Alumni Success
Graduates from the Interactive Design and Video Production programs have found success in industry.
Nels Haug – In December 2007, I graduated from HTC with a degree in Video Production. I am currently an Editor/Photographer at KGAN CBS 2/KFXA FOX 28 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. KGAN/KFXA is Eastern Iowa’s station “built for breaking news.” My job responsibilities, mainly as an editor, are to gather and edit all video footage to the scripts needed for our four daily newscasts. Occasionally I am sent to gather footage and clips for Breaking News and make sure the stories are edited for the next newscast. In the fast-paced environment of the news I do not have time to question my abilities, but the staff and classes at Hennepin Tech gave me the knowledge and confidence I needed to step right in to start off my career.
Justin Tholl “I am currently working at the creative agency, MorseKode in the Brand Motion department. My job consists of planning and producing various videos, as well as the post production and distribution of them. HTC provided me with the essential knowledge to help me thrive in the work environment. So much so, that my job felt more like an extension of my education, rather than a “job”. I would highly recommend HTC to anyone who is looking for the most “bang for your buck” in education.”
Andrew Christensen
By day, Andrew is a senior creative technician at Space 150, a digital agency based in Minneapolis, with offices in New York and Los Angeles. He joined the agency in February 2006. These days, Christensen is working on a project to promote the college’s Hammerhead Social Network, a virtual social network for students and staff, which is similar to Facebook and MySpace. HTC Marketing Specialist Jared Laabs wanted to explore the idea of creating a game to promote the network to a younger audience, so Christensen came up with a concept and was the programmer for the game, which is called Hammer Hoops. “HTC was less expensive than other schools and I liked the smaller class sizes.” “HTC instructors really care about their students,”
Summer Schulz
If you see HTC student Summer Schulz with a can of Pepsi in her hand, there’s a good reason for her interest in the product. She submitted a design for the “Design Our Pepsi Can” contest and won $5,000 for her efforts. “After I submitted the design, it went through a long process before being chosen for the finals, then I got a letter asking me to sign away the rights to the design,” said Schulz, who is a student in HTC’s Multimedia Design program. “Later, I got a letter saying that I had won and I received the $5,000.” The competition began in 2007 and ran through 2008. It was the first time Pepsi, one of the world’s most recognizable brands, had asked consumers to submit designs. There were multiple winners in the competition, according to Summer “I have loved designing since I was young, and quite a few members of my family were designers in one way or another,” said Schulz. “So I guess you could say that it comes naturally to me.”
Summer Schulz’s Winning Design
James Cordell
“I knew my chosen career path, and Hennepin Technical College was the perfect educational choice to achieve my goals. The main thing I wanted in a school was hands-on learning. The courses for the Video Production Specialist Degree were just that. HTC had the most up-to-date technology, so I learned on the equipment I needed to know in the workplace. The instructors had tons of knowledge from their backgrounds in the multimedia industry. And working on real-world projects with actual clients was a great experience. Every course gave me confidence to become a leader and not a follower. With all of this under my belt, I graduated and quickly got my career under way. Since graduation, I’ve traveled North America and distant parts of the world as an Editor/Videographer at Babe Winkelman Productions. Babe Winkelman is one of the most respected people in the outdoor television industry, and has been on TV for nearly 30 years. In addition to filming and editing fishing and hunting adventures, I also shoot and edit client commercials, product features and show segments. I literally hit the ground running thanks to the education I received at Hennepin Technical College.”
Aaron Esterling
Bronwyn Gamble