Sunday, February 27, 2005

Need a ride home over break? Got a seat in your car?

This just in from Chris Baxter, editor of the new online magazine, iMPrint. In addition to its new iMCulture issue, the magazine has created a ride board for IC students who need a ride - or can share one - on the way home for spring break:


iMPrint Magazine: College Life’s Internet Magazine, is pleased to announce its third full edition, entitled iMCulture.

iMPrint now offers an Ithaca College-specific web page, complete with a spring break ride board, where students can post a need for a ride home, or an extra spot in their own car.

Check it out at
www.ithaca.edu/imprint/springbreakboard.htm.



Check out the entire site at www.ithaca.edu/imprint.

Another great mini-course: Developing successful television

Many of you have described the Independent Production mini-course as one of the best educational experiences you've had at Park. Here's another great opportunity to learn from a professional:

Susan Reiner, our visiting professional at the LA Center, will be in Ithaca next week and will be offering a four-part mini-course on the creative and business sides of television development.

Here's the description:

An Insider's Look at TV Series Development is a four-part class that will present both the business and creative side of scripted tv series development, covering conception, pitching, production, series selection. The class will focus on the elements that feed successful, long-running series -- what makes a hit a hit. Class will feature screenings and in-class discussion and will be taught by Susan Reiner, the Pendleton Chair, Professional in Residence from Los Angeles. Susan has developed over 100 pilot scripts, worked with the top writers and directors in the industry and shot over 25 pilots.

Class hours: Sunday, April 3 (9:00 AM - noon, 1:00 PM to 5:30PM) and Monday and Tuesday, April 4-5 (5:30 PM - 9:00 PM).

Interested? Email (vmansfield@ithaca.edu) or stop into my office and talk to Associate Dean Virginia Mansfield-Richardson, who can help you enroll.

(Hurrah for the Park School -- where the great learning never stops!)

Dianne

Straight to you from a Park alumnus: An amazing internship opportunity in NYC

OK, so I just got back from three days in New York City, where I saw the Broadway show Wicked (blogged on that one already); attended the Trustees' meeting to talk about digital media and learning; had a chance to watch Raphi (your faithful student rep to the Trustees) in action [great job, too]; and spent some time with one of our really amazing alumni, David Thalberg, who is the VP of Planned Television Arts -- a division of Ruder Finn, one of the largest public relations companies in New York.

Planned TV Arts has a very active internship program, and Thalberg has agreed to reserve one spot for a Park student for the summer. Here's a description of the program:

Planned TV Arts, a division of Ruder*Finn and a media placement public relations firm that specializes in book publicity, is seeking new applicants for its Summer 2005 Internship Program. We have a very active year-round intern program that accepts interns from a variety of colleges and universities. It runs from the first Tuesday after Memorial Day thru the last day of the first full week in August.

PTA is celebrating its 43rd year. Ruder Finn is ranked as the 12th largest PR firm in the nation. Interns are given a variety of responsibilities ranging from clerical duties (faxing, copying, etc.) to active public relations assignments such as booking radio and TV shows for authors, researching media lists and participating in writing assignments. Our fall, winter/spring and summer programs are flexible in terms of starting and ending dates.

PTA provides a dynamic opportunity for students to participate in a challenging public relations atmosphere, offering the following to its interns:
 Provide one-on-one training in the art of public relations
 Give direct exposure to the news media – students make calls to the media
 Help them confirm a career decision
 Provide a future job lead and letter of reference
 Present valuable direct job experience
 Provide a written evaluation and personal assessment to help examine the student’s skills
 Mentor in core competencies and allow for hands-on experience to learn by observation and execution

These are non-salaried positions but do offer a great opportunity for learning media placement and working with top authors and publishing houses. We do reimburse interns for travel expenses.

Many PTA interns have been hired by the company so it is an excellent opportunity to get a foot in the door of an established public relations firm. Many others have used the experience to help them in their respective job searches.

Please contact Planned TV Arts with any questions at 212/583-2718 or e-mail your resume to feinblumb@plannedtvarts.com. Be sure to also send it to David Thalberg (dthalberg@plannedtvarts.com); he wants to know that you're applying!

Cheers,
Dianne

Digital media, just FYI

Take a look at how other schools and programs are approaching digital media and gaming initiatives:

http://hypermedia.ucla.edu/info/

and

www.educationarcade.org

Cool, uh?

