Rebecca Weintraub, director of the Master of Communication Management (MCG) program, partners with top executives from infrastructure giant AECOM to provide graduate students in her strategic corporate communication course with a unique glimpse into how communication drives an organization’s objectives and goals. AECOM’s Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Heather Rim (MA, MCG, ’03), took this same class while earning her master’s degree and has maintained a close relationship with Weintraub and USC Annenberg since graduating. Together, they paired the various areas covered in Weintraub’s course with experts from across AECOM to provide a real-world perspective on delivering strategic communication programs that meet client expectations.

The following is the second in a series of interviews with MCM students completing their capstone project, an optional self-directed research or practical project that students conduct over their last two semesters in the program.

Lisa Crawford’s project examined the phenomenon of showrunners (the managing writers/producers of TV shows) becoming celebrities.

The following...

The following is the first in a series of interviews with MCM students completing their capstone project, an optional self-directed research or practical project that students conduct over their last two semesters in the program.

Amy Herman’s project examined the concept of “Danger”, particularly with regards to overseas travel.

The following are some of her responses to the...

The Social Impact Media Awards (SIMA) spotlight documentaries and independent films that bring awareness to social injustices across the globe. We spoke with Dr. Daniela Baroffio, Assistant Director of MCM as well as a SIMA jurist, to discuss the awards and her passion for social justice.

NB: How did you get involved with SIMA?

DB: I met with Daniela Kon, the head of SIMA, a...

"The challenges were in the details."

"As time consuming and stressful as it was in the moment, I think we all gathered skills that we can apply to any field."

"It went from us all wanting to rip our hair out, to loving the experience."

"Hopefully we will go places, and win Emmy's [because of this project]."

CMGT Project Spotlight: "Campaign Junkie"...

Q: Introduce yourself, and the classes that you currently teach.

A: I teach in both the online and on-campus MCM programs. Right now I’m teaching marketing research . I also teach the strategic communication corporation class, which is CMGT 502, and I also teach our persuasion class.

Q: What brought you to USC?

A: I received my master’s and my Ph.D. from USC. After...

Make it a story.

Make it a narrative experience, across different forms of media, to attract and engage a global audience.

Implementing the theory of transmedia storytelling that we learned from CMGT550 – Hollywood 3.0 classes into building an IP (Intellectual Property) campaign was not easy at all, and we knew this from the very first moment when Professor Craig introduced...