undergraduate

 

Mr Pham Song Thu, a journalist and media expert from Ho Chi Minh City, gave a talk. The event was also attended by Ms Hoang Truong Chi Giao, expert at the Danang Tourism Promotion Center; Ms Dao Xuyen, editor at VTV8 television; Meritorious Teacher Le Cong Co, Chairman of the DTU Board of Trustees; and DTU faculty leadership, lecturers and students.

 

Journalist Pham Song Thu speaking on branding and brand management at the workshop

 

The speaker at the event was journalist Pham Song Thu, who has over twenty years of experience in the fields of media and journalism. He worked at a great many big newspapers and magazines, like Nguoi Lao Dong, Saigon Giai Phong, and Kham Pha; he used to be subeditor for Golf & Life; he co-founded the weekly newspaper Nguon Viec; he was editor in chief for Golf & Resort; and he published printed works like VIP and Golf & Travel. He furthermore has more than ten years of experience in the communications boards of VinGroup and NovaLand corporations. He visited more than fifty countries and took part in many media events in different fields. He summed up his life and work experience in the book “Communication win-win style”, which sold over ten thousand copies and is considered the reference for those working for the media and a really useful book for students of journalism and multimedia communications.

 

The many DTU lecturers and students at the workshop

 

At the event, journalist Pham Song Thu gave the DTU lecturers and students the most basic information on branding and brand management. To wit, the field of communications covers:

 

? brand communication,

? event communication,

? social media communication,

? policy communication,

? internal communication,

? social communication (CSR),

? emotional communication,

? converging communication trends, and

? communication crises.

 

About establishing and developing ties with the press, journalist Pham Song Thu stressed that business-press relations are win-win relations. To establish ties with the press, one needs to go through several steps: approach, get acquainted, and establish trust to receive support. Next, press meetings, media trips, advertisement & funding, and exchange meetings nurture and develop press relations. Shortcomings during operations can lead to communication crises. If this happens, journalist Pham Song Thu gives the following “golden rule” to deal with it: monitoring the local development of the incident, isolating and blocking the scene, intercepting information on the way back to the newsroom, and establishing the source of the issue.

 

The DTU students brought up several questions, such as: Is it too soon to establish one’s personal brand now already? Which elements are necessary to become a television editor? What is emotional communication? and What do individuals and businesses need to do to protect themselves from communication crises? Journalist Pham Song Thu, Ms Hoang Truong Chi Giao, and editor Dao Xuyen enthusiastically answered their questions.

 

“Today’s workshop is really meaningful and useful for students of communication and journalism like me,” class K24 Multimedia Communications student Vo Hoai Nam said. “The knowledge, information, and experience speaker Pham Song Thu and the invitees to the event provided helps us understand the profession we are pursuing better, and learning these lessons and knowing how to deal with professional crises will put us firmer in the road we chose.

 

“In the short time of the event, we learnt a lot, especially about the motivation and desire to make sacrifices for the profession through the stories of the invitees. I hope similar events with happen more regularly, that we can meet and exchange with experts in the field, to learn and improve our knowledge and experience for our current studies and our future careers.”

 

(Media Center)