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2016 Greenlee Glimpse

The 2016 Greenlee Glimpse was the final project I took on for the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication. As I transitioned out of my position as the school’s communication specialist, I was fortunate enough to be able to take on the project as an independent contractor. In this capacity I was able to work remotely as the editor of the third alumni magazine I created for the school as I traveled across the west coast in the fall of 2016.

Working on the magazine while traveling couldn’t have worked out better. While internet connectivity proved challenging to find at times, I was able to visit and interview one of the school’s alumni who lives and works in Los Angeles and was named as one of Forbes’ 40 Under 40 in Advertising and Marketing in 2016. This feature story ended up being the cover story, using images that I captured during my interview with Stafford.

As usual, I worked with Greenlee professor Deb Gibson and her feature writing students, who contributed content for the Glimpse. This year I again chose to design the publication myself and felt comfortable taking more risks with some design elements in the magazine, which I believe turned out well and made the magazine more visually appealing.

I wrote two of the feature stories for the 2016 Glimpse, which was a great exercise for me while traveling. Conducting interviews, crafting narratives and acquiring artwork for these stories kept my mind active while I was exploring the western United States. My feature stories on Greenlee alumnus Tyler Stafford and outgoing Greenlee School Director Dr. Michael Bugeja are below.


 

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Advertising Campaigns Class Feature Story, Photos

Each semester,  students enrolled in the Greenlee School’s Advertising Campaigns course work for a real client on a semester-long project to find solutions to the client’s advertising/marketing/public relations needs.

The spring 2016 semester campaigns course, taught by Lecturer Catherine Huggins, worked with Terrace Hill, the official residence of the Governor of Iowa, which is also a museum and a National Historical Landmark. The class worked with Iowa’s First Lady Christine Branstad and her assistant Diane Becker throughout the semester to identify Terrace Hill’s advertising needs and find potential solutions for the small staff and volunteers to carry out.

With such a high-profile client, I wanted to keep tabs on this story throughout the semester, with the intention of doing a comprehensive piece once the project was finished. First, I made sure to attend an on-campus meeting that the class held with Branstad and Becker, taking a few photos and getting a feel for the project, the client’s needs and students’ perceptions of their task for the semester.

After the class’s initial meeting, teams had the semester to conduct research to base their campaigns on. Knowing that each team was working autonomously, I decided it would be best to meet with each team again before their final presentations and then to attend the presentations and see the final campaigns each team presented. I snapped photos (below) of the presentations and was able to interview Mrs. Branstad and Ms. Becker for the my feature on the class’s project.

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2014 Greenlee Glimpse

The 2014 Greenlee Glimpse was the first major publication I was solely responsible for producing. This project began as soon as I started my position in June 2014, with planning content and organizing the mailer that goes out to all of the school’s alumni requesting their latest news.

Throughout the fall I worked with students to complete stories and visual content for the magazine, while overseeing a complete redesign of the publication. Working through the publishing process was certainly eye-opening. It required me to analyze the publication’s audience and reach, determine the best format and style for readers, as well as the appropriate quantity of magazines to order based on both the audience’s and the school’s needs.

Managing such a large project and keeping on top of deadlines — my own and others’ — did prove challenging. But the process required me to use time efficiently and be immediate and decisive throughout the planning and production processes. Though it took longer than I had anticipated, I was very happy with the final publication — a perfectly-bound, 56-page, 9-by-13 inch magazine with a fresh look and feel. Later in the spring, the school’s namesake, Bob Greenlee, also complimented the magazine, saying it was one of the best he had seen through the years.