Innovative Individuals

Innovative Individuals: Jeff Achen

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Jeff Achen could have been selected for this week’s innovative individual for his entrepreneurial multimedia skills that he utilized starting a budding videography and photography business. Or, possibly his role as online editor for the community site ThisWeekLive.com garnered him the nomination. Last but not least, it could have been his role on the Digital Media Committee for the Society of Professional Journalists, where he blogs for Net Worked, helping to provide “informative and instructional training on how to use digital media to make your reporting more interactive.” Taken all together, it was evident that Jeff was an obvious choice for this recognition.

It seems like Jeff is all over the Web. You can read his personal thoughts on videography and journalism at his personal blog, MN Video Pro. Or, track his Web trail via his del.icio.us feed, become a fan of his multimedia company on Facebook, peruse his work on his personal portfolio site, and follow his passionate, and sometimes comical, tweets on Twitter. Are you exhausted from just reading that? On top of everything, he has a wife and daughter! Jeff proves that it is possible to do just about everything, and I applaud him for his passion and energy that he has devoted to the journalism industry.

UPDATE: On Dec. 10, Jeff “was offered a job with the Minnesota Community Foundation and The Saint Paul Foundation as an ‘Interactive Media Strategist’. His duties include “editorial work, video production and social media management.”

Q) How do you drive innovation in your work?

A) I try to think about how news is consumed and not just how it is produced. That has lead to the creation of audio and video podcasts here at ThisWeekLive. I also have to say, working in the newspaper industry today the need to do anything and everything on a budget (or no budget at all!) drives innovation. On that note, I am often inspired by the ways in which bloggers, citizen journalists and individuals curate and share news at little or no cost. There’s a lot professional journalists can learn from the web-savvy bloggers in terms of execution of news gathering, aggregation and presentation. Hyperlink journalism, for example, has really been popularized by bloggers, not the mainstream media.

Q) What piece in your portfolio are you most proud of and why?

A) Right now I’d have to say it’s the television show/video podcast I host in cooperation with our city’s community television station. Our community newspaper approached the community television station about producing the show in their studios with their volunteers and staff. We provide the format, host and interviews with local politicians and civic leaders. We get free production, the community television station gets a quality program with hyper-local content. It’s a great collaboration.

We then air the show with some brief headlines and a longer interview segment on cable access through three communities. We also then post the interview-only portion of the show on our web site and syndicate it through iTunes as a video podcast. By providing a “mini newscast” and the interview on cable access, we increase our exposure in the community and tease to our print and online editions. By posting just the interview segment on our site, we help our site’s users cut right to the interview content they seek. I do all the post production work on the show myself in Final Cut and Motion. It’s a weekly show and truly multimedia at that.

Q) Please provide a brief educational and professional history.

A) Right now, I’m the online editor and multimedia producer for Thisweek Newspapers/Thisweeklive.com. I’ve also done some independent consulting in the areas of videography and social networking for journalists. I’ve reported WDAZ Channel 8 television in Grand Forks, N.D. I graduated from the University of North Dakota in 2001 with my bachelor of arts in communication and secondary education certification with a history minor. My master of arts degree is in communication, also from the University of North Dakota. I also served in the U.S. Navy, 1993-97, and the Peace Corps from 2002-03 in Nepal. I am currently the secretary for the Minnesota Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and in 2008 was appointed to SPJ’s National Digital Media Committee.

Q) Where do you believe multimedia fits into today’s society and how will that role change over time?

A) Multimedia is the fabric of communication today. Watch holiday shopping trends this season and you’ll see gaming systems that let you interact online, hand held devices that let you watch video and subscribe to podcasts, and a host of other gadgets that have become mainstream that allow us to communicate, connect and share information at lightning speed. Journalists cannot afford to segment themselves into print, online or broadcast categories. We need to be communication professionals on multiple platforms.

The role of multimedia will continue to evolve and new fades will come, others will go. What ever the new “Twitter” or “Final Cut Pro” of the future is, we need to understand the essential connections and sharing of information it allows and embrace it, use it and excel at it.

Q) What is one thing on your “To-Do” list?

A) I want to learn Adobe After Effects and get better at video/motion graphics. Right now I rely too heavily on the templates you get with video editing software. I’m not sure how much I could apply that to news reporting, but it’s a skill I’d like to add to my multimedia repertoire.

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Want to nominate a deserving colleague, friend or inspirational figure to be highlighted in this series? Confidential nominations can be emailed to tracynboyer@gmail.com on an ongoing basis. Self nominations are also welcome. A person will be featured every Friday, so look for the next “innovative individual” Friday, November 27th!

Other posts that might interest you:

• Innovative Individuals: Regina McCombs
• Innovative Individuals: Matt Ford
• Innovative Individuals: Ed Kashi and Julie Winokur

© 19 November 2009 Innovative Interactivity (II).