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AMERICA’S NAVY: A GLOBAL FORCE FOR GOOD
Full story on page 8
ON THE COVER — MC1 David Holmes interviews with one of his students, Ft. George G. Meade, Md., Jan. 17, 2012. Holmes instructs at the Defense Information School in the Basic Mass Communication Specialist course designed for Sailors new to the career field.
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Happy New Year! On behalf of RDML Moynihan, thank you for the tremendous support in telling our incredible story through your eye in 2011.
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Each year brings many new opportunities and invariably an equal or greater number of challenges. Who could have anticipated the catastrophic events that unfolded in Japan following a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami, or escalating hostilities in Libya and NATO led coalition in the central Mediterranean, a part of the world where we certainly have a significant presence but had not seen sustained US offensive operations in years? In each of these events, imagery played a significant part in communicating the Navy’s role. Clearly, the CNO’s Sailing Directions put the events of 2011 into sharp focus: “Warfighting First, Operate Forward, Be Ready.”
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Tumblr with us to follow the conversation on social media best practices We know there are social media junkies out there who can Tweet and blog with the best, others that feel pretty confident and then some that are completely intimidated by the immediacy of the social media “conversation.” Regardless of the category you fall into, the social media team has strived to provide tools to help you . We’ve used several methods to do that, and now, in an effort to “build a better mouse trap,” we have gone to a tool some of you may know called Tumblr ... yes, a social media site. Here’s the scoop: Tumblr is a microblogging platform and social networking website that has over 900 million unique visitors a month and over 38,000 posts per minute (Mashable). The platform combines the simple blog authoring and publishing capabilities of Word Press with the social networking capabilities of Twitter to provide a hybrid “social blogging” solution. With Tumblr, blog owners can effortlessly post text, images, videos, links, quotes and audio to a short-form blog. They are also part of a larger community in which they can find, follow, and repost updates of other Tumblr users. Tumblr has a number of key differentiators: mainly, it emphasizes shortform, highly visual blogging and ease of setup and use. Using one of Tumblr’s free pre-built themes (there are hundreds to choose from) a user can establish a polished, sleek-looking Tumblr blog within minutes. There is no cost to host, maintain or upgrade a Tumblr blog (yet). Many government entities, including DoD (dodlive.tumblr.com), GSA (blog.usa.gov) and the State Department (blogs.state.gov) have joined Tumblr. Now you can find “us” at usnavymedia.tumblr.com. The Navy Media blog will have the latest in digital tools, trends, and tactics, which were previously shared in lengthy emails or posted and stored across disparate sources. Although the Navy Media blog is still in its infancy, we plan to continue to grow the site and to use it to centralize and co-locate information on a range of topics, from the strategic use of photo and video to online event promotion. To learn more about Tumblr, check out this Tumblr Guide. DIRECTOR DEPUTY DIRECTOR
Christopher Madden CDR Gary Ross
EDITORIAL Editor Staff Writers
CDR Gary Ross Oscar Sosa Damon J. Moritz
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DIRECTOR’S CORNER
Staff Writers LAYOUT/ART Director Contributors
However, nothing happens without planning. As the Roman philosopher Seneca once said, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” Like changing the batteries in your smoke alarms at New Years [Have you?], now is a good time to ask yourself, “Are we ready with trained and equipped personnel to deal with possible events in 2012?” If not, what are you doing about it, and can we help? In the past weeks I have spent hours personally reviewing all the imagery submitted to CHINFO in 2011. Over 16,000 images were posted to Navy.mil last year, continuing a trend of steady increases in both the number of images submitted and the number posted to Navy.mil. I invite you to go to the following link www.navy.mil/view_gallery.asp?category_ id=158 and view the “Year in Pictures 2011 Photo Gallery.” You could call it a director’s pick if you like, but the effort was definitely collaborative with many selected from the daily top four photos of the day. In addition to this gallery, CHINFO submitted 20 photos for consideration in the 69th Pictures of the Year International competition (www. poy.org) sponsored by the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Images were submitted on behalf of the MC with fees paid by CHINFO in the following categories: news, sports, feature, portraits, and technology. Judging began February 8 for three consecutive weeks. CHINFO plans to make this an annual event to help recognize the tremendous work our MCs are doing each year. Your work is very competitive and deserves top-shelf opportunities for recognition. CHINFO is dedicated to ensuring Navy photojournalism remains a critical communication tool essential to the success showing the public what their Navy is doing every day. As I write this edition, a sole source contract has been submitted to Fleet Industrial Supply Center (FISC) Philadelphia to reestablish university level training at the Newhouse School of Photojournalism, Syracuse University. Match that with the herculean efforts of senior MCs to reshape the basic MC training at DINFOS making it Navy exclusive with more emphasis on practical camera operation, I, for one, feel very optimistic about the future of Navy VI.
