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Alumni Experience

“Especially at this point and time in the pandemic, connections really are a huge part of this industry.”

Episode 13 of Select+CT with Bryan Murphy, NBC Sports Group | Leah Myers, WTNH-TV | Erick Jean, The Game Agency

Having the status of being an “undergrad” can be overwhelming because we don’t know what will happen after surpassing it. Even if we as students know where we want to work, it’s still challenging to pinpoint if what we think will work out or if what we think is a reality given our location and skillsets.

The purpose of the Select + CT recordings is to emphasize that there are so many great digital media jobs in Connecticut. It also helps us understand how our skillsets connect to the industry. The first episode of season two invites three alumni from three different CT-based higher education institutions to share their professional experiences since graduating.

Bryan Murphy, NBC Sports Group, Leah Myers, WTNH-TV, and Erick Jean, The Game Agency, conquered those fears for us! Leah is a digital content producer, Bryan is a digital editor, and Erick is a front-end developer. Bryan admitted how hard it can be to break into the industry.

See Also: CT Careers for Game Developers

I will use Bryan’s experience as an example because he had the most challenging time, which I think makes him the most relatable. He says he applied to more jobs than he could count and only got 2-3 interviews. The job he ended up landing didn’t require an interview because he’d interned there before. He doesn’t know where he’d be working if he hadn’t made the connections in his prior internship.

As unfair as it sounds, having to make connections to prosper has proven true for Bryan and many others. In 2017, LinkedIn did a study that revealed a whopping 80 percent of professionals consider networking just as important as an actual portfolio or other professional work experience. Seventy percent of those people were hired at a company where they had a connection! That is more than half the workforce who felt this way.

I am guessing since the pandemic; this number has increased even more as we are now in a recession. Bryan’s story is one of too many, but he succeeded. Listen to the full episode to hear Leah and Erick’s stories; maybe their experiences will relate more to yours. View the full linked-in article here.

Featured Program

The University of Hartford has a unique take on digital media; they offer a dual in both digital media and journalism. This means you are more than likely to land a job in either! You are prepared for a career in digital media production, broadcast journalism, sports media, or as a media business professional. “Using a combination of real-world and classroom experience, you build a strong portfolio through internships and by working in one or more of our media-oriented student firms.” Learn more about this program here.

DMCT Micro Credentials

If you are unsure of how your skills connect to Connecticut’s growing Digital Media industry, I encourage you to enroll in DMCT’s first micro-credential course, The Emerging Practitioner. I am a graduate of the program and learned many things to assist my transition from University to a Career in CT and beyond!

Digital Media CT Blog

Entrepreneurship in Connecticut

by Madison Doherty

“I think more non-digital media students need more digital media skills, and digital media need more than just the art side of the skill set.”

Episode 15 of Select+CT with David Noble, UConn’s Peter J. Werth Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation

After 2008, Connecticut’s economy didn’t rebound as quickly as the rest of the nation. Because of this, there’s been a focus on UCONN and other universities to drive more students into entrepreneurial spaces. Entrepreneurship is something that has successfully grown in alignment with Connecticut’s economy.

fun fact – ESPN was actually started in Bristol, CT in 1979!

Starting a business as a CT-based entrepreneur is easier than I thought. And in a Select+CT podcast episode, Professor David Noble from UConn’s Peter J. Werth Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation shared information on how entrepreneurship relates to students in Digital Media Design.

See Also: Building a Digital Media Company

Professor Noble said it’s crucial to increase the cross-discipline of students with specific skills. Non-digital media students need more digital media skills, and digital media students need more than just the art side of that skill set. This ties into Connecticut because we have a successful history of bringing industry to the state. Companies engaged in the same industry can help establish “talent hubs,” which further encourage more entrepreneurship as there is a cluster of skilled professionals specializing in a particular area.

Shortly after the economic events of 2008, politically and economically, growth forces started to look to entrepreneurship. David has seen the rapid importance of scale and scope in the digital media space. “We’re seeing a growth sector of self-employed digital media groups,” he added.

