Phillip G. Clampitt PhD

Mallory Allen, Mara Allen, Jordon Lawrenz, and Matt Seger collaborated to develop some insightful and innovative answers to the Drill Down questions for the Summer OrgCom class. This is exactly what I expect for these exercises and for that reason this team enters Phil’s HOF. Congrats. See example here.

The ACES group (Caitlyn Belson, Emily Krause, Elsie McElroy, Abby Turner, and Angela White) conceived and created a social media strategy for a new musical group, the Griffon Quartet.  The group expertly and imaginatively used the tools, concepts, and principles we discussed in class to produce a thoughtful and actionable plan. Please click here to see there in-class presentation.

The Instagirls (Allyson Haefke, Kirsytnne Hock, Olivia Ryan, Jada Patterson & Savanna Gagnon) completely re-oriented the  Zeta Omega Tau sorority’s social media strategy for their final project in COMM 447. The final product was a tour de force, merging an incredibly sound strategy with imaginative tactics. Bottom line: it was the ideal blend of rigor and imagination. Check our their PP presentation here. Note their 3-question test for all posts – simple and effective.

The ACES team (Caitlyn Belson, Emily Krause, Elsie McElroy, Abby Turner, and Angela White) analyzed Chick-fil-A and Popeye’s social media strategies. They did a stellar job of applying and innovatively extending on all the core principles in the Social Media Strategies course. Check it out here.

Kevin Dohm, Trevor Gossen, Joshua Konecke, Ryan Rickard, and Nik Sandona mastered a wicked crisis case about the Milwaukee Brewers in the tough COVID-19 environment. They studied successful high-profile crisis press conferences from other sports franchises and successfully adapted those ideas to their wonderful press conference. Check out their final paper here.

Liz Cichowski, Lindsay Fanning, Mailee Her, and Autumn Rockhill worked on persuasion case focused on improving charitable donations to the Comm dept. They adroitly used the Fishbein model to develop some excellent targeted strategies and tactics. In fact, the department will be implementing many of their ideas. Bravo to them!

Mailee Her, Logan Konitzer, Meg Lehman, Marissa Lung, and Vanessa Martinez compared Netflix’s and Hulu’s social media strategy. They did an extraordinary job of developing a clear, useful, and understandable assessment process that yielded some insightful ideas about to improve each company’s social media performance. Bravo to them. Check out their insights, tools and approach by clicking here.

Casey Nickel and Wade Crevier evaluated the social media practices of 10 different religious organization. They used their robust knowledge of the 5 C’s framework to produce a wonderful and novel set of best practices. Check out this video summarizing their insightful work.

Sara Darr, Rachel Koepke, Jacob Lenzendorf, Bailey Schmid & Devin Willems conducted an assessment of the social media strategies used by the Green Bay Gamblers and Green Bay Blizzard. This student team adroitly compared the sport team’s approaches using a novel assessment tool and provided appropriate strategic/tactical suggestions (e.g. corrections). Check out their paper here.

Ryan Atkins, Tanner Rattray, Drew Stephani, Derek Flannery, and Lexi Bretl briefed the Social Media Strategy class on the TikTok platform. Unlike typical projects this one was primarily completed in class and they did a wonderful job that went well beyond the scope of the assignment. In particular, DSW was impressed with how their evaluation tool set them up for project 2. Bravo. Click here to see their PowerPoint slides.

The Pinners (Katie Flanigan, Hannah Jobrack, Erik Johnson, Katherine Nagler, and Ntxhee Yee Thao) took on a brand new case in the Social Media Strategy class. They crafted an exceptional social media marketing campaign for a new company – Dr. Foot Fix. They adroitly used all the social media 5 Cs (Coordinates, Channels, Content, Connections, and Corrections). Check out their paper here.

Jacob Lenzendorf, Sara Darr, Bailey Schmid, Rachel Koepke and Devin Willems took up the special project challenge for their second case in the Social Media Strategy class. They developed two insightful and fun videos to promote student understanding of the career-enhancing possibilities of using LinkedIn. The first video was designed for LinkedIn novices (see) . The second one was developed for more experienced LinkedIn users (see). Beyond the great videos, DSW was pleased by the strategic insights that guided their decision-making (Click here to see their paper).

Ben Berndt, Amanda Jo Danihel, Sara Darr, Abby Phillips & Amanda Rice were tasked with creating an anti-sexting persuasive campaign in the Persuasion & Argumentation class. They adroitly used persuasive theories and models to develop a wonderfully creative campaign that anti-sexting advocates should seriously consider. Click here to see their paper. Note: only emulate the attire of some team members during group meetings, not presentations!