MC1 Jason Graham MC1 Arif Patani Tracy Johnson Tim Mazurek Crystal Raner MC1 Patrick Gordon
AMERICA’S NAVY: A GLOBAL FORCE FOR GOOD
Navy Office of Information Pentagon RM4B514 Washington, D.C. 20350-1200 Office: 703-614-9154 DSN: 224 Download Insider at: www.slideshare.net/NavyVisualNewsService http://issuu.com/NavyVisualNewsService
navymedia@navy.mil
INSIDERPerspective by Kristina Miller
Marketing the Thousand Words
Imagery has the power to do many things, which is why we place such high value on the video and photos you send us. That is also why I want to share a little-known role NMCS has … proactively marketing the material you send us to external organizations. Some of you could guess where some of your videos and photos go; products covering hot news events go to the big wigs like AP, Reuters, CNN, Fox, etc. However, your imagery has also gone to places that are probably a little surprising.
One such example is National Geographic, which used a Navy image of a 550-year old Peruvian mummy in November 2011. Naval Medical Center San Diego has special imaging equipment, which is unique in the area, and they were able to help San Diego’s Museum of Man learn important details without harming the historical find. Besides the images from the CT scanner, MC3 Samantha Lewis documented the evolution, and her photos added to the complete package we sent to the magazine. Another publication using your material was Men’s Workout magazine, which
Instruction Nugget 703.614.9154
published a double-truck of images showing Sailors working out in their April 2011 issue. Our office sent out a small selection of fitness images, that you had recently sent to us, to a variety of publications and the Men’s Workout publisher was elated to highlight Sailors in the two-page spread. We also send your imagery to organizations that may want to use it for their online presence as in the case of the National Rifle Association website, which highlighted the material in a gallery of “Guns of the U.S. Navy” www.americanrijleman.org/Galleryltem.aspx?cid=22&gid=120&id=1049.
What about video? Other than the fact we don’t have enough, it is marketed in the same way. You all saw the coverage of Operation Tomodachi on major news outlets, but we also sent material to small town online newspapers like the Kingstowne Patch in Kingstowne, Va. Another event this year that we were lucky enough to get imagery (stills and video) from and market around the world was the assistance USS Kidd provided to an Iranian-flagged fishing dhow in early January. And that brings me to my pitch ... our best marketing efforts, particularly for timely events, happen when we know about the event ahead of time. Even if you don’t have a newsworthy event, but have a Sailor with an interesting story that you are telling visually, please give us a heads up. For example, you have a Sailor who is on the Navy marksmanship team. We can market imagery (stills and video) to gun enthusiast publications and websites, and to that Sailor’s hometown. Obviously, we can’t do this for every image, but we do try to increase the visibility of your imagery as often as possible. When you’re going about your busy days, please keep this in mind and let us know if you have any ideas we can provide you support for.
