#masscommunications

Marketing internship enables dual major to explore multiple career paths

By Jaime North, digital marketing specialist

Landing that preferred internship with opportunities aligned to a clear career path tied to your college major isn’t as easy as one would think. Add in a second major, and the task is twice as challenging.

That wasn’t the case for Emily Clauss, an art studio and media and journalism dual major, who spent this past summer as a marketing intern with Fidelity Bank in Scranton.

“I was drawn to this opportunity, because not only did it set me up to practice professional skills but allowed me to explore multiple potential career paths,” said Clauss, who is also a midfielder on the Huskies women’s soccer team, as well as editor in chief of The Voice student newspaper. “While it was a media and journalism internship, I was able to able to apply and build on skill sets I have from my second major.”

According to Clauss, among her key responsibilities included maintaining the local bank’s Instagram account, assisting with campaign planning and artwork creation, as well as creating company materials. A big benefit coming out of the summer experience for Clauss were the multiple opportunities the internship provided her.

“I got to experience other aspects of a marketing department that only happen so often like commercial productions, as well as branding campaign meetings with the bank’s vendors,” Clauss said. “These bonus experiences — where I was able to travel outside the bank — gave me a complete idea of a corporate marketing department, as well as clarified multiple professional paths.”

And she was well prepared heading into this dynamic internship experience.

“Bloomsburg University’s media and journalism department provided me with a variety of courses that covered all the necessary tools and areas any professional path could ask for,” Clauss said. “I applied more than a handful of materials from classes to the work I completed for the bank. I utilized my .html knowledge from my multimedia class, as well as wrote press releases from what I learned in my personal relations class and so on.”

A key takeaway — among many valuable marketing and design lessons — was one a lasting impression she’ll be able to apply now in the classroom as a senior.

“The biggest lesson I learned was that sometimes you can’t see the flaws in your own work,” Clauss said. “Almost always a second pair of eyes picks up on something the creator may have missed. I’ll definitely apply this lesson into my school work, as well as when I began my professional work.”

Department of Media and Journalism honors its top students

Bloomsburg University’s Department of Media and Journalism named its top students from each of its four concentrations for the 2019-20 academic year.

Both GPA and faculty recommendations factored into deciding the winners.

Making it big time in The Big Easy

There’s no bigger stage for college football than this. No bigger climb.

Especially this year.

An over max capacity crowd of nearly 77,000 in the Superdome, New Orleans. An estimated 25 million more watching on television and online. On top of that, the President of the United States in attendance.

And for Matt Mastrogiovanni ’17 that’s exactly where he wanted to be.

“I hadn’t really put the magnitude of the event into perspective,” said Mastrogiovanni, a Bloomsburg University mass communications graduate who served as a member of the College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship’s host committee in media operations. “When I walked onto the field for the first time and saw everyone filing into their seats, cheering as the players arrived, it hit me that I was in the middle of one of the biggest sporting events of the year. It was electric.”

Mastrogiovanni’s role in the CFP title game began two weeks prior with the Sugar Bowl, also held at the Superdome, where he has volunteered for the past three years with the game week media relations staff — an opportunity he landed through John Sudsbury, director of communications for the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

“Seeing all the photographers, TV personalities, and radio talents was awe inspiring,” Mastrogiovanni said. “And that was just the media side of things. I was fortunate enough to build on my list of contacts in the media world and was given lots of great advice on how to be successful in building a career in mass communications, mainly media relations. In every aspect, I was able to take away a ton of information, advice, and memories.”

According to Mastrogiovanni, he got a full behind-the-scenes look at large-scale mass media relations in all phases of the game day experience.

“I learned just how much it really takes to put events like these into motion,” said Mastrogiovanni, who at the designated media hotel was a media information distributor, way-finder, and general liaison between the media and the CFP. “At media day, I did the same type of stuff. Game day was also a lot of pre-game way-finding and directing people to key media locations around the Superdome.”

During the game, he ran stat sheets to LSU’s locker room after each quarter. Postgame was similar, he said.  

“I ran stats to the locker room, as well as aided in handing out the final stat booklets to media in the postgame press conference room,” Mastrogiovanni said. “Also, I helped out up in the press box post game making sure the remaining media got all of their necessary stat and press conference quote sheets. It all made for a long day but was extremely involved.”

