The year is wrapping up and with that in mind I've finally started to begin searching out jobs. I'm hoping to stay close to the area for my first one, and then I'll move after that, but we'll see how that turns out.
That having been said, there's an opening in Youngstown, right next door, that I've decided to go after. It's a bit of a long shot, but then again, it can't hurt to try right? I'm putting my resume tape together as we speak; hopefully it'll be done by sometime this week, and then I'll have my ducks in a row to get in touch with the news director about the job.
This week I'm also going to be contacting some people from my last internship in Grand Rapids to see if I can get some feedback from them on some of my work since I've been there, but also to talk to them about making a resume tape. Grand Rapids is a rather large market so it should be interesting to find out what people at that level think it take for a good tape.
Plenty's going on now with the year wrapping up, so stay tuned, things can only happen faster!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Fixing what ails you... or your package.
So the last few weeks have been interesting when it coems to putting together packages and getting things done in adverse situations. Let's jump back to LAST week first. I was preparing a story about the LLP program here at Westminster, and had scheduled interviews to talk about the program with a few different people who are part of it. Well as it happens, all but one had to cancel due to weather or conflicts. So, when I couldn't get enough ready, I ended up switching stories and working on one we had discussed in class. Well that didn't really pan out either, so I ended up going back to my original idea and editing most of my story Wednesday night and the morning of the show. As if that wasn't enough, I had to anchor that night as well, which was another thing to deal with. As it happened, I actually pulled out a good enough story, it just wasn't the best one I've done.
This week was another lesson in making do with what's thrown at you. I had reserved gear for an interview for my next package for the upcoming week's show, and when I went to get it, it turned out to be in use still. The problem was that I had the person I was going to interview WAITING for me. Now I was fortunate, in that he was very patient while I tried to solve the problem. Fortunately, I got out another set of gear, and Pam was awesome and jumped in to shoot for me.
It's been an interesting week, but hopefully it won't get any more so this week. Here's a sneak preview of what I have going. Ever meet someone who's been abroad studying to teach a second language? Well reverse everything; think of someone FROM abroad moving to THIS country (and staying!) studying to teach what to HIM is a second language. Bet you don't know as many people who do that. Watch the County Line this week to learn about someone who does.
This week was another lesson in making do with what's thrown at you. I had reserved gear for an interview for my next package for the upcoming week's show, and when I went to get it, it turned out to be in use still. The problem was that I had the person I was going to interview WAITING for me. Now I was fortunate, in that he was very patient while I tried to solve the problem. Fortunately, I got out another set of gear, and Pam was awesome and jumped in to shoot for me.
It's been an interesting week, but hopefully it won't get any more so this week. Here's a sneak preview of what I have going. Ever meet someone who's been abroad studying to teach a second language? Well reverse everything; think of someone FROM abroad moving to THIS country (and staying!) studying to teach what to HIM is a second language. Bet you don't know as many people who do that. Watch the County Line this week to learn about someone who does.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Weather Woes
This week was definitely another object lesson in how packages can go awry, when NONE of it was your fault. This time, it's the weather that decided to make my life difficult.
Tuesday we had a huge snowstorm, and although we still had classes one of the people I was going to interview who lives off-campus couldn't make it in to campus to have an interview that day, so I couldn't get him in front of a camera. The second person I had contacted also called that day saying that due to the weather and other circumstances, she's be too busy to actually have time for an interview. Argh.
Friday things started to work out though. I got two of the interviews I needed (though I think the audio on one is crap, but that can fortunately be fixed easily.)
So this story's kind of in limbo at the moment. By tomorrow at noon, I'll have a decision on whether or not it'll go forward for this week. I think chances are good that it can though.
Looking forward now, this'll be a fun week. I'll be back behind the anchor desk on Thursday for the third edition of the County Line this semester, anchoring with Amanda C. We're both psyched for it, too, so it should be great. If you want to know if my package turns out in time, watch the show on Thursday!
Tuesday we had a huge snowstorm, and although we still had classes one of the people I was going to interview who lives off-campus couldn't make it in to campus to have an interview that day, so I couldn't get him in front of a camera. The second person I had contacted also called that day saying that due to the weather and other circumstances, she's be too busy to actually have time for an interview. Argh.
Friday things started to work out though. I got two of the interviews I needed (though I think the audio on one is crap, but that can fortunately be fixed easily.)
So this story's kind of in limbo at the moment. By tomorrow at noon, I'll have a decision on whether or not it'll go forward for this week. I think chances are good that it can though.
Looking forward now, this'll be a fun week. I'll be back behind the anchor desk on Thursday for the third edition of the County Line this semester, anchoring with Amanda C. We're both psyched for it, too, so it should be great. If you want to know if my package turns out in time, watch the show on Thursday!
Sunday, February 10, 2008
How it is in the real world
Wow. This has been one crazy week. I had my first package for the County Line due this week, whcih actually turned out pretty darn good. There were some writing issues that I need to watch out for, but those will hopefully be fixed next time around.
THIS week, though, I have to say was special in SOOO many ways. I had pretty much everything in my life decide to happen over the past few days, which made getting things done a matter of "I only have this half-hour slot to write this four-page paper... GO!" Granted, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it's about the feeling I've had.
