THE MEDIA PRO SUBMITS BIDF O R M A J O R R A L E I G H C O R P O R A T I O N N E W S L E T T E R P R O D U C T I O N

The Story TellerVolume 1, Number 1 Copyright 2014 The Media Pro Raleigh, North Carolina Free

When we set off on a production, we often stop at Sheetz to fuel both our vehicles and the hungry crews inside them. Ken drinks his coffee black, Jill likes those anti-coffees from the Sheetz Expresso Bar, the lattes and mochas that are filled with sweet chocolate, ha-zelnut and caramel and depending on her mood, the Chili Mac and Cheese or a Breakfast Burrito. Matt likes the Sheetz sandwiches; especially the Tur-key Club with avocado and Susan is an espresso girl, but she likes it sweet! Living in North Carolina, we’re used to hearing accolades about the state being recognized for its outstand-ing business climate and quality of life. So, it stands to reason that Sheetz, with its culture of treating employees and customers like family, ranks as #3 in the state for Best Places to Work. The Media Pro shares the same values as Sheetz when it comes to what you call “Total Customer Focus”. We are just as committed to providing our customers with outstanding service. The Media Pro

SHEETZ & THE MEDIA PRO A WINNING COMBINATION

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is a compassionate organization that uses integrity, passion, innovation, and collab-oration to spark creativity, foster good-will and develop lasting relationships.Whether we’re creating rich media con-tent, producing videos, graphics, anima-tions, designing and distributing news-letters and other printed material or developing brand awareness initiatives and planning and negotiating adver-tising and other media campaigns, our goals are the same—to meet and exceed expectations and to create compelling stories, interactions and connections. Our newsletters and magazines are viewed by bowhunters, land manag-ers, Volvo dealers and fleet managers, healthcare investors, bank employees, roofing installers, building contrac-tors, and sports equipment manufac-turers. We provide content, design, print management and distribution services through traditional mail-ing options and digital transmissions. We’ve also worked on a variety of oth-er meaningful and important projects,

The Media Pro hopes to start using its storytelling and communicationsexpertise for one of the Triangle area’s premier corporations, Sheetz.

WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSESPROVIDE A COMPETITIVE EDGE Aligning your company, organi-zation or government agency with a woman-owned business gives you a competitive edge, puts you in elite company and diversifies your suppli-ers. As of 2013, there are more than 8.6 million women-owned business-es in the United States and we gener-ate more than $1.3 in revenues and employ nearly 7.8 million people.Between 1997 and 2013, the number of businesses in the United States in-creased by 41%, but the number of women-owned firms increased by 59%- that’s at a rate of 1.5 times the national average! In that 16-year time period, women-owned businesses ac-counted for a 10% increase in employ-ment and a 63% jump in revenues. That exceeds growth rates of all but the largest, publicly traded firms and tops all growth rates in number, em-ployment and revenue of all privately held businesses over the same period.

The Media Pro is certified by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) as a Women’s Busi-ness Enterprise. WBENC’s national standard of certification implement-ed by the Greater Women’s Business Council (WGBC®) has a rigorous and stringent certification process includ-ing an in-depth review of the business and a site inspection. The certification process is designed to confirm the business is at least 51% owned, op-erated and controlled by a woman or women. WBENC certified WBEs use their certification credentials to gain access to WBENC Corporate Mem-bers, as well as a number of federal, state, and local government agencies.

IN THE SPOTL IGHT

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Durham plays host to the ILB All-Star Week Festivities, and it all kicks off with a Block Party on Saturday Evening at 6pm

at the DBAP/ATC complex! Come check out the great live music, grab some grub and come get your baseball on!

