iNto Columbus: The Server, Part III

The Server seems to be one of my main internship duties of late. We film every Friday morning, and since Fridays are my main internship days, I generally get a chance to participate.

I took the lead in setting up both of the cameras and audio today since there were only two of us doing the filming. There were only three hosts again, so we set up both cameras and mic-ed up the three guys. Instead of trying to get everyone’s face in both shots, we angled each camera so that we would have full on shots for half the table and profile for the other half. The lighting was simple and already set up; all we had to do was turn it on. The mics were pretty simple until we got to the last wireless lavalier mic. It was very quiet when we did a mic check, so we opted for the wired lavalier, and plugged it right into the camera. It sounded much better. We filmed the three hosts talking about their “nerdy” topics for 30 minutes. It was a pretty easy, stress-free shoot.

After, I got to help edit last week’s episode, adding pictures and logos where necessary. We also fixed the audio, bleeped out any choice words, and made sure the exposure and lighting were okay.

The Server is definitely becoming one of my main jobs at NPACE, but I’m glad. It’s pretty fun and I get to learn new shooting and editing techniques. Oh, and Happy Halloween!

A Sign of Beauty

As the weather cools down many individuals would think that it would become a slow time for the Columbus Botanical Garden. This is partially true but only because the weather is cooler. This is not because the flowers are not in bloom. Actually on the contrary there are always flowers in bloom.

Each season the Botanical Gardens make sure that there flowers going out of bloom will be replaced with new ones that bloom that season. So this year it has been my job to help gain awareness and also get more people involved in the winter. While promoting event and also helping with their social media presence I have found that more people are coming to take photos and also visit. Mainly for the upcoming Christmas or Thanksgiving seasons for cards and other family activities.

With these holidays quickly approaching many more people are coming to visit due to the need of beautiful places to take these photos with great backgrounds. Hopefully as this season continues I may be able to assist the Gardens to gain a few more customers.

Young Professionals – Improving Website

Last post I talked about how I updated the Young Professionals website. This time I am going to discuss how I have improved the website. As I went through the website I saw many parts of the website that lacked the design elements that made a website pleasing or inviting to the eye. One of the website was the “About YP” tab. When the tab was clicked on the page showed a horribly designed unsymmetrical site that many of the elements were arbitrarily thrown around. After gaining permission to change the site I improved it to what it looks like today. Click Here to see how it looks today. I like it because the information that is pertinent to the site are together rather then strewn throughout the page and the information is much neater and cleaner then what it was before. I do not have any previous information about what it looked like before the change but trust me, it wasn’t impressive.

After this change I moved to the “Leadership Team” page. Click Here! I noticed they had names of the leadership team but did not have picture to put faces with names. I personally feel this is important when people try to figure out who to talk to or even knowing the person they are contacting is important. Although not all the members of the leadership team have submitted photos of themselves so I can insert them, many have done so. So far these are the only improvements to the site I have done thus far. I am continuing to update their website as I go through it each time I am at my internship, and will continue improving the site.

 

Young Professionals – Website Update

I recently, over the summer, learned how to write HTML and CSS. As an intern with the Chamber of Commerce and the Young Professionals, I thought updating the website would be an easy enough task. I was wrong… This wasn’t due to my misunderstanding of HTML or CSS but it was due to my lack of knowledge of WordPress websites. Writing code in WP is not as easy as inputting data. There are some areas that do allow you to insert code but as you get into the intricate information, such as, links opening up new tabs (or windows) that allow you to remain on the same, previous page while allowing you to move on to a new site. Many of this information was not available to the Chamber employees because they outsource their website creation to a 3rd party marketing company. So I relied on YouTube to supplement the learning that I needed to maneuver to the information I needed to accomplish. I also went through all of the pages and ensured every one was working properly. It was a task I thought would take no longer then 30 minutes which ended up taking me 2 days to complete. It is no fault of the chambers because they are doing a great job on everything they put their hands on; some things just fall at the wayside and this just so happened to be the situation. The website is currently up to date and running smoothly! Check it out! Click Here! Also, If you are a professional, or anyone between the ages of 21 – 40 you should consider joining. It is a great opportunity to be a part of a professional organization that helps you gain valuable skills and is a great networking opportunity.