Magazine meeting

Just a reminder:

Several students have approached me in the past month to suggest that we start a print Park magazine.

As you all know, we already have (at least) three very good outlets for long-form writing: Buzzsaw Haircut; The Ithacan (and its new Click feature); and Imprint. But there seems to be a strong interest in at least discussing the possibility of something more or different -- and I am always willing to discuss anything students are interested in.

The meeting is scheduled from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday in the North Meeting Room (upstairs in the Student Center). I've also heard from several interested students who are off-campus this semester but who want to be involved if the project goes forward; I'll post to the Blog after the meeting so those of us who can't make it will still have a sense of what happened.

See you Tuesday night,

Dianne

Jobs, jobs, jobs: From MTV to Infinity Radio

It's time to get that resume in shape, and here's a deadline that might help you do it:

Ithaca College will participate April 18-20 in the 13th annual Central New York Communications Consortium at Syracuse University.

It's a networking event/job fair that brings in all types of communications companies, including McCann Erickson, Mediavest Worldwide, Infinity Radio, MTV Networks, NBC Universal, and SAGA Communications. It's open to all students with an interest in working for a communications company.

You already heard about this from the Career Services folks, but I thought a friendly reminder couldn't hurt.

Part of getting a great job is knowing what kind of job you really want. Events like this one give you a chance to figure that out.

So head to Career Services to submit your resume and sign up to attend. Deadline is March 4.

Cheers,
Dianne

For more information, take a look at http://www.ithaca.edu/cnycc
--

Saturday, February 26, 2005

Hurrah! Congratulations to ASSOCIATE professors Gatten, Hamula, and Jude!

Next time you see professors David Gatten (C&P), Scott Hamula (IMC), and Ron Jude (C&P), be sure to congratulate them! In recognition of their outstanding teaching, professional and scholarly work, and service to the Park School and the college, all three this week were granted tenure and have been promoted to the rank of associate professor.

Ithaca College has very high standards for tenure and promotion. The fact that all three of the Park faculty who applied this year were successful is yet another indicator of the extraordinary quality, talent and commitment of all of our faculty. Congratulations to David, Scott and Ron. It's an achievement that is both well earned and well deserved.


Dianne

NYC, The Gates, and Wicked: What a week!

Hey everybody,

If you've been trying to reach me this week, my apologies and try me again on Monday. I just returned from three days in New York City, where about 25 IC folks attended a workshop and and spent time with the college's trustees. We took the bus down on Tuesday morning and managed to get home (on very slippery roads) just after midnight on Thursday.

The meetings were held at the Cornell Club on 44th Street, and a group of us stayed nearby at the Harvard Club. Nice place, I guess, but no Internet access in my room...can you imagine that? Guess those Hahvahd people don't do email....

We also saw The Gates in Central Park. I actually consider myself a fan of the arts, but I have to tell you: they looked like a bunch of orange shower curtains to me (I know, I know: I missed the point....but I couldn't stop thinking about the old story about the Emperor's new clothes....) And just think about what that $20 million could have done for the homeless residents of New York City...somehow that 'feeding the soul' thing is a pretty poor substitute for addressing more immediate kinds of hunger.

For a bit of social satire on The Gates, take a look at The Somerville Gates, produced by a financial analyst in New York...he got more than a million hits on the site, and his cleaning lady took care of the exhibition with one swoop of a vacuum cleaner. But nothing ever dies on the Internet, so there are hundreds of bloggers who have captured the images for perpetuity...here's one: www.brianbehred.com/archives/somervillegates.

We also saw the Broadway show Wicked, which was amazing. Five IC alumni are involved in the show, including Michelle Federer, who plays NessaRose and has been a part of the show since its debut in 2003. We met with them after the show to find out what it's like to be on Broadway. It's a dream come true, they told us, AND very (very) hard work. They also talked about "the Ithaca Mafia," a network of IC alumni who help one another find work; two of our alumni are understudies for the major roles, and they got the job because Michelle let them know it was available.

As I've said before on this page, every time I turn around I come across yet another example of the ways in which members of the IC 'family' take care of one another long after they have left the campus.

Finally, I want to tell you that the student member of the board of trustees, Raphael Golberstein, is doing an extraordinary job; you are definitely well represented. No surprise there: after all, he IS a Parkie!

Have a great weekend.

Dianne

Sunday, February 20, 2005

Every time we turn around....

