COMMITMENT TO SERVICE
Event Coordinator, Concert for a Cure
Previously, Zach had been the advertising and logistics lead for the Business Idea Competition, which entailed running and advertising a large event. After its success, he knew he would be able to succeed as an effective event coordinator for the Concert for a Cure, an annual benefit event that raises money for the American Cancer Society to help in the fight against cancer. In the past, individual team members were assigned a role at random. To make his team most effective, Zach assigned roles based on members’ individual skills and personal goals that motivated them to join the team. To increase participation in the event Zach decided to include a raffle. Zach’s team has reached out to the local business community for donations. After writing a letter and sponsorship form, he drafted a list of over 90 local businesses and their contacts that would receive hand-delivered information about the Concert. In addition, Zach also advertised the event substantially more than it was in previous years. As an Executive Board member of several organizations, Zach enjoyed sharing his experience and knowledge with the freshmen team members.
Marketing Director, Food for Thought
One of the student organizations Zach is heavily committed to is Food for Thought. Its mission is to improve the lives of children worldwide who are denied basic living necessities and a quality education. Organization members have weekly group discussions about topics including nutrition, children’s rights, human trafficking, displacement, and global food waste. When Zach lead the group discussion, one of his favorite topics was the nutritional value of school lunches; simultaneously questioning the nutritional value of popular school meals and why the media industry indulges on accident and homicide discussions when the leading cause of death in the United States is heart disease. In addition to these discussions, Food for Thought hosts several annual events. As marketing director, Zach handles all media outreach, mission awareness, and community involvement for the organization. This involves promoting events through all the available on-campus and off-campus media. Zach’s loud, energetic voice also had the opportunity to host some of the events including a cupcake eating competition that sponsored women’s education. In total, Food for Thought has raised over $25,000 for causes related to children, education, and hunger.
Team member, Megaphone Media Productions
Megaphone Media Productions is dedicated to providing free communications services to area nonprofits and human service organizations by capitalizing on the expertise of Park Scholars. In 2011, Zach joined the team to help the Community School for Music and the Arts. By the spring semester he led a group in designing a set of rack cards for the school. Another company that Zach worked with through Megaphone Media Productions was Recycle Ithaca’s Bicycles (RIBS). His group met several times throughout each semester to decide how to tackle the organization’s lackluster and confusing website. With a strong eye for design, it was Zach’s job to create the website. Zach decided which hosting site to use based on device functionality (flash, html, laptop, smartphone, etc.) and how appealing and organized they would be based on layout settings. As group members finished organizing a specific set of information Zach would enter it into the website. Also included on the website was the new logo he had designed for RIBS.
Teacher’s Aid, South Hill Elementary School
Over the past few summers Zach has worked at the YMCA in the children’s department. When he came to Ithaca for college he wanted to continue working with kids. South Hill Elementary is about a fifteen-minute walk from campus and he volunteer there once or twice a week for a little over an hour. When he started helping out at the school during his freshman year in college, Zach was placed in a kindergarten class and each following year he moved up a grade. As a result, Zach was able to work with many of the same kids, which gave him the opportunity to see their individual development and skill improvement throughout the years.
Events and Marketing Director, 180 Degrees Consulting
180 Degrees Consulting is an international student-run consulting agency that helps local non-profits develop marketing strategies. Zach acted as the Events and Marketing director for the Ithaca College branch. The organization started off strong, but suffered from a disinterest among students by the end of last year. Zach was brought in to help rebrand the image and convey the structural changes that were being made to the organization. Many changes centered on the meeting structure and recruiting process. Zach had knowledge of what kind of advertising strategies were effective at Ithaca College, which was developed from his previous competition planning experience. While many organizations end their marketing efforts with posters, Zach knew I couldn’t stop there if they wanted to be truly effective. Zach suggested integrating class presentations into the marketing mix, which were personal visits to classrooms to present the organization’s mission and information on how to apply. Zach chose relevant classes to present at and asked permission before he did so. Through Zach’s marketing efforts, the organization received its highest numbers of quality applications.
Through each of his media-related positions Zach has learned he can make a difference even as a college student. The scale of his positive impact can increase over time as he becomes more active in the global community. Zach believes the media industry will allow him to achieve his life goal whether it is through advertising or marketing leadership – he wants people to benefit from his actions. He looks forward to becoming a business leader in the industry, providing direction to a company that genuinely benefits his local or global community.