Jared Phillips and his Cases team planned and executed one of the best press crisis press conferences in the history of the course. Click here to see the group’s opening statement. Check out the press conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV1aodHGeoI

Devin Willems, Morgan Davis, Amanda Leick, Sara Darr, and Alex Brandt mastered a complex case involving demographically shifting target audiences for the Door County Chamber of Commerce. (Note: the group DID dress professionally for the presentation! They are wearing “thinking clothes” in the picture.) They made a number of excellent strategic decisions and exceled in the QA session. Click here to see thier paper.

Travis Krueger, Kaylie Noll, Caroline Rowe, and Danielle Shea analyzed the Green Bay National Weather Service’s social media presence. Their novel and extensive research fueled a wonderful set of coordinated strategic and tactical recommendations. The client wants to implement many of the suggestions and was so pleased that he even provided DSW with a special culinary treat. (Note: the treat did NOT influence HOF voting but it put some “nice icing on the project cake”.) Click here to see the projects.

Ben Berndt, Amanda Jo Danihel, Sara Darr, Abby Phillips & Amanda Rice analyzed a debate about soda taxes in the Persuasion & Argumentation class. They adroitly examined the competing arguments using the Toulmin and NRDd models. The group expertly used a set of thoughtful criteria to determine the debate winner and make suggestions to improve the arguments. Click here to see the paper.

Amanda Jo Danihel, Marissa Herm, Jennifer Maki, Kaylie Noll, Danielle Shea, and Roxanne Simonnet compared the social media performance of two ice cream companies (Halo Top Creamery vs. Ben & Jerry’s). The team thoughtfully analyzed the company goals and expertly used quantitative and qualitative data to skillfully assess social media performance. The team made expert use of the 5 Cs of Social (Coordinates, Channels, Content, Connections, and Corrections) to make wonderful recommendations that both companies would do well to heed. Click here to see the team's paper.

The Digg Deep group (Melissa Barth, Halie Holton, Hannah Koerner, Caroline Rowe, and Alex Styczynski) compared the social media presence of Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger. After collecting over 200 pages of original research on the posting patterns of both brands, the group provided a thoughtful analysis of each brand’s social media approach. The group incorporated some novel uses of ideas discussed in the Social Media Strategy course and provided a number of useful strategic and tactical suggestions for each brand. Click here to see their paper.

Raquel Lamal (2013 class) and Adam Hansen (2015 class) are both UWGB Communication majors. They recently received an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement of News Programming-Evening Newscast: Smaller Markets.

Elizabeth Hintz is a recent UWGB Communication Department graduate and now attends graduate school. She submitted a paper to the Central States Communication Association Conference and won two major awards: 1) Top Student Paper and 2) Top Paper in the Health Communication Division. Bravo to her for this wonderful honor. Click here to read her very interesting paper. (Note: This is the first graduate to be honored in Phil’s Hall of Fame. This is an innovation that I plan on continuing.)

The Digg Deep social media strategy team (Melissa Barth, Halie Holton, Hannah Koerner, Caroline Rowe, and Alex Styczynski) analyzed the differences between the Twitter and Digg social media platforms. The team did an extraordinary job completing all the assigned tasks and adding their own innovative twist. See their paper.

Amanda Deatherage, Brooke Iserloth, Alex Koprowski, Payton Kronforst, and Emily Zausch completed a persuasion project designed to double the number of attendees at the 2018 Communication Banquet. They had some novel (and a few crazy) ideas but their approach nicely illustrates key persuasion principles and audience analysis techniques. See their paper.

The K.A.R.M.A group (Kendall Sherman, Alycia King, Roxanne Simonnet, Marissa Herm, and Amy Bauer) transformed an extremely difficult time-sensitive challenge (e.g.,“wicked problem”) into a major win for the Communication Department. Using a new analytical framework and their own research they took on a totally unexpected mid-semester project in their Media Workshop course. They demonstrated an extraordinary degree of thoughtfulness and resiliency in a tough situation. Click here to see their report.

The Pentamerous Professionals (Kaitlyn Hein, Sarah Ferdon, Amber Brownlow, Lindsay Pieffer, & Sabris Canady) enter HOF for their first project in the Cases in PR class. Their audience analysis featured an intriguing twist on conventional wisdom. Their other analyses, strategy and tactics clearly and cleverly linked with one another. They also successfully integrated concepts from other classes like Persuasion and Argumentation. Click here to see their campaign about #Facethefacts.

Alexis Johnson, Katy Ito, and Dana Ihlenfeldt have continuously improved throughout their tenure at Communication Department. They have reached a new level of performance in their masterful analysis of a real world challenge in the Media Workshop course. See their paper and insights here.