Goodbye Internship, Hello JOB!!!! :)

My last day as a intern!

Okay, so I’m a little late with this post but things have been soo hectic in my life that I could write another an entire blog about.

Anyway, so on Wednesday, October 22nd, I was hired on at WTVM as a Media Content Specialist by Mr. Darryl Huger. That was also the last official day of my internship with the company. It was incredible! Mr. Huger made a huge announcement in front of the entire staff at the 2:45 news meeting and everyone was very supportive and encouraging. That same day I was given my official company badge with my actual picture on it and I was also added to the payroll that day.

I traded in my internship badge for my OFFICIAL EMPLOYEE badge! 🙂

Finally OFFICIAL!

Once I was done with that, I still had a few hours left in my internship for the day and I wanted to savor those few hours by hitting the streets with Sara Lim for a story to cover. Sara and I went to CSU’s main campus to interview Dr. Thomas Dolan about the Khorasan group and its threat to the United States.

The awesome Sara Lim!

Looking busy for the camera

Dr. Thomas Dolan

Once we were done with that story, we headed downtown to the Police Dept. to look for leads on a good story. We were able to get access to the back area of the Police Dept. where Sara and I could look through a book of recent police reports and pick out what we felt like could be used for news.

I started my very first working shift on Friday, October 24th. Right now, I’m only working weekends there; Friday-Sunday until next semester when I have more availability with my classes. This is a really big accomplishment for me and also an exciting one. My internship only lasted 2 months and I already have a job working for the same company I was interning for. It all happened so fast that it almost felt unreal. I definitely plan to use this opportunity to my advantage and get all of the necessary experience I need grow and become a valuable asset to a company after graduation. Mr. Huger told me after he hired me that this is not just a job but the beginning of my career and he is absolutely right. This opportunity is not only a fantastic resume builder but it will open the door for more opportunities for me later in life and after graduation. I look forward to establishing a career at WTVM and I am anxious to see what doors open for me down the line.

I asked Mr. Huger to take a selfie with me after he hired me and he kindly obliged! 😀

Networking Rounds

During Week Eleven I added some videos to the website but the slow Internet speed made the process take a great deal longer. While waiting for the videos to upload I removed some text and logo from the DSC brochure as requested by Jay.

On the next internship day, I began my day by going to the 8 a.m. Chamber 101 meeting where I networked as PR for the Disability Service Center. I found the Chamber 101 meeting to be informational and I saw the Chamber as an opportunity to further promote DSC in the future. After returning to DSC, I met with Ashley of Adventure Autism Travel about the upcoming Golf Tournament. Later I went to a Rotary Club with Jay for further networking. It is becoming more and more apparent just how important networking is for a nonprofit. Afterwards, we went to the NPACE Center and recorded my first CPR Nonprofit Circle with Jay being the first nonprofit guest on the segment (I hope to make this a weekly segment with other NPACE Center partners). Once we completed the segment, we went to the Chamber of Commerce after I mentioned the possibility of getting the NPACE Center involved with the Chamber (Oh, me and my bright ideas). That is a whole different story.

Interview with Freeze Frame

Today I put together a package a little different. This week I chose to do a segment with Freeze Frame located on Broadway and 11th. It was a different interview setup. The owner basically gave me a tutorial of what to do at Freeze Frame. She demonstrated step by step how to make a yogurt bowl of your choice. First by picking the size cup/waffle to put your yogurt in, next selecting the different flavors of frozen yogurt that you desire, next adding the over 60 toppings to choose from, finally weighing your cup/waffle to see how much it weighed. The prices are .49 cents per oz and they offer 10% discounts with military ID and student ID cards. Freeze Frame also offers a discount if you purchase and wear their shirts with their logo. I enjoyed shooting here at Freeze Frame and will definitely make another trip in the near future.

