Thomas Obungen has been selected as one of the "Top 15 Social Media Personalities in Hawaii."
By Staff Reports
(Honolulu)– Hawai’i Pacific University senior Thomas Obungen has been selected as one of the “Top 15 Social Media Personalities in Hawaii.” He will be recognized at the 2012 Social Media Awards, during the Hawaii Social Media Summit at Neal Blaisdell Exhibition Hall, Oct. 17.
The annual event is part of the Technology Expo for Business and Consumers, hosted by Technology News Bytes. The Social Media Summit shares best practices and insights on developing and implementing large-scale social marketing and advertising strategy. This year’s summit will focus on the latest in social media trends as well as highlighting speakers who are some of the nations most talented social media experts.
Obungen, a Strategic Communication Advertising/Public Relations major will be graduating in December 2012. He has been an exemplary student who has achieved success through many of the industry immersion activities encouraged by the HPU Department of Communication, according to AnnMarie Manzulli. Manzulli is a visiting instructor with the Department of Communication and faculty advisor of Akamai Advertising, HPU’s student chapter of the American Advertising Federation.
Obungen, also known as “The Gastronomist” because of the food column he writes for the HPU student newspaper Kalamalama, has been a contributing writer and reporter for the newspaper since his freshman year.
Obungen was part of the HPU Akamai Advertising team that represented the state of Hawaii in Austin, Texas, in the 2012 National Student Advertising Competition. Obungen interned in a Navy public affairs office and stretched his social media skills through a year-long internship with online review site Yelp. He is currently working in client relations for a boutique-marketing agency, in addition to attending school full time.
“Thomas Obungen will be recognized and honored for the influence he has made on the social media industry, and for showcasing his ability to be the best in the industry in Hawai’i. This HPU student is leading by example and paving the way for the next generation of social media reporters,” Manzulli said.