Previously, Zach had been the advertising and logistics lead for the Business Idea Competition, which entailed running and advertising a large event. After its success, he knew he would be able to succeed as an effective event coordinator for the Concert for a Cure, an annual benefit event that raises money for the American Cancer Society to help in the fight against cancer. In the past, individual team members were assigned a role at random. To make his team most effective, Zach assigned roles based on members’ individual skills and personal goals that motivated them to join the team. To increase participation in the event Zach decided to include a raffle. Zach’s team has reached out to the local business community for donations. After writing a letter and sponsorship form, he drafted a list of over 90 local businesses and their contacts that would receive hand-delivered information about the Concert. In addition, Zach also advertised the event substantially more than it was in previous years. As an Executive Board member of several organizations, Zach enjoyed sharing his experience and knowledge with the freshmen team members.
Marketing Director, Food for Thought
One of the student organizations Zach is heavily committed to is Food for Thought. Its mission is to improve the lives of children worldwide who are denied basic living necessities and a quality education. Organization members have weekly group discussions about topics including nutrition, children’s rights, human trafficking, displacement, and global food waste. When Zach lead the group discussion, one of his favorite topics was the nutritional value of school lunches; simultaneously questioning the nutritional value of popular school meals and why the media industry indulges on accident and homicide discussions when the leading cause of death in the United States is heart disease. In addition to these discussions, Food for Thought hosts several annual events. As marketing director, Zach handles all media outreach, mission awareness, and community involvement for the organization. This involves promoting events through all the available on-campus and off-campus media. Zach’s loud, energetic voice also had the opportunity to host some of the events including a cupcake eating competition that sponsored women’s education. In total, Food for Thought has raised over $25,000 for causes related to children, education, and hunger.
Team member, Megaphone Media Productions
Megaphone Media Productions is dedicated to providing free communications services to area nonprofits and human service organizations by capitalizing on the expertise of Park Scholars. In 2011, Zach joined the team to help the Community School for Music and the Arts. By the spring semester he led a group in designing a set of rack cards for the school. Another company that Zach worked with through Megaphone Media Productions was Recycle Ithaca’s Bicycles (RIBS). His group met several times throughout each semester to decide how to tackle the organization’s lackluster and confusing website. With a strong eye for design, it was Zach’s job to create the website. Zach decided which hosting site to use based on device functionality (flash, html, laptop, smartphone, etc.) and how appealing and organized they would be based on layout settings. As group members finished organizing a specific set of information Zach would enter it into the website. Also included on the website was the new logo he had designed for RIBS.
Teacher’s Aid, South Hill Elementary School
Over the past few summers Zach has worked at the YMCA in the children’s department. When he came to Ithaca for college he wanted to continue working with kids. South Hill Elementary is about a fifteen-minute walk from campus and he volunteer there once or twice a week for a little over an hour. When he started helping out at the school during his freshman year in college, Zach was placed in a kindergarten class and each following year he moved up a grade. As a result, Zach was able to work with many of the same kids, which gave him the opportunity to see their individual development and skill improvement throughout the years.
Events and Marketing Director, 180 Degrees Consulting
180 Degrees Consulting is an international student-run consulting agency that helps local non-profits develop marketing strategies. Zach acted as the Events and Marketing director for the Ithaca College branch. The organization started off strong, but suffered from a disinterest among students by the end of last year. Zach was brought in to help rebrand the image and convey the structural changes that were being made to the organization. Many changes centered on the meeting structure and recruiting process. Zach had knowledge of what kind of advertising strategies were effective at Ithaca College, which was developed from his previous competition planning experience. While many organizations end their marketing efforts with posters, Zach knew I couldn’t stop there if they wanted to be truly effective. Zach suggested integrating class presentations into the marketing mix, which were personal visits to classrooms to present the organization’s mission and information on how to apply. Zach chose relevant classes to present at and asked permission before he did so. Through Zach’s marketing efforts, the organization received its highest numbers of quality applications.
Through each of his media-related positions Zach has learned he can make a difference even as a college student. The scale of his positive impact can increase over time as he becomes more active in the global community. Zach believes the media industry will allow him to achieve his life goal whether it is through advertising or marketing leadership – he wants people to benefit from his actions. He looks forward to becoming a business leader in the industry, providing direction to a company that genuinely benefits his local or global community.