The Titans (Melissa Barth, Amy Bauer, Eli Hughes, Alycia King, & Hannah Koerner) took on a very tough case about the ever-changing PR challenges at Volkswagen. They were able to provide a “frame altering” view of the situation by comparing it to similar concerns at other companies. The Titans then presented an executive board room level of report about how to respond on a strategic and tactical level. Click here to see more about their approach.

Bravo to the first ever Comm Week team (Erica Ropson, Eli Hughes, Emily Vorpagel, Morgan Theobald, Hannah Koerner, Avery Faehling and Amy Bauer) for planning AND executing a wonderful event. We had almost 100 people at the first ever Comm Week banquet and nearly 100 attendees at other events. It was wonderful and all done during the team’s “free time”. Amazing.

(Danielle Shea, Amanda Danihel, Ben Spiering, Danielle LaPorte (myself), and Jule Hermann) certainly lived up to their name. The continuously improved on a project in their OrgCom class and placed first (gold medal) in first ever Communication 3 X 3 X Competition. Bravo to them for living up to the CI spirit of our program.

Do you want to find out what Taco Bell and Taco John's are doing right and wrong with their social media strategies? Check out the final social media project by Eli Hughes, Katie Prigge, Michaela Ratajczak, Morgan Theobald, and Katie Vlachin. They took a deep dive into the organizations to find out the underlying reasons for their social media effectiveness level. Click here to review their paper.

Elisabeth Aubry, Anita Blatnik, and Emily Taisto enter the Hall of Fame for their work in the Social Media Strategy course. Their exemplary and thorough research led to a number excellent strategic and tactical insights that were grounded in a thorough understanding of strategic thinking. Click here to check out their paper.

Laura Gruender, Sarah Crowe and Sandy Sparacino took an on-line version of the OrgCom class. On-line classes create special challenges when it comes to becoming a member of Phil’s Hall of Fame. But they overcame the hurdles and developed a wonderful response to a challenging case. Click here to see their case study.

Anita Blatnik’s preparation and follow-through on a mock appraisal interview was thorough, thoughtful and insightful. Click here to see her final report.

Elisabeth Aubry, Anita Blatnik, Eli Hughes, Megan Ringwell, Erica Ropson, and Emily Vorpagel masterfully used persuasion theories and models to develop a strategy for decreasing the amount of sexting in two local high schools. One remarkable feature of their was approach was how they used the models to craft both an insightful strategy AND clever tactics. Click here for details.

Elisabeth Aubry, Anita Blatnik , Eli Hughes, Megan Ringwell, Erica Ropson and Emily Vorpagel rallied to the challenge of analyzing a seemingly boring and highly complex debate. The thoroughness of their Toulmin analysis, thoughtful decision-making and expert strategic/tactical advice triggered a lovely neural pathway dance in the minds of their classmates and professor.Click here for details.
 

Stephanie Diedrich, Avery Faehling, Bryan Konicek, Ashley Skoglund, and Theresa Vollmer compared the social media strategies of two snack bars (Reese’s vrs. Snickers). The thoroughness of their research, quality of their analysis, and innovative ideas were a delicious treat to the mind and soul. Click here for details.

The CoffeePhilters (Sarah Alexander, Sandra Graybill, *Karli Peterson, Taylor Thomson and Ashley Vickney) did a great job for their final project by comparing two political campaigns use of social media (Trump vs. Clinton) They innovated around a course theme and tweaked their “sexy” idea based on the continuous improvement feedback. Click here for details.

The Consultants of Swing (Joshua Clearwater, Eli Hughes ,Benjamin Koenigs, Chelsea Rank and Sherry Zuege) masterfully analyzed a complex case with hidden problems and successfully developed strategies and tactics to resolve it. Importantly, the group made innovative use of class principles. Click here for details.

Katelyn Staaben, Sally Henne, Sandra Graybill, Sherry Zuege, and Ryan Tearney entered the HOF for their insightful project that effectively showed how to apply the key P & A principles to "real world" challenges. Dr. So What was impressed because it is rare for a P & A project to enter the HOF.

The Six Starving Seniors group (Ashley Mellenthien, Stacy Schwartz, Elizabeth Hintz, Joshua Bernhardt, Christopher Johnson, & Cynthia Goetsch) effectively planned and responded to a simulated crisis for Leinenkugel. They demonstrated creativity and professionalism under heavy stress and ambiguity.

