Communication & Culture 
Reblogged this on Future Cultures.
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