My Own Segment: The Social Circle with Brent Reser

To see my segment in Coastal Now, click here and go to the 26:22 mark

Today marked an important day at the Office of University Communication at Coastal Carolina as we released our brand new show titled Coastal Now. This program was the result of countless hours of brainstorming, debating, and collaborating. Intending to appeal more to our student population, we wanted to introduce a modernized version of our former show, Coastal Today. By modifying the show’s format, introducing hipper segments, and rolling out fresh graphics, we achieved our objective.

Here is the funny part: As part of the show’s revamp and the mission to grab the attention of our digitally obsessed students, it was decided that I would receive my own segment.

I was given my own segment. Let me introduce to you the Social Circle with Brent Reser.

I was given my own segment. Let me introduce to you the Social Circle with Brent Reser.

Say what?! Like, seriously…I was going to be trusted with developing my own social media segment?…For the University’s news program?…And then actually present it on camera? Talk about an intimidating and humbling proposition! Although a little timid to come up with a package and then nervous to tape it on set, I went ahead and accepted the opportunity because of the amazing team I have around me.

The week before filming, I sat down with Martha Hunn, our Director of News and Public Affairs. A former hot-shot news anchor in the Myrtle Beach/Conway area, I knew I was in good hands as we started to plan my segments. Using an idea-sharing approach we talked out the beginning and end of my first two show packages. After our discussion, half my script was written in Martha’s iPad. She then gave me the freedom to write the meat of my segments myself. With the great start she gave me, I filled in the middle portions and my first two scripts for Coastal Now were complete.

The next week at the studio I felt a little nervous as I waited in the greenroom area. I watched our host of Coastal Now, Robin Russell, film her pieces and interview a couple guests. It was then time for me. I walked into the filming area and stood in front of the green screen. Our media services crew cued me and I hit it. I stumbled a couple times resulting in new takes. However, the whole time throughout the shoot I had Martha and Robin rooting me on and assuring me that I was doing a decent job. To have two veterans of the news business in your corner makes things so much easier. You know what else makes things easier? A teleprompter! It was so nice to read a script with no fear of your brain turning off and your voice disappearing.

Me on set of Coastal Now.

Me on set of Coastal Now.

All the times in the past when I had gotten in front of a camera I always dreaded the end product. However, after filming my first segments for Coastal Now I actually felt good about what the outcome would be. To make it even better, I had a great time during the filming. This past Friday our office had a premiere party in the studio. We sat around a TV and munched on snacks while watching the historic first show of Coastal Now. The finished product was amazing. Our media services team did such a great job shooting and piecing the show together. Segments were fresh and fun. The 30 minute show seemed to fly by. They even managed to make me look somewhat respectable. It was cool to see a group work so hard on something and have their efforts pay off.

If you care to watch me, the Social Circle with Brent Reser starts at 26:22. I want to thank Martha Hunn, Robin Russell, David Russell, Bryan Stalvey, and Josh Chesson for the help with creating/filming/producing my segment and for all the encouragement. This so far has been a great experience and I can’t wait to help out with more shows. Don’t Blink.

The #HappyCCU Video

The #HappyCCU Video

Very rarely does a high-quality production turn around so quickly. However, at Coastal Carolina University it does.

Classes started here on campus last Monday. At the end of the week prior to school starting, Bill Plate, our Associate Vice President for University Communication, had an idea. Inspired by the success that some other universities had with showcasing campus life with a certain wildly popular song, he believed that CCU would also generate enthusiasm and pride doing something similar. He was right on.

Several universities out east have featured their students and faculty/staff dancing to the song “Happy” by Pharrell. These videos show the university community dancing at different spots all over campus. With smiles and interesting/awkward/questionable moves, the videos paint the picture of joyful and beautiful learning institutions. Even though everyone already knows that Coastal is a joyful and beautiful place, we wanted to drive home the point even more.

On Tuesday of last week Bill, Martha, our video crew, and myself sat down for a meeting. We discussed the project and the locations that we wanted to film. Our award-winning video team then went to work.

During the hottest and one of the busiest weeks of the year our video guys outdid themselves. Going all around campus in the brutal heat while convincing students to dance on camera, they logged plenty of long, hot hours. Besides the impromptu video shoots they also organized and executed several planned shoots as well. With the “Happy” song playing in their heads when they went to bed at night, the project really started to come together. Only a few days after that Tuesday morning meeting most of the shooting was completed. Then came of course the significant task of editing all of the dancing, moving, and grooving into an organized piece.

Yesterday afternoon, the video guys invited all of us in University Communication to come over to their stomping grounds of Hampton Hall for a premiere showing. We sat down, Bryan Stalvey (video mastermind) gave us an introduction, and then we watched the 2:24 minute piece. When the screen went dark there was an enthusiastic round of applause and a unanimous request to play it again.

Rather than talk about the parts in the video that make it so great, I will just let you watch it. The whole piece screams Coastal. It is fresh, well-done, and logical. I have seen several of these videos and the version put together by Coastal Carolina University is one of the best. Our social media audience thinks so too. With over 200 shares and 3,000 views, the Coastal community gave this project two thumbs up.

Credit to Bill for pushing to have this project done and credit/respect/thankfulness to our video team for putting in an amazing effort and creating a truly awesome piece. Coastal Carolina University just became even more attractive to prospective students. Don’t Blink.