The WOUB Alumni Society

The WOUB Alumni Society is officially launched in December of 2009.

It was the logical next step and destination for a large number of alumni, that had found old friends- first by replying to a group message at a popular social network site, then forming a group there. The WOUB Alumni Society, is the official Ohio University group for WOUB alumni, and is under the auspices of the Ohio University Alumni Association.

In October 2009, we celebrated as two of the best of our alumni, received Medals of Merit as Distinguished Alumni, during Homecoming week. A second great evening to get old friends, and WOUB alumni together was also held at The Ohio University Inn.

In 2010, we begin the work of defining and permanently chartering our group. In addition to social events for alumni, we will be working with the Ohio University Alumni Association, The Scripps College of Communications, and the WOUB Center for Public Media, to reach out to even more WOUB alumni, as well as current and future students in the various WOUB student training programs.

At the web pages for the group, you can keep up on the latest news, events, and leadership information. We also have a slide show viewer of old photos and images of interest to WOUB alumni. Members can join the WOUB Alumni Society photo pool and add their own photos to share with others.

In addition to our Ohio University site, we have groups at both facebook and LinkedIn, to connect up and socialize with other friends and alumni. You may also wish to create a Google Friend Connect account to follow this blog, or add it to your news stream via an rss reader.

With all these outlets available, we look forward to finding and reconnecting with more alumni in 2010

WOUB Alumni (Yes, another one...) To Be Honored at Homecoming Ceremony

Last month when we published the story about fellow WOUB alums, Paula Shugart and Perry Sook, we did not have the information, that yet another person, we recognize as an alumnus, was also to be honored at the 2009 Alumni Awards, during Homecoming week, in October....This story is to correct that oversight and celebrate the recipient's outstanding achievements.


Selling Shoes in Pittsburgh

After graduation, there was a saying that became common to a few of us. Those that were still working together and were still close friends, while we were pursuing our media related careers in Cincinnati. And that saying was (when we started talking about what had happened to other people we used to know, but did not know if they were in the "biz" still) "I dunno about him (or her), they could be selling shoes in Pittsburgh, I guess...."

Of course we know, not everyone that graduated with a degree in Communications or Journalism, or ever worked at WOUB, in the Radio-TV or News areas, has continued on that same broadcasting path through out their life.

So it may not be a surprise when I tell you that former WOUB Newswatch reporter, Matt Rubel is indeed, "Selling Shoes in Pittsburgh"..... yes, that is a true fact.

But, I should probably add, that he is also selling them in Cleveland, Chicago, Cincinnati, Athens, Atlanta, Dallas, St. Louis, New York, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and every major city in the United States, and pretty much in every part of the world!

That's because currently, Matthew Rubel is the CEO and president of Collective Brands Inc., the holding company for Payless, Stride Rite and Collective Licensing International... so he sells shoes EVERYWHERE. He has sold them to you, very likely. I know he has to me!

After graduation, and leaving the news desk, instead of pursuing a job, at some small market station in the broadcast field, he pursued an MBA in marketing and finance at the University of Miami (FL). That decision and right turn from news and broadcasting, took him on a new career path, through companies like Revlon, J. Crew, Tommy Hilfiger and Nike, among others.

I don't know about you, but it really points out to me, I should have stayed in school a little longer, and got that other degree I was working on! It sure turned out to be a smart choice for Matt Rubel. Though I am sure he had the "making good choices for the long term future" brain, all the time, and obviously continued to exercise it, to have had the outstanding career, that he has....

And that is why HE is one of the Ohio University Alumni Association's, Outstanding Alumni, this year... (along with Paula Shugart) and the rest of us.... are not.

But hey, with hard work.... maybe next year? I think we should aim, for at least one alumnus, to get a Medal of Merit every year... Who's up for that?!

Here's to "contented" clients

For our public relations clients, we’re recommending at least a 50/50 split of emphasis between traditional media and Internet-based media. Our King’s English business model used to look like a Mercedes-Benz logo with equal thirds advertising, public relations and Internet. Now, it’s not that clean, because the Internet is more a medium than a discipline and all of what we do needs to work on the Web, PR especially.

Traditional print and broadcast publications for the most part have Web versions, but we have to look deeper and broader than that. A public relations program needs to reach blogs, Craigs List, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Remember, too, that your audience, like you, isn’t getting any younger. This will be an old list by the time you read it!

With all due respect to the grand old tradition of glossy magazines, you can’t Google search the Southern Living print edition. When prospects are looking for something that you sell, they’re typing in generic descriptions and clicking on the top Google responses. But you know this already.

The new message to our PR clients is: self-publish. Blog technology enables you to create your OWN glossy magazine. However, don’t assume you can just pump out your usual brochure copy or traditional Web site content.

If you’re going to self-publish and you want any readership, you have to achieve some level of:
1) Engaging writing—on the Web, you have to balance the consumer demand for fast facts with style. Online content is the easiest message to share and if your message is easy to read and entertaining it’s more likely to get pass-along readership.
2) Objectivity—consumers are jaded, especially Web consumers. While you don’t have to write good things about your competitors, you should avoid blatant sales pitches. And the more you can support your proposition with links and examples, the better.
3) Value—your content has to have value in and of itself. Your readers need to learn something or get a new idea from your content.

