The first couple of events at this year’s IMC Connect! Conference 2024 will be geared toward high school students.

The IMC Connect! Conference will be held March 25-27 and is hosted by the University of Mississippi School of Journalism and New Media.

The annual event connects senior leaders in integrated marketing communications from both research and practice.

The conference will feature communication leaders from well-known brands including Boeing, The Las Vegas Raiders, Carnival Cruise Line, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Toyota of Mississippi, and CVS.

The first event, at 8:30 a.m., will be “Developing the Communicator in You,” by Tiffannie L. Hedin of Toyota Mississippi. She will be speaking on how being a communicator is part of being human and how to embrace that for life and career paths. Chick-fil-A breakfast will be served.

At 11 a.m. Community Connect! will take place in the Grove. Community Connect! is a unique service project that involves the creation of evergreen social media video content to support the United Way of Oxford-Lafayette County. Students will be paired into small groups to create short Instagram videos around campus on either early childhood education/literacy, mental health, food insecurity, or housing insecurity.

After filming content at each location, students will edit their content and post it on Instagram.

Prizes will be awarded for the best three videos. Participants will be treated to complimentary pizza in the Grove.

Instructions for Community Connect! will be provided before the event at 10:20 a.m.-11:00 a.m. in Overby Center Room 249.

The annual event is chaired by Dr. Amanda Bradshaw, assistant professor of Integrated Marketing Communications.

To learn more about all of the events during IMC Connect!, visit the official website.