Webster University’s School of Communications once again will be well represented at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival running Feb. 12-21 in Missoula, Mont. Four current students, three alumni and two faculty members will all be part of the 10-day event.
Cody Stokes (BA, Independent Film Production and Management, 2007) and Stewart Copeland (BA, Film Production, 2008) both have films showing; Sarah Truckey (BA, Media Communications, 2006) will be blogging and Twittering the event; Webster Film Series Director Mike Steinberg remains as festival director; and adjunct professor Cliff Froehlich will serve as judge for the feature competition.
SOC students Jessica Hogan, Jerod Welker, Austin Childress and Ellen MacPhearson were brought on as programming associates.
The Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education on Monday appointed Jim Salmo (MA, Media Communications, 1985) as the new vice president for advancement at Rhode Island College.
Salmo also will serve as executive director for the RIC Foundation. He starts Feb. 8.
Salmo previously served as associate vice chancellor for development – health services at the University of Missouri.
The Missouri Lottery Commission has named May Scheve Reardon (MA, Media Communications, 1992) as the executive director of the Missouri Lottery. She is the Lottery’s fifth executive director since Lottery sales began in January 1986.
Reardon, the first woman to hold the position, brings extensive leadership experience in the financial, nonprofit and government sectors, including 12 years as a state representative serving on budget, appropriations and a joint committee on gaming and wagering.
“We’re confident that Reardon has the skills we are looking for to lead the Missouri Lottery and move the agency in a new direction,” said Kevin Roberts, chair of the Missouri Lottery Commission. “We look forward to working with her to help the Lottery maximize funding for public education in Missouri during these tough economic times.”
Troika Brodsky’s initial job description at the St. Louis Brewery was pretty simple.
“I just looked for stuff that needed to be done and got it done,” said Brodsky (BA, Media Communications and Art, 2001), who started working for Schlafly Beer shortly after graduation.
“When I started here, and more or less for the entire time I have been here, my work has been self-directed,” he said. “That first year I did everything from running Ethernet cables to driving kegs to Springfield.”
While he’s no longer driving kegs to Springfield, Brodsky’s still focused on getting things done. Brodsky is a creative person by nature who utilized his art education to design posters, flyers, banners and table tents on behalf of the brewery. “The majority of what I’ve done has been creative-based, he said.
Adjunct Professor Gina Jensen (MA, Media Communications, 2001) will be the subject of an upcoming episode of TLC’s “What Not to Wear,” thanks to several of her students who nominated her for the show.
The show’s hosts “ambushed” Jensen Tuesday during a taping of KSDK-TV’s (Channel 5) “Show Me St. Louis.” Jensen, who serves as the assistant director of the forensics and debate team, thought she was invited to the set to share her expertise in non-verbal communication.
Instead, show hosts Stacy London and Clinton Kelly confronted Jensen and offered her $5,000 for a new wardrobe. Several close family, friends and School of Communications Dean Debra Carpenter and University President Beth Stroble were there to witness the event.
Sure, it would be nice if her “Hollywood University” blog logged millions of hits and made her millions of dollars in the process, but that isn’t why Jessica Butler started it.
“I did this because I knew students needed it,” said Butler (BA, Media Communications with an emphasis in Scriptwriting, 2004). “It could become huge and that would be nice, but it’s not really why I’m doing it.
“A lot of people helped me when I was breaking into the industry, so I figured I could help out others in the same situation.”
Adam Jamal Craig (BA, Media Communications, 2002) starred as agent Dominic Vaile in the recent season premiere of NCIS: Los Angeles.
The new series airs on CBS and also stars Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J. It’s set at the Office of Special Projects, a division of NCIS that’s charged with apprehending dangerous criminals and elusive criminals that pose a threat to the nation’s security.
The St. Louis-based EDM Incorporated has named Kelly R. Jackson (BA, Media Communications, 2000) as its new Director of Marketing.
Jackson’s key responsibilities include overseeing the engineering firm’s business development and marketing efforts, with a focus on generating new business for the company as well managing marketing and public relations initiatives.
The St. Louis Business Journalrecently named Kate Ewing (BA, Media Communications, 2002; MA, Marketing, 2003) as a member of its 2009 class of “30 under 30.”
“Giving back to the St. Louis community is very meaningful and important to me,” Ewing said. ” I’m honored to be a part of the 2009 St. Louis Business Journal 30 under 30 class.”
The annual award honors 30 outstanding St. Louis-area business leaders under the age of 30. The-29-year-old Ewing serves as marketing coordinator at Sigma-Aldrich, an international life science and high technology company. Ewing also serves on the board of directors of Animal House Fund, a nonprofit organization created to raise money and build a state-of-the-art, environmentally-responsible animal care facility in the City of St. Louis.
Webster University’s School of Communications once again will be well represented at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival running Feb. 12-21 in Missoula, Mont. Four current students, three alumni and two faculty members will all be part of the 10-day event.