...another Park student has earned national recognition.

As many of you know, the American Society of Magazine Editors offers an elite group of students each summer the opportunity to intern at a major magazine in New York City. It's a very competitive program, and only the best of the best are chosen.

This year, for the third consecutive year, a Park student made the cut (hurrah!): please join me in congratulating junior Elizabeth Quill, an aspiring science writer whose first choice of an internship is Popular Science.

Past recipients were Kelli Grant ’04, who interned at Smithsonian Air and Space magazine, and Michelle Theis ’04, who interned at Smithsonian.

Way to go, Elizabeth! We couldn't be prouder.

Faculty really matter. So take a minute (or six) and nominate one.....

Hey everybody,

I know you're busy. I know you have a thousand things to do before March 18. But do me a favor, will you? Take some time out of that crazy schedule, and acknowledge one of your faculty members -- the one who has made all the difference in your experience in Park.

The college's Faculty Development Committee awards an annual Excellence in Teaching Award every year, and there is nothing more wonderful in a faculty member's life than getting that award because a student nominated him/her for it.

Nominations for the award must include:

1. a cover page
2. the faculty member's CV (you can ask him/her for it, or ask me and I'll get it for you);
3. a letter of application (this comes from the faculty member, and again, I can help you with this);
4. a nominating letter (this comes from you, talking about why you're nominating the faculty member)
5. two support letters from faculty colleagues. You'll need to ask other faculty in the department; they'll be happy to help.
6. a support letter from another student.

Each support letter must be no longer than two pages in length.

When you have everything collected, send it to Mara Alper, chair of the Faculty Development Committee, at malper@ithaca.edu

Remember: the deadline is March 18.

It sounds like a lot, I know. But just think how thrilled your favorite faculty member would be....not just by winning, but by being nominated by you.

Let me know if I can help.

Dianne

12 young filmmakers go to Cannes...why not you?

Sorry, everybody, but I don't have any more information on this than what you see here; I got an announcement in my mail that I thought you might find interesting. For more information, go to the Web site listed below and contact Georges Goldenstern at the Festival de Cannes:

Every year, the Festival de Cannes Residence welcomes 12 young filmmakers from all over the world who are working on their first or second feature film. A jury presided by a renowned director selects six candidates for each of the two four-and-a-half-month sessions per year.

The candidates are selected on the strength of the short films, or the first feature, that they have directed, as well as on their planned feature and the reasons why they wish to participate in the program.

The selection for the next session -- October 3, 2005 - February 12, 2006 -- will take place as follows:

Final date for applications: April 1, 2005
Jury final selection date: July 7, 2004

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO WWW.FESTIVAL-CANNES.ORG (SEE RESIDENCE DU FESTIVAL LOGO ON THE TOP LEFT FOR REGULATIONS AND ENTRY FORM).

A Park magazine? Really?

Greetings,

In the past month or so, no fewer than five of you have come to me to propose starting a Park School print magazine. Rather than trying to have five (or more) different conversations, it made sense to propose that we all get together in one room to talk about the possibilities.

That meeting has been set for March 1, at 7 p.m., in the North Meeting Room of the Campus Center.

This is an invitation to all of you who are interested in starting a new publication AND to those of you involved with current Park publications -- The Ithacan (and its new Web presence, Click), BuzzSaw Haircut, Imprint, among others -- who may want to suggest that there are already plenty of outlets for all kinds of writing by what is by definition a limited number of writers. (And anybody else who wants to come is certainly welcome, too....)

I'll talk a little bit about what it takes to start a print magazine -- not a lecture, I promise, but some context -- and then we'll open it up to discussion.

See you there!

Dianne

Saturday, February 19, 2005

Finding Neverland, Hotel Rwanda, Aviator: Scripts are in!

Alum Ashley VanBuren continues to send us copies of great scripts of a wide variety of current motion pictures, including (this week) Finding Neverland, Hotel Rwanda, and Aviator.

We're in the process of making a file copy, but those scripts (and others) will be available by mid-week for you to borrow. Stop up to the Dean's Office on the third floor and ask Gwen at the front desk.

Cheers,
Dianne

Park alum's What I Like About You

This just in from Susan Reiner, our Professional-in-Residence in the LA program. Those of you who know Susan also know what a thoughtful, kind, talented and intelligent person she is...and this is just one example of how proud she is of "her students" in Park (me, too):

Dear Dianne,

I know it's a cold winter in Ithaca, so a little excellent news to warm your heart. A success story.