The Stratagems group (Katelyn Staaben, Sheila Syrjala, Kelly El-Yaagoubi, Rachel Buhl, Amanda Hamann) successfully compared/contrasted Email, Pinterest, and Instagram in their project for the Social Media Strategies course. This is one of Dr. So What’s most challenging intellectual adventures. They used a limited number of geometric symbols in an ingenious manner to isolate key differentiators between the channels and then looked at the “so what’s” of their analyses.

Katelyn Staaben and Rachel Veldt entered the Hall of Fame for their background work on social media strategy that was used for the Social Media Strategy course and to launch the Communication department’s social media strategy.

The Super Sexy "6" group (Josh Bernhardt, Clint Berge, Mai Mueller, Jenna Ebenhoe, Andrew Campnell, and Bao Lor) entered the HOF for their project on computer conferencing. They expertly applied the class theories and principles in their project.

The Squirrel Ink Group (Kaylie Fisher, Kyle Halida, Elizabeth Smeaton, Katelyn Staaben, Danielle Washington) successfully managed one of the most difficult cases in OrgCom based on implementing story telling ideas.

Sam Owens entered Dr. So What’s HOF in an unusual manner by noting that: "Build a better mousetrap and innovators will decide whether the world should beat a path to your door". This was a brilliant variation on a class theme.

The Miracle Workers (Lauren Gonn, Brandon Gwidt, Samantha St. John, Lisa Simonis, Bobby Vachon) effectively managed a very tough crisis case with expert planning and a great press conference.

Dr. So What threw everything he could think of at the “Plastics” (Aaron, Brittnay, Emily, Jonathan, Logan, and Mysty). The group not only survived but also thrived under the pressures, delivering a wonderful strategic and tactical response.

Val Hilkert drafted an extraordinary argument for her final exam by weaving together theories and ideas into a deeply thoughtful essay. It was creative, insightful and well reasoned. Dr. So What was impressed.

Kaylie Fisher wrote an outstanding essay for her final exam about the impact of technology during the Boston Bombings. Dr. So What was particularly impressed by her ability to look at the incident from different perspectives.

Jena Richter, Logan Hendricks, and Hannah Johnson took on the challenging task of critiquing and synthesizing the literature on social media. They did a wonderful job providing the conceptual and research base for a new UWGB course titled, Social Media Strategies.

Jena Richter, Caitlin Gorham, Shawn Kressin and Seth Petersen (Team Alchemy) were surprised to discover that their project/paper made it into HOF. Why? The problem analysis, strategy and tactics almost seemed too easy for them. Their previous projects seemed to involve a lot more angst and difficulty. Analysis? Their previous project shaped their neural pathways in a way that actually made this difficult project appear to be easy and straightforward. In other words, they applied the thinking routine they learned from their other projects to effectively, creatively and efficiently design a training program for the COMM 102 students. Click here to see the project.

 

Caitlin Gorham, Ed Immel, Raquel Lamal, Amy Manske, Jena Richter, and Chloe Scheller successfully dealt with a tricky simulated crises for Kohls. Their over 160-page report attests to the group's extraordinary analytical skills and strategic thinking abilities. The result? An engaging, thoughtful and productive communication plan that included a successful news conference, press kit, and related news releases.

Kyle, Chelsie, Jessie, Miranda, and Stephanie triumphed over a wickedly difficult PR crisis as they represented the Disney Company. The group executed a thoughtful strategy and incorporated numerous creative tactics during a simulated press conference. Their ears were closely tuned into the various audiences they needed to impress. And they had a lot fun during the 36 hours mayhem, stress and chaos preceding the press conference.

Ashley Heraly and Kelly El-Yaagoubi dealt with a difficult crisis situation during the challenging constraints of the accelerated learning curve of a summer class. In particular, they learned that crafting a strategy is the key to managing tradeoffs and creating a core message. Their thorough and insightful written project fully detailed their approach to an extraordinary series of crises.

Fernando Chavarria, Jeremy Garcia, Andrea Lotten, Katelyn Santy, and Kim Seidl evaluated the "same sex marriage" debate. The team thoroughly researched both sides of the issue, evaluated the debaters' arguments and provided thoughtful suggestions to the loser. In their second case, the team conducted a wonderfully insightful and effective persuasive campaign based on persuasion principles, sound analytical reasoning, and creative strategies/tactics. Click here to see paper 1.

The Policy Princesses (Carolyn Freeman, Ashley Cravillion, Daniele Frechette, Emily Schmidt, and Deb Dobson) were tasked with developing a strategic communication plan for Adult Education at UWGB. They conducted surveys, "undercover" investigations, and personal interviews to develop a well-argued, thoughtful and creative plan for the department. The client was very pleased with the outcome. And their professor was pleased to see how principles from other classes were incorporated into the strategic plan.

