Monday, September 25

Recent Capstone Blogger Now a CBI Finalist

Congratulations go out to Justin Egley.
Justin graduated in May with a degree in Media Arts and a minor in Broadcast Communications. He was also married this summer and just started working at WKBN as a news videographer.
Justin was part of the BC Capstone Weblog project last year as he audited the BC Capstone course as a BC minor.

While we have all those things wish Justin well for I'd like to extend another round of congratulations for his outstanding work as a PSA producer. Last spring, Justin completed a PSA in BC 410/Commercial Production course for the Lawrence County Humane Society. The 30 second spot promoted the organization's "Adopt Your New Best Friend" campaign.

Now the CBI (College Broadcasters Inc.) has announced Justin's spot is a CBI National Student Production Awards finalists. His spot is contending with an entry from Colorado State University and one from Berry College in Atlanta. You can see the spot here and the winner is announced by the CBI at the National College Media Conference in St. Louis in late October. Good luck, Justin!


Friday, September 22

Viewfinder BLUES: The Hardships of Handheld

Viewfinder BLUES: The Hardships of Handheld

This is a great entry for my beginning video production students as our tripods are a bit worn and battered.

Lenslinger's weblog is also very cool to read. He's a critically thinking video journalists with a greak nack for writing.

Tuesday, September 19

Be Professioanl With Your Capstone Weblog

Guidelines for the Capstone Bloggers

Put time and effort into what you write.
Never post a first draft. Edit what you write. Write it as a MS Word document, edit and then cut and paste into your weblog.

Put effort into the content.
  • Write enough to communicate meaning with the reader, but avoid overkill.
  • Demonstrate your knowledge and experience as a professional by correctly using the terminology of media.
  • Connect your entries to topical events and issues in media.
  • Offer your own style and voice and be consistent with it.
  • Be genuine.
Always attribute! Plagarizing, fabricating or other BS is not tolerated in the blogging community. Such misdeeds will often be challenged publicly and will haunt you in your professional efforts.

Add graphics or photo when it’s appropriate.
Offer Links.

Going Public- Remember the World is Watching

Never reveal personal, private information.
  • Never blog about your personal life.
  • Limit contact information to a web-based e-mail account.
Never write about proprietary or privileged information (never disclose company secrets or information shared with you in confidence). Off the record means off he record.
  • If blogging about internship or job-related experiences, inform your employer about your weblog.
  • Invite the employer to read your blog and offer feedback.
  • Ask about restrictions or limits on what you can and cannot blog about.
  • Ask if the company has any specific weblog guidelines you must follow.
  • If the employer prohibits blogging about work experiences, then comply.

Be Positive- Showcase Your Ability to Think Critically and Creatively.
  • Offer solutions instead of only pointing out problems.
  • Be clear when expressing opinion or comments.
  • When engaged in criticism, remain constructive.
  • Recognize opposing positions.
  • Support your points with evidence and attribution (include links).
  • Never engage in personal attacks.
  • Develop a routine so regular readers can expect timely updates.
  • Entertain and inform your readers
  • INCLUDE PICTURES: Offer interesting and appropriate images and context.
  • Write engaging headlines.

Be Prepared- Avoid Legal Entanglements
  • Be truthful & ethical.
  • Read and understand the Blogger User Agreement.
  • Understand the impact of what you write.
  • Remember libel applies to weblogs.
  • Remember false light applies to weblogs.
  • Remember invasion of privacy applies to weblogs.

Other Tips- Read & Comment
  • Read other weblogs.
  • Routinely search for weblogs discussing topics of interest to you.
  • Bookmark weblogs you think are written well or speak to you.
  • Offer constructive feedback and comments on blogs you visit.

Sunday, September 17

Proposal Deadlines on the Horizon




Capstone students also continue checking in with each other and finalize proposals for two keep projects due on Friday, September 22.


The first is the senior project proposal must be in some kind of document form provided to me and kept by the student.
  • It must include a description of the project and how it will add to their body of work and to their portfolio.
  • It must also include a timeline for reaching goals, deadlines, etc.

The second proposal due is an overview for the alumni project.
  • Each student must identify Westminster alum to profile in a report and presentation.
  • This proposal must include contact information and how interviewing this individual will help them network professionally and offer insight about the transition from the college environment to the professional marketplace.

Possible resources for tracking down a subject for the alumni project:
  • The Career Center
  • The WC Alumni Office
  • Faculty, staff & recent BC grads

Capstone students must select a subject who graduated from WC before 2002.

Grinding Away at the Ol' Weblog

This Week's Weblog Assignment
This week BC 601 students will check out the weblog reviews submitted last week by the class and offer their own take on what they find. Some of the weblogs they’ve reviewed include:
RTV6GM.com
TV Squad
Pixel Wrangler
Lost Remote


The First Show of the Semester
















The
County Line on WCN

Some of the BC 601 students are heading up our television efforts with The County Line. Aidan, Stevi, D.J. and Steve lead the BC 251 crew and other staff members to a great first show. The show only had a few minor bumps. Great job guys! Meanwhile Leanne is keeping Titan Radio News where Amy is also keeping Friday afternoon newscast on track. Meanwhile Mike's off leading remote crews and Titan Radio to another busy semester.


Megan Alexander sat in and produced/hosted the first interview segment. She talked with Scott Mackenzie about his year in Iraq.

Sunday, September 10

Deconstructing the First Two Classes

"The best way to predict the future is to create it."
--Alan Kay (American Computer Scientist & PC Pioneer)

What's this BC Capstone class?

We've met twice as a BC Capstone 2006-2007 class. During the firs gathering everyone introduced a framing statement about how each of them views determinism. Have our futures already been written? Who/what controls what happens next?

This week everyone wrote me an e-mail from the future. They imagined it was the year 2016 and they were checking in with their crotchety old capstone instructor with an update about their lives and careers.

Everyone also posted blog entries with three short term and three long term goals.

What we learned was interesting...

Some people have extremely specific ambitions while others feel pressured into deciding what they want to be when they grow up. Still others are curious about other career options and the idea of continuing their education after college.

People in the class also connected with each other over the conflicts and anxieties they're experiencing as their college life at Westminster is coming to a close.

Finally, I found it worthy to mention that in the e-mails from the future the women in the class saw themselves still single and moving about the country and experiencing a variety of career opportunities over 10 years. Most of the men were also listing of impressive resumes with experiences that took them across the country from radio, television and new media. The twist came in hearing most of the men imagined themselves as married with kids-- and the curious thing was these guys came up with names already for their children.

Coming next class-- toying around with your weblog...adding pictures, video, links, etc.