Through all the controlled media chaos, intensity of the game and its coverage, ending with the gentle calm of confetti sprawled across the Superdome turf, it was quite the memorable experience for Mastrogiovanni. A lot of lessons learned. Some of which he can even clearly remember back to his days in Bloomsburg.

“I can’t say enough about how much BU helped me along my journey,” Mastrogiovanni said. “All of the mass communications faculty were extremely helpful, especially Dr. (Richard) Ganahl. I’d like to thank him for all the advice he gave me as an academic advisor but also a mentor.”

He added, “My friends and everyone I met in the major were amazing too. The comradery between us made working together so much easier and also lots of fun. Through my time with BUnow is when I think I learned my most valuable lesson. If you put in the work, stay hungry and get involved, you’ll earn your place in whatever it is you’re pursuing.”

Is there a bigger stage for Mastrogiovanni? Yes, he says. His climb continues.

The sound of success

Enrique Josephs was cooling his jets at LAX waiting for a flight. A call came in on his cell from his agent. A quick trip to the men’s room where he opened up a suitcase on a changing table to reveal his mobile recording studio. Ten minutes later ... mission accomplished. Spot recorded and delivered to the client.

For a voice-over artist, working in strange locations at all hours of the day and night is part of the business. It’s a career that Josephs, better known to his friends as EJ, never even knew existed if not for a chance meeting at a summer event on campus.

It’s already been a meteoric journey for the 26-year old with many big dreams still in his future. Among his credits is work for NFL Films, the History Channel, MLB Network, ESPN and the Emmy-nominated Harry Connick Jr. television show. Along the way though, there were lots of twists and turns and a bit of luck.

Josephs was a highly-recruited football offensive lineman from West Chester. One of his high school teachers, John Adams, the father of a former BU football player Stefan Adams, suggested he give BU a serious look for both its football team and its strong mass communications program.

“The late Mr. Adams really influenced me to attend BU,” said Josephs. “I loved playing football and had dreams of becoming a news anchor. He thought Bloomsburg University would be good for me with both a strong football team and mass communications department.”

“My early goal was to be a news anchor,” said Josephs. Those dreams of being an on-camera celebrity soon changed. “I realized I liked being behind the scenes as an editor or on the radio more. I could let my personality come through without being worried about the camera.”

After his football career ended due to injury, fate would intervene for EJ when former teammate Franklyn Quiteh recommended his friend to the BU athletic department for a job as a PA announcer at the school’s home games. Once the staff heard him on the microphone, Josephs was quickly hired.

“Working as a PA announcer taught me how to make adjustments on the fly in a stressful situation,” EJ continued. “Initially I was fearful of what people would think of my voice, but I grew into enjoying the interaction I had with the fans as well as still being part of a sport without actually playing.”

In the mass comm department, EJ was actively involved in many areas. “I started volunteering more for projects the mass comm department was working on with Jason Genovese, now chair of the department, and Mike DiGiorgio (former assistant in the IT area),” Josephs added.

“EJ always had the talent, the golden pipes, but you need more than that, and he knew it,” said Genovese. “He had a work ethic that has already carried him to great heights in the television industry and will continue to do so.”

“As a senior I attended the first Confer Radio Institute held at BU,” said Josephs. “I met Pat Garrett one of the top voice-over guys. I never knew doing that kind of work could be a career. Pat let us use his equipment to record demos and also told us to keep working and not give up. It was great advice that I never forgot.”

But a journey from ‘keep working hard kid’ to NFL Films doesn’t just happen. Along with skill, EJ needed some luck and a few breaks.

By day Josephs was working as a video instructor at the Glen Mills school for troubled youth. By night he was interning for an independent baseball team, the Camden River Sharks, learning as much as he could and getting tips from the public address announcer Kevin Casey, now the voice of the Philadelphia Union professional soccer team.

On a career day at Glen Mills, an engineer from NFL Films was on site. A co-worker of EJ’s introduced him to the engineer. After a brief conversation, EJ was asked to send in a demo.

“I scrambled that night at home to put something together and quickly sent it in,” Josephs continued. “The company surprised me by calling me in for an interview. It went so well, a few months later I was offered a job as a production assistant, ironically just a few days after landing a full-time position with the school.” (He quickly quit his job at the school.)

