Beyond the Brandopolis: A Communicative Approach to City Promotion and Marketing

A review of current city branding literature indicates that unsuccessful attempts at city branding appear to rely on creating static, flashy, and often idealized images of a city. Such marketing efforts may result in a brandopolis, or images that may not reflect a city\u27s true identity. This dissertation supplements current city branding literature by exploring how stakeholders\u27 discourses form, enhance, and communicate a city\u27s image. The consideration of a communicative approach to the promotion of city images, from a humanities perspective grounds stakeholders\u27 experiences of the city in their communicative practices. This grounded communicative approach to city marketing offers marketers better insight into how the stories people tell about their experiences become part of the city\u27s narrative identities. Understanding stakeholders\u27 roles in crafting and communicating a city\u27s narrative identities in their everyday discourses may help marketers promote the city\u27s image beyond a mere brandopolis

Advancing Student Interview Skills: Incorporating Virtual Interview Technology into the Basic Communication Course

This study examined the differences between student\u27s self-reported communication interview skills before and after they received interview instructions and experienced virtual simulation interviews in a basic communication course. Incorporating interview instruction and utilizing mock interviewing software, InterviewStream, into several basic communication courses, this study found a significant difference between students\u27 pre-instruction and post-instruction interview self-assessment scores. A Student Assessment of Learning Gains (SALG) revealed that students reported more confidence in their interviewing skills, were more likely to seek help from career services, and pay more attention to non-verbal communication during the interview (dress, posture, and eye contact) after participating in virtual mock interviews

Advancing Student Interview Skills: Incorporating Virtual Interview Technology into the Basic Communication Course

This study examined the differences between student's self-reported communication interview skills before and after they received interview instructions and experienced virtual simulation interviews in a basic communication course. Incorporating interview instruction and utilizing mock interviewing software, InterviewStream, into several basic communication courses, this study found a significant difference between students' pre-instruction and post-instruction interview self-assessment scores. A Student Assessment of Learning Gains (SALG) revealed that students reported more confidence in their interviewing skills, were more likely to seek help from career services, and pay more attention to non-verbal communication during the interview (dress, posture, and eye contact) after participating in virtual mock interviews