One of my advisees in my first semester here, Ross Greenberg, would be the first to tell you how he grew, defined his goals, and gained self-confidence during his months in this program.

He interned at the Tollin/Robbins company and left a very good impression. Ross graduated, came back here and was hired back as a PA.

Some weeks ago, the producers of "What I Like About You," one of T/R's productions, gave all the PA's and entry level people the opportunity to submit story ideas for the show. The producers selected the story Ross submitted.

He's a few thousand bucks richer and very happy. It's a big win for a kid his age, this new to the business.

One of the show's producers spoke with me over the weekend about how proud they are of Ross. And, to his credit, Ross has invited me to be his guest at the taping of his episode this Friday night.

Susan

Shoot for national television!

Got a few hours and want to shoot for HGTV? This just in from one of our students:

Hello Dean Lynch,
I'm a senior C&P major currently interning for Pie Town Productions in LosAngeles. One of Pie Town's shows, Open House USA, will be filming an episode in Ithaca sometime in the near future. As you can see, there area couple of opportunities that may be of interest to the Park/Ithacac ommunity.

It's possible that the show may need "scouts" to shoot some DV footage of houses in the area; it's also possible that anyone (such asICTV) who has good B-roll of the town could have their footage end up onHGTV.

And of course, if anyone wants to show off their home on national television, they just might be able to do so. I don't know all of the specifics, but interested parties can contact Stephanie_Kun@pietown.tv.


Thanks,
~Jennie Osburn

Friday, February 18, 2005

An Olympic Opportunity

Great news! This morning, I confirmed with NBC News that Park is one of the few schools in the country that has been invited to send interns to the Winter Olympics in Turino, Italy, in February 2006.

You'd join about 90 other interns, live in the Olympic Village; participate in a special speakers series presenting journalists and athletes; spend a day on a Greek Island cruise; have lunch with an Olympic athlete....and work 12 hours a day, seven days a week. For free (it's that internship thing).

Interested? You'll need to start planning now.

You'd be in Italy for seven weeks in January and February 2006. That means you need to talk to your faculty and adviser to plan your course schedules from now until you graduate. You may need to consider summer, interim and mini-courses in order to avoid falling behind on your credits. And you may want to develop a larger program of courses/independent study/internships around the Olympics experience.

You will also need to start saving; the program isn't free.

NBC will cover the cost of one internship credit for each student; any credits beyond that would be your responsibility.

In addition, NBC will subsidize housing (the NBC rep said she hopes that it will be cost-free to students since Turino is less expensive and you would be living in the Olympic Village; that said, students in Athens had to stay in a hotel and paid for half of their housing costs, which came to$60/night).

If you're working on events involving catering, NBC will feed you; the rest of the time, you'd have to buy your own food. And you'd also have to pay for your own airfare, though NBC will help coordinate your travel.

In total, Susan estimates that the cost to an individual student could be about $2500.

In exchange, you will be part of the Olympics, develop great networks, build your resume, and have a life-changing experience...not to mention that NBC actually hired one of the interns from last year, who is now working on the Olympics as a full-time job.

Students who participated last year said this about the experience:

"By far the greatest month and experience of my life...I learned a lot and had my fair share of fun, too."

"The internship was an unforgettable experience. I had the time of my life!"

"Truly the greatest experience of my life. My presence with the crew was nothing short of amazing. The crew treated me not as an intern but as an important member of the staff, with equally important responsibilities and duties. The experience I gained is absolutely, positively unmatched..."


Susan and her staff will be on campus to talk with interested students in March -- the tentative date we've set is March 23. I'll keep you posted.

Dianne

Thursday, February 17, 2005

More ideas on Park convergence

It's really great to get thoughtful, constructive suggestions from students about how we might provide an even better learning experience for you all in Park. If you've been reading the blog, you know that it has included some commentary about how eliminating the divisions or separation between departments and programs could allow students to expand their knowledge/experience base. Here's an addition to that discussion from Christian Roadman; he suggests some cross-departmental workshops as a starting point for more integrated curricula in the future....

What do you think?

The one thing that's bothered me about the divisions between the ParkSchool is this: while the different industries that they address clearly have very individual traits, and are pretty specialized, there could be (I'd imagine) quite a lot of overlap. And I'm wondering if it would be possible, or worth it, to address some of these "overlaps" in classes in the future.

