Highlights
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One @ Marquette: Tim CigelskeFather Marquette stands proudly at the edge of the pool as Tim Cigelske, Marquette University's senior communication specialist, crouches down and snaps his photo. "This is his first pool photo shoot," he says.
Cigelske is at the Rec Center to promote an upcoming Late Night event, “Rock the Rec: Battleship!” Cigelske confirms the date and time of the event before sending the tweet out to Father Marquette’s followers, of which there are more than 1,000. Cigelske created the account because he wanted to encourage students to explore both campus and the city around them, and to share what they discover. But this is only a fraction of what Cigelske does at Marquette. Students who are active on social media have probably interacted with Cigelske or seen his work without even realizing it: He created and runs most of Marquette's social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Foursquare and Pinterest. Cigelske grew up in Beaver Dam, Wis., not far from Madison. After graduating from Marquette in 2004 with a degree in journalism, he traveled around but returned to Milwaukee when he realized that nowhere else felt like home. His return to Marquette and venture into social media, however, was never part of the initial plan. “I just thought journalism would be my career,” he says. But in 2008, when the publication Cigelske was working at went out of business, Marquette happened to be hiring for a new communications position. “I never expected social media, which didn’t exist when I was a student, to suddenly appear and be something I would do,” he says. “But it’s been a great fit.” On his first day, Cigelske created the @MarquetteU Twitter account and started tweeting. “I saw [social media] as something with huge potential, so I kind of took it and ran.” Cigelske ran far and fast. In 2011, the social media analytics site Klout.com ranked Marquette as having one of the most influential university Twitter accounts in the country. This semester, Cigelske broadened his professional horizons outside the Office of Marketing and Communication; now he teaches media writing, a class he took himself as a freshman at Marquette. “I got a call from Gee [Ekachai], the department chair. They needed someone to teach media writing, and teach it in a month,” he laughs, “so that’s what I’m doing.” Next semester he will be teaching PR writing, he says. “This is good to get my feet wet.” Cigelske often organizes field trips and guest speakers for his students. On one particular Tuesday, Cigelske meets his class at Weasler Auditorium to watch the Burleigh Media Lecture featuring journalist David Bornstein. As students trickle into the lobby, Cigelske greets them and hands back the assignments he has graded, offering feedback and instructing them to sit wherever they’d like. "I almost felt like I was meeting a celebrity," says sophomore Spencer Rose about the first day of class. "Tim is the definition of social media guru." Students are required to post their assignments on a Tumblr blog; they also use Facebook and Twitter. "Tim knows his stuff about the platforms he uses to teach," says Rose. "[He] teaches what we will really need in our future careers." Although he incorporates social media in his lessons, Cigelske still wants his students to learn how to communicate effectively, regardless of the medium. “As much as I want students to be social media savvy and to use their writing in that way, I expect first and foremost that they can write.” The next morning, Cigelske is back at the OMC planning for the PR+ Social Media Summit, a strategic communications conference that Marquette is hosting for the fourth year in a row on October 10. He doesn't have class today, but he will meet with a student later in the afternoon, once again seamlessly transitioning from senior communication specialist to media writing instructor. |