A Visual Representation of The Broadcast Greek Blog

Handing off the torch...

It's time to wrap up capstone, and it has been quite the experience! As I reflect over the past semester, summer and last springs semester; capstone has really changed me for the better. And I would hope that this experience will craft next year's class as well into young professionals in the media market. Soon my fellow capstoners and I will be moving on and handing off the torch over to the class of 2010! I have a lot of faith in next year's class and think they have amazing potential to further themselves and do some great things in the department. When entering capstone next semester, the new class will begin working on their project proposals. The senior project is a major component of the broadcasting capstone class and needs to be well thought out. With this in mind, I hope to offer some advice to the future class with picking their senior projects. Upon entering capstone, you should already have a good idea of what you're strengths are in broadcasting. I think it is a good advantage to take you're strength and apply it directly to a project. This will allow you to enjoy what you do, and also really shine with your product. For my project, I chose to built upon a project I did in a Public Relations research class. I discovered that our college TV station needed more promotions so I took this project under my wing and began crafting ideas and strategies. Once you pick your topic, make sure to BRAIN STORM! Brain storming will get the creative juices flowing in your mind and you can begin to hammer out ideas and strategies for your project. Make sure to write everything down, no idea is a bad idea and will only help you build you're foundation for your project. Like a building, a senior project must have a strong foundation to keep it standing! Once you have brain stormed and have that foundation, talk to your fellow capstone classmates and advisers in the department to get their input. This is important because although you might have some amazing ideas, sometimes you can't think of everything and they might touch upon something you haven't considered. With all of these tips in mind, hopefully hammering out your senior project proposal for capstone will go smoothly and lead you to an amazing opportunity to shine!

The Tide of Capstone Crashes Down...

Wow, let me just say I can't believe it is already the 3rd week of November! This semester is flying by and we only have a few weeks left in the semester. Normally this wouldn't phase me much as I would prepare for finals and holiday breaks... but this year is much different.
This is my second semester in my senior capstone class, and the “tide” of capstone is crashing to shore rapidly. My classmates and I have been hard at work the past months working on our senior projects. When choosing our projects, we all decided to go very different routes, which is a good thing and lends creativity and uniqueness to our class. Along with our projects we are required to present our projects to our capstone professor, classmates and any other people we invite. Already thus far, four of my fellow classmates have presented their projects and they have been amazing! For this reason, I decided to summarize and deconstruct a bit of each of these projects because I believe they all deserve equal amounts of attention!
The first brave soul to step into the presentation pool was Melissa Maines. Over the years, I have grown to know Melissa quite well as a partner in many class projects. I have watched her grown into the successful broadcaster she is today and I think her project definitely displayed these skills. Melissa has been working all semester with the sports segment of The County Line. She has basically taken over the responsibility of the whole segment by producing, writing and hosting the sports. For her project, she reflected on all the work she has put into sports over the past semester and this was indeed impressive.
Next to present her project was Amanda Conway, or “Red” as we like to call her in the department. Amanda has also been a close friend to me in the department over the years and has impressed me the most this year with her endless efforts at radio news. Amanda has been one student who has persistently pursued the job of on camera anchoring and reporting. For her project, Amanda analyzed exactly what you need to do (and what not to do) when applying for an on air reporting position at a TV station. She also put together a resume tape of all of her best work over her years at Westminster, and also at her internship in Erie, WSEE.
The third student to present their project was Nicky Piszczor. Nicky is one of those people who you gasp at when even thinking of how much work she has done in her capstone project. I went to view Nicky’s debut of her documentary on the history of Lawrence County and was taken a back by the beauty presented in front of me. I was amazed by the movie that Nicky put together, she effectively combined story-telling, and professional shots while still making the whole film flow.
Finally, the last person to present this past week was Shayna Marti. Shayna has always been a determined student as well. I got to know her well this summer interning by her side in Youngstown at WKBN TV. Shayna took the skills she learned at her internship of story-telling and writing and combined them with her amazing work on camera to capture the essence of a documentary about lending a helping hand. She followed a mission sponsored by the local Lawrence Community Action Partnership and told the story of the compassionate volunteers that work for those in need in the county.
At this point, I do feel a little nervous but I believe more anxious to present my project. I know I have put a lot of time and effort into my project and hope to show my fellow classmates what I have done and hopefully teach them a bit like they have for me.

Oh The Places You Will Go!

This was the theme for this year's senior only "Dine and Shine" dinner. Each year, the Career Center puts on a formal dinner for seniors ready to graduate in the spring. In additional to a very delicious meal and desserts, we were treated to a fashion show with underclassman modeling proffesional business wear and casual business wear. This was helpful because we were able to see in person what was acceptable for an interview, on the job and in a more casual work atmosphere. I actually had an experience my sophomore year modeling for the Dine n Shine so I had an idea of what I was in for coming into this dinner. In addition to the fashion show, we were given many tips on how to act during an interview for the job of our dreams. I learned so many things from the speech that will put me in a better place to interview for a job. First, we learned that most 2nd interviews happen over a meal. The employer will invite the potential employee to a dinner (usually in a nice restaurant atmospher) to discuss in further detail your aspirations for a job. We learned many valuable dining tips like how to use all the different silverware in front of you, how to use your napkin during dinner and how many drinks you may order. The general rule of thumb for drinks is do not order any unless your company and employer are drinking then one per hour is acceptable. Also it is common practice to not order too much food. Our speaker said it is a good idea to eat prior to the interview so you are not starving and ravinous during your meal. It is betterto cut and take small bites so you do not look glutonous. We also learned that a firm handshake is a must. You don't want to reach out and shake your potential employeer's hand with a weak handshake. Overall the first impression you make during a dinner interview is one that will stick with an employer for quite some time so it is always good to be on your best behavior and practice these common courtesies. This year's Dine and Shine gave me a very good inlook on what I can expect during an interview, what is acceptable to wear and how to act to impress and employer!

