Comcast Newsmakers come once a month on Fridays to film their shows using the Cabrini communication department’s video production studio. Comcast Newsmakers offers current Cabrini communication students the opportunity to work with them and learn the ropes. The current students this year are Cecelia Heckman and Drew Vernon.
Students are given positions in either the control room or the studio in order to help film the interviews for that week. The student workers feel that this gives them good experience on learning what it is like filming a real live production
Junior Cecelia Heckman is a first-year student employee for Comcast Newsmakers. Her current position is working the camera. Next year her job will be to work the graphics in the control room. This position allows for students to get a lot of experience learning about the equipment and how Comcast uses it.
“This is something that I can put on my resume as saying that I worked for Comcast before,” Heckman said. “It is giving me the chance to see what this type of video look likes because the videos we produce at school are a different style and this is more laid back and in a live setting.”
Since Cabrini allows for Comcast to use their studio, this allows for students to work with Comcast before they enter the real world. It is an easy connection for students to get involved in and even witness.
“This gives our production set a lot of credibility because this shows us that our set is what companies in the real world are using to film their productions,” Heckman said.
Senior Drew Vernon is another student who is currently working for Comcast. This is his second year. He currently works on making the graphics for the pieces when the director tells him to put them up, whereas last year he worked the camera.
“Comcast taught me that I need to learn different things in the studio,” Vernon said. “I used to work on the camera and this year I am on graphics, which I knew nothing about so I had to teach myself how to make graphics. They put me where they needed me so it forced me to step out of my comfort zone and learn new positions.”
“This gives students great hands-on experience, which a lot of you times you do not get,” Jen Boyett, the government affairs manager at Comcast Newsmakers, said. “Cabrini is great because it has a studio and students can get involved. There is a difference between the shows that the kids do and a professional production.”
Comcast Newsmakers gives students the opportunity to work with live guests on an established show with a good reputation, allowing for students to want to raise the bar higher and to do good work and have that experience.
“Students are getting to know people from Comcast,” Boyett said. “If students can work with us and roll with it then it is good networking. This more than anything will help students get a job in the future.”
It is all about experience and being able to hit the ground running above other students with being able to sit in on a live production and be ahead of the game.
“Students have the ability to put Comcast on their resume, and if they are interviewed for a job they can see they worked for Comcast,” Boyett said. “This allows for students to have video to show potential employers.”
Comcast Newsmakers allows for students to get experience while still taking college classes, and to experience the real world without being in the workforce yet. Cabrini gives students the opportunity to ‘do something extraordinary’ and have a successful future.