What a Sale

Over the past few weeks I have been assisting on creating buzz about the flower sale at the Columbus Botanical Garden. By creating a list of outlets to market ideas for the Gardens this finally gave us the chance to use it. However like many first times using something, things went wrong. For example the time period was much too late to create and also print all of the flyers and news articles so much of the attack was by social media.

By using mostly social media, there was a larger turn out for a younger crowd but I personally felt as though more individuals should and could have come and joined in the fun.

One of the days I assisted with the flower sale, I realized that there was no way that attention was being drawn to the location and also to the flower sale itself. For that matter I suggested that we have the volunteers that helped simply stand by the street and wave at individuals passing by. This immediately increased turn out because of the ability to draw attention to the Garden and people realizing that there was something going on.

All in all the event was a success and also allowed for the Garden to use different ways of drawing attention and marketing themselves. Hopefully this will continue on with the next event and also help with many more events to come.

Shooting For Intro

On Sunday I went out into the Columbus Area to shoot different places to eat and things to do. I discovered many eating places as well as clothing places to shop in the local area. The places that I went to will feature on future segments of iNtoColumbus. I was joined by one of the co-host Brandi Phillips as she assisted me in setting up the camera and tripod. We visited The Landings located on Airport Thruway and the Strip Mall located in North Columbus. The staff of iNtoColumbus is looking for new locations to produce segments and my job was to go out and find those interesting places to shoot. Different settings will give the show a different feel that no other show produces. We want a new and modern feel so we can attract a broader audience. I enjoyed venturing the Columbus area and took a break to grab some frozen yogurt at Sweet Frog(located in the landings).

A Cause Far Greater than Themselves

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my participation in the Sue Marie and Bill Turner Servant Leadership Award project that the Pastoral Institute came to NPACE for help with. I was tasked with writing the narration for the video that was shown at the awards banquet on October 21st. Now that the video has been completed and the Schusters have received their award, I though I’d share what I wrote:

Ruth and Marvin Schuster

What is “Servant Leadership?” Is it loving your neighbor as yourself? Is it serving the needy? The downtrodden? The lost and broken? Is it giving your life to a cause far greater than yourself?

In two-thousand twelve, the Pastoral Institute established an award honoring Sue Marie and Bill Turner, a couple embodying the true essence of servant leadership. The Turners loved their community, actively working to improve it through their service to the Bradley-Turner Foundation and their founding of the Pastoral Institute forty years ago.

The two-thousand fourteen recipients of The Sue Marie and Bill Turner Servant Leadership Award exemplify this same caring and loving commitment to the broken and needy in their community. Ruth and Marvin Schuster have spent their 56 years of marriage living out the heart of servant leadership. They feel a special draw to serving the homeless and helpless here at home, using their time, talents, gifts, and service to lift the spirits of those in need.

In nineteen sixty-seven, Marvin established the family-owned business, Schuster Enterprises, Incorporated. Since then, it has grown into one of the most successful and respected franchises in the Burger King Corporation. Their legacy lives on through their son, Todd, current owner of the family business.

During this time, Ruth has helped provide physical and spiritual nourishment throughout her twenty-eight years of volunteering with Meals on Wheels—delivering food to shut-ins and those with limited mobility—while also bringing hope to the lonely through the Widow’s Ministry at Edgewood Baptist Church. The couple are strong supporters of our local United Way, Columbus State University, and the international ministries of both the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association as well as Columbia International University in Columbia, South Carolina.

The Schusters are truly living for a cause far greater than themselves: the love and care of their neighbors. Their commitment to these principles has made them excellent candidates for this year’s Sue Marie and Bill Turner Servant Leadership Award. They are an inspiration to us all.