Sam Swerczek

Omaha is well-known for their football teams, steaks and cornfields.  What Omaha is not as well-known for is its music scene.  Hard as it may be to believe, but aspiring young singers can create quite a resume here in the Midwest for performances.  Omaha musician Sam Swerczek tells us about his experiences here in town. 

 

“I performed, I was Melchoir in “Spring Awakening” at the Blue Barn Theater.  At the Lofte Theater in Manley, Nebraska I’ve done Joseph (“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”) before.  I did South Pacific (at Lofte Theater).  I performed with Christmas at the Symphony with the opera chorus, I’ve done Young Artist Night at the Holland Center and besides that I’m doing “singer song writer-esque” stuff working on my own album.” 

 

Swerczek is currently part of a singing trio called The American Three. Their cd is called “One” and is available to order off of their website.  Swerczek has found success outside of Nebraska with his singing career working with the touring company the Young Americans.  He also understudied for Hugh Panaro, (the current Phantom of the Opera on Broadway), as Jean Val Jean in a concert version of “Les Miserables” in California. 

 

For the UNO School of Communication, I’m Beth Ryan.

 

https://soundcloud.com/beth-ryan-1/sam

 

Check out one of Sam’s performances:

Matt and Ben Thompkins

Media Storytelling got a information from two radio directors on March 11, 2013.  Ben Thompkins is a production director at KFAB, while Matt Thompkins is an imagining and video director at KFAB. 

The brothers emphasized the importance of being able to do diverse tasks in the production world.  Both work for a radio station, but the information they provided the students with could be applied to other media stations, such as T.V. or even magazine writing.  They emphasized that responsibilities and roles have changed.  Back in the day, everybody had one job but now…everyone has to be able to do multiple things.  How do we students learn these things?  By taking advantage of the internships and school opportunities offered!

Matt started off as an intern at KFAB and started producing an afternoon show.  Thirsting for more information and responsibility, Matt made himself an asset to the company, Clear Channel, because he learned so many new things.  He was warned that he would not get offered at a job from this internship, but he proved all the “nay-sayers” wrong.

 

Ben was still going to the University of Nebraska at Omaha at the time he got hired at Clear Channel. He was a Creative Writing major but found he loved production and is now the production director for Clear Channel.  

Matt and Ben provided inspiration for the students in different ways.  One of the great things that Matt said was, “You never know, the smallest little piece of the puzzle will contribute to the masterpiece of your life.”  That quote stuck with me.

Ben inspired the class to get into radio because he met Taylor Swift…and even proposed to her! 

The brothers gave the students advice to stand out from the crowd and get a job:

1. Get feedback from people when you send your material, get critiques.
2. Meet people!
3. Show your showmanship!  Stand out.
4. Focus on the things you are good at.  

Both of the brothers were good natured, funny and provided wonderful advice for the students.  

Ben Bohall Recap

On March 4, 2013, Media Storytelling class got to learn more about radio production through radio DJ Ben Bohall from KVNO.  Bohall’s road to radio was not exactly a straight and narrow path.  Bohall hosted a school show in highschool called “Jazz in Studio One.”  He learned he enjoyed production and wanted to explore it more throughout college.  What he learned in college is that people don’t make a decent living in radio, a statement he has now found to be false.  He listened to those people and went through the next three years in college not studying what he wanted.  He got an internship at KVNO that changed his mind and got him back into radio.  

Learning about editing and reporting as a production intern, Bohall was thrown into news radio after a year and half of working there.  His news director boss learned that he was a broadcasting student and insisted that he be on the air.  

“My news director, Robin, really kind of threw me into the fire as in the day I started working for her she told me, ‘you’re going to be on the air,’”  Bohall said.

His first experience on the air was a disaster to Bohall, but Robin assured him that he was going to get better and more comfortable with speaking on the radio.  She advised him to act like he was talking to just one person, having a one-on-one conversation.  

After graduating college, Bohall got a job at NETV.  While interviewing for the job, he was asked, “If we hire you, what would be your first story?”  He had to come up with something original, interesting and news worthy.  He came up with the idea of problems in rural, small-town areas.  He chose to report about domestic violence, a hard topic to report about.  

Bohall concluded his lecture by advising us students to get to the point with our writing, and to really understand how to properly use sound equipment.  Bohall’s story was inspiring to any student thinking about going into radio. 

