BC Festival 2006

CAPSTONE PRESENTATIONS 2006
The reviews are now in for the BC Capstone presentations and everyone has great things to say about this group of students. People are calling this year's BC Capstone students "confident," "polished," and "professional." One guest suggested that all seniors at Westminster could benefit from watching this group in action.

Tuesday night's presentations came after capstone students staged a live remote on Titan Radio in front of the campus center. Chief engineer Chuck Chirozzi also pulled out the TV remote truck so folks could climb around and look inside to see how we do our dozens of live sports remotes on the Westminster Cable Network. We tried this last year as well and the weather turned cold and rainy. We had the same problem this year. But Heather Storm and Amy Sasfai gave it the old BC try.

We squeezed in 10 capstone presentations during the evening. Luke Garrett surprised many people with his his Wall Street look (this is a look I had a preview of when he conducted a County Close Up Interview for TCL this semester-- and he cleans up really well and looks great on camera. His presentation was perfect. He revisited the "On the Road" television segment he produced as a metaphor for his college journey and his upcoming graduation. Several other students also touched on similar metaphors. I was impressed with all the presentations.

We averaged 40 people in the audience during the evening. We witnessed a great juxtaposition with Alana Schuring's "umbrella" approach to communication, liberal arts and her career path paired with Amanda Hauger's focus on transitioning to magazine writing and multimedia. Amanda as well as Jolene Slattery (and '05 graduate Sarah Ubry) embrace writing across media and their interests and needs serve as a genuine reasons why we should add a journalism minor at Westminster.

Jolene hit on the multimedia theme hard as she made the issue of media convergence key in her presentation. She and Justin Egley shared their experience as broadcasters doing work at the New Castle News with audio and video and it speaks volumes about the need to prepare for new media in our program.

The "Sarah Bowers-Tear Factor" award goes to Shannon McClain. Her outstanding presentation was the only one that actually triggered the "Tear Factor" meter. She was so endearing and genuine when she thanked her family, fiance and friends and faculty. We tend to forget how these events can stir up a wealth of emtions as seniors become graduates and leave the Westminster bubble.

Wrapping up the evening was a job for Brian Campbell and Jason Mackey. Brian shared his discovery of just how much more blood, sweat and tears goes into a specialty radio show, His revival of Titan Radio's contemporary Christian music show, The Covenant, proved to be a big success this year. We also learned there is a loyal following for the program and Brian called for his co-host Pam Marlow to keep the tradition alive.

Jason receives the "Carpe Diem Award." His plan of action born out of his internship experience has landed him a foot in the door at WJLA-TV as well as a job at George Mason University where he can continue his education. Jason doesn't wait for destiny-- he takes command of his future by making brave and bold decisions down the path he designs.

Congratulations to everyone for a job well done!