Elon University’s annual Media Board banquet April 25 honored award-winning student communicators, as each of the six Elon student-media groups announced its outstanding member for the past calendar year.
The winners were:
- Pendulum – Jessica Patchett
- WSOE – Travis Lusk
- Colonnades – Irene Harvey-Felder and Kaitlyn North
- ESTV – Scott Myrick
- Phi Psi Cli – Jen Heilman
Yearbook adviser Felicia Massey was recognized for more than 13 years of service as a leader for Phi Psi Cli. She is retiring from the position after the spring semester.
The guest speaker was Skip Clark, director of photography for Go To Team, a Charleston, S.C., video-production company. Clark’s home base for “Go To” is located in Charlotte. He has worked with ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, MTV, “America’s Most Wanted,” “Good Morning America,” “The Today Show,” NBC Sports, Fox Sports, the Discovery Channel and others.
Clark shared two key pieces of advice for the young communicators at the banquet. “First, find the moment,” he said. “You’re probably going to start your careers in a small place, and you’ll go through some frustrations. Even when it seems as if your entire day will be filled with drudgery, look for the little opportunities there are to seize a great moment. Shoot a story no one tells you to. Find something you care about and do something you can take pride in.”
He added that each individual is responsible for his or her own success. “The second thing is that this field is what you make of it,” he said. “Sometimes we focus too much on being in on the big story or moving to the big market. Don’t forget the journey is important. Focus on today rather than tomorrow.”
He closed by encouraging students to be their own motivators. “If you aren’t being challenged, then YOU aren’t trying hard enough,” he said.
Go To Team’s Charlotte, N.C., office was established in 2001. Clark, 28, provides video footage and interviews to broadcast, cable and corporate video clients, covering locations throughout North and South Carolina. He got his start in television in Mansfield and Columbus, Ohio, and Columbia, S.C., where he was chief photographer at the ABC affiliate, WOLO. He joined the Go To Team in 2000, and has since found himself on both coasts for campaign coverage, in many Carolina swamps, in hurricanes, in the middle of the September 11th tragedy, and on some popular reality-television assignments.