For me, as an editor, the New Year is like a brand new editing project. There is much anticipation about the potential and the possibilities. Clips are waiting in a bin for their perfect placement into the timeline. Like an editing project, our chapter timeline has “clips” that are made up of meetings and events, presentation topics and a schedule. The programming committee has created a “rough cut” and has a pretty good idea of what the overall timeline will look like. In reality though, the editing has just begun.
Just as an edited video needs to have a variety of elements added such as effects, graphics, music and narration, the upcoming year for our chapter needs elements to really make this thing “pop”. You and I are those elements. We are the special effects, the music and the narration. We need to take this piece from rough cut to final cut. So what the heck am I really talking about here? Easy – your participation.
The right sound effect at the right moment in a timeline can add so much to the overall piece. And in the same way, just a little participation on your part can make a big difference to the success of the chapter. Things like coming a little early to a meeting and helping with set-up or offering to help at the door are a couple of examples. Videotaping the meetings would be really easy for many of us and yet it would be a big help since we would like to see the meetings be available as online archives. For you writers in our chapter, putting a piece together for the newsletter would be fantastic. A couple more examples of elements that would contribute to the “final cut” could be to get involved in this year’s Media Pro Camp or volunteering to become a board member. Any and all of these are hugely significant even though they are very easy to do.
The final version of the 2011 MCA-I oc/la timeline is going to depend on integrating the elements into a well crafted piece that we are all proud of. This year, make the choice to be a part of the “editing”. Volunteer a couple hours here and there and make a big difference to not only the success of the chapter but to your own success as well.
Wishing you a prosperous 2011. Happy editing!
Mark Alexander, Chapter President
www.alexandervideoproductions.com
www.verdictvideos.com
For the second year, the Panasonic Solutions Company is making these iconic events possible. Starting on March 24th with the first event in San Diego, Panasonic is supporting media professionals with its involvement in MCA-I’s MediaProCamp. The popularity of the event has grown the series to a total of six this year.
This year, MediaProCamp Events will be held in San Diego, Orange County, St Louis, Atlanta, Detroit, and Central Carolina, reaching ever more media pros. For more on MCA-i's MediaProCamp go to the pulldodwn menue on the front page of our Chapters website, www.mcai-oc.org
