LIVE SOCIAL MEDIA FORESTRY VIDEOS EXPAND AUDIENCE AS WEBINAR EDUCATIONAL TOOL
Natural Resources/Aquaculture
Neil Clark
Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Agent
Virginia Cooperative Extension
Courtland
Abstract
The Natural Resources Team at Virginia Cooperative Extension in collaboration with faculty and staff in the Virginia Tech College of Natural Resources and Environment embarked on a weekly, short, live video segment originally spurred by working from home with Zoom-enabled tools during the Covid-19 pandemic. We limited the length of the content and entitled the effort Fifteen Minutes in the Forest. This started as a weekly segment on Fridays at noon. Soon there were so many Zoom webinar options it was difficult to find a time where there was not overlap of live content. While this met the need of the moment for educational information delivery under the constraints of the day, it had its shortcomings of limited interaction and the challenges of evaluating impact and implementation of concepts learned. As face-to-face programming has returned as the tried-and-true delivery mode to more effectively engage dedicated clients, we have found that the more purposeful creation of updated videos as well as archived videos continue to serve purposes beyond information sharing. The continual presence of 120 topical videos on YouTube and other social media acts as a marketing tool which continually draws new clients for online as well as in-person programs. There were 1,730 views on Facebook and 6,221 views on YouTube. Some of the YouTube videos serve as educational material for continuing education or in lieu of live updates for partner agent programs that would likely have been declined due to travel costs or schedule conflicts. At least 72 attendees of in-person programs in the past two years have connected with our offerings through social media. YouTube subscribers went from a couple of dozen to over 1,600 as of this date and more are subscribing weekly. Additionally, we have been able to utilize some of these videos as components of continuing education offerings for courses that we teach repetitively.
Authors: Neil Clark, Jennifer Gagnon, Karen Snape, William Worrell, K. Jason Fisher, Adam Downing
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Neil Clark Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Agent, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia, 23837-0010
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Jennifer Gagnon Virginia Forest Landowner Education Coordinator, Virginia Tech College of Natural Resources and Environment, Virginia, 24061
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Karen Snape Extension Associate, Virginia Tech College of Natural Resources and Environment, Virginia, 24061
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William Worrell Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Agent, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia, 24266-0697
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K. Jason Fisher Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Agent, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia, 24558-0757
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Adam Downing Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Agent, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia, 22727