We are storytellers… and not just for the present; we also tell the story of the Navy for history. OPNAVINST 3104.1A (9 OCT 09) provides general guidance on the imagery standards we must maintain to tell that story with the quality you’d want to see when you’re showing your grandchildren. Call if you have questions. AMERICA’S NAVY: A GLOBAL FORCE FOR GOOD
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OUTTAKES by MC1 Arif Patani
Navy Media Conten Navy Visual News T
he first time I remember dealinwg with them one-onone was when I was off the coast of southern California working with Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron One.
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We were doing all kinds of cool stuff. We were out on small boats, conducting tons of live-fire exercises, escorting high-value assets and even working with sea mammals. I couldn’t understand for the life of me why only some of my imagery was getting posted.
Here at Navy Visual News, now known as Navy Media Content Services, our obligation is to ALL of you - to the Navy as a whole. It’s also to history; when I got here, I learned that much of the imagery not selected for Navy.mil is sent to the National Archives … and saving our imagery for history is no small mission.
Well, the Navy is an ironic place, and here I am now Many of you might not know the lead photo editor working behind a desk and probably frustrating for the Navy, Oscar Sosa. Since being here I’ve exsome of you. perienced his sometimes ridiculous commitment to getting your imagery posted - a commitment that The point of all this is I’ve been where you are at, often keeps me from getting home on time. and this is my time to reach out and let you know I am here for you. Images don’t get put on the back burner. What slows or stops image posting is quality, poor capFirst, a little about me: tions or timeliness. My name is MC1(SW/AW) Arif Patani, and I am a new photo editor here. I’ve been in the Navy for just over seven years. I’ve deployed on an amphib, an aircraft carrier; I’ve done the small-boy thing, been stationed and worked around in the 5th Fleet AOR, worked in expeditionary environments, and now I’m stationed at the Pentagon working for the Chief of Information.
Let me first start with quality... Some of you may have seen this before, and I think it is a great tool to help you understand what we think makes a quality image (please excuse my “awesome” graphic). LOOK AT LIGHT 1-3
I have to admit, in my short time here at the Pentagon I do see things in a different light. However, even though I’m sitting behind a desk these days, it doesn’t mean I don’t get where the average MC or PAO out in the fleet is coming from. CONTENT 1-4
It was very easy to think what I was doing out there with MSRON-1 was the most important thing going on in the Navy. But our Navy is massive, and the reality was that it was one tiny piece of the big picture. THE MOMENT 1-3
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AMERICA’S NAVY: A GLOBAL FORCE FOR GOOD
COMPOSITION 1-3
navymedia@navy.mil
a nt Services Once you get this embedded in your head, it’ll make things a lot easier. We look for adequate exposure, proper composition, the right moment and the content of the image. Simply look at each element and rate them accordingly. If things add up to at least 7, there is a good chance you can send a link to your mother of your newest photo on navy.mil.
Lastly, let’s talk timeliness. Again, I know how much of a pain it is to get an image off a ship or from a remote location. Just please do your best. Recognize the urgency to get it out.
Next, let’s talk captions… When it comes to caption writing the best tool out there is navy.mil itself. Not only can you utilize it to see how to properly identify subjects within a caption, but also you can look to see any changes we have made to your caption. Learn from your own mistakes.
U.S. Navy Photo
Also, beg your command to get you Photo Mechanic™. We have seen time and time again where a photographer embeds EXIF info in Adobe® Bridge and for whatever reason the info gets lost when you email us. This is the info we are looking for: Maersk-Alabama Capt. Richard Phillips, right, stands alongside Cmdr. Frank Castellano, commanding officer of USS Bainbridge (DDG 96) after being rescued by U.S Naval Forces off the coast of Somalia.
