Q: Can you describe what a typical day as a Media Consultant Supervisor looks like?
A: Sure, my job is half administrative and half technical, which means I have a flexible work schedule to accommodate for the evening and I sometimes work weekend hours. I almost always start my day with several meetings either with members of the special events staff or others in Technology Services. I check to see what new events have come in and been added to our calendars for the week and periodically look for updates. I get pulled into conversations regarding the logistics of many of the event requests we get. There are a variety of event types such as ceremonies, student group activities, and summer conferences, to name a few. I start the technical part of my day in the afternoons and evenings, and that would be anything related to classes. For example, I work as part of a team running to resolve issues called in by instructors in real-time. It also may include running a feature film screening for film classes in the evening.
Q: What was a memorable project (or projects) you worked on?
A: I have my usual projects like getting the large screens cleaned in the LSA auditoriums every few years, or archiving or retiring old equipment like 35mm Kodak slide projectors (which I am in the middle of testing now)—we’ll save several just in case one or two are needed. We still have glass lantern slide projectors in storage. Another project was a pilot program for rechargeable batteries because we figured rechargeables were the way to go.
Q: What has your career path looked like and how did it influence your current position and work?
A: I started in this department in the early 1980s. We were called Film Projection Service (FPS) then. I was here for eight years running 16 and 35mm films, slides, and wired mics. I did the scheduling alongside Jean Arnold who was doing the billing. There were around ten of us in the whole department. I loved being a projectionist and when work slowed down on campus for the summer I would show movies at the drive-in. But I moved on to other things because FPS was not a permanent department and we were all temps without benefits. That eventually changed in the early ‘90s when FPS became LSA Instructional Support Services. Years later, as technology changed, I inquired about a job opening hoping to recapture the thrill I experienced all those years ago.
Q: Outside of work what would we find you doing?
A: Making fried chicken and watching British detective series. My fried chicken recipe comes from a food writer in Alabama and I alternate between using a cast iron and steel pan. We have slowly been trying to discover the best local fried chicken—I’d recommend Seoul Street on Plymouth Road.
Q: What is something that people might be surprised to learn about you?
A: I used to be a weaver and exhibited my work in galleries and the Ann Arbor Art Fair. For a period of time, I owned a small fabric store downtown where we sold material from around the world. Our slogan was, “A little store with a big taste for beauty.”