Case in point (this is where I'm coming from, but I'm sure (I think) there are others....): There are clearly major differences between the film industry and the tv industry, but i think it's kinda reasonable that there might be some potential dabbling in both.

Another thing is photojournalism - it would seem that if I wanted to become a news photographer, curiosity and/or opportunity might eventually lead me over to potential work as a TV news camera person out in the field. But the thing is, I feel like these potential overlaps aren't really accomodated for in the Park school (which I love, don't get me wrong) because of certain problems like this, f or instance: the technology is a little different.

For instance, as a C&P major, I'll learn all I'll need to know about film cameras or still cameras, but practically nothing about TV cameras. And while I'll learn some editing with Final Cut Pro, I'll be totally in the dark with basic TV editing. So it seems like whatever bridges are built by the creative and skill demands of the different industries are burned down by the fact that it's difficult to aquire amore than basic all-around knowledge in another area. Sure, I could take a media production course, but that's specifically designed forthe TVR department, and would have a lot of unrelated stuff, I'd assume.

So basically what I'm saying is this: it would be really awesome if wegot some cross-departmental training in specific areas which seemed to relate/make sense, basically for the purpose so that, for instance, I could apply for a TV photojournalism career after a stint as aNewspaper photographer, if the opportunity came along. Or someone in movies could make a link to film. Or someone in the journalism dept. could have proficiency with an editing machine if they work in broadcast journalism, and their cameraman needs some help in the field...

If we could have, for instance, a string of "TV editing and camera tech" courses for C&P and Journalism majors, or anyone else, that would be awesome. And I'd assume there are plenty of other departments where different overlaps can't really be adressed because of time or class constraints. I was just thinking, if you were looking for ways to change class structure or anything in the future, that might be a thought. For now, maybe we could just have some workshops.

The Price is Right for Amanda Horning

Hey everybody,

This just in from Peter Davis:

Amanda Horning will be on The Price Is Right on Tuesday, February 22nd. I don't want to spoil anything just yet, but let's just say this one will be one to watch...

Tune in!

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Come talk cops and courts with Clairbourne

The Society of Professional Journalists is holding an event on Monday Feb. 21st with J.R. Clairborne-- a web writer for IC and a former reporter forthe Ithaca Journal.

He covered cops and courts for the journal, and will be talking about that- "How to cover the cops and courts beat" or for a more snazzy name "Cops and Courts with Clairborne."

The event will be at 7 p.m. Monday in Park 220 (and pizza will be served.)

Come join us and learn how to be the best journalist you can be, one beat at a time!

Arbitrary? A response to Randy

This just in from Smiddy McKelp:

In response to Randy Maxwell's suggestion that we film students all be required to take acting, art history, and philosophy: that's a really specious suggestion. By what method did he arrive at those three disciplines? Why not sociology, anthropology, and psychology? If anything, film students should be encouraged by their advisors to use their electives in ways that might be beneficial to their artistic sensibilities, to further their abilities to create powerful, meaningful work. Who says his suggested three disciplines would be the best for that, though? Seems pretty arbitrary.

So whatcha think? Arbitrary -- or the right combination of art and theory?

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Supersize Me!

Before you pull up to the drive-up at McDonald's or Burger King again, you might want to check out the Student Activities Board's special showing of the Oscar-nominted film SuperSize Me!, documentary about what fast food is doing to our health, our weight, and our wallets.

The film will be shown on Wednesday, February 23, at 8:30 p.m. in Textor 102. It's FREE and open to the public.

Monday, February 14, 2005

OOPS...my mistake. Sorry.

I made a mistake in a posting yesterday, and I want to correct it and apologize.

Here's the correct information:

The next mini course being offered by Alan Wright (Independent Production) is scheduled for Feb. 26-27, and the final mini course is scheduled for April 9-10. Both are held in Park 285 on Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Alan Wright emails all the participants in each mini course about a week prior to the scheduled date.

And here's the apology: Sorry. My mistake. Hope I didn't confuse you.

Cheers,
Dianne

Wahoo! Aren't we amazing?

Every time I turn around, people around here are winning another award.

Today, I was informed that Ithaca Time Warner Cable honored three Ithaca College Television programs from Fall 2004 in its 20th annual Pegasys Awards ceremony February 11. Local public, governmental, and educational access programs on cable channels 13, 15, and 16 competed.