EJ’s big break came just months later when he was tabbed to be the voice of the post-game spot announcing the opportunity to purchase gear and a highlight DVD of the Super Bowl. Later he worked

on a highlight film of the Super Bowl becoming the first seasonal production assistant hired for that role.

“I had to sleep at NFL films multiple nights to meet the deadline,” said Josephs. “The same producers who recorded his demo gave him a shot to do the narration on the Super Bowl 50 highlights. It was huge. They loved it.”

Later that year EJ caught another big break and landed a spot as the voice of the NFL’s Top 100 when the original voice of the show was arrested. “I was working with the show’s Emmy Award-winning producer doing some training. After the original voice-over artist was dropped, the producer hired me to be the new voice that year. We had to re-record two episodes which had aired already and now I am one of three regular voices of the program.”

Most recently Josephs did the narration for the History Channel’s summer show “Evel Live,” which was the most-watched live show outside of a sporting event on television in 2018 with more than 3.5 million viewers.

“The production company for the show, Nitro Circus, had heard some of my work and asked me to audition,” Josephs said. “A short time after sending in my audition, my agent called me to tell me I got the job.” Of course, that day was also his first day of vacation in Virginia.

“I had to call a friend, who called someone he knew, and I landed time in a studio. In all, it took about two hours to record all the narration so I didn’t lose too much of my vacation.”

While the profession may seem simple to an outsider, just like an athlete, EJ has to train, practice and of course take care of his most valuable asset…his voice.

“Each week I work with a voice coach because it’s easy to strain the vocal chords if you’re not careful,” said Josephs. “Recently, I went to a concert, but couldn’t scream. I also drink a lot of water, tea with honey, and eat lots of apples. I’ve also stopped drinking milk because lactate creates too much mucus. And, my girlfriend’s grandmother put me on to echinacea and I haven’t been sick in more than three years (knock on wood),” said Josephs laughing.

“Originally I was very hard on myself and would critique all my work,” Josephs continued. “I don’t do it as much now. Now I’m just interested in making sure my clients are happy with my work.”

So what’s next for the guy who originally was hoping to be a news anchor?

“It’s been an amazing few years for me, but I do not want to be complacent,” said Josephs. “I see my future in promos, commercials and narrations. It would be great to be able to do a long-term series for Nat Geo or the Discovery Channel. I’d love to be synonymous with one show.”

“Ultimately, the Olympics for voice-over artists are movie trailers. Right now two guys have most of the work in this area. I’m not rushing things; I’ve still got a lot to learn about the industry. But movie trailers is where I hope to one day land.”

Despite his growing status in the voice-over world, EJ still finds time to give back. “I’m mentoring three young men at my church in the voice-over business and recently spent an hour on the phone with an intern from NFL Films answering her questions. “For me, it’s about helping others on their journey,” said Josephs. “I learned a lot by trial and error. My goal is to help others achieve their dreams.”

PRSSA rally inspires chapter president

Some new things are coming to Bloomsburg University’s Public Relations Student Society of America chapter this fall as a result of the recent PRSSA 2019 Leadership Rally in Scottsdale, Ariz.

“As a small chapter I went into this conference wanting to get as much advice about running a chapter that I could,” says Sean Lenahan, mass communications major and chapter president. “The other participants discussed chapter development, fundraising, and events that their chapters ran in the past. I now have a number of ideas on how to grow Bloomsburg’s chapter this upcoming year.”

The experience and knowledge shared by big names in the PR industry and other chapters provided Lenahan with fresh insight that he could take with him. Lenahan said there were a number of important names in PR who attended the conference to include”

Gary McCormick, president of GMC Communications, who talked about event planning

Aerial Ellis, a young PR professional, who discussed leadership and diversity

Becca Booker, owner of Homemade Social, discussed the world of freelance PR work

“It was very inspiring to hear these professionals talk about their journeys and careers,” Lenahan says. “Networking, leadership, and diversity were all among the topics discussed over the course of the weekend. There was also a discussion about freelancing PR, which is something I had not considered before.”

To Lenahan it was an amazing opportunity he feels lucky to have had and hopes that future Bloomsburg PRSSA chapter presidents are able to have.