TRIANGLE AREA SPORTS

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HUMAN TRAFFICKING:PREVENTION VIDEO TEACHES PATIENCE, PERSEVERANCE & GARNERS AWARDS!By: Jill Hammergren

When our good friend Melanie Raskin contracted The Media Pro team to pro-duce a training video for “Hidden in Plain Sight – Investigating Human Traf-ficking” for the North Carolina Confer-ence of District Attorneys, we knew that we had to deliver a great production to mirror the terrific script she wrote. The topic of human trafficking is horrifying and we were astounded to learn that North Carolina ranked in the top ten states for this crime. And as the script showed, it happens in every community, to women, men, teens and children. Human traffick-ing often goes unnoticed or gets over-looked because other crimes often mask the real situation. Since this training video was aimed at law en-forcement officers, we were charged with producing a demonstration that helped them recognize human traffick-ing and how to prevent it. We had to teach officers that their criminals may in fact, be victims of a larger problem. The script called for “real-life sce-narios” based around situations that North Carolina investigators have wit-nessed. A production like this required a lot of coordination of crews, acting talent, location scouting and jumping through scheduling hoops to bring it all together. We had real officers on-set with actors portraying the traffickers and victims. Throughout the week, we scheduled multiple scenes at various locations including downtown Raleigh during the day, at dusk and at night; at a farm in Chatham County; retail stores and street scenes in Chapel Hill; and a trailer home in southern Wake County.As with any production, experience

has taught us that in order to be suc-cessful in video, TV and film produc-tion, we had to be flexible, adaptable to change and determined to suc-ceed. This production reminded us of this fact on more than one occasion. “On one early morning shoot, I got to the location planning to shoot sev-eral scenes with male actors but a last minute change required us to have fe-male actors on-site, even though none was scheduled,” said DP/Cameraman, Ken Peterson, “I had a few scenes to shoot without actors, so the crew and I began to work not knowing whether we’d have actors for the later scenes.” “The scene called for Hispanic or Latinas to play the role of prostitutes who were being held by a trafficker,” said Hammergren, “After promising Ken that our shoot would prevail, even though I wasn’t so sure myself, I began a measured search to fill the void.” Peter-son said, “And she found them. Imag-ine my joy we got to the scenes with the actors three hours later and the women who arrived were perfect for the roles.” The International Telly Awards and the People’s Choice Tel-ly Awards honored The Media Pro with four Telly Awards for these hu-man trafficking prevention videos in the category of excellence in non-broadcast training. “This is definite-ly an honor for The Media Pro,” said Hammergren, “We are grateful for the opportunity to help shine a light on his insidious degradation and de-valuation of human life. We hope our videos will help law enforcement have the understanding and guidance nec-essary to prevent these human rights violations from happening across North Carolina and around the world.”

In addition, WBENC certified WBEs also gain access to more than 10,000 other WBENC certified WBEs in order to purchase products or services and partner on joint venture opportunities. “By including women-owned busi-nesses, like The Media Pro, among their vendors,” said Roz Lewis, CPM, CPSD, Greater Women’s Business Council, “Corporations, and govern-ment agencies demonstrate their com-mitment to fostering diversity and the continued development of their supplier/vendor diversity programs.” “The Media Pro is pleased to be rec-ognized as a certified Women’s Busi-ness Enterprise (WBE),” said Jill Ham-mergren, owner of The Media Pro, “We believe the WBE certification enables us to connect with additional local, regional, and national companies and organizations that actively seek to part-ner with women-owned companies. This certification also helps our cur-rent customers, particularly those do-ing business with government entities.”

including a recent e-learning course for Public Schools of North Carolina designed to help Child Nutrition work-ers understand new federal guidelines and to provide continuing education credits for child nutrition topics, cus-tomer service and kitchen efficiency. We produced a law enforcement training video series to help officers un-derstand and prevent human trafficking. We developed several comprehensive communications, branding, market-ing, advertising, and PR campaigns around health, education, the environ-ment, social awareness, travel, tourism, caring for infants and toddlers, the el-derly and people who have disabilities. A partnership between Sheetz and The Media Pro works perfectly with the Sheetz model of convenience, total cus-tomer-focused service, and care for the community. The Media Pro will guide the Sheetz team through the process of craft-ing, designing, production, printing and distribution of the company newsletters. We deliver creative, convenient, reliable and efficient processes. We’re excited about the successful journey together.

