Broadcast This!

A Return to Normalcy

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:44:10 -0400

This was the promise of Warren G. Harding, in the election of 1920. A promise to redirect the nation, after it was seemingly misguided from World War I, a slew of related-domestic issues, and the leadership of Woodrow Wilson and his political obsession with the League of Nations. Through his malapropism, Harding gained a landslide victory against fellow Ohioan Cox—but his presidential success arguably ended there.

The point is, I experienced many of the same dynamics this August. A return to school means a return to the most familiar part of my life. Nine months of scholastic endeavors and social constructions which have defined my college career. A return to normalcy. Or, normality, rather.

But the real question remains, from what am I returning? The answer, simply, is the most amazing summer of my life. Fourteen weeks in San Diego. A video production internship for an environmental non-profit, located on the northern, coastal end of the Tijuana Estuary. A non-profit which focuses on animal and land conservation and water quality issues. In a city where the speed of work is as steadily relaxed as the fluctuation in temperatures. A summer in which I discovered much about my life—and learned much about living completely independent.

Journey

Thu, 07 May 2009 12:03:00 -0400

I think it’s because I’ve been editing Sing N Swing nonstop this week, and Alpha Gamma Delta used Journey in their routine, but I can’t get “Anyway you want it/that’s the way you need it” removed from my inner memory. Now is when I wish I had amnesia. Truly, however, the band could be symbolic of my life, as it exists at the end of this semester.

Well, not so much the band as its name.

The point is, I have recognized that life (even life as short as a semester) is a journey, and Capstone clearly is/will be no different. I am more knowledgeable now than when I first entered our BC601 classroom three months ago. I am more experienced, and I have a more definite direction not only in my project, but in regard to my career path too. Well, that’s highly debatable, as I still have no idea what my life calling is, but I feel like if I had to compare it to the fall semester, it’s more defined. I suppose “ambiguously more defined” would be an appropriate description.

Meanwhile, my Capstone project is quite defined. True, it’s still largely in the works, and will continued to be developed and polished as the summer and fall pass. But I have a clear goal and path to achieve it. I have a forty page portfolio, serving as an overall proposal, and I will use it like a map—a guide as I seek my bearings.

Moreover, I have a summer internship in San Diego. I might not have housing yet, or suitable income to last me the entire trip should I not find employment, but that’s half of the adventure I suppose. The other half will be developing my skills and experience, as it directly relates to my major and career interests.

I also have new interests. Like grad school. Or maybe that’s just another ploy to again avoid determining my life calling. Either way, it’s certainly a good way to spend two years. I also have nurtured personal discoveries, like the value of friends. Departing for the other side of the continent certainly makes one realize how social he is. But at least I recognize the importance of friends in my life now, rather than later.

I have become more independent, financially speaking. I have become a better leader, through a campaign for student government. I have become a mentor through my fraternity, and a mentee through the same. I have registered for the first half of my senior year of college. And while this may seem like a remedial task, it truly speaks beyond.

I have ran half a thousand miles (no, seriously, I do cross country and track), produced five major events to DVD, nestled myself into more organizations, have been elected to office for some of those same organizations, have been tagged in additional 400 photos or so, produced at least one radio news show per week, and have made a larger impact on the campus community—all within the last school year.

So as much as this blog is about my Capstone and Broadcast journeys, at this point, I think it is fitting to note those two journeys spawn from a larger one—that which is my life. And as the school year comes to a close, I recognize the changes that have occurred through that journey.

And I welcome them.

Do work

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 18:29:00 -0400

In my very first career-related class (Intro to Telecommunications at Ohio University, fall 2006), I learned that my entire career would be like one, huge group project. Likewise, every assignment we had that term was also a group project. And like most groups, not everyone completed all of their share, yet credit was distributed equally.

Here at Westminster, in the Broadcast Department we have our fair share of group projects too. Whether it be an assignment (like producing a long-format radio story with a partner) or filming a high school football game with the rest of the remotes crew, we often work with one another. Tempers can fly, feelings briefly hurt, but the amazing part is that we remain friends.