On the precipice of 2010, here’s what I see: a media opportunity that is more or less free and wide open to you and all of your competitors BUT the point of difference is your content

One caveat: we STILL NEED THE OLD PRINT MEDIA. What self-publishing and some lesser online properties lack is third-party credibility. Better Homes and Gardens, for example, has a big editorial staff in Des Moines, whose job it is to make sure they don’t print lame information and those are still the kinds of media you want to be seen in. So you should keep half of your PR emphasis on the traditional media to build credibility for your brand.

Editors Note: Dave McLean (BSC '81 Radio-TV), Principal at the King's English, is still making music, as many who knew him at Ohio University may remember. Now living in the Greensboro, NC area he is with The Raving Knaves, check out and listen to some of their music, or see them at some upcoming dates if you are in the area.

New Children's Series To Begin Distribution To Public TV Stations in September

THE ‘PRINCE OF PENCIL POWER’ RETURNS TO TELEVISION IN 2009

NETA will Distribute 26 HD Half-Hours of Learn- to- Draw TV Set in September

Robert Neustadt Productions of Northbrook, IL announces the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) will distribute 26 new half-hours of “Mark Kistler’s Imagination Station” in Fall of 2009 to public television stations nationwide Shot in HD before a live studio audience, the popular ‘how to draw in 3-D” TV series is based on Kistler’s books published by Simon & Schuster and Da Capo Press, and his on-line art academy designed for teachers and kids ages 6-14.

The new episodes will be offered exclusively to all 330 public TV stations in 2009 before being syndicated or distributed overseas. Previously, Kistler’s high-energy shows aired on over 150 stations from Los Angeles to Long Island. (SOURCE: Westlink)

At age 21, Kistler hosted his first national TV series, “The Secret City” in 1986. He now enjoys an almost ‘cult following’ on the Internet. Notable Kistler alumni include DC Comics artists, Miley Cyrus(“Hannah Montana”) and Rex Grignon, Animation Supervisor at Dreamworks for “Shrek” and “Madagascar.” Grignon and a team of dedicated graduate students and professors at San Jose State University designed a brand new animated open for this series.

Producer Robert Neustadt, (BSC '81- TCOM-Video), and fellow WOUB alumni, resides in Chicago, Illinois with his family. He holds a Masters in Fine Arts from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, and is the recipient of numerous awards for his work in television. In addition to producing the newest series of Mark Kistler's Imagination Station 2009, Neustadt has also produced and/or directed for Discovery, Fox, NBC, Towers Productions, Orbis’ “Better Homes & Gardens” and “Ron Hazelton’s Housecalls” and various corporations and non-profits. This is his first series shot primarily HD.

-Photo courtesy of Lois Bernstein

Two WOUB Alumni Receive Recent Honors

We are proud to say we knew them, way back when...

Paula Shugart ('81 BSC-RTV) and Perry Sook ('80 BSC-RTV), both fellow WOUB alumnus, have recently been in the news and are being noted and congratulated, by all their old friends and acquaintances from Ohio University.

Perry Sook, has been named Broadcasting and Cable Magazine's "Broadcaster of the Year". Sook is the chairman, president and chief executive officer of the Nexstar Broadcasting Group. Sook will be honored September 10, 2009, when the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) holds its forecasting conference at the McGraw-Hill Conference Center in New York City. Sook also currently serves as a director of the Television Bureau of Advertising and serves as trustee for the Ohio University Foundation

Paula Shugart will be receiving her honors in October, when she receives the Ohio University Alumni Association's Outstanding Alumnus Award, during Ohio University homecoming weekend. Honors to be bestowed at a black tie gala Friday, October 16th, 2009 at the new Baker University Center. Shugart is president of the Miss Universe Organization. The MISS UNIVERSE®, MISS USA® and MISS TEEN USA® Pageants are a Donald J. Trump and NBC Universal joint venture. And that means, yes, she works for Donald Trump. Many might suggest she merits awards for that alone.

Congratulations to both Paula and Perry, our friends, and fellow WOUB alumni. We are all so very proud of both of you!!

Google Friend Connect Added to WOUB-Blog

You may probably notice some different boxes on the blog page and at the top of your screen.

These are the newly installed "gadgets" for Google Friend Connect.
An alternative to the facebook and twitter universe...

This video should explain it all to you...

So when facebook puts up a roadblock to your friends...
You just go around it... And maybe find something better !

Check it out... Try it.... Connect and Prosper!

Ohio University Ranked # 115 Nationally

Every year U.S. News & World Report comes out with an annual edition called Best Colleges. Published today, it ranks our dear Alma Mater at # 115, which I think is a little low, when you consider all the costs to benefits ratio. But I am a bit biased obviously, being a graduate.

You can check out how Ohio U. and other schools rank, by going to their website here.

At this free site, there is a breakdown of how the schools were rated by the various categories to achieve their rank.

For parents and potential students, you can pay for an expanded or "premium online edition", to more closely explore any school in depth.

This year Ohio University may only be #115 at U.S. News...
But for thousands of it's graduates, OU will always be #1 !