This photo on an event with world interest was received about two hours after it was taken. The global reach it had in print, broadcast and online media can be directly attributed to the speed at which the photographer and everyone in the approval chain pushed it through to us. Once again, I just want to say I’m here for you. I understand there will be those times where I miss images. If you catch me not posting what you feel is a strong image, please let me know, and I will be happy to have a discussion with you. EXIF information provided by MC3 Kenneth Abbate aboard USS John C. Stennis
I think what we do as MCs is important, and I respect the hard work you all do. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at any time (though please be aware I will be at school March through May.) arif.patani@navy.mil | 703-614-9154
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GOTB-ROLL? by NMCS staff
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Activity document NFO MCs attached to Defense Media Naval Flight Officer Timothy “T.J.” Stecker during his XW) Todd Frantom status evaluation. Photo by MC2(E
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e have a lot on our plates at any given time, and, unfortunately we end up being in the reactive mode instead of the proactive mode. However, I’d like to share some ideas that can help you with a video plan. It will enable your command’s story to get to the places that it needs to, and we can help amplify your efforts.
AMERICA’S NAVY: A GLOBAL FORCE FOR GOOD
navymedia@navy.mil
an under wayMC2 Gregory E. Badger videotapes en the Military Sealif t replenishment operation betwe USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) Command (MSC) hospital ship USNS Pecos (T-AO 197). and the MSC replenishment oiler Photo by MCC dward G. Marten
USS Barry (DDG 52) launches a Tom ahawk cruise mis to support Joint sile Task Force Odyss ey Dawn. Photo by MC3 Jon ath
Photo by MC3 Kristopher Regan
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MC using a GoPro 2 HD camera to shoot underwater video of Navy pilots during training evolutions at the Aviation Survival Training Center (ATSC) at Naval Air Station Jacksonville. Photo by MC2(EXW) Todd Frantom
MC3 Dustin Good records video of flight deck operations aboard USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77).
Photo by Gunnery Sgt. Joe Alley
In recent months, the Navy has been in sharp focus in the media thanks to piracy interdictions and SEAL operations. However, there is a SERIOUS gap in our Navy video archive, and it is hurting our public affairs/visual information efforts. One of the best places to start is to ask yourself: “Is my command represented?” This question is actually made up of several other questions. When was the last time my command submitted video to Navy Media Content Services? Does my video include new uniforms? Does it include recent changes to hardware? How much of my command have my videographers actually covered? Is my command leadership on video? These questions are often overlooked. Another significant factor, of course, is transmission capabilities. Do you have a way to transmit video after it has been shot? If the answer to this question is no, please call. We can help. If your command is involved in a major incident, we need your video immediately. Media contact our office first when something happens, and video is on top of their list because it is the single most powerful item for a news story. Libya serves as a prime example. We were able to use email to transmit the video of missile launches the night Operation Odyssey Dawn kicked off, though it was only possible after months of planning. That night, the Navy was the only service being talked about because we provided timely content and showed them what our ships were doing. It takes a deft hand to be able to secure the bandwidth needed to transmit video, but the payoff is huge. A third part that needs to be looked at is content. Video should be captured every day. We want generic b-roll of your command. This should include equipment, evolutions, and perhaps most importantly, the launch and recovery of every aircraft type attached to your ship. There will come a time when one of those aircraft goes down or is involved in an operation. The media will be clamoring for footage of that particular aircraft, and with your plan, you will already have it teed up and ready to transmit or better yet we will already have it in our archive.
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MC films a Purple Heart medal awards ceremony, for EOD1 John Kremer who lost his legs while serving in Afghanistan, at Naval Base Point Loma.
an Sunderman
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Along with b-roll, another part to consider is practice. Have your videographers work on capturing video and transmitting it in a hurry. Utilize runners. Thanks to modern technology, a lot of video is shot on compact flash cards. A runner is handy to help change out those cards. You might also want to create pre-defined slates, which will reduce your editing time significantly. Mock drills are perfect on slow days. These drills can be tailored to fit any scenario. Operation Tomodachi is a great example to highlight this point. We had good flow of video content even when videographers had to be switched out in the middle of the operation.
