By Abigail Cloutier
DOYO Live, a marketing conference held in Youngstown, brought four marketing and media professionals to Youngstown State University’s campus, giving students the opportunity to network and speak one-on-one with each professional.
Along with each presentation, a panel was held and the panelists discussed their roles as women in business and their favorite projects.
The four panelists — Hillary Smith, Kelsey Klim, Kollin Chupa and Sable Beshara-Kyle — reflected on being YSU alumnae and encouraged students to jump on different opportunities that may arise.
Smith, social media strategist at Clemson University, said DOYO Live Student Day was an opportunity to stress the importance of frequent learning after college.
“I think it’s really important for students to understand their path,” Smith said. “In this day and age, you can go out and get the experiences you need to be successful without taking another class.”
Smith presented Clemson’s social media tactics and discussed its social media campaign, which assists disadvantaged students who direct message Clemson’s Instagram account in times of need.
“It’s really great to be that helping hand as they walk through the process [of applying],” Smith said. “This year we have a list of 400-plus students we are direct messaging. It’s really exciting to see how it’s impacting students.”
Beshara-Kyle, the digital channel manager for the Cafaro Company, presented her journey as well as expectations for students looking to network with the company.
She also held a session on visual storytelling and using video in marketing at DOYO Live.
Klim and Chupa, founders of K Squared Marketing, discussed the buildup of their own boutique marketing firm.
Klim said talking to students one-on-one brought her full circle with her college career.
“My time spent as a student here set the stage for my future career path,” Klim said. “To come back and impart any sort of encouragement on students has been amazing.”
The K Squared Marketing founders said one of their favorite projects would be familiar to many YSU students.
“For me, it is definitely Y Live,” said Chupa. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s definitely one of those passion projects.”
Mi’a Toomer, a junior communication studies major, said hearing the paths each presenter went down reassured her career choice.
“Honestly, it was a really awesome experience,” Toomer said. “Since communications is so broad, it was great to talk to people.”
A hot topic of the panel for several of the presenters was if they could change one aspect about college, it would be to worry and overthink less.
Toomer said hearing this made her feel encouraged that landing a job after college is possible.
“I think that a lot of students kind of overthink. … So I think that that was really helpful,” she said.
The panel was moderated by Adam Earnheardt, chair of the Department of Communication, and the event was hosted by the YSU Department of Communication in partnership with DOYO Live.
DOYO Live in downtown Youngstown featured over 20 presenters and three deep-dive workshops with topics ranging from marketing to social media, community branding and storytelling on Oct. 17 and 18.