And the winners were.....

• “Newswatch 16” (producer Michael Geller) won the Newscast/Magazine category. NewsWatch presents Tompkins County news live at 8:00pm on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
• “Work in Progress” (producer Nathan Brown), which showcases student films and videos, won the Performing Arts category.
• “The Solarium with Professor Smedley Drake,” a satire produced by Jesse Porter, and “Newswatch 16” were named Best Educational Access programs. Time Warner will enter them in the Hometown Video Festival, a national competition sponsored by the Alliance for Community Media.

And kudos go to Professor Gordon Webb in TVR, who was informed today that he will receive an Award of Excellence at the Broadcast Education Association's Festival of Media Arts in April for his “Jukebox” promo.

Congratulations to you all! You make us proud to be Parkies.

Be independent this summer: Apply for one of our new Independent Media Internship Awards!

The Roy H. Park School of Communications is pleased to announce the Independent Media Internship Awards.

These awards, funded by a generous benefactor, will provide $2,500 for each of ten students who will work as summer interns at one of the following Independent Media sites:

Center for Media and Democracy, Madison, WI
Center for Public Integrity, Washington, DC (2 awards)
Common Cause, Washington, DC
DemocracyNow!, New York City
Free Press, Northampton, Mass.
MediaChannel.org/GlobalVision, New York City
National Security News Service, Washington, DC
Working Films, Wilmington, NC
VisionTV, Toronto, ON, Canada

Qualifying students must have a 3.25 GPA, as well as a minimum of 45 hours earned toward their degree at the time the internship begins.

The cash awards will be granted to ten students to be chosen by the Independent Media Internship Committee. The chosen students must register for a summer internship of between 1.0 and 3.0 credits in order to receive the award.

Deadline for applications is Friday, March 25 at 4 p.m.

If you have any questions, please contact John Hochheimer, associate professor in the Television-Radio and Journalism departments and coordinator of the Independent Media Internship Award program, at hoch@ithaca.edu or 274-1033.

Emmy Award-Winning Producer Dan Cohen '76 to visit IC

Dan Cohen '76 will show excerpts from his documentary in progress, “From the Holocaust to the Space Shuttle: The Journey of a Tiny Torah.”

Cohen is a 28-year veteran of live and postproduction television, winner of six regional Emmy awards, and founder of West Street Productions in Washington, D.C.

For more information about Dan and his film, visit:
http://www.weststreetproductions.com/torah/torah.html

Dan will also offer a video critique session for students that day from noon- 1 p.m. in Park 124.

Student Documentary Screenings on March 3

Walking the Line and Mad Cow Crusaders -- two student documentaries -- will be screened on Thursday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m. in the Park Auditorium.

Mad Cow Crusaders profiles two individuals struggling to inform the public about the dangers of mad cow disease. The student producers are Dan Shott '06, Rachel Webster '06, Matt Antalek '06, and Jaime Foster '06.

Walking the Line takes place on the border between the United States and Mexico. The documentary tells the story of people who take the law into their own hands to intercept illegal immigrants from Mexico. The students producers are Jeremy Levine '06 and Landon Van Soest '04.

Sunday, February 13, 2005

Erase the Hate: Join the Campus Conversation

The African Latino Society, The Diversity Council and Students for Just Peace are co-sponsoring an emergency meeting to discuss recent bias-related incidents at IC.

The meeting will take place on Tuesday, February 15th, at 6 pm in Williams 225.

Please join us. Your presence matters.

Independent Production mini-course: We love it?

Hey,

I've heard already this afternoon from two students who participated in this weekend's mini-course on Independent Production. Both said they had an amazing experience, and both were enthusiastic about the next two sessions, both of which are scheduled in April.

Anybody else want to offer your insights on this one? Is this kind of short course helpful? Do you have ideas or suggestions for additional mini-courses?

And while we're at it, we're thinking about offering non-credit workshops to teach various software programs -- Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and Final Cut Pro, for starters. Kristin Paciorkowski will be offering a Photoshop session at 3 p.m. on February25th in Park 270. If you're interested in attending, please email her and let her know.

Cheers,
Dianne

Be a journalist in Antarctica: Cool jobs 101

Greetings,

It's that time of year again: Hundreds of you are counting down the days to May, wishing every adult in your life would stop asking you the same annoying question: "So....what are you going to do after graduation?"