Since then, many have relocated to CT since the events of 2020, but even without the pandemic, numbers have skyrocketed in the past decade! My point is that you’re lucky if you want to be your own boss and happen to live in Connecticut (also, studying digital media doesn’t hurt, considering the value that people like Professor Noble place on this field).

Featured Program

Gateway Community College has an entire program dedicated to Entrepreneurial Studies. Located in New Haven, this school offers two certificates to earn while learning to be your own boss! You can also use the credits earned to pursue a Bachelor’s in the field, so this plan works perfectly if you’re indecisive about continuing your education or already engaged in a side hustle. See here for more information.

DMCT Micro Credentials

Digital Media CT Blog

DMCT Partners with the CADC Annual Awards Show

by Matthew Worwood

Digital Media CT is thrilled to announce a new partnership with the Connecticut Art Directors Club (CADC) to support the Annual CADC Awards Show.

The CADC Awards Show celebrates the very best in advertising and design from Connecticut’s creative community. It’s a chance for local creatives to showcase their talents and compete for recognition from their peers. The award ceremony includes ten student categories ranging from Student Photography and Print to Student Online & Interactive and Student Animation.

Digital Media CT has partnered with four categories to celebrate emerging Digital Media talent in the four branches recognized in the DMCT 2020 Digital Media Manifesto. They include:

Student Animation
Student Online & Interactive / Published
Student Online & Interactive / Unpublished
Student Video

The work must have been produced between May 2, 2022, and March 14, 2023, and submitted before the Apr. 22 deadline. Visit the CADC website for more information on the submission guidelines.

DMCT Emerging Professional Badge

There are many opportunities for those skills in Digital Media and Content Production; learn how to connect your talents to Connecticut’s growing Digital Media industry. The DMCT Emerging Professional badge guides students and alumni through the process of connecting core competencies to job opportunities and provides other ideas to support continued professional growth after graduation.

Digital Media CT Blog

Digital Media’s Influence on Public Broadcasting

by Madison Doherty

“How can I not only get this beautiful storytelling – or this amazing piece of journalism – onto all these platforms but how can I tell it in a way that makes sense with that platform?”

Episode 20 of Select+CT with Lauren Komrosky, Chief Digital Officer, Connecticut Public

Television and radio programs have been broadcasting to the public since November 2, 1920: when KDKA station made the nation’s first commercial broadcast. It was election day, and Americans around the country got to hear the election results. Warren Harding had won the race for President.

Since then the content broadcast has grown exponentially and we enjoy new and evolving forms of news and entertainment from various platforms. In this episode of the Select+CT podcast, Lauren Komrosky and Jake Volckso from Connecticut Public discuss Digital Media’s influence on traditional broadcasts.

See Also: Freelancing and Internships

Lauren has been with the company for about 6 years, she started with marketing and research and ran a community engagement digital content initiative called the Yup Network. Within these networks, she has made it her mission to work with creators of color because representation is important to not only her, but her company. Her co-worker Jake is in a similar position.

Both employees shared that their company started as a television station, but is now completely multi-platform. “We are watching and learning how people consume content, our content, what they want from us,” said Lauren. When expanding to other platforms to broadcast, she suggests catering your content to fit each platform best individually. How can you tell the story in a way that makes sense with that platform?

Jake shed light on the fact that public media is in a prime position to excel for you if you’re considering entering the digital media space. You have to have a “digital mindset” and be comfortable pushing the boundaries on the types of content you’re putting out there. It’s about trial and error, but you might have to try and fail a couple of times before you get it right.

Featured Program

Did you know that Quinnipiac University offers a Masters degree in public relations? Through their online program, you can learn skills and strategies needed for every aspect of communications in todays world! For more information visit their website.

DMCT Micro Credentials

Digital Media CT Blog

Building a Digital Media Company

by Madison Doherty

“I think it really just comes down to starting a vision in your dorm room and being able to get great people around you.”