“It was a phenomenal experience,” Lenahan says “I heard a lot of different people give their input on issues regarding PRSSA and public relations in general. It really inspired me to be the best professional version of myself. Hearing what other presidents and professionals had accomplished inspired me to complete a list of tasks before going into my senior year. This includes working on a website, business card, and improving my resume.”

I’m a Husky

Dallas Kriebel is a graduating mass communications major from Benton, a small town outside of Bloomsburg. She is also earning a minor in geography.

Kriebel spent three years with BUnow, the university’s student-run news and entertainment organization, serving her senior year as editor-in-chief. In addition, she spent two years with the Office of Marketing and Communications as a communications assistant.

“There will probably never be another time in my life where I’ll be able to pick up a camera, walk around campus to take photos and call it my job,” Kriebel says. “I'll miss the beautiful views of campus, and all the people who point to themselves saying ‘me?’ or ‘why?’ when I ask to take a photo of them, then politely telling them it's my job.”

According Kriebel, being a Husky taught her that no matter how much or little someone is physically on campus, they can always be involved.

“As a commuter, at times it can be tough to participate in campus activities; but I assure you it’s worth it to get involved,” Kriebel says. “I joined BUnow on a whim my sophomore year and became the editor-in-chief in no time at all. You don't have to be the leader of an organization or in 15 organizations. Just put your efforts where you feel they can fill a gap and where you feel you belong.”

Kriebel adds she is fully prepared to join the workforce right after graduation.

Steph Pettit to be awarded honorary doctorate

Bloomsburg University will award an honorary doctor of humane letters to Steph Pettit ’89 on Saturday, May 11, at the 10 a.m. commencement ceremony for the College of Education and the College of Liberal Arts. 

The ceremony will be held at Redman Stadium on upper campus. Pettit graduated with a degree in mass communications and was a four-year member of the Huskies football team. He was part of the 1985 Huskies football team that won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference title and was the first team in school history to win 12 games. 

After graduation, he was a sales manager for E & J Gallo Winery before taking ownership of Clean Earth Systems, Inc. in 1993. The company began as a small, corrugated box company, and has since grown into a nationwide distributor of hazardous waste containers with 15 warehouses and sales teams in each. Clean Earth Systems' innovations has reinvented hazardous waste storage while maximizing efficiency, through cost-effective, sensible, and environmentally-responsible hazardous material transportation, and disposal.

“Steph Pettit has been a wonderful friend to Bloomsburg University over the years,” said Bashar W. Hanna, university president. “Through his generous support, so many of our students have achieved the dream of a college degree. On behalf of our university and our Council of Trustees, it will be my privilege to present this well-deserved honor to Steph Pettit.”

Pettit has given back in many ways to BU. He served on the It’s Personal campaign cabinet as the lead advocate and ambassador supporting all of athletics. Pettit also co-chaired the First & Goal football scholarship campaign as well as establishing the SP-59 annual football scholarship, the Under Armour Football sponsorship, and the Steph Pettit Legacy Scholarship. He also supported athletics with a $1 million contribution for stadium improvements to the former Sports Stadium and additional athletic scholarships. 

The now Steph Pettit Stadium has hosted four NCAA National Championships since being renamed and serves as the home to Huskies' field hockey, men's and women's soccer and women's lacrosse teams, in addition to local high school teams and university intramural and club teams. 

In addition, he supported the banner project at Redman Stadium that improved the look of the facility. But athletics has not been the only beneficiary of Pettit’s generosity. He also supports the Department of Mass Communications with experiential learning opportunities through a production company for current students that produces documentaries and long-form projects.  

Women’s History Month Young Alumna Profile

Jackie Eddy ’14, Mass Communications

Eddy is in her second year at the Patriot League as the associate director for communications. She handles the daily management of the Patriot League’s official website in addition to coordinating content for the league’s social media platforms. Eddy also serves as the league’s primary contact for men’s soccer, women’s volleyball, women’s basketball, men’s lacrosse and men’s and women’s tennis. Before arriving at the Patriot League, she worked at Greensboro College, Newberry College and the Big South Conference. While at BU, she spent nearly two years working in the sports information department.

What made you want to get into athletic communications?

