A Day In The Life Of A 99 West Advisor

      

This week I sat down for an interview with Dr. Jessica Smith, one of the 99 West Media faculty advisors. In our Interview we talked about what 99 West is, what she does as an advisor, and what the goals are for 99 West this year.

What Does 99 West Do?

Dr. Smith told me that 99 West was always envisioned to be the student media experience for multimedia majors. It was made to allow for more creative production, commercial production and video and web projects that didn’t really fit under the news umbrella. 99 West is a little bit more specialized, and less a part of an entire campaign like something Morris & Mitchell might do. That has always been the goal, to provide that experience and to push multimedia students to do the kind of professional work that they are capable of.

What Does The Faculty Advisor Do?

The faculty advisor does a multitude of different things, and they are working on something new almost every week. Dr. Smith told me that just in the past week she has:

• Gone to the staff meeting,
• Supervised production of The Ken Collums Show,
• Met with a potential client,
• Met/corresponded with Cade White, the other faculty advisor,
• Met with the 99 West director, Erika Thrasher.

Many of the responsibilities of the faculty advisors go on behind the scenes; they make sure clients are taken care of and the projects are moving along smoothly.

99 West’s Goals For This Year?

“It has been really exciting to be part of a new organization. Every year had something new to create,” said Dr. Smith.

The first year they spent quite a bit of time trying to answer the question of who 99 West is, and determining what they want to focus on. They worked on building a portfolio they can show to potential clients. The second year they did some great work. They wanted to create a stronger organization within the staff by letting the director have more control, instead of the advisors.

This year, 99 West has a largely new staff. Dr. Smith said that it is exciting to be able to build on what they did in the past, and use that as a platform for the future. The focus is on getting everyone a variety of experiences in many different types of client environments.

My Time Working as a 99 West Producer

This year I am working as a 99 West Media producer. 99 West is a student run organization, with the help of our two wonderful faculty advisors. As a group we work with clients to create media to suit their needs. We currently shoot The Ken Collums Show, which airs on KTAB, we shoot and edit commercials specific to clients, as well as document events and cut together footage.

Weekly Schedule

Our schedule varies on a weekly basis. Some days we have multiple projects going on at the same time, and other days we are working on individual projects to better our skills. To give you a little idea of what we do, I’ll describe the filming of The Ken Collums Show.

Filming

We film the show every Tuesday night after we have our 99 West staff meeting. We arrive at the production studio around six to six thirty, where we decide who will work at which position. The possible positions are:

• Director
• Assistant Director
• Technical Director
• Audio Director
• VTR Operator
• Floor Manager
• Camera Operator

We try to switch jobs often so that we get an overall sense of how each position works, but we usually get to choose which position we would like to do.

My Job

Personally, I enjoy working as a camera operator. For the job we need to adjust the camera placement and shot type according to what the director is asking for. We reposition the camera stand, fix the pedestal height, and frame the talent for specific shots. We have to make sure our subject is in focus, with the correct placement, and head and nose room in the frame. During the recording we receive orders from the director, who tells us if we need to switch subjects, fix our shot type, or stop and start recording.

Student Jobs in the JMC Network

So, college is all about preparation for professional life in the future. Now, it is commonly understood that outside the world of academia it is pretty rare that one would need to write a 10-page paper about communication theory. But hey, college is for learning the books and developing skills for a career. What does the JMC Department do to prepare students for the Real World: Professional Edition?

The department itself offers real world experience by giving its students opportunities to join some of the several JMC department student media agencies.

Morris + Mitchell is the student-run Ad/PR agency. It gives advertising and public relations students the chance to work hands-on with some of Abilene’s most successful businesses. Some of the agency’s clients include Frontier Texas! and Pura Vida Salon.

ACU’s campus newspaper, The Optimist, is another opportunity for students to get some real-world experience while at ACU. The twice-weekly student newspaper allows JMC students to interview, write and edit stories that will be read by the entire campus.

89.5 KACU-FM is the radio station on campus that employs student announcers and producers. The station is the only non-commercial NPR station in the Abilene area and works closely with the community by being an active partner in public arts and culture events.

99 West is also a way that JMC students can earn experience. 99 West is a student-run multimedia production agency, which produces video and web services for clients and special projects. Students in the agency direct, produce, shoot and edit projects that can be anything from commercials to informational videos.

The world of professional careers can seem frightening but by working in the JMC department’s student media agencies, future professionals can feel confident in their abilities.

 

The Rise of 99 West

99 West is the newest student-run agency in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication. The agency’s main focus is various multimedia platforms such as video production, graphic design, and project planning. With the expansion of technology and the massive growth in digital media over the last 15 years, 99 West was inevitable, and has bee a welcome addition to the department.

99 West has several clients, including Frontier Texas museum and Pura Vida Salon. These clients have used the agency’s services for new graphics, new logos, TV advertising, and branding purposes. The staff has produced wonderful work for these clients, setting themselves up as a talented agency capable of producing content normally found at a professional level.

Faculty advisors Jessica Smith and Cade White merely guide the student team, leaving it up to them to be organized, driven, and above all creative. They work closely with Morris+Mitchell, the student-run Ad/PR firm, sharing clients and collaborating on projects.

The Rise of 99 West has been a positive thing for the JMC Department, and students who wish to pursue a career in multimedia production can gain excellent experience with a job in this student-run agency. This, and all the other student-run media in the JMC shows just how prepared students that are involved in these organizations are to join a career world that is on the forefront of new technology and where we will potentially change careers up to 10 times. Student media gives graduates the experience that they will need to compete in such a changeable market.

What careers can you pursue with a degree in multimedia? Listen here to find out! https://soundcloud.com/lilyauker12

99 West Media grows in second year

Graduation requirements—for most majors, that includes passing classes, meeting university expectations, and possibly a mandatory internship. These requirements are present in the JMC Department as well, but we also have a unique addition: an internal internship.

Students in the JMC Department are required to work for two semesters in a student media agency to earn their diplomas.  For journalism majors, The Optimist, JMC Network, and KACU-FM give different options for growing journalistic experience. Advertising and public relations majors have the opportunity to work for Morris & Mitchell. However, until last year, students in the growing multimedia major didn’t have a student agency that was truly home. The JMC Department recognized the need for a student media lab that would better serve students within this major.

A home for multimedia majors

99 West Media was created to serve that need. The student-run multimedia agency produces video and multimedia content for real clients. Since last year, agency has grown, adding two new staff positions.

A small student staff supervised by Dr. Jessica Smith and Cade White runs 99 West. This year’s staff includes director Brance Armstrong (pictured below), senior producers JP Festa and Marissa Jones, and producers Erika Thrasher and myself, Hailey Hendricks.

Brance Armstrong, current director for 99 West, started with the agency last year. As 99 West begins its second year, Brance is excited to grow client relationships and start to define 99 West Media as an agency.

According to Brance, “99 West is all about telling client stories, and we hope to be able to do that in a way that the client may not find anywhere else.”

99 West Media is unique as a student agency and provides a new home for multimedia majors to develop professional experience.