“Storytelling has been my passion from a young age, and it wasn’t until now that I have found my style and voice as a storyteller.”
Photo credit Darius Boamah
Can a master’s program help launch a passion project? For Darius Boamah, a recent graduate of the Online MS in Digital Media Management, it certainly did. He recently released the first episode of San Diego’s Pickup Collective, a cinematic series that focuses on the thriving street soccer communities in San Diego, which originated from his capstone project for the MSDMM called Urban Football.
Choosing DMM over an MBA
Boamah, who graduated from Emerson College in 2022 with a degree in journalism, had dreamed of attending USC ever since high school, inspired by the reputation of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. However, when it came time to consider a master’s program, his initial search focused on business school.
“I was originally looking at MBA programs and stumbled upon the DMM program while on LinkedIn. When I researched the program and looked at the classes and goals, I knew it would be great for me.”
Program Expectations Vs. Experience
Boamah felt intimidated by his lack of marketing knowledge compared to his classmates when he started the DMM program, but those feelings were short-lived.
“I didn’t know about marketing and felt that I was at a disadvantage because of that. However, I quickly learned that I didn’t need that. One, because of the curriculum of this program, and two, because of the support of my professors and classmates.”
Boamah specifically cites DMM 520 – Strategic Digital Media Marketing as a pivotal class that shed light on what he could expect from the program.
“In this class, we were tasked with choosing a company and developing a digital marketing strategy for it. Each assignment pushed me and challenged my creativity. In the end, I was able to put together a strategy that I was very proud of. It was something I’ve never done before, but I was able to do it because of the guidance from my professor, Misha Kouzeh, EdD.”
As he took more classes, Boamah also found himself connecting with his peers. Online classes often made use of breakout rooms that encouraged a sense of community by having students practice pitches, swap ideas, and get to know one another.
“I particularly enjoyed DMM 550 and 555 because we had the opportunity to get to know more about our classmates’ projects and offer help, advice, insights, etc. This made our class a very tight-knit and supportive group of peers.”
Photo credit Darius Boamah
Capstone Project: Urban Football
Boamah’s inspiration for his capstone project was born out of a chance encounter with an organizer for Chicano Futsal, a street soccer community in San Diego.
“My main goal for my Capstone project was to increase access to free soccer in San Diego,” he shares.
Staying active in a sport can be especially difficult after college, a core issue that Boamah was aware of, being a soccer player himself.
“When I got back home after graduating, it was hard to find places to play, costs were too high, leagues were too relaxed or too competitive, and I couldn’t find a team to play with.”
Boamah was initially working on an app for soccer game sign-ups in different communities. As he started uncovering insights into his audience, an approach he learned in class, it was clear he had to pivot.
“I conducted a study to learn more about my audience which showed me that most people used Instagram for finding games and places to play,” he explains. This led to him developing “Urban Football Ballers,” a social media campaign that consisted of content he captured while participating in the soccer communities.
“The content I captured for this campaign included a short video for Instagram Reels and a photo, so I could create two separate posts.”
The campaign was a success, with reels averaging around 3,700 views and 120 interactions, and posts averaging about 1,655 views and 129 interactions.
San Diego’s Pickup Collective: Passion Meets Purpose
After graduating, Boamah wanted to continue building on the momentum of his Instagram campaign. His ultimate goal was to cement a legacy for these communities, who are not immune from the passage of time.
“All of these groups formed organically, many of them have been around for over 5 years. Organizers have moved away and some have started families that have captured most of their time, but these groups still find a way to live.”
Leaning into his passion to tell stories, Boamah launched San Diego’s Pickup Collective, an episodic journey documenting the importance of these communities and what makes them special.
“The goal is to use a cinematic style of creation to showcase the beauty of the game, the communities, and the people in San Diego. My plan is to release 8-10 episodes during 2025, all about different people and groups in San Diego.”
What’s Next for Darius Boamah?
Boamah credits the DMM program for making him a well-rounded creator, equipped with digital media strategies to reach new audiences and launch his passion projects.
“Completing the DMM program has benefited my career by making me more well-rounded as a creator. Had I not completed this program, I would not have the insights or expertise to launch my own brand and take it to where it is now.”
As a photographer and videographer, Boamah continues to implement learnings from the DMM program, including building and optimizing his website with SEO best practices, using digital marketing strategies and researching audiences, and creating goal-oriented content for his clients.
Additionally, working on his Capstone and continuing that work post-graduation has led to both personal and professional success.
“Storytelling has been my passion from a young age, and it wasn’t until now that I have found my style and voice as a storyteller.”
Since releasing the first episode of San Diego’s Pickup Collective, Boamah was contacted by San Diego FC and invited to join their Football Entrepreneurship Program.
“The program focuses on people and organizations in San Diego aiming to help them reach success within building their businesses and networking with like-minded professionals.”
Boamah recently attended the program’s first meeting.
Learn more about the Online Master of Science in Digital Media Management program.