Deb Dobson developed a strategic plan for communicating with health professionals about a new policy. She had to work with an ever-changing set of client expectations but did so with grace and professionalism. She also wrote up her reflections on the project and how she will use her experiences in future change initiatives. Her professor was pleased with both the quality of her project and her continuous improvement reflections.

The group "Team Phil A's" composed of Ashley Beaudoin, Kathleen Brusky, Ben Leatherberry, Michelle Maroszek, and Victoria Streekstra sought to persuade home owners to adopt a natural landscaping techniques. The group expertly managed a complex case while demonstrating a firm grasp of P & A principles.

 

The group "Organized Chaos" group composed of Aaron Clements, Ashley Cravillion, Debra Dobson, Johnathan Dyskstra and Kelly Walch prepared a wonderful set of training tools for those seeking to improve their group meetings. Their exercises and protocols should be of value to anyone seeking to improve their meeting effectiveness. They also prepared some nifty videos to support their training program.

Turi Hartfield, Aimie Gallenberger, and Amy DeMeter prepared a persuasive campaign protocol that could be used to quickly respond to a persuasive challenge. The guide wonderfully illustrated the key principles in the class and the group used it to effectively manage a difficult persuasive situation under tight time constraints.

The "Fishbowlers" group composed of Adam Bailey, Adam Rady, Candace Hulsey, Johnathan Dykstra, Kristy Sipiorski, and Matthew Panure deftly handled a tricky situation that involved developing a communication plan during a corporate downsizing.

Sandy Kue, Katie Stilp, Erin Young, and Kelli Bastien dissected a difficult case involving a great deal of data from  a Pulse report. The group expertly analyzed the data and used it to construct a well-reasoned communication strategy. The group also made excellent use of KISS charts to guide their strategy. For these reasons the group enters Phil's HOF.

Debra Dobson, Diane LeVeque, Joyce Jentges, and Karen Sobiesczyk managed a difficult crisis involving Starbucks. Their extensive preparation and planning paid off during the 4 hours they had to manage the crisis. This is the first time a paper/project from the Adult Degree program became a member of Phil's HOF. Click here to see their paper.

Ryan Hartwig, Weston Hodkiewicz, Cali Nelson, Nicole Neveau, Michael Safford, & Tiffani Wille analyzed the persuasion campaign used by Cessna during a time when corporate jets were vilified by politicians. Their insightful analysis provided useful recommendations and effective use of class principles.

David Burman, Kimberly Ninmann, Susan Theisen, Katelyn Broda and Kimberely Meiner enter the hall of fame for their Crisis Managment Plan and excellent post crisis analysis. Their analysis reflects changes they made to their approach after receiving feedback from an expert in the field (Paper)

Adam Behnke, Marisa Greguoli, Ryan Sikma & Susan Theisen critiqued and improved an existing persuasive campaign to encourage consumers to conserve energy. Their approach to the case provides a wonderful example of how to apply persuasion theories. Note in particular that they use the persuasive notions to guide their decision-making (Paper, Presentation)

The group also enters the hall of fame after their wonderful job analyzing a contentious debate. Note how they took an even handed view of each side and came to a reasonable conclusion. (Click here to see their paper and presentation)

Ben Kotenberg enters the Hall of Fame for a delightfully metacommunicative project. He is the webmaster behind this wonderful website which demonstrates his creativity as well as his ability to analyze audiences. 

Megan Gustafson analyzed an interview for the Theories of Interview class. Her paper (click here to see) provides an excellent example of how to logically analyze human communication and apply communication principles to a structured conversation.

Jennifer Becher, Danielle Behrle, Chelsea Brunning, Tyler Hoffman, Rich Swiatnicki and Denise Martin enter Phil's Hall of Fame with how they managed a crisis at Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary (2007). Note how they aligned their research, strategy and tactics. Also, notice how they fully integrated class principles in their planning and reactions to an extraordinarily challenging crisis. (Click on this link to see their project)

 

Adam Halfmann, Kelly Hannnu, Alicia Alvord, Nichole Zick, & ChadHOF
Stanek resolved a real time and difficult case. They were asked to manage the PR for a company that inadvertently produced contaminated dog food. The way they decided to manage the credibility issue was superior to the actual PR campaign launched by the company. (Click here to see their paper.)


 

Kristi Trampf, Michelle Missall, Mat Cole, and David Mauel resolved a very difficult case that dealt with communicating to employees about a new HSA health care plan. Their research was first rate and they made fantastic use of  the "change iceberg" model. (Click here to see their paper.)