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 Erica
Stanley is now a communications specialist with the Campaign
for America's Wilderness, in Washington, D.C. Immediately after
graduating from Elon in May, 2002, she had served as campaign director
for North Carolina House Majority Leader Phil Baddour.
As a student
at Elon, she worked in internships in former N.C. Governor Jim Hunt's
press office and with the communications department at the National
Education Association in Washington.
"Despite
all the code-orange terrorist alerts and war, I'm really so glad
to be here!" she said." I have taken advantage of opportunities
to attend rallies/press events on the Hill and meet members of Congress.
I'm enjoying my job here at the Campaign for America's Wilderness
(www.leaveitwild.org). I definitely feel that I am as close as I
can be to the action on the Hill without working for a member, but
that is hopefully going to be my next move. My office is very fun
and laid back, great people to work with and a great cause."
Her e-mail address is erica_stanley2@yahoo.com.
Taresa LaRock,
a May 2002 graduate, is now a marketing assistant with the Washington
Semester and World Capitals Program at American University in Washington,
D.C. She lives in Falls Church, Va, just a Metro ride outside of
the city.
"I've
only been here a short time, but I love the work, and D.C. is just
buzzing with excitement and news," she said. "Working
at a college is wonderful, and the best part about the job will
be this fall, when I start grad school - for free. I am still deciding
if I would rather get a master's degree or attend law school."
Her e-mail address is tlarock@american.edu.
Sarah King,
a May 2002 graduate, is pursuing a master's degree in journalism
at North Carolina State University. She also works as a Community
Service Administrator for a Raleigh property management firm. Her
e-mail address is sarahpking@hotmail.com.
Jessica
Rivelli, a 2002 Elon School of Communications graduate, has
moved from her position with CBS affiliate WFMY-TV in Greensboro,
N.C., to the West Palm Beach, Fla., NBC affiliate, WPTV, Newschannel
5 - market 39 in the nation. She began there earlier this year as
the weekend morning producer, in charge of the 7 and 10 a.m. newscasts
Saturdays and the 7 a.m. newscast on Sundays. She has since been
promoted to the position of weekend night producer. Her current
duties include gathering information and writing a good percentage
of the newscasts and managing breaking news on the weekend. Her
e-mail address is jmrivelli@scripps.com.
Amy Roatche,
a corporate communications student who completed her coursework
in Fall 2002 and will officially graduate in May, is working full-time
as the communications/events coordinator for iittala, a company
that offers a complete range of products for cooking and socializing.
This Scandinavian company sells its wares internationally; Roatche
is based in its Cherry Hill, N.J. corporate offices. She
had worked as an intern there over the summer, which inspired her
to put together a PR campaign for the company for a Fall 2002 course
at Elon. She showed the people at iittala the campaign, which helped
her convince them to hire her on in a new full-time position, created
for her talents and abilities. "I
absolutely love my job," she said. She and another Elon alum, Steve
Zambricski, became engaged on Christmas Eve and plan a wedding in
2005. He works in the customer-service department at Chrysler Financial.
Roatche's e-mail address is Amyr@designor-usa.com.
Scott McCrary
has moved from his job at WLTX-TV in Columbia, S.C., to WUSA-TV
in Washington, one of the top ten markets in the country. Some of
the most revered names in television news have worked at WUSA, including
Walter Cronkite, Sam Donaldson, Max Robinson, Eric Sevareid, Arthur
Godfrey, Howard K. Smith and Lowell Thomas. Both WLTX and WUSA are
owned by Gannett Co., Inc., the international diversified news and
information company. At WLTX, McCrary served as everything from
weekend producer to field producer to launching the station's new
7 p.m. newscast.
Amber McCafferty,
a 2002 Elon grad, is working with Trone Public Relations Inc. in
Greensboro, N.C., as an account coordinator. She was hired to fill
the position about two weeks before graduation. "I have no
doubt my previous experience built through internships got me the
job," she said. "My work portfolio included coursework,
but it was primarily work done in my internships." During her
undergraduate years at Elon, she capitalized on experiences gained
through internships at two agencies: Richard French & Associates
in Raleigh and Dome Communications in Chicago. "Richard French
is a sister company of Trone, and that probably helped me land this
spot," she said. Trone is a full-service agency that offers
media relations, event marketing, executive visibility, issues and
crisis management and media training. McCafferty is working on Trone's
Syngenta, Cricket Wireless and Quick Step account teams. Her e-mail
address is amccafferty@trone.com.
Lisa Farnkopf,
a 2002 grad, is working as a reporter/editor for Construction Data
Corporation, a company that publishes three weekly trade newspapers
for the construction industry. It has offices in Texas, California
and along the East Coast. Farnkopf is located in the Trenton, N.J.,
office. Her e-mail address is lisamarie215@hotmail.com.
Shelby Brown,
class of 2002, lives in Columbia, S.C., where she works for WIS,
the NBC affiliate (broadcast television market #83). She works in
the programming and promotions department, and has assigned tasks
that involve her in every aspect of the operation, including maintaining/distributing
the station's program schedule, acting as a children's programming
liaison to the FCC, producing/editing promotional spots for air,
arranging community projects, filing the Neilsen log and most recently
producing segments for the sports department. Brown
said she wanted to share the message that it is not that important
to have a big title or salary on your first job after graduation.
"All you need is a foot in the door," she said. "If
you demonstrate a strong willingness to learn and tenacity, superiors
will give you more responsibility and high-profile projects that
will get you noticed." She said she plans to take her career
direction into news or programming. Her e-mail address is shelbyvbrown@att.net.
