Baruch/CUNY Welcomes Tribe Pictures’ Vern Oakley To Graduate School Faculty
(PRWEB) June 22, 2015 -- Graduate students in the Corporate Communication program at the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences at Baruch College/CUNY will have the opportunity to learn about the strategic uses of video and graphics from an acknowledged master this fall. That’s because Tribe Pictures’ CEO and Creative Director Vern Oakley, who’s produced and directed thousands of corporate films and videos for major corporations and educational institutions, will be teaching a new course designed to give them vital insights into this increasingly critical area of corporate communications.
Titled “Strategy and Storytelling: Video and Graphics for Corporate Communication,” the course kicks off in September. In his role as Adjunct Professor, Oakley will share knowledge gleaned from many years of working with CEOs and top corporate communications executives at companies such as American Express, Hess, Stanley Black & Decker, PSE&G, Coty, Actavis and many others, as well as for such colleges and universities as Hamilton College, Washington University, Swarthmore College, Lafayette College and the University of Vermont.
“The effective use of video has become an absolute necessity for companies and other institutions in today’s visually-driven, digitally-connected society,” says Oakley. “At Tribe, our goal is to help humanize successful corporations and educational institutions, and we do this by creating emotional bonds though storytelling. This is what makes video such a powerful medium for corporate communicators; it gives them the opportunity to connect with key audiences, be they employees, investors or customers.”
“We’re extremely pleased to welcome Vern as an Adjunct Professor to teach this brand new course in corporate communications,” says Dr. Michael Goodman, Director of the MA program in Corporate Communication and Director of Corporate Communication International at Baruch College/CUNY, a global center for information and knowledge on the discipline. “We’re also pleased that of all the educational institutions Vern is connected with – including his alma mater, Ken-yon College – he chose Baruch to launch this course.”
Oakley’s joining the faculty at the Weissman School is the latest in a series of speaking engagements and lectures, all of which were geared to underscoring the role of storytelling and the power of film when it comes to achieving strategic corporate communications goals. He’s lectured at Kenyon College and Yale on topics related to the use of video in the corporate setting, has appeared on panels and webinars relating to topics such as using video for investor relations and delivered a presentation on branding at the AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) Gain Conference. He’s currently working on a book about effective techniques for working with CEOs on camera.
“The use of video for corporate communications has always been hugely important, but changes in the media model and the speed of those changes have made it even more so,” says Dr. Goodman about the timeliness of Oakley’s course offering. “What’s compounded that is the demographic shift in corporate video audiences from boomers to millennials, which is a generation that’s been raised on digital media. That’s why we’re so excited about adding ‘Strategy and Storytelling’ to our curriculum this fall.”
Adds Oakley, “This course is designed to give tomorrow’s corporate communications leaders the skills they’ll need to become smart and effective stewards of their company’s story, which has become an indispensable asset in today’s video-driven digital world.”
Lurdes Borges, Tribe Pictures, http://tribepictures.com, +1 (973) 635-2660, [email protected]
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