#clarkclass Twiiter advice from a pro

Mike Sherman, @MikeSherman, sports editor of The Oklahoman, spoke to my Twitter for Journalists class at UCO today. He brings enthusiasm, experience, sound advice, honesty, humor and much more.
As far as I @Okieprof am concerned, he's a starter for this course from now on. 

In the wake of the newspaper's recent controversial headline, "Mr. Unreliable," and last nights controversial Thunder victory, the timing couldn't have been better, because all students were interested in everything he had to say. It might not have been ideal for him, since he didn't get to bed until 3 am, and will be up late again tonight. He's a UCO grad and former Vista editor. We have great students.
He called this class a conversation, and it was, but most of all, Mike Sherman is a compelling storyteller, immensely quotable and fun.
I took six pages of notes myself and will write about this for The Oklahoma Press Association Publisher next month. After he spoke, the class debriefed, with each student emphasizing something.
Here's the summary of some of his advice, mentioned by the students, notes compiled by #clarkclass student @JenniferHasel:

• Just be real, not everything is the end of the world
• Be yourself and be genuine with tweets
• Very informative, didn’t leave questions unanswered
• Offered lots of resources for twitter, things you can do
• Forget the technology, let it be an extension of yourself-you’re not going to be a different person because of twitter
• Use twitter to find news tips
• He’s a storyteller with lots of stories to share
• A journalist who doesn’t post or use social media to promote their writing is outdated
• Twitter posts are just a tip sheet for the audience
• You have to leave a footprint on Twitter
• He won’t hire anyone that is not on Twitter and doesn’t promote their work
• Technology is constantly changing and you have to adapt to change
• You’ll only be remembered for 5 seconds for breaking news but you’ll be remembered forever for breaking ground
• Every media is an a death struggle for relevancy
• Oklahoma is different, it’s not New York or LA, and so what works there doesn’t work here.
• After the KD headline controversy, the “What’s the Headline” was presented as “we obviously need your help.”
• Share information with followers
• Twitter is like Sam’s club, it offers lots of samples
• He referred to the good book
• Context matters
• Know your audience
• A writer who doesn’t engage people are as outdated as black and white television
• Twitter helps you connect with people—refer them and help them
• Twitter accelerates media
• Be relevant or parish
• You can be global just sitting in your chair
• He’s upfront, real, and doesn’t hold back
• He uses sports to tell great stories
• “Being human is more important than being a journalist”
• His “What’s the Headline” has become a franchise
• He’s passionate about being an Oklahoman even though he’s not from here
• There is power in headlines
• Take time to ponder before you post, write it and read it first
• Use Twitter to help people
• If we’re not generous, we’re not going to succeed
• He said “I want to get it right”
• Twitter can build credibility
• What is small or big is determined by its relevancy to your audience
• Ask yourself, Who Cares? When we can answer that, we can do great things
• Make more lists, they are people to look into but like a garden, sometimes you have to weed them
• “To thine own self be true”
• Know what you want to say and be sure that’s how you say it
• “Five years ago, someone dragged me to Twitter; I thank them every day for it.”

Boomtown, Oklahoma, energy icon

I heard somewhere that more than 5,000 people a month are moving to Oklahoma City in the past three  months, thanks to the job market, especially in energy. Boomtown. Perhaps not since the Run, or the 8os oil boom. Don't know.

Devon Tower, seen from The Womb, symbol of OKC's energy growth

But I do know an incredible amount of energy seems to sizzle from the place, a far cry from 20 years ago when downtown was dead, and the state was languishing. The transformation since the Murrah Federal Building bombing is nothing short of miraculous.
I can refer to many trends and incidents, and books have been written about this Dust Bowl, oil bust poor fly-over state changing. Yes, the state is more conservative politically than ever, but there's an undercurrent of energy different from oil and gas that bubbles toward the surface of young people and will change the state even more. 
Sure the conservative politicians brag about our independence, but the downtown transformation was a tax-supported effort, not free-enterprise. And the state still sucks heavily at the Federal teat , with Tinker, FAA, Altus , Enid and more...all of which they ignore, like the current mayor in his national speeches.

If there is one icon of the new energy I see-beyond revitalized Paseo, Plaza District, avant-garde new restaurants, excellent museums, The Thunder, The Devon Tower, and more--it is The Womb, owned by Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips,the weird, stereo-type knocking band that even makes the Neanderthal legislature nervous.
We recently attended the reopening of  this physcheledic gallery off Broadway, thanks to invitations by Jake Harms (future-son-in-law--artist and partner of cool step-daughter Alexx Reger) who manages it and who helped paint much of the  jarring exterior
Look at this place...it is not your stereotype of Oklahoma. Energy oozes from this place like oil and gas from Audrey McLendon's and Cheaapeake's fracking, to the more respectable towering influence of Devon energy's new dominating skyscraper...but it doesn't cause physical earthquakes...just cultural ones.

Me, at entrance of The Vagina, Photo by Susan

As and old-guy, I don't necessarily "like" the art inside, thought a drink inside the "Vagina" is, well, juicy and enervating  and fun. But it doesn't matter. You should see the young people (those under 40 at my advanced age) attending things like this.
This is the kind of energy that is revolutionizing Oklahoma, once old white guys have gone the way of drab buildings. You had to go inside the red-lit "Vagina" to get a drink. It was an adventure, and most of all, fun, because the people think life is supposed to be fun, not uptight.
Art and energy like this is infectious, impossible to ignore, among all the ho-hum or negative images of Oklahoma. Oklahoma's real energy industry isn't under the ground, but above it, in people who demand difference. It's not about being cool, I think, though many do. I think it's about creativity, pushing the boundaries--which is the real pioneer spirit--and having fun.