What happened to Dave? Five videos to liven up a PR class

I'm jealous of mathematics lecturers.  I'm even jealous of people who lecture in engineering and physics.  As we grind towards the end of term, a maths lecturer can liven up a lecture with some great jokes (especially about engineers).    But PR?   Maybe it's because the subject is too new, or uncomfortable with its status, but PR jokes are few and far between.  I have to rely instead on my catalogue of anecdotes and stories about the world of PR  to raise the tempo in an end-of-term lecture.

Or, I can show a video.   And not just any old video.  These are my top five videos for livening up a PR lecture.  They are all relevant to teaching PR (not just  social media) and all manage to be engaging, humorous (although I appreciate that this is relative), relevant and informative(ish) all at once.

 1.  Research methods.
What better way to explain to students how not to compose a questionnaire.

 

2. Lobbying
Some students find the political process daunting.  This series of videos simplify the lobbying process.  Unfortunately, the series ends rather suddenly , leaving my students desperate to know what happened to Dave.

 

 Free Dave! The series

3. Flashmobs
I haven't shown this is class yet, but I will.   A neat way to illustrate aggregation ... and the "wisdom of crowds?"

 

 4. Reputation
This will usually be the first - and last - time a UK student will hear a country and western song played in class. 

 

5. Viral marketing
I'm feeling all nostaligic now.  When I first started teaching PR I had to explain what a 'viral' was.  And I used this video to illustrate it.  It also  could be used to spark a discussion about alignment of  communication channels/messages/audiences. 

 

Comments

[Elizabeth Hirst]

What a great collection of videos. I've been using the clip from Yes, Minister in my classes at McGill University for a few years now, and it has made the point in a way no slides can. I'm delighted to have access to the others. Thank you for sharing.

[Derek Hodge]

I'll be stealing some of those.

Here's two I use when talking about how new forms of media are emerging. A remix having a go at Sony and a piece of Machinima featuring some classic movie scenes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R98qC0fd_1w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrASmNTnl3M

[Liz Bridgen]

Great - thanks for those links Derek - hadn't seen either of them before. Will be stealing!

[Placas solares precios]

Great videos, thanks for sharing. Keep it up.