I woke up this morning, the first day things will be relatively peaceful, and was inwardly moaning and groaning and thinking about how nice it will be when I get a "real job" to not have to worry about anything else while doing a story, when it hit me that I still will. I intend to have a family, a life outside of work, friends, all of which take time, and some of which will certainly run into each other and cause some craziness in my existence! Thinking about it that way, I'm now actually kind of glad this week was as crazy as it was. I do however hope that theNEXT week won't be so nuts.
I'm going to try and start posting my packages from The County Line on here for this semester, but I don't have the first one with me, so keep an eye out for that within the next few days.
THIS week, though, I have to say was special in SOOO many ways. I had pretty much everything in my life decide to happen over the past few days, which made getting things done a matter of "I only have this half-hour slot to write this four-page paper... GO!" Granted, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it's about the feeling I've had.
I woke up this morning, the first day things will be relatively peaceful, and was inwardly moaning and groaning and thinking about how nice it will be when I get a "real job" to not have to worry about anything else while doing a story, when it hit me that I still will. I intend to have a family, a life outside of work, friends, all of which take time, and some of which will certainly run into each other and cause some craziness in my existence! Thinking about it that way, I'm now actually kind of glad this week was as crazy as it was. I do however hope that theNEXT week won't be so nuts.
I'm going to try and start posting my packages from The County Line on here for this semester, but I don't have the first one with me, so keep an eye out for that within the next few days.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Wrapping it up and starting ALL over
So the last few days at WOOD were absolutely awesome. I got to go out on a VO/SOT my last day there, and this time the opposite thing happened again, but in a better way. The expectation here was that the story would be a non-event and we'd come back with a significant feeling of blah.
Not so, as it was. The event we went to was a speaker at Calvin College. He was talking about a medical procedure he pioneered in order to allow a family to take care of this SEVERELY disabled person. The treatment had a LOT of thought put into it, and was eventually approved.
However, a group of people from disabled person's advocacy organization were outside of the speech protesting his methods, and they were disabled (yet functional) themselves.
And then after that, I went back and had lunch with the news director and the rest of the interns. That was one of the best learning experiences I had there, becuase she shared a lot of wisdom gleaned from her experience with us, some of it I will remember for a good long while. After that, I just said my goodbyes as people left for the day, and I was really surprised with the friendliness of people as I was leaving. That only confirmed my plan that by this time five years from now, I want to be back at WOOD, but this time, being paid. *grin*
And that about wraps the internship up; I'm back at Westminster now, and getting back to the grind of college life. I have no radio time this year, but I'll have a TON of time on the TV station, so it'll be interesting for sure to work in TV more this year. Anyway, thanks again to EVERYONE at WOOD. I'm hoping to keep in touch, and hope to drop in again at some point when I get back to Michigan.
More WC BC adventures coming soon!
Not so, as it was. The event we went to was a speaker at Calvin College. He was talking about a medical procedure he pioneered in order to allow a family to take care of this SEVERELY disabled person. The treatment had a LOT of thought put into it, and was eventually approved.
However, a group of people from disabled person's advocacy organization were outside of the speech protesting his methods, and they were disabled (yet functional) themselves.
And then after that, I went back and had lunch with the news director and the rest of the interns. That was one of the best learning experiences I had there, becuase she shared a lot of wisdom gleaned from her experience with us, some of it I will remember for a good long while. After that, I just said my goodbyes as people left for the day, and I was really surprised with the friendliness of people as I was leaving. That only confirmed my plan that by this time five years from now, I want to be back at WOOD, but this time, being paid. *grin*
And that about wraps the internship up; I'm back at Westminster now, and getting back to the grind of college life. I have no radio time this year, but I'll have a TON of time on the TV station, so it'll be interesting for sure to work in TV more this year. Anyway, thanks again to EVERYONE at WOOD. I'm hoping to keep in touch, and hope to drop in again at some point when I get back to Michigan.
More WC BC adventures coming soon!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
More adventures in election reporting!
Oh, broadcasting. Never a dull moment, and last night proves it.
So, as I said in my last post, I went down south to Kalamazoo last night to track the election numbers as they come in. Well doncha know, that for the first time in the memory of WOOD, Kalamazoo County was actually USING the election tracking system they had set up, and they were able to watch the votes coming in from the station in Grand Rapids ANYWAY. *sigh*
That's the first part of the night; don't go far, it gets better!
So after I got the call to come on back, I hop on 131 (US-131, a fairly major highway through West Michigan) and on my way back to Grand Rapids, I hear a strange thumping and then a BOOM. Oh yeah, I had popped a tire. As if that wasn't enough, my cell phone had died on the way back, so what was left for me to do? Turn on the hazards and hoof it to the nearest exit and find a gas station. I fortunately was only 1/4 of a mile or so away from one, so it wasn't a LONG walk, but someone did actually stop and give me a lift for the larger part of the (albeit short) trip. From there, it gets boring, I got the gas station's phone and called AAA and they got me back on the road again, so I was fine, but I do need to get that new tire.