I would also suggest technician, producer and talent. Make sure your videographers can do each other’s job. This redundancy will be beneficial when you lose one of your key videographers on another assignment. There is no greater headache than not having the right personnel in a time of need. The same is true about equipment. If you have one camera, you know it will break. The final section should include archiving. In this day of digital efficiency, the chance of accidentally deleting footage is high. Another reason to archive is quality of the b-roll. A small file can be sent to the media to fill the urgent need for that file. However, once the media is finished with that story, a production house may want that footage. They will need the original file. The national archives will need that file as well. Transformers 3 is a good example. We were contacted by the producers, who were looking for footage of the missile launches conducted as a part of Operation Odyssey Dawn. We had to jump through hoops to try and find the source file, and were not sure if it even existed. As it turned out, the videographer had the file and was able to burn it to a DVD and send it to us. We considered ourselves lucky. On the backside of this plan is transmitting your archived material to us. It is critical that we receive this material. It is this archived footage that will be sent to the archives and entered into the historic record. Just think about how awesome the old footage from World War Two is. They archived it and saved it for future generations. We are conducting this same mission that they did over 60 years ago. I have one last note: know planning will take dedicated time. The more time spent planning now will save you when the rubber meets the road. Ultimately, the level of detail in the plan is up to you. In the words of the time management guru Alan Lakein, “failing to plan is planning to fail.”
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Photo by Michael W. Pendergrass
Nav y to Improve Basic Mass Communication Specialist
Course at DINFOS
Basic Mass Communication Specialist Course (BMCSC) instructor Darryl Barnes critiques a video editing project as SN Kathleen Church looks on.
by MC1 Patrick Gordon and Crystal Raner
In an effort to provide the fleet with the best Sailors who are trained in the fields of journalism, public affairs, VI, multimedia and production, Navy instructors are redesigning the Basic Mass Communication Specialist Course (BMCSC) at DINFOS.
Photo by MCC Gregory E. Badger
MC community subject matter experts met with the BMCSC course developer and instructors to address a way ahead to eliminate redundancies and find ways to integrate materials necessary for our MCs to acquire the skills necessary to perform in the fleet. “This is a major change that allows us to adjust the course as often as required, to meet the needs of our community,” said Rear Adm. Denny Moynihan.
SN Mayra A. Conde and her fellow classmates work on a desktop publishing exercise.
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Currently, our Sailors attend the Basic Public Affairs Specialist Course with other services. One of the biggest changes to the new curriculum is that Navy students will no
AMERICA’S NAVY: A GLOBAL FORCE FOR GOOD
longer attend this course; a Navy-centric Journalism and Public Affairs course of instruction will be added to BMCSC. “Five years ago when they built the course, the fastest way to get it online was to take courses that already existed and marry them up together,” explained Bruce Colkitt, head of the visual communications department at DINFOS, which is responsible for the course. Results of that approach, however, were redundancy in instruction and a lack of reinforcement of some material learned at the beginning of their training.
navymedia@navy.mil
which focuses on photography, video and multimedia production. But what about everything they learned in functional area one concerning journalism, public affairs and media escorting?” Training in core skills will be maintained throughout the new course even while new material is being taught, said Bratt.
Photo by MC1 Herbert Banks
A few highlights of the restructured course include five days of required English preparatory instruction, more time dedicated to certain functional areas and for instructor feedback to Sailors, and all core skills incorporated into one field training exercise at the end of their Navy training.
MCSN Jonathan Colon edits a video product during a field training exercise (FTX).
In addition, the joint and Navy portion of the course each culminate in field training exercises, but the joint exercise tests the Sailor’s ability to perform basic writing, public affairs and photography, which doesn’t include the videography and multimedia skills the Navy requires of its MCs.