The Applications Begin!

For capstone this week, our professor asked us to respond to a job listing we found in a field we want to work in. For over the past year I have been working on promotions for my senior project, for this reason I have chosen a promotions job. THIS IS A CLASS ASSIGNMENT -- NOT A REAL COVER LETTER/APPLICATION

JOB DESCRIPTION:
Promotion Manager, Radio Disney

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City Greensboro
State NC
Position Type Full-time
Requisition ID 178721

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Radio Disney in Greensboro, NC seeks a motivated Promotions Manager in the Greensboro market. Radio Disney is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company.

Responsibilities: Supervise and manage promotion department including event staffing; personality hiring, training, and scheduling. Coordinate all station promotions and event activities to include equipment, prizing, games and activities. Oversee local production of station promo’s and occasional commercials. Explore, identify and present revenue opportunities for the station. Maintain high quality operational equipment such as vehicles, audio equipment etc… May include nights and weekends

Requirements
Education: High school diploma, some college preferred

Work Experience: Radio promotions experience preferred, prior performance based work related experience a plus.

Technical Skills: Basic radio production, sound system usage, PowerPoint, and other PC skills

Non-technical Skills: Highly detail oriented, highly energetic, lift up to 50 pounds, enjoy public contact, and enjoy working with children

Cover Letter:
Hello Disney,
I would like to take the time to introduce myself. I am Nathan Dodd, a senior Broadcast Communications major and Public Relations minor at Westminster College in Pennsylvania. I am responding to the Promotions Manager position for Radio Disney. I think I would be an excellent canidate for this job because I am a very enthusiatic and hard working person. In addition to my good work ethic, I have had a vast amount of experience in radio and promotions with my time spent here in college. At Westminster, we are given the chance to work hands on in the radio and TV stations from freshman year. Ever since I started my collegic career I have been hard at work learning as much as I can about the broacasting and promotions field. I am even currently working on a promotions campaign for our college radio station producing radio promos and advertising the station. My love for broadcasting and promotions will shine through as I work for your company managing your station. I'm a people person and love to work with the public and think that the interaction with the public will further my enthusiasm with ths career. I am also a huge fan of Disney and think that my enthusiasm and work ethic will match your station's mission perfectly. Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you!

The Value of a Liberal Arts Education

When entering Westminster College as a first year, one of the first things you hear is about the value of a liberal arts education. Basically, this means that a college believes by taking many different courses in many different field you can broaden your horizon of education. Some of the classes I've had to take to fulfill this requirement include writing, speech, swimming, political sceine, philosophy and many others. I have enjoyed all of the courses I have taken here at Westminster but the one class I had the toughest time grasping was Astronomy. I took Astronomy last semester with Dr. Lightner. Dr. Lightner was a wonderful professor and full of life and knowledge. This man was literally an encyclopedia on Astronomy! I respected him very much and was glad to be in his last class before he retired from Westminster. So I do not blame my difficulty in this course on the professor at all, but I just never really learned to grasp it. I went into Astronomy thinking "This should be an easy science course, we'll just study planets and stars and the galaxies." While we did do those things, Astronomy is much more involved than just studying starts and planets. By definition, Astronomy is scientific study of celestial objects (such as stars, planets, comets, and galaxies) and phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere (such as the cosmic background radiation). It is concerned with the evolution, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects, as well as the formation and development of the universe. As you can see, there are many different types of sciences involved in the study of Astronomy. We learned a wide array of information while in the course, and I definnitely thought the class was interesting and inspired me to learn more. The information was so complex however that no matter how long I studied, I always came up a little bit short. I passed the class successfully though and I am actually glad I took this course because I believe it opened up my mind to many things I normally wouldn't think about. The value of a liberal arts education is very apparent to me now, and has showed me how it can help me grow.

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

I would like to give a huge thank-you to all of my fellow BC major class-mates. You guys have all helped me out so much and I think everyone in my class definitely has their own strengths which together builds an amazing team of young professionals! One person who sticks out the most to me as someone I would like to stay in contact with in the future is Christina Roseto. Christina is not only an amazing friend, but pretty much amazing at anything she puts her mind too. This includes academics, and most importantly, broadcast communications. I have journeyed through my years in the department with Christina by my side. We have taken several classes together, but it wasn't until Senior Capstone that I really grew to appreciate Christina's talents. Since last semester, we both have experienced the highs and lows of the capstone experience. Christina has helped me in several occasions get my act together and deliver what I need to by giving me tips and suggestions. Her project for capstone is filming the Westminster Titans and putting together clips of practice, games, etc. to compile a recruitment video that can be shown to high school football players. I think this is a great project and I have been supporting her the entire time with hopefully some good suggestions to help her as well. In 10 years I see Christina doing something great in sports broadcasting. Her internship this summer at KDKA working in the sports department seemed to benefit her tremendously. I know that in the future she will be even more professional and produce even higher quality work than she already does now because she has amazing potential to grow in this profession. I can see Christina wanting to stay around the Pittsburgh metropolitan area for her job but she could definitely land a job in any larger market that she wanted! Christina has a love for not only Pittsburgh but the work that she does in broadcasting and I know this will carry her far!