I've heard it countless times before, but you never know what this business will throw at you, and here's a shining example! On the other hand, I heard today about an intern who was once stuck overnight in Ionia County (a.k.a B.F.E.) so it could have been far worse!
Mock newscast is coming up tonight, more on that later, probably tomorrow!
So, as I said in my last post, I went down south to Kalamazoo last night to track the election numbers as they come in. Well doncha know, that for the first time in the memory of WOOD, Kalamazoo County was actually USING the election tracking system they had set up, and they were able to watch the votes coming in from the station in Grand Rapids ANYWAY. *sigh*
That's the first part of the night; don't go far, it gets better!
So after I got the call to come on back, I hop on 131 (US-131, a fairly major highway through West Michigan) and on my way back to Grand Rapids, I hear a strange thumping and then a BOOM. Oh yeah, I had popped a tire. As if that wasn't enough, my cell phone had died on the way back, so what was left for me to do? Turn on the hazards and hoof it to the nearest exit and find a gas station. I fortunately was only 1/4 of a mile or so away from one, so it wasn't a LONG walk, but someone did actually stop and give me a lift for the larger part of the (albeit short) trip. From there, it gets boring, I got the gas station's phone and called AAA and they got me back on the road again, so I was fine, but I do need to get that new tire.
I've heard it countless times before, but you never know what this business will throw at you, and here's a shining example! On the other hand, I heard today about an intern who was once stuck overnight in Ionia County (a.k.a B.F.E.) so it could have been far worse!
Mock newscast is coming up tonight, more on that later, probably tomorrow!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
2nd week
OK, so the daily part went out the window for a bit, but that's partly because there's been a good bit of excitement since then. Granted there's been some monotony mixed in as well, but that's not unreasonable either.
So let's go over what I've been doing over the past few days.
First, I got the chance to go out and represent the station at two meetings and put together two VO/SOTs for WOOD. Well, actually only one VO/SOT. The other story was dryer than the Gobi Desert, so it was turned into a VO. BARELY.
I did the writing for them as well, and they both went on largely without being changed by the producers, which was GREAT to see. I also got some firsthand experience at the second one, about how a story does NOT turn in to what you expect it to be.
I FINALLY got a chance to put together a package which I'll be able to bring with me to use in the future for a resumé tape. I used the VO/SOT I went to first (the good one) for the package. While I was out there, Dan Salas, the photog who was out with me shot a stand-up for me, which I used in the package. Now all I have to do is get name CGs in there. I hope to be able to add them in before I go, so they have the station's authentic CGs, but otherwise, I'll add them in myself. Wait, hold that thought, just got that question answered. I'll have the real thing in there tomorrow.
I also finally had the chance to go out on a live shot yesterday. The live truck which usually only holds two people was sent out to meet us after a report and photog and I had already left, so that's how we pulled that off. I got a chance to see a package get put together.
((Dear God, as I'm trying to write this the phones are ringing off the freakin' hook! Granted it IS primary day here in Michigan, but DAMN.))
And that's the biggest news from last week. THIS week promises to be even MORE interesting. I will be doing a mock newscast tomorrow night which promises to be a LOT of fun, and that will also be something I can take with me to use for a resumé. I thought that would be the highlight of the week, but I may have been wrong. I just today found out that I'll be our rep in Kalamazoo counting votes for the primaries tonight!
Anyway, that about brings you all back up to speed. I'll be reporting back in (no pun intended) later on tonight!
So let's go over what I've been doing over the past few days.
First, I got the chance to go out and represent the station at two meetings and put together two VO/SOTs for WOOD. Well, actually only one VO/SOT. The other story was dryer than the Gobi Desert, so it was turned into a VO. BARELY.
I did the writing for them as well, and they both went on largely without being changed by the producers, which was GREAT to see. I also got some firsthand experience at the second one, about how a story does NOT turn in to what you expect it to be.
I FINALLY got a chance to put together a package which I'll be able to bring with me to use in the future for a resumé tape. I used the VO/SOT I went to first (the good one) for the package. While I was out there, Dan Salas, the photog who was out with me shot a stand-up for me, which I used in the package. Now all I have to do is get name CGs in there. I hope to be able to add them in before I go, so they have the station's authentic CGs, but otherwise, I'll add them in myself. Wait, hold that thought, just got that question answered. I'll have the real thing in there tomorrow.
I also finally had the chance to go out on a live shot yesterday. The live truck which usually only holds two people was sent out to meet us after a report and photog and I had already left, so that's how we pulled that off. I got a chance to see a package get put together.
((Dear God, as I'm trying to write this the phones are ringing off the freakin' hook! Granted it IS primary day here in Michigan, but DAMN.))
And that's the biggest news from last week. THIS week promises to be even MORE interesting. I will be doing a mock newscast tomorrow night which promises to be a LOT of fun, and that will also be something I can take with me to use for a resumé. I thought that would be the highlight of the week, but I may have been wrong. I just today found out that I'll be our rep in Kalamazoo counting votes for the primaries tonight!
Anyway, that about brings you all back up to speed. I'll be reporting back in (no pun intended) later on tonight!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