Jaya Martin,
a 2002 grad, has been working full-time for Blessed Sacrament Catholic
Church in Burlington, N.C., since mid-July. She is the coordinator
for the Faith Development program, which serves about 300 children
in kindergarten through eighth grades. She also travels throughout
the diocese of Raleigh for workshops and retreats. More than half
of the families involved in the church are Spanish-speaking. "I'm
like an assistant principal," she said, "and it's been
fun so far." Martin expects to spend about a year in this job
before she goes to graduate school. Her e-mail address is ParaJaya@aol.com.
Kelly Allen,
class of 2000, taught broadcast journalism at the Robeson County
Career Center in Lumberton, N.C., before beginning graduate school
at Duquesne in January 2001. While there, she worked with local
non-profit organizations and WTAE-TV. "It was wonderful to
meet Jim Hefner (WTAE executive and a member of Elon's School of
Communications Advisory Board) while I was up there," she said.
She completed her master's degree in corporate communication in
May and is now teaching in the Humanities and Fine Arts Department
of Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington, N.C. She also teaches
public speaking courses as an adjunct at the University of North
Carolina - Wilmington. Her e-mail address is kallen@capefear.cc.nc.us.
Alecia Pynn,
a 2000 graduate, is now employed in the sports information office
at the University of Florida. She works with the football and basketball
programs. "I hear lots of compliments about Elon grads,"
she said. "Thanks to Elon for a great experience." Pynn's
e-mail address is AleciaP@gators.uaa.ufl.edu.
Leigh Wheeler,
a 2001 grad, is the development coordinator for the Travel
Channel at Discovery networks. She tracks incoming and ongoing productions
and proposals. "It's a lot of paperwork and organizing,"
she said, "but I'm happy to have my foot in the door at a quality
organization, and it is a wonderful opportunity." Her e-mail
address is leighwheeler@hotmail.com.
Jessica
Vitak, a 2002 grad, is working in the Washington, D.C., bureau
of PR Newswire, an organization with 30 bureaus located throughout
the United States. She's one of eight people on the editorial staff
in D.C., where she edits, codes and distributes news releases. The
office is located about three blocks away from the National Mall,
near the Washington Monument. "I love my job because I am learning
a lot about the business and financial worlds," she said. "I
am working in one of the busiest cities in the world, where news
is happening all around me, and I am an important part of it. It's
an extremely rewarding feeling." Her e-mail address is jessica_vitak@yahoo.com.
Erik Furlan
is a clerk/reporter in the Gaston, N.C., bureau of The Charlotte
Observer. His responsibilities include office administration, compilation
of an area entertainment calendar, writing features and covering
area religion and business news. The 2002 Elon grad is living in
the Charlotte area. "My ultimate goal is still in NASCAR media,"
he said. "Coming in as a broadcast major, I never imagined
that my first job would be in the print field. The School of Communication's
concentration cross-over allowed me to pick up the journalism concentration
as well, opening up so many more doors. So far, it's been an eye-opening
experience, classic 'first job' in communications." Erik's
e-mail address is efurlan@carolina.rr.com.
Suzanne
George, a 2002 grad, is an account executive with M Booth and
Associates, a New York City PR firm. She works with the company's
Travel and Lifestyle team." I love my job," she says.
"We have clients such as Royal Olympic Cruises, Ski Utah (all
of the ski resorts in the state), resorts in Las Vegas, Trip.com
and Cheaptickets.com, Beaulieu Vineyard in the Napa Valley and several
others. It's great to work with such wonderful clients such as these.
To think last year at this time I thought I was busy! It's been
a bit of an adjustment getting into the New York way of life, but
a good one. Billy Duffy and I are now engaged and planning to get
married June 14 in Raleigh. Life is truly coming together for me."
Her e-mail address is: Suzanneg@mbooth.com.
Allison
Deiboldt,
a 2002 grad,
is a research analyst for the TV research firm Petry Media Corporation,
a sister company to Blair Media. She is working in the main offices
on 5th Avenue and 54th Street in mid-town Manhattan. She works with
a number of broadcast clients from all over the United States, doing
statistical analysis and writing proposals and presentations in
regard to their best marketing strategies. She said she's thankful
to all of her Elon professors for their influence and support. Her
e-mail address is adeiboldt@yahoo.com.
Kristen
Nastasia, a 2000 grad, has moved to her second position in TV
News. She worked for about 18 months as a producer/reporter for
WECT-TV, the NBC affiliate in Wilmington, N.C., before moving to
WZVN-TV, the ABC affiliate in Ft. Myers, Fla. While she was at WECT
she won two AP Awards (Rookie of the Year 2000, First Place Spot
News 2000) and three RTNDA-Carolinas first places (political, consumer
and news series reporting). She has been working at the Ft. Myers
station for about a year now. She covers Florida's biggest county,
Collier, and she lives in Naples. "My career is going so well,"
she said. "and I credit much of my post-Elon success with my
hands-on training during college." While at Elon, she worked
at ESTV and completed summer internships with WBTV in Charlotte
and WWAY-TV in Wilmington. Her e-mail address is kristenn@abc-7.com.
Allyson
Brunetti,
a 2002 grad, is the production coordinator for "Change of
Heart," a Warner Brothers television series that is shot in New
York. The program is a dating show/reality series. One of Brunetti's
duties is to coordinate the intern program, and she says she would
like to hire Elon students for the positions. Her e-mail address
is Allyson.Brunetti@warnerbros.com.
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