[cincopa AECAmr6DEqIv]Skills I developed working for the Moosehead Messenger.  Time management, graphic design, meeting deadlines, people management, relationship building, teamwork, dealing with deadlines, advertising and marketing, customer service, and website development.

“Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” – John Wooden

I think this quote is applicable to my time working at the Moosehead Messenger because I know I did my best to make the Messenger a success and serve the area in a positive way.

Key Examples Of My Dedication To My Job:

Worked Until The Job Was Done:

Routinely worked 6-7 days a week, in order to cover events and report them in the paper each week in a timely manner.  The deadline day was Monday and Tuesday and many of the events of interest would happen on Sunday.  Therefore, I would cover an event, return to the office and write an article, format pictures and write a cutline for that picture.  Often weeks would put in 7 days to get the job done appropriately.  If there was a local sporting event on Tuesday night, I would go to that event, return to the office when it was over and write an article about it and produce stats or whatever I felt the story warranted.  Often times working until 12 AM or later to meet deadlines and produce the most up to date newspaper I could.

Attention To Detail:

When organizing a newspaper or anything else, often times it is the attention to detail that separates the quality of your product from someone else’s.  For me that was true in developing a lay out for the paper.  When I was responsible for the layout of the paper, we were always making sure that the eyeline of the page was straight.  All of the columns and rows were even and matched up.  I never realized what a great job we did, until that responsibility was given to someone else.  Now our product had giant holes in the content that wasn’t appropriately lined up.  It was o.k. but not excellent.  You could clearly see that even though the content would be similar the quality of production was allowed to suffer to save a buck.  That has continued as a practice at the Newspaper.  Good enough is o.k.

Helping to build good will in the community:

A key factor to my success in the job of editor at the Moosehead Messenger was that I took being a part of the community seriously.  I didn’t just try to make money from them, but tried to provide a service to them.  A service that informed them about what was happening around the area.  A service for advertising and growing their business.  A service to promote events in the area for the greater good of all involved.  I felt that I was just a member of this great community and it was my duty to provide them with a newspaper that reflected all of their endeavors,  From sporting events at the high school to turkey pie sales at a local church, I endeavored to cover and promote all of these events and the people who participated in them.[cincopa AcGAZo6pEuK6]

 

 

A quote that describes my time at the Moosehead Messenger:

Working at the Moosehead Messenger

The short version:  I returned to the town I grew up in to work for a few months selling ads and ended up staying for over a year.  In that time I performed every job there was at the paper at one time or another, ending up as editor, where I was able to significantly contribute to community, by reporting on the events that the people wanted to read about.  The most significant time for me, was from September 13 to October 31.  During that period much of the production was done by me for the entire paper.  With the help of the very capable Tara Heffner we worked a lot and produced the newspaper by ourselves.  At the end of October the paper was taken over by Hometown Newspapers, who promised much and delivered little.  From November 1 to March 11 I worked 50-65 hours a week to produce the paper that reflected the attitude and events of the area.  I was let go on March 11 so that the paper could go in another direction.

 

Longer Story

I never imagined myself working at a newspaper, but there I was, the editor of the Moosehead Messenger.  It was a job I never choose, but that seemingly choose me.  I first came back to Greenville in January of 2010 to sell ads for the Messenger.  I only planned on being in Greenville for a couple of months, to see what the town I grew up in was like now in 2010.

The first thing I learned was that I didn’t really like selling ads.  I think it takes a special skill set to enjoy doing that on a regular basis.  I found out that I did like getting to know all of the people in the community.  That was the backbone of my success and enjoyment of my time at the newspaper.   In June, my position was changed to include Office Manager and ad creation.  I enjoyed this part immensely.  I was able to be creative and write articles and create ads using graphic design software.  I was also able to continue building my relationships with the community.   In September, I was moved to the position of Acting Editor.  This entailed me doing everything from laying out the paper using Adobe Indesign, writing articles, building ads and providing customer service to our many subscribers and advertisers.  Throughout all of this time I enjoyed getting to know all of the people in the community.  There is just something great about this small town that made me feel like a part of everything.  Between putting the paper together and covering events, I was working 7 days a week and believe it or not really enjoyed it.  There is a great satisfaction that comes from creating something that wouldn’t have existed except for you and your abilities.   I knew I couldn’t keep up this hectic schedule forever, that is when things changed.

At the end of October there was a discussion about the Messenger being taken over by Hometown Newspapers.  This is an organization which already produced several local weekly papers and felt they could make money with the Messenger.   There was a deal struck and on November 1st the Messenger was under the control of Hometown Newspapers.  My contact with the new management was brief but initially impressive.  They wanted me to stay on as editor, and in fact told me that keeping me was a requirement of the sale to go through.  I really thought that was probably half true and was proven right.  We had a lot of discussions in the beginning about the direction of the paper and the community of Greenville and what they wanted in a paper.  They came to town a day or two a week for two weeks and then they didn’t come back much at all.  I was told to come up with content.  How much?  Where it would be placed in the paper?  None of this was addressed.  So I went about producing as much content as I could.  Every week, going to Selectmen’s Meetings or School Board Meetings or school related events and then returning to the office to write about them.

I appreciate the opportunity that the Moosehead Messenger gave me to become a part of a great community.  I also really appreciate all of the opportunities I was given to develop my skill set.   Learning the technological nuances of producing a high quality publication was a definite bonus.  Also being able to manage an office that was a positive place for employees, subscribers, advertisers and the general public was a tremendous experience.   I would express my thanks to all of those who helped provide me with such a great opportunity.