“We were teaching the same things in the different functional areas, and the flow was not making any sense at all: too much here, not enough over here,” said Colkitt. For instance, in the joint course and in the Navy course Sailors studied still photography basics and caption writing. “Fifteen days is just not a long enough time to teach somebody to be familiar with a video camera and how to edit,” Colkitt said. “You’d be shocked at what these young people can do with the time they have. But what if they had 21 days? Streamlining the first 56-days of instruction of the BPASC will allow us to devote more time in other functional areas where we desperately need it.”
“The field training exercise for functional area one of the BPASC is where the Sailors utilize the skills they learned there in that functional area,” said Bratt. “Then, they come down to the Navy course and learn functional areas two through six, which are photography, video and multimedia production, and where again, the end result is another field training exercise
The scope of the changes required that everything from training materials to training schedules be evaluated. “We’ve been working on this since the whole mass communication specialist ratings merger in 2006,” said Colkitt. “Again, this is what it took to get it launched quickly, but ever since then we have been constantly analyzing what we’ve been doing and how to make things better. We are always looking at better ways of instruction and getting our students trained.” By adopting a more Navy-centric and integrated approach to how the Navy trains prospective mass communication specialists, Colkitt expects a big payoff with increased efficiency and more time for Sailors to have hands-on experience with cameras and other equipment.
MCC Herbert Banks gives video documentation tips to students documenting a field training exercise (FTX).
After a period of study, DINFOS and Navy leaders agreed on a long-term solution. The result is the restructured BMCSC. “We want to make sure that the Sailors are trained efficiently and effectively,” said Chief Mass Communication Specialist (SW) Jackey J. Bratt, section chief for the Navy course. “We want the repetition to reinforce core skills.” For instance, in the joint course, students learn how to use cameras and write captions.
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Photo by Todd P. Cichonowicz
“But when they come down with us to the BMCSC, the Sailors are going to learn that from beginning to end, so they don’t necessarily need that training beforehand,” Bratt said.
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NAVY Style Guide
TITLES chief (select) rate Example: Chief (select) Hospital Corpsman John Doe Commander in Chief Used only for the President. Always capitalize. Do not hyphenate. commanding officer / chief petty officer Do not capitalize unless used as a preceding name. civilian titles Use full name and title or job description on first reference. Capitalize the title or job description, and do not use a comma to separate it from the individual’s name when it precedes the name. Lower case titles when they follow the name. Use last names only on second and all following references. This applies to both men and women. doctor Navy doctors are identified as Cmdr. (Dr.) John J. Jones on first reference officer in charge Do not hyphenate
][In the Loupe]
Schedule of Events
Shootoffs www.shootoff.org Washington, DC Still – March 15-18, 2012 Video – May 3-6, 2012 San Antonio, TX Still – Sept. 14-17, 2012 Photoshop World www.photoshopworld.com March 24-26, 2012 Walter E. Washington Convention Center – Washington, DC ViewBug Photo Contests Cold Weather www.viewbug.com/ contests/cold-photo-contest Deadline April 2, 2012 Outdoor www.viewbug.com/ contests/outdoor-photo-contest Deadline April 12, 2012 DoD 20th Annual Worldwide Military Photography Workshop www.dinfos.osd.mil/events/ mpw/index.aspx June 3-9, 2012 The Missouri Photo Workshop www.mophotoworkshop.org Sept 23-29, 2012. Deadline for applications July, 12, 2012 Canon DLC: Videography www.learn.usa.canon.com
As we start 2012, we want to share with you the monthly communication priorities or themes that we’ve planned for the year. Our primary communication priority will be based on the CNO’s Sailing Directions, revolving around the tenets of: Warfighting First, Operate Forward and Be Ready. Our secondary monthly communication priorities are listed below: January
Surface Readiness
February
Building the Future Force
March
Total Force
April
Undersea Warfare
May