Episode 12 of Select+CT with David Salinas, Co-Founder of Digital Surgeons and Innovation District in New Haven, Pete Sena, Co-Founder and CEO of Digital Surgeons

Since listening to the Select+CT podcast, I’ve felt motivated to hype up Connecticut through these blog posts. Although this is a Connecticut-centric podcast, the contents of this particular episode can apply to anyone, anywhere. It’s about entrepreneurship, passion, belief, and commitment.

In an episode of the Select+CT podcast, the co-founders for one of Connecticut’s largest Digital Media agencies participated in an interview about their company and how it started in their University dorm room.

At first, they shared that the experience began with understanding who can make 2+2 equal 5 -a.k.a: getting the most out of a business partnership- is crucial. A collaboration between two individuals who want to move an arrow in the same direction can make or break a business venture. Sometimes it only takes two people, but other times it can take many.

“Your network is your net worth,” said David Salinas to Pete Sena when they first met. David started working for a digital marketing company in New Haven and was trying to get a music business going. An engineer working for that marketing company told David he had to meet Pete because Pete was a “wizard with computers.” Since David was influencing sales, and Pete was working in tech, together they figured a partnership would be a good match; it was. Where Pete was weak, David was strong. It was a balance, an interconnection between the two. This created a “yin and yang” exchange which later contributed to the success of their company and also future companies. “Nothing great was never done by a single person,” said Pete.

See Also: CT Careers in Gaming

Understand that there is a need for how design and tech come together. This is why it is so important to have those interconnections when constructing a digital media company. A partnership doesn’t always mean two people; sometimes, it’s when you reach out for mentorship or advisors that can amplify your goals. David says you should rely only on one another to fill some gaps. If you find someone who has an opposing weakness to you, then your strength can be significant. How many business partners you need depends on the nature of your business venture. Is it a small business, and do you intend to keep it that way? Or are you planning on expanding into a massive corporation? That second one might take more than two people, no matter how badly you want to succeed.

As I reflect on this episode, I realize I never thought much about starting a company, but David and Pete have proved it’s possible.

Featured Company

Digital Surgeons is one of Connecticut’s largest Digital Media agencies. They work on various Digital Media and marketing projects and always looking for Digital Media talent. Learn more about the company and its current opening here.

DMCT Micro Credentials

Digital Media CT Blog

Content Marketing

by Madison Doherty

“People don’t just want to see an ad anymore. They want to see content that means something to them.”

Episode 7 of Select+CT with Colleen Sherry, Henkel

I can never take those medication ads seriously.

They conform to the same rigid formats that require a list of the severe side effects that may occur, all while playing upbeat elevator music!

No amount of skip ad buttons can make up for the stampede of companies that follow it, and this is only one of many forms of adverts we routinely see when watching content. However, do advertisers have any other choice when reaching a large audience?

I recently reviewed a 2020 Select + Podcast on this topic and discovered that brands are getting more creative in producing and distributing content to their audience.

According to the US Digital Marketing Lead at Henkel, 71 percent of people are turned off by “sales-y” content. She also advised that 63 percent said they’d think more positively of a brand if it was more valuable, relevant, or interesting to them. So Colleen engaged her creativity and explored other ways to market one of Henkel’s hair color and styling brands to millennials and gen Z.

See also: Careers in Motion GFX

Colleen noticed that viewers craved content of value. As gen Z and millennial consumers develop more sophisticated and personal views on ad preferences, digital landscapes (in alignment with consumer landscapes) have evolved. Brands must evolve with their consumers. Instead of just advertising to someone with a product, feature, and price, you should bring content to the consumer that they will enjoy while valuing that core information of price and product. The Ad should align the brand with what the consumer wants. The audience will be more likely to engage with your product because it directly relates to them. Colleen also noted that brands like Nike or Addidas have the upper hand because they slap their logo onto anything. So, if you’re wearing a Nike t-shirt with the brand’s logo on it, you are advertising Nike for free (not that Nike needs more advertising at this point).