Before you decide, be sure to explore your options -- all of your options. It's a big wide world out there, and there are thousands -- OK, millions -- of jobs that need your skills, imagination, vision and voice. Starting your career at a major media corporation or production company is one possibility -- but it's not the only option.

Take the time to think about all of the ways you can make a difference in the world. Try googling "adventure jobs" or "cool jobs" and see what comes up. (One hit will be www.backdoorjobs.com. Take a look....)

And how about this one? (Just fyi, I've had two former students who got this job, neither of whom had three years daily newspaper experience....and one of the perqs of the job is an open plane ticket to be used in the six months following the job...so you work in Antarctica, travel the world for six months, and go back to McMurdo for six months, etc. etc.)

Job Title: Journalist
Job Code: JB
Job Summary:Responsible for creating and publishing The Antarctic Sun newspaper and providing other media and public relations services during the austral summer in Antarctica.
EDUCATION: BA or BS in English or Journalism.
CERTIFICATIONS AND/OR LICENSING REQUIREMENTS: None required.
TRAINING: None required.
EXPERIENCE: Three years journalism experience for a daily paper. Science writing beneficial. Proficient with digital photography and desktop publishing software standards. Internet publishing with html and pdf is beneficial. Must have effective people and time management skills. Should be able to work independently and with a team and demonstrate good judgment.

For more info, see http://rpsc.raytheon.com/hr/employ/index.asp.

Even if Antarctica isn't your idea of a good time, you get the idea: Your next step can take you anywhere you want to go -- to do anything you want to do.

Isn't that amazing?

Congratuations, Mary Nhotsavang!

Next time you see Mary Nhotsavang in the halls of Park, shake her hand and congratulate her for being one of the 40 students nationwide chosen for the American Advertising Federation's (AAF) Most Promising Minority Students 2005 program.

The program is designed to allow students to network, interview and be honored by some of the top advertising agencies, media companies, and advertisers in the country. Nhotsavang received her award at the Building Bridges for Our Future luncheon on February 9, and was featured in the February 7, 2005 issue of Advertising Age.

Mary is a TVR major with an Advertising/PR concentration. She was nominated for the award by Professor Scott Hamula (way to go, Scott....).

Friday, February 11, 2005

Television Academy Foundation internships

Looking for a paid summer internship in television? The Television Academy Foundation offers paid internships to full-time students (undergraduate and graduate) interested in production or administrative work. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation awards $4,000 to each intern accepted into the program, which will be paid in 3 installments. Most Television Academy Foundation internships are located in Los Angeles. Application deadline is March 15, 2005.

For more information, check out the Academy's web site: http://www.emmys.tv/foundation/internships.php

Scripts, scripts, scripts

Ashley van Buren, one of our Park alumni, is working for a production company in New York, and has been sending us scripts from major motion pictures, including Sideways, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and Pieces of April; new ones are arriving almost daily. They're in the Dean's office at this point, so stop by and borrow one if you're interested....

Seymour Hersh coming to Park

Seymour Hersh, the Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist who broke major aspects of the Abu Ghraib story, will be on campus March 24 to speak with students and faculty, and to present a public lecture. He's one of the best-respected and most thoughtful journalists in the country today, and we're thrilled to have the opportunity to bring him to Ithaca.

Live from Media Summit II

Thursday's sessions at the Media Summit concentrated on security issues and strategies for protecting digital content in a P2P environment. Most of the speakers sounded a little unrealistic to me: I think users are always going to find a way around the restrictions and lock-box apps producers build into a program. The Internet started on the premise that content was meant to be free, and online news sites have figured out an equation that works for users and producers -- despite years of saying it wasn't possible.

The most interesting session Thursday was about gaming -- not just Grand Theft Auto and SimsUniversity, but about using simulation to present complex content. Gaming is the fastest-growing niche in the media industry, and producers across content types were eager to talk about how they can incorporate its interactivity and high-end design into their own products. As we look ahead to developing our own interactive/digital media program in the Park School, gaming and its constructs will inevitably be central to our discussions.

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Some more great ideas...

This just in from Randall Maxwell; I post it here (with his permission) because I think he has some great ideas. What do you think?