The County Line is an exceptional example of the group project theory. Every Thursday night, about twenty students collectively work to organize a thirty minute news magazine show—live. From producer to director, writer to anchor, reporter to videographer, sound board operator to tape operator, we do it all. And by this point in the year, everyone is more than familiar with their respective roles and responsibilities, even given we sometimes rotate positions.

Nevertheless, sometimes we do fall short, and the rest of the group (and the overall outcome) suffer as well. This past week was another example of this fact. Two times this semester I have anchored, and two times this semester I have been forced to write scripts just hours before the show aired. Normally, this process is supposed to take place the previous night, or during the day (the day of the show). Hours beforehand is not only inconvenient, but highly stressful.

Usually, inability to write scripts can be attributed to lack of materials. In other words, the anchors do not have access to news packages or new sources or sound bites on tape—all needed to effectively write about, into, and out of a specific, pre-produced story/quote. And that’s where the problem rests: these items are supposed to be pre-produced…in advance…beforehand…with plenty of time to spare. In this way, the anchors have ample opportunity to view the footage or listen to the quote and can make appropriate writing adjustments. True, anchors can not necessarily write Thursday’s news on Tuesday. But Wednesday night/Thursday morning is not out of reach, especially in regard to non-dated news packages.

So off I went, violently hurrying about on Thursday afternoon, trying to determine what some stories were even about. (Which, by the way, is especially hard when the only information is a title slug, reading something like “Pony Ride PKG.” How an anchor introduction is written from a slug is beyond my expertise.) I was forced to frantically call the producer and reporters involved. They were all in class. So next came texting, and we all know a story can’t possibly be described in 160 characters or less—even with a qwerty keyboard.

In the end, we anchors had minimal mistakes throughout the show. But they could have been avoided had we had more time to adequately prepare. The point is, people are expected to hold up their ends of bargains, especially in group projects. And though we produce The County Line every Thursday, it is, by virtue, no different.

Commercializing the Producer

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:45:00 -0400

Last week, each member of my Capstone class pitched their respective ideas to the Broadcast Communications Department—seeking that legendary “green light” to move ahead. Personally, I spent a great deal of semester’s beginning simply thinking about my project, with no noteworthy improvements.

However, I still had a pitch to make (last week), and was able to successfully do that after finally determining my project’s foundation. Briefly, here was my starting point:

We’ve all seen them—not only terrible commercials, but terrible college commercials. The first two here speak for themselves (or, ironically, do not). The last one, from Ohio University where I attended my freshman year, may be of higher production quality, but the story remains empty and hardly any more motivational than the others.

At Westminster, we have our own shoddy work, thankfully not by fault of the Broadcast Department. For some reason, we as a the College, find it valuable to run what is effectively a slideshow, set to classical music, during Pittsburgh Penguins games. I apologize I couldn’t find the commercial online, to include here for your enjoyment. Frankly, it’s a poor attempt to drive traffic to westminster.edu, or to interest high school students in visiting campus. It not only lacks a defined target audience, but fails to successfully represent the spirit of Westminster—a leader in liberal arts education, while employing a family atmosphere. In my opinion, the commercial style and story should echo that theme.

Given my video production experience, appreciation for story, and ability to politely and respectfully question authority after gaining its respect, I found it appropriate to produce a new College television commercial as the pinnacle of my Capstone project. I plan to use focus groups, made of defined target audience members. I’ll show them examples of current ads, from both Westminster and neighboring schools, and use their feedback as guidance. I’ll work with the President, his Cabinet, Admissions, and Student Affairs as clients, while attempting to win their support in my efforts.

Though this project may require most of fall semester, I envision the process to be both rewarding and inspiring. I will have the opportunity to develop my production, story-telling, and negotiating skills. I will become a producer, director, cinematographer, editor, writer, and the like. I suppose this truly reflects the one-man-band theory.

In the end, I hope to produce a professional, polished, and effect commercial for the College. One that not only will serve as my Capstone project, but more importantly become a more appropriate representative of Westminster.

You stay classy...

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 20:40:00 -0400

San Diego. That’s where I’ll potentially be this summer. To prepare, I may have to start watching Anchorman. Which is appropriate, since it’s not only the location of the movie, but also because I’ll be partaking in an internship related to my Broadcast Communications major. But let me rewind a few months.

