The Lower Great Lakes Chapter Serving Bloomington, Ft. Wayne, Indianapolis, Muncie, Indiana; Akron, Canton, Cleveland, Lima, Mansfield, Toledo, Youngstown, Ohio; Erie, Pennsylvania President's Message Greeting & Salutations Fellow NATAS Members, On behalf of the board of governors and officers of the Lower Great Lakes chapter of NATAS, I wish to express a big round of thanks to all of you who entered this year’s Emmy® Awards. The number of entries and new memberships Terry D. Peterson was very strong, and given the fact that we introduced the DVD Lower Great Lakes chapter president requirement to the process, all of you came through magnificently. You will soon be receiving an announcement about the upcoming Emmy® nominations party which I hope you all plan on attending to hear the announcements and to mix and mingle with your fellow colleagues. Soon you will be receiving a slate of individuals who have expressed a desire to be on the board of governors. Please take this opportunity to review the ballot and cast your votes. In addition, Spring 2007 Spring starting at the June board meeting, the new officers and board of governors you have selected will be assuming their respective roles. We have a wonderful new group of leaders who will continue to keep the chapter moving in a forward direction with a commit- ment to excellence and added value to our membership. The chapter has undertaken a lot of major steps in the last four years and I am honored to have served as President. We still have a lot of challenges to embrace in the years to come but equally there are many opportunities that await us. One thing that is certain, the Emmy® Awards, among all the multitude of new awards which are appearing on almost a daily basis, will continue to represent the ultimate achievement in television news, program- ming & production and your chapter leadership will continue the tradition of continually raising the bar of excellence. In closing, I want to take this opportunity to personally thank the Board of Governors and officers of this chapter for your ser- vice and devotion. You all are a great bunch of professionals and you should be applauded for your contributions to our industry. Thank you to the membership of the chapter for your support, encouragement and participation. Good luck with the May Book! "Beam Me Up Scottie" Your friendly editor, and mostly writer, has been off and running in so many directions lately that the NATAS Newsletter has been confined to digital files. In the parlance of the popular “Star Trek” series, we’re finally beaming up Bud Ford this issue now that spring has sprung. Newsletter Editor It’s also appropriate to use the expres- sion “Beam me up Scottie” because a new Paramount produced sequel is about to go into production and the first series is now available for Trekkies everywhere on DVD. That brings us to what you’ll find in this issue – a new commentary by chapter member Alex P. Michaels on the subject of video on the internet. We’re also introducing a new feature that we hope will (if you’ll pardon the expression) flesh out some of our chapter members. Of course, that is only biographically speaking. So to kick off the “Meet the Members” feature, I think you’ll enjoy a brief glimpse into the life and times of Amanda Sackett. We’ll also have some pictures from chapter activities, the “Regional Roundup,” and as we say in the commercial/promotional world … "much, much more." I’m excited that Alex P. Michaels recently volunteered to help write some of the Newsletter stories, and I’d like to extend my deepest appreciation to him for his contributions. Members of the Academy - Amanda Sackett …The first in a new series that looks at our colleagues by Alex P. Michaels ho is Amanda Sackett? Amanda Sackett has been making a lot of progress since graduating from the University of W Akron in May of 2003. She is a production assistant at PBS 45 & 49 WNEO/WEAO and the producer of "Local Focus," a weekly internet series on www.pbs4549.org. "Local Focus" shines a light on the community by discovering places of interest. Amanda is also a key member of the NATAS Lower Great Lakes awards committee. What Others Say about Amanda: Phil Hoffman, general manager of Z-TV at the University of Akron, says, "Amanda Sackett was one of the hardest working students you’d ever see. She always threw herself into her work and really tried to improve every project she was involved with. Amanda was always ready to tackle any challenge, whether it was producing a documentary or shooting multi-camera coverage of live events. She was one of the first students involved with Z-TV to leave Ohio and intern in New York City at MTV. Her professionalism and dedication re- ally caught everyone’s attention, so it was no surprise that shortly after she came back to Ohio to graduate, she was hired by WNEO/WEAO PBS 45 & 49." Joe Koskovics, who chairs the Emmy® Awards with Amanda, offered some insight into her talents. “Unfortunately, we have not worked together in a production capacity. I do consider that my loss as she is an outstanding individual with the board and awards committee. In the last two years Amanda has taken responsibility for the coordination of judges for the chapter's Emmy® Awards commitments with the exchange chapters, while I focused on the other aspects to the Emmy® process. She exhibits a talent to coordinate the judging panels and makes it look easy. I believe she is an asset to Channels 45/49 as she has demonstrated a solid, professional work ethic with the awards committee.” Gary Manke, first vice president of the Lower Great Lakes chapter and a principal in Storytellers Media Group, says, “I’ve had the pleasure of working with Amanda on a number of occa- sions during the past year and a half … she’s a tireless worker as a governor on the NATAS Lower Great Lakes chapter board. I know her as a person who is genuine, kind, knowledgeable, and is quite fond of our business.” Amanda’s fondness for the business shows in the way she has worked on various productions. While she was at Akron University, she interned for MTV in New York. Amanda worked on "Total Request Live," "MTV News," and "Say What? Karaoke Live Weekly Finals." She assisted directors and control room personnel with live and taped programming shot in the MTV studio and on location at the MTV beach house. Don Freeman, the chief operating officer, WNEO/ WEAO, was happy that Amanda was being recognized Amanda has fun at for her talents. In addition to her duties working on "Local Focus" the Nominations at WNEO/WEAO, she also assists in production of the weekly news Party. series "NewsNight Akron." Amanda in her own words: “For the last six months, I produced a series for our website called 'Local Focus.' I wore many hats during this endeavor. In fact I wore them all! I produced, shot, wrote and edited one piece each week. Each short “webisode” featured a person and place in our viewing area. It was a way for people and organizations to tell their stories in their own words. Working on 'Local Focus' was one of the best experiences of my career so far. I really learned a lot and it has given me confidence in myself. “PBS 45 & 49 has been a great starting point for my career. I enjoy learning all the aspects of a public broadcasting station. It’s a smaller station with a huge reach. Not only does our broadcast signal cover all of Northeast Ohio, but so does our dedicated staff. It’s a great honor to work for a station that strives to put its mis- sion in everything we do! “Being on the board of governors for the Lower Great Lakes chapter of NATAS has been very enlightening! It has put me in a network with some of this region’s most talented people. If I hadn’t been involved in NATAS at this level, I would have really missed out on an incredible opportunity. I currently work closely with Joe Koskovics on the awards com- mittee, and his dedication to this chapter is contagious! I’m hooked and really enjoy learn- ing the process of the Emmy® Awards. We have our busy times, mainly when the entries come in and we need to find judges, but I have the benefit of calling members and getting to know them! And of course, the Emmy® Awards gala is always nice.” Amanda’s Life outside the Business: “When I have free time, I'm usually babysitting some of my nine nieces and nephews (ages one week to nine years)! I love hanging out with them! I'm the youngest of six kids and we are all very close. When I'm not doing that, I'm working out at the Riverfront YMCA with friends. I don't watch too much TV, but when I do, it's usually "Grey's Anatomy" or "What About Brian?" I listen to many types of music but mostly country, top 40 and rock.” Where Amanda is going in the Future? “As far as plans for the future go, I’m very open-minded! I would love to continue to work in this industry. There is never a dull moment and I think with technology, it is changing every day. I’m not necessarily a “techie” but I’m willing to learn.