Dear Dean Lynch,

My name is Randall Maxwell and I'm a senior C&P, Cinema Prod major. Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend the Park advisory meeting on the 17th, but i had a few ideas for the future of Park students that I definitely wanted to suggest:

1) A general ideological change in the mentality of communications Students as it pertains to the exclusivity between the various Park majors. I might be wrong, but i've observed a common pattern with Park students: they hardly know any other Park students aside from those in their own major. If there were some way of bringing the film, TV, photo, and radio kids together from the beginning, I think the collbaorative nature of production will flourish. As an example of this, I've recently been directing television episodes for "Hollywood 101," (watch it if you get the chance, I think it's the best on ICTV!!). As a film student, the crossover to TV is beneficial for me (invaluable direction practice) and for the TV-R students who produce the show (getting a more solid visual>> style for the show).

2) I think every film student should be required to take an acting, art history, and philosophy course. Possibly business as well.

3) Another one for film kids (and this one will undoubtedly be the easiest to enact, if any at all): These days, it's difficult to get a crew together for a film student. As a solution, I think the film students should have a rush night just like the TV-R folks. Working on "Hollywood 101," I actually have TOO much help on set because the producers have a>> prime recruiting event (and because they're good at that stuff). And that kind of support from the underclassmen is exactly what film students are>> desperate for, plus the underclassmen will learn from the more>> experienced>> students (i had the privilege of working on two upperclassmen shoots when>> i was a freshman, and the benfit was positively reciprocal).

thanks for reading my ramblings, and i hope they are helpful in addition to the Park advisory meeting.
sincerely,
randall

Live from the New York Media Summit

Greetings,

I'm in NYC this week, attending the 2005 Media Summit. It's an annual event -- well, as of last year -- and it draws about 500 of the media industry's top execs (and all the people who want to hear what they have to say). The brochure describes it as "the international conference on motion pictures, television, cable & satellite, broadband, wireless, publishing & radio, print media, news media, advertising and marketing" -- in other words, something for everybody.

A group of my colleagues and I spent a couple hours in a roundtable discussion of how the academy can do a better job preparing students to work in this convergence-crazy, fast-changing professional environment. I came away from that discussion, and from today's sessions, convinced that:

1. Content is king, or queen, or whatever term you use to describe the most important, valuable asset in the industry. It's what really matters, it's the constant, it's the thread that connects every discussion and every technology. The media platforms are going to change faster than we can say "mobile delivery," but the more channels we have to fill, the more content we're going to need. And the more noise and competition in the marketplace of (media) ideas, the more demand there will be for the most creative, most innovative, most compelling....

2. Mobile delivery is the next big thing when it comes to technology and applications...only there's not much 'next' about it. It's happening now. Content production for mobile delivery -- just the content, not the platform -- hit $8 billion worldwide in 2004; that's expected to jump to $35 billion by 2008. There's big money to be made, and every major media corporation (and a lot of small ones) are getting in line to reap the benefits.

There was consensus that, by next summer, we'll have handhelds that will deliver everything from television to music to images. In fact, those are the big three most folks predict will be the moneymakers; only one CEO in all of the panel discussions remembered to mention voice as one of the cell phone's important apps. One skeptical audience member asked a panel of CEOs working in mobile delivery why anybody would want to watch a television program on their cell phone. He laughed. "Take a look at Korea," he said. He also pointed out that current cell phones aren't configured to handle television, that by summer 2005 the new models will have larger screens (think Blackberry and Treo) that have the same quality resolution as cable television delivers.

One point made repeatedly today: What are the three things you never leave home without? Your money, your ID, and your cellphone. Before you know it, the first two will be stored on the last one.

3. The target demographic for most of these technologies is the Internet generation, the kids who grew up using the Web. They're multi-taskers, they expect to get their information and entertainment when and how they want it, and they have very little brand allegiance: they'll adopt the best product without a second thought about the one they've been using. What works, sells.

4. Content integration is the next big thing in advertising. That means product placement (think Reese's Pieces in ET), but it also means programming that is entirely driven by the advertiser. Last summer's ABC hit, The Days, was the result of a pitch by advertisers (Mindshare, Unilever and Sears) to the network: They'd pay to put a new series in production if ABC would agree to product placement and branding for the sponsors. It's a win-win situation for both sides, according to the panelists. (To hear them talk, you'd think this was something new -- instead of standard practice during television's earliest days....)

When somebody in the audience raised the question of ethics -- is there any concern about such a close association between advertisers and content, especially given that audiences are clueless about the agreement? -- the panelists dismissed it. "I just don't see that as an issue," said one. Hmmmm.....