Colleen Sherry worked with an external agency to develop a 9-episode series of short-form videos distributed on YouTube. These videos told the story of a young female DJ that wanted to secure her career. She eventually developed her own means of self-expression through her music, which is what Colleen’s brand is about; self-expression but through hair. “Millennials don’t trust traditional ads. So it’s not just that we don’t want to do traditional advertising. We’re not going to get through to our consumer if we do.” Said Colleen. As I reflected on this episode, I was not only impressed with the creativity of social media strategists like Colleen who pursue new ways to produce and share content for marketing, but also the new opportunities this may create for film and video producers.

Featured Program

For our CT-featured undergraduate program, check out Central Connecticut State University’s marketing major. The staff treats this as a “Bachelor of Science” study, which differs from the typical BA or MA in marketing. The courses are more analytical and train your mind to think of marketing strategies from a scientific perspective.

DMCT Micro Credentials

Digital Media CT Blog

Activism through Social Media

by Emma Schwarz

“What we’ve seen over the last 6 years of Black Lives Matter being established as a formal organization is a great shift from who’s doing the storytelling.”

Episode 1 of Select+CT with Mercy Quaye, The Narrative Project, Susan Katz, University of Bridgeport

Throughout the last decade, more young people have been engaging in social activism through social media. In our first Select+CT podcast episode, I had the opportunity to reflect on this topic and ask myself – what exactly is social activism, and what does it mean to participate in this effort?

As we pass the two-year anniversary of George Floyd’s death, Digital Media CT revisits the first ever episode of Select+CT, a CT-centric podcast that educates young people about the media industry. The first episode was recorded soon after the death of George Floyd and the subsequent Black Lives Matter movement that occurred in response. Hosted by David DesRoches, this episode interviewed CT-based activist Mercy Quaye, and Professor Susan Katz, on how social platforms like Facebook and Snapchat have changed how we engage in social justice issues. Below is my summary of the episode.

See also: University to Career

David introduces us to the fact that the digital media presence of the Black Lives Matter movement has proven how an activist’s presence on these digital platforms can pick up significant traction for their campaign. “What we’ve seen over the last six years of Black Lives Matter being established as a formal organization is a great shift from who’s doing the storytelling,” said Mercy. In the case of this decade, the stories of black lives are being told through social media. Establishing the nature of activism came firstly through movies, television, sports, and news; social media is a byproduct. I think what Susan and Mercy conveyed is that the process of informing the world on how to help a cause isn’t linear. There are more outlets than ever, after all, and we should be using every last one of them to participate in movements that promote social justice. “There is a human touch, a human voice.” Susan explained, “young people are really getting out there and giving the advice to protest safely; they’re creating all kinds of templates where you can send emails out to authorities, politicians,”. Personality within these platforms makes the human connection between what is being discussed and the audience perceiving it. And how we operate digital media shouldn’t just rely on spreading a message itself.. but on the sharing links, for example, which can lead to donations, more signatures on petitions, and organizing protests. It is also important to note that every political posting has the potential to alienate some individuals who don’t agree with those particular views.

See also: Careers in Content Marketing

The University of Hartford, CT, has a Digital communication and media/multimedia program teaching students how to engage in social justice movements (see here as an example). I guarantee that most clicks to this text are from students of this university who’ve been redirected through their social media accounts. So knowing your demographic can boost your numbers if you’re willing to take the risk, despite the existence of those who may disagree with the message. The sacrifice of those who disfavor your content will ensure that the vast majority of your growing audience values your contribution. I certainly left this episode feeling more inspirited and informed when it comes to activism through social media.

Featured Program

The in-depth discussion about digital media and the power it holds for the improvement of our societal issues can be found here. Furthermore, Select+CT podcast is a CT-centered industry podcast produced in partnership with Quinnipiac University, the University of Connecticut, and the CT Office for Film, Television, and Digital Media.

This podcast shares educational information for students interested in pursuing film and digital media careers in Connecticut. Check out the DMCT website to learn more.

DMCT Micro Credentials

If you are unsure of how your skills connect to Connecticut’s growing Digital Media industry, I encourage you to enroll in DMCT’s first micro-credential course, The Emerging Practitioner. I am a graduate of the program and learned a bunch of things to assist my transition from University to Career in CT and beyond!