The Restart of a Journey

Intro

Looks like it’s time to dust off the blog-writing keyboard and start anew with WordPress, but this one will be different. I’m not a stranger to writing blogs; I actually had a more personal one last semester which I tried to maintain. It succeeded for a couple of months before I got caught up in the chasm of upper-division schoolwork and lack of new ideas to write without sounding repetitive and boring. But this blog will be divergent, with a focus more on my multimedia class. Maybe I can transplant the posts of one to the other to create cohesion; we will see.

As I said, while I have experience with blog writing, this new venture will have a particular tone and purpose which will focus on my new expedition into the cavern of multimedia. According to Merriam-Webster.com, the definition of multimedia is, “using, involving, or encompassing several media,” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/multimedia). I will admit that although I am familiar with media, I’m unfamiliar with multimedia. I’ve ventured into the tunnels of video, audio, and photography individually in some form, but I’ve never seen where they led. So learning how to put all of these elements together will hopefully be quite a fun experience.

Skills to learn

I have had some time to inspect the blogs of former students and based on what I have noted, there are many things to look forward too. Firstly, I’ll be able to brush off my camera gear and start taking photos again. Once I had my own equipment, I enjoyed my photography class from last school year. I’m also looking forward to learning how to create and edit video and audio content. I’m currently surrounded by visual and audio content via my internship and hobbies, so I’ll be very happy once I learn how to produce that those kinds of content.

I’m also looking forward to honing my writing skills to accompany the multimedia. However, one needs subjects and topics to create content and there are two writing viewpoints to consider: journalism and public relations. On the journalism side, I need to think outside of my inner circle, which sounds easy enough but it can be tricky. I don’t like asking a person or group for something from out of the blue and instead prefer to get to them before asking. But I suppose that’s the job of a journalist and I still could find other avenues for interviews.

Content Ideas

Regarding journalistic subject matter, there isn’t a shortage of material within a university city. Personally, I would like to remain inside UW if I could. A new Provost of Academic Affairs is being hired soon, so that might be an option if I’m feeling brave. If I do venture into the City of Laramie, I might do features about non-profits and small businesses. Outside of Laramie however would require more brainstorming and planning, but probably avoid politics.

For public relations writing, I’m a member of a couple Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) that I would greatly like to help promote. While this might seem selfish, I think that if I promote them, then I’m helping to leave a trail for future students with the same desires I had to follow in and help others. A sort of pay it forward situation. 7220 Entertainment is the one I’m most looking forward too, but there are other RSOs to consider.

Last thoughts

In closing, this is my second blog but my first foray into multimedia. I look forward to all of the skill I will learn and relearn. I will explore both UW and Laramie for journalistic stories with a focus on businesses if I can and will lean on my involvement with RSOs for more public relations writing. May the journey start in earnest!