Around December, I decided the coming summer should be the time to abandon my hometown of Jefferson, Ohio, and seek new experiences elsewhere. Frankly, I’m sick of returning home as a college student, to seek summer employment at the local community center. I need an adventure.

Most people put a bunch of locations on slips of paper, and put those in a hat. Others throw darts at a map. But I already knew where I wanted to be: southern California. More specifically, America’s Finest City. Or at least that’s what Wikipedia says it is.

A summer on the beach, in the sun, and far from home—sounds more than appealing to me. But I needed an excuse not only for myself, but for my parents too. There was that whole pressure to find an internship, and I recognized the value of one. So weeks, even months, were spent pouring over the internet, typing “video+production+internship+san+diego” into google search boxes. Sometimes I hit good responses; most of the time not. Eventually I widened my searches to include terms like “media,” “web,” and “design.” And in time, widened the searches geographically too, thinking Miami or San Francisco wouldn’t be so bad.

Yet I was determined to find that summer, career-related internship in San Diego, and continued to deeper into the depths of the internet. And that’s when, one January day, a pdf file titled “Video Intern” floated onto my screen. It was with a nonprofit called Wildcoast, an organization looking to raise awareness about pollution in the Pacific. I thought that sounded pretty good. The application said they do some work across the border in Tijuana—and I had taken Spanish. Finally, they were hoping for a summer intern to produce television and web content. Perfect.

I called, emailed, and waited.

Meanwhile, I made (small) attempts to apply elsewhere, not wanting to put all of my eggs into the proverbial basket. Additionally, my parents wouldn’t be happy if I didn’t appropriately exhaust all potential avenues. The internship searches continued, but Wildcoast remained in the back of my mind.

Then came the official call, just days ago. They were not only officially offering me that internship, but were also extremely excited to have me on board, given my expertise and talents. Success!

I’ll be spending the next couple months finding work and housing. I’ll have to save every dime, but I have a feeling it’ll be well worth it. Not only will I have an entire summer vacation, but I’ll be gaining priceless career-related experience.

Just don’t tell mom and dad…they wouldn’t enjoy knowing that:

1. My initial intentions were to leave Jefferson;

2. I purposefully looked in San Diego;

3. I didn’t apply anywhere else.

Welcome!

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 13:47:00 -0500

I’ll be utilizing this blog for the next several months to organize my thoughts and reflect upon my broadcasting experiences. In short, it’s a pace where I can be me. Though more appropriately, it’s a place where I can unpack my journey through Capstone, and relate the experiences I develop there. I hope you’ll enjoy the posts I create here, along with the extra content I provide. As a bargain, I challenge myself to both update and entertain you, while you should feel challenged to frequent this area. It’ll be an exchange, of sorts, though obviously the communication will be more directional. This is a blog, after all.

To begin, I’d like to discuss my recent “promotion” to Executive Web Producer of wcn247.com. This is a new website, developed by the Broadcast Department, and seeks to move beyond the Westminster bubble in terms of news. Sometimes The Holcad can become too campus-centric. The exciting part is that, given recent technological advances (such as the Flip), content can be quickly uploaded to the site, leading to instantaneous reporting. But more importantly, it’s a way of giving more access to student reporters while providing visitors with campus and community news. The idea is to have a constant flow of news information—one not limited by a radio newscast or television show.

My role in its development is still being defined, but so far it is one I am enjoying. I am responsible for the general upkeep of the site (design and such) along with motivating our student reporters to gather and post content. And that’s the coolest part. On the web, it’s fairly easy to integrate video, audio, pictures, and the like. Which, in turn, makes it a cooler experience for you, the viewer.

Today is the official campus release of the site. We’re promoting it on Titanradio (listen here), through TUB banners, and signs around campus. We’ve been working hard over the last week to boost our campus news, and I think we’ve been successful in doing that. I’ll have to report back later tonight after traffic statistics are finalized. At this point, however, I would expect to have higher averages. The true test will come near semester’s end, when student knowledge should be much more widespread.

For now, I’ll continue my Executive Web Producer role, along with my responsibilities in the radio and television stations. Also, I’ll be working on additional episodes of Weekday Rave—a vlog exploring hot campus issues. And finally, I’ll be updating this blog as a way of unpacking my broadcast life.

Check back soon…