WOWT Reporter: Chase Moffitt

 

You see reporters on T.V. interviewing people everyday.  But what would you find out if you interviewed a reporter?  What does it take to be a broadcast journalist?  Reporter for WOWT Channel 6 News Chase Moffitt lets us in on his secret.

“You can get a job in Omaha right out of school, in fact you’d prefer it, but you have to have some special things. You have to be able to do everything.  You have to be willing to shoot your own stuff, write your own stuff, voice your own stuff and cut your own stuff.  A one man band, back pack journalist.”

Moffitt started his career in broadcast as an intern at WOWT. Moffitt graduated from UNO with a Bachelor’s in Broadcasting and a minor in Creative Writing.  He went from an intern to working at WOWT part time as an overnight photographer while still in school.  He’s continued with the company and has worked his way up to morning reporter and occasional anchor.  You can see Moffitt weekday mornings on Channel 6 during local news break on the Today show.  For the UNO school of communication, I’m Beth Ryan.

Brad Williams Photography

 

Our second photographer lecturer, Brad Williams, visited Media Storytelling on February 25th, 2013.  Different from our previous speakers, Brad found photography on accident.  A student at Westside Highschool, Brad needed a class to fill up his schedule.  He chose photography as an elective and fell in love with the art.  He carried that love of photos with him into college, and thought about majoring in it.  In the end, his major turned out to be drafting.

Brad works full time as as a Civil Engineering Tech.  This is how he makes a living, but his photography is how he makes his life.  He finds it best to keep his photography as an art, not as a job.  That way, his photographs can be what they are, they aren’t dependent on how much money he makes. 

Brad expressed his gratitude of being able to learn photography the old fashioned way.  In a way that us younger kids will probably never learn.  Back when he was beginning photography, nothing was digital.  Film had to be developed and put together in a dark room.  He boasted about being able to learn both:

“Learning on film was an awesome exposure that I am really glad I got to experience.  There is nothing like spending time in the darkroom exposing your print and seeing your image appear before you in the developer.”

These days, Brad sticks with digital imaging.  Although he loved working in the darkroom, and working on a computer is not as exciting, it is simply more economical to go digital. 

 

For photography, Brad says to have fun and shoot what you like.  For Brad, he likes taking pictures of Omaha, buildings, trains, wildlife and sports.   His pictures of the city of Omaha have been used for several different occasions.  You can see Brad’s love for different things through his photographs. 

Omaha’s Got Style: Hair Styles, That is

Dream team Kayla Brengman and mom Beth Roth joined forces last December and opened their very own salon, Bloom Salon in Papillion, NE.  Combined, this mother-daughter duo have over 23 years of experience in the hair styling field.  The services they offer are hair cutting and styling for women, men and children.  They specialize in haircoloring techniques and love to create bridal hairstyles, or formal updos for special occasions.  Not only do they do hair, they also provide waxing and makeup artistry.

After Kayla graduated from Capitol School of Cosmetology, she worked at other salons getting more experience.  Both her and her mother, Beth, realized that combined, they could open their own salon and create a business.  Last year, they took that leap of faith, and Bloom was born.

Their first year of business proved to be successful, and both Kayla and Beth can’t wait to see what the future will hold.

Stylist Beth Roth multitasks taking appointments before her next client arrives.

Beth chats with client while beginning their hair cut.

Being a hair stylist and owning a business requires a lot of juggling.  But the most important part of any business is the customer.  Both Kayla and Beth value their customers and think that listening to the client is the best way to keep them satisfied.

Another happy customer leaves Bloom looking wonderful!

21-year-old Kayla Brengman is happy to be in business with her mother.

Kayla styling freshly cut hair.  Kayla will see anywhere from 5 to 12 clients in a day.

Kayla sorting out different sections of hair to be colored.

From a stylist to a mixologist!  Kayla understands the importance of getting just the right color to add to hair.

After mixing the different chemical concoctions together, the color shown is purple!  It will turn out red for the woman’s hair.

Kayla begins to add color into her client’s hair.

Beth and Kayla added lettering around the salon to make it customer friendly.

Beth enjoying some downtime before leaving for the day.

Photo courtesy of Bloom Salon website.

Bloom Salon is located in Tara Plaza off of 84th Street in Papillion.  Their hours are:

Tuesday:         9am – 8pm
Wednesday:    9am – 6pm
Thursday:        9am – 8pm
Friday:             9am – 5pm
Saturday:         8am- 4pm
Closed Sunday and Monday

“Like” their Facebook Page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bloom-Salon/147865318648823?fref=ts

 

Photos courtesy of Facebook