Special To Edutainment - A Collaborative Interview By Josephine Williams, Laura Dauer & Dr. Chris A. Heidelberg III
At the beginning of this semester I had the opportunity to meet the mother of an incoming student and the mom's friend and co-worker outside of Alonso's Restaurant. The conversation last for about a half an hour and I told the mother that I would check in on her daughter, Josephine Williams, from time to time. Naturally, Josephine and her friend Laura Dauer asked me if I would agree to an interview with her and a classmate for her Introduction To Communications class. I agreed as long as we could incorporate edutainment and convergence methods through social media. Here is the entire interview in multiple posts.
Josephine Williams & Laura Dauer1. What are the official titles of your occupation and career?
Dr. Chris A. Heidelberg III
Well, I have several titles now. Seriously, I am a national producer/director/director and Internet development specialist. I am also a national lecturer and researcher on
Edutainment & Convergence. Edutainment & Convergence is a research area that I
developed in graduate school back in 2001 that involves the fusion of entertainment,
communications, the arts and technology.
Josephine Williams & Laura Dauer
2. What inspired you to seek a career in this area?
Dr. Chris A. Heidelberg III
I was inspired as a far back as grade school when I used to watch old movies,
listen to radio dramas, and most importantly watching television news and
local sporting events. I met Oprah Winfrey, Chuck Thompson and Vince Bagli
while a teenager and they all inspired me. In fact, I got to spend time with Oprah
as a 16 year old while running the scoreboard at a charity basketball game at Mt. St.
Joseph High School, and she came into the gym and sat right next to me and
introduced herself. She was still relatively new in town and as you can guess I
was a starstruck teenage boy, but I summoned up my nerve and told her that I
wanted to work in television and I wanted to write. She looked me in the eye and smiled
and told me that I could do anything that I wanted to do in life if I believe it, worked
hard and went after it. This was what my mom had told me since I was three years
old, so when I heard it from a local star I believed even more in what my mom said.
I hope I can thank in her in person one day because she gave me real hope.
Josephine Williams & Laura Dauer
3. What education do you have?
Dr. Chris A. Heidelberg III
I have a B.A. in Communications with a dual emphasis of Broadcast Journalism &
Communications Research;
I have a M.S. in Telecommunications Management with an emphasis in Media Production Management;
and I have a Ph.D. in Higher Education with and my research area is "Edutainment & Convergence:
Utilization of Entertainment Techniques and Technology In Higher Education from the Perspectives Of Entertainment
Perspectives" all from Morgan State University. My undergrad mentors
were Congressman Kweisi Mfume, Rock and Rock and Roll Radio Hall of
Famer, Maurice Hotrod Houlbert, Dr. Charles L. Jenkins, a two-time
Olympic Gold Medalist, and UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski who told me
that I had to get a doctorate during an interview that I wrote,
produced and directed for old Mayor's Show on Fox 45 during the 90's. I
have been blessed to be a producer, director, writer during my entire
career because I interned all during school. My mentors in graduate
school were Dr. Kennedy who was my undergraduate mentor along with Dr.
Maddox who was an undergraduate mentor. Dr. Umaruh Bah was the
professor who really got me to zero in on Edutainment and Convergence
during my first paper in 2001 and he challenged me to get my doctorate.
When I got my Ph.D. which Dr. Jenkins stayed on me until I was done, I
had Dr. Rosemary
Gillet-Karam and Dr. Sylvester McKay, two former
college presidents, as my professors and mentors who encouraged me to
take my research to beyond academia and to business too. My final two
mentors were Dr. Howard L. Simmons and my mom who was a teacher, a
counselor and the first female State Farm Insurance Agent in the
Baltimore area. When she retired from State Farm, I knew it was time
for me to listen to Dr. Howard L. Simmons who recruited me into the
Higher Education program and I became an educator in my mind from the
time Dr. Simmons, who headed Middle States Accreditation - the oldest
academic accrediting body in the US- convinced me to join the program.
Josephine Williams & Laura Dauer
4. Looking back, are there course you wish you had taken? For example,
some reporters wish they had taken more government & politics courses in
addition to journalism courses.Dr. Chris A. Heidelberg III
No, I had no choice. I graduated from Mount St. Joseph High School and I was expected to
courses.
At Morgan, I was compelled, alright forced, to minor in business,
political science, history, English and speech by Dr. Kennedy (another
mentor) and Mr. Mfume. Graduate school especially my doctorate in
higher education which looks at all of academic disciplines forced me
to take classes in multiple fields which is why it takes so long. I had
to learn all of the education things and then I had to demonstrate how
communications and technology was an integral part of the learning
process. Never forget, you cannot educate someone until you know how to
communicate with them. Most educators teach the same way that they were
taught or have been taught to teach, and seldom think outside of the
box unless they are in a field like communications where change is
constant and professors are forced to change. Josephine Williams & Laura Dauer
5. Is a graduate degree useful for this career?
Dr. Chris A. Heidelberg III
I think a graduate degree is almost mandatory now because of the nature of the economy,
and because of the impact of convergence
technologies on the field. Learners need to constantly upgrade skills
and learn how to do research. I do not think that undergraduate school
provides enough of the tools that most students need. I do believe that
some people are very special, and may not need graduate school.
However, they are the exception to the rule and may need to go through
the process just so that they do not become total prima donnas. Josephine Williams & Laura Dauer
6. Is this a career that one can pursue in any
part of the country or do you need to move to a particular city to be
more successful, such as
Chicago, NY, LA for advertising?
Dr. Chris A. Heidelberg III
If
you had asked me this question in the 90's or earlier this decade
before 2004, I would have said yes that one needs to live in New York
or Chicago or Los Angeles. However, convergence technologies such as
the Internet, the iPhone, the Wii, podcasts, blogs, YouTube, Facebook,
HD cameras and smartphones have totally changed the equation. You can
now buy a Flip HD and use YouTube, iTunes and Facebook to tell
compelling stories from almost anywhere in the world just by creating a
link to your social media sites in a Tweet. Yes, the advertising money
is still in the big markets, but you don't have to live in a big market
anymore to get paid like it. Did you know that last year? There was a
big news story that we discussed in my Intro To Communications class that
discussed how a bunch of ordinary people were making over $100, 000 dollars with
YouTube video shows that used
the Google AdSense accounts to make money. My
point is this: convergence technology has changed everything about htis
field as the folks in the dying print business are finding out the hard
way. I do not think print is going away it is transforming into a
multi-media version of print with more sophisticated video, audio and
print word in a three way interactive tandem. The print world is going
to have to change its business model to a hybrid model that
incorporates the traditional advertising model with a limited pay model
that permits one to save stories in video or audio form for future
references. The print world is now a TV and radio station mixed in with
a PR firm and an ad agency. This is a very exciting time but it is
scary for folks who did not upgrade their skills. This is why I turned
down working in Hollywood several times a year on my political and
artistic projects and focused on my DC political projects and graduate
school. By the way, this area is one of the most attractive markets
because it is very recession resistant and there is an election every
two years which means there will always be money for communications
specialist.