Global Operations – Operate Forward
June Partnerships July
Navy Expeditionary Forces
August
Accelerating the Information Advantage
September Warfighting Readiness October Energy November Air Dominance December None
LINKS to KNOW
Nikon Link to Nikon schools and workshops, plus educational materials www.nikonusa.com/Learn-AndExplore/Nikon-School/index.page Pictures of the Year International Great annual competition – in fact, we sent 20 of your images on your behalf… more to follow! www.poy.org
World Press Photo 2012 Contest winners Now this is inspiration we can all appreciate. These storytellers have captured the “thousand words” and then some www.worldpressphoto.org/ gallery/2012-world-press-photo
VII The Magazine Online project where leading photojournalists share insight to their work through photos, commentaries and multimedia products. www.viistories.com
All references to commercially available sites and services are provided for informational purposes only, without Department of the Navy endorsement. 10
AMERICA’S NAVY: A GLOBAL FORCE FOR GOOD
navymedia@navy.mil
Photo by MC3 Travis K. Mendoza
My Modern Met A social networking site where people have linked a lot of photos and digital art. Great place for Ideas! www.mymodernmet.com
Canon Digital Learning Center (video) All kinds of training for Canon video professionals, and with NPASE and the DPL buying the Canon XF-305/105, this is an invaluable resource. www.learn.usa.canon.com/ videography/videography.shtml
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Engage with your Social Media Team: LCDR Chris Servello LT Shawn Eklund MCC AnTuan Guerry MC2 Xander Gamble Jessica Faller Kristina Miller
The current numbers on Navy SM:
Facebook: 474,424 followers Twitter: 50,771 followers YouTube: 3,163 followers Flickr: 6-10,000 views a day NavyLive (blog): 17,000 views a day
Calling all those who love doing feature stories…
The Navy blog (http://navylive.dodlive.mil) has had a facelift, comparable to a Hollywood A-lister (might be an exaggeration).
Desperately Seeking... Desperately Seeking… Video and still imagery of Navy Chiefs around the fleet. These products will be for a “YEAR OF THE CHIEF” special display at the Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C. Each year the Navy Memorial selects a community to highlight and they need our help in making this year’s display a well-rounded representation of the chief petty officer community. This special event begins on April 1, the birthday of Navy chiefs. Check out www.navymemorial.org/yotc for more information. 703.614.9154
If you haven’t been to it yet, please come check it out because we’d like your help in developing what we hope will become another great tool to showcase your imagery and the Navy story. What the Navy blog is, or really any blog could be, is a great way to integrate multimedia with an interesting story to really give the person consuming that material a more rewarding experience. Once you go there, you’ll see that there is already a fairly broad spectrum of stories, ranging from Sailors in an ice sculpting festival to exercise Bold Alligator 2012. We also have technology pieces, like the new prosthetic thought-controlled arm, and personality profiles, like an HM1 aboard USS Abraham Lincoln. The beauty of the blog is that imagery can be mixed in with the story. While there isn’t the flexibility of design that regular websites offer, the simple format of the blog resonates well. So, all of that to throw out a pitch… we need stories. We’ve pulled Navy.mil stories out more than once to begin research for a blog, but if you’ve never written one it’s important to note that a blog is a conversation and the writing is much less formal than standard AP and Navy style. In fact, if you read the post on tax scams (http://navylive.dodlive.mil/2012/01/25/tax-scams-protect-ya-neck) you’ll notice that they often feel like editorials. Write editorials in the Navy? Are you crazy? Don’t get us wrong, the goal is to tell a broad spectrum of stories and not all of them lend to the funny writing of our financial blogger (ERB, for example) but they all at least attempt to “speak” to the audience with a voice. Interested? We are looking for ideas, including getting some regular bloggers from different communities. If you have a story to tell and think this forum and style could be the right fit, give us a call at 703-614-9154 or email at usnsocialmedia@gmail.com. AMERICA’S NAVY: A GLOBAL FORCE FOR GOOD
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AMERICA’S NAVY: A GLOBAL FORCE FOR GOOD
navymedia@navy.mil