I say this whenever this question is asked to me: Tom McGuire. I emailed for an interview for his student-worker position in the Sports Information Department and the rest is history, to be honest. While I always knew I wanted to work in the sports world in some aspect, I initially didn’t know what I wanted to do. He immediately threw me in the fire, and that’s what I needed. I loved everything from the excitement of working games to being behind the scenes in the office making game programs. I owe Tom a lot for taking me under his wing and showing me the ropes and ultimately guiding me to figure out what I am passionate and good at.

You’ve had a lot of stops along the way to the Patriot League, what was the hardest part of having to move all the time?

That question is an easy one for me. The hardest part was being away from my family. I have been blessed with incredibly supportive parents and sisters, and now the addition of a brother-in-law. While they were hesitant when I picked everything up and moved to North Carolina shortly after I graduated, they were behind me. Every move I made I had them in the back of my mind. I would often question myself, “Should I go home and try to find somewhere to work in New Jersey?” but I knew if I wasn’t 100% happy that my family wouldn’t be fully happy. When I got hired at the Patriot League we went out to celebrate the night I got the call; when I got past positions,we didn’t get to because I was too far away. It was such a special feeling for me to be with them on that day because they were there since I started at Bloomsburg. I could say that starting at a new school or conference is difficult because it’s a new way of doing things, butI got used to that…I didn’t get used to being away from my family.

Who have been your female role models in the world of athletic communications?

My biggest female role model in athletic communications is my friend, Ally Keirn. I met her while she was a grad assistant in the SID office and I was a student-worker there. When I met her, I knew she was going to be someone I was going to look up to in this field because she is such a strong, passionate and resilient woman. She is now at Army West Point, who is in our conference, where she is the associate director of athletic communications, so it has been such a fun experience to work with her again and learn more from her and vice versa. We need more Ally Keirn’s in this field.  

What advice would you give to any female wanting to get into athletic communications?

Stay persistent. I used to be called persistent from coworkers and bosses all the time, and still to this day I do. I always thought it was a bad thing…like I was being a pain or I wasn’t letting things go. But now I realize that if I wasn’t persistent in standing up for ideas that I had or opportunities that I wanted, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

Don’t be intimated if/when you realize this field as a lot of men in it. I will be completely honest when I started out I thought I was going to crash and burn since I was a female, but over the years I have loved being a female in athletic communications. I think it is such an inspiring thing to see females climb the ranks in this field because let us be real and we are pretty amazing. Something that has helped me realize my full potential in my position is the amazing male bosses that stood behind, including my current boss, Ryan Sakamoto. He has stood next to me in many discussions about things I wanted to change or take part in, ready to support me. Knowing that you have a boss (male or female) that will support you and push you to be better is so beneficial in the sports world.

If you could go back in time, what advice would current Jackie give to undergrad Jackie or just after graduation Jackie?

It is okay if you don’t have it all together all the time. I am 26 years old and have worked at numerous places andI still don’t have itentirelytogether, and that’s okay. Having it all together is hard in this position because your role and day-to-day in continually changing.

Be authentic. If you know me, you know that I can sometimes be opinionated and maybe loud, and my facial expressions are super transparent. But that is what makes me who I am. My mom and dad raised me to not beafraid to share my opinion when I felt it was the right time and I am glad they did because my opinionshave changed some things for the better during my time in this career and even in my personal life.

What do you enjoy most about your current position?

Being one of the people who gets to really brag and promote all our student-athletes in our conference. Our conference is just not about how our student-athletes do onthe field of play, but also how they do in the classroom. They are all well-rounded men and women so being able to watch them combine their talents on a court or a field and then in the classroomas well is truly amazing. It makes my job more fun when I get to write not only about stats but their appropriate extracurricular activities as well.

Where do you see yourself in five years? 10 years?

If I was asked this question five years ago I would have said, “I want to become the women’s basketball SID at UConn.”  My answer now is simple: Wherever I am, I want to be happy. I know many people who are in a profession or at a job they don’t like, andI never want to feel like that. Yes some days are harder than others, and some days I might question myself, but ultimately I love my job. So whether I am in my home state of New Jersey, down south in the Carolinas or on the west coast, I want to be doing something that makes me truly happy.

10 years from now? Still happy in whatever position I hold, but hopefully with the addition of a husband, kids and a dog.

What prompted you to want to come back for Boot Camp?