SHEETZ & THE MEDIA PROcontinued from front page

WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSEScontinued from front page

IN THE SPOTL IGHT

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the Special Olympics. Over the years, my roles have enabled me to travel to places I’d never otherwise see; meet people I would never otherwise meet; and most importantly share a small part of myself with the magnificent athletes, parents, staff, and volunteers of Special Olympics. I, like hundreds of other volunteers, got involved by chance, unsure of what the future held or what my role would be. The chance I took turned into a lifelong passion and one of my proudest endeavors. To anyone unsure of whether to get in-volved or if you’re wondering whether Special Olympics is right for you, I say come out and experience it for yourself. I dare anyone to visit a Special Olym-pics event and not walk away feeling moved, impressed, and entirely hooked.

About Jill Hammergren

Jill Hammergren is a writer, producer, creative storyteller, and visual media consultant. She owns The Media Pro, a full-service media, marketing and com-munication agency in Raleigh, North Carolina that specializes in visual sto-rytelling through videos, graphics, an-imations, websites and brand identity and development through strategic PR, advertising, social media and audience engagement. She is a committed lifelong volunteer for Special Olympics and the global movement to promote acceptance and respect for people with all abilities.

Being a volunteer for a Spe-cial Olympics World Games event is an incredible experience. I discov-ered my passion for Special Olympics in 1991 when I was working over-nights at a Minneapolis-St. Paul TV station. The games were coming to Minneapolis so I decided to give vol-unteering a shot. I signed up for one year and ended up being a part of the movement for the next 22 to come. I did not really know what to ex-pect entering my first games. I knew I was one of thousands of volunteers, but I was unsure exactly what my role would be or the impact I would have. However, it didn’t take long for me to shake my first time volunteer jitters. Prior to the games I attended train-ing sessions where I first understood the size of the Special Olympics and the many positive contributions the organization makes beyond the games. Special Olympics wasn’t just about ath-letes competing in individual sporting events, it was the manifestation of a movement empowering millions (and it still is). Armed with this informa-tion, I began to feel empowered and more importantly, excited for what was to come. It was at these sessions that I first realized the potential I had to really change lives as a volunteer and I was eager to put my background as a journalist to good use. It would not be long before I was fully hooked. After training, I went off to my first event at a roller-skating venue. Up to that point, my fondest memory of roll-er-skating was the moonlight “couples” skate in junior high. I had no idea that people competed in roller-skating. Boy, was I in for a surprise. What I ob-served through the surprising vehicle of roller-skating, was that the men and women competing were much more than exceptional athletes; they were athletes of a new caliber. I was and still am amazed, thrilled, and in awe of the passion that each athlete displays; the dedication to training they exhib-it; the commitment and support their families show; and just how much fun I have watching and supporting them. My amazement continued as I have volunteered for many other Special Olympics events and I am repeated-ly reminded of the true meaning of

23 Years Later and...I’m Officially Hookedsportsmanship. From enthusiastical-ly cheering on their competitors, to pulling themselves off the ground af-ter falling in order to make it to the finish line, the courage, determination and joy of these athletes is nothing short of infectious. One of my most memorable moments was best demon-strated at a gymnastics event during the 2003 World Games in Ireland.

“I was moved to tears when I witnessed a mother throwing her arms around Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver.” Her utter joy was expressed with an effusive smile and tears that streamed down her face. She continued to thank Shriver for all she had done not only for her daughter, but also for her entire family. Her gratitude rippled across the crowd as we watched the two embrace. That’s when the real impact of Special Olympics grabbed my heart forever. My commitment to Special Olym-pics is real and I am proud of the role it continues to play in my life. After vol-unteering, I took a temporary position with the 1999 Special Olympics World Summer Games Organizing Commit-tee and ever since, I have been a mem-ber of the Media SOS team for Special Olympics, bringing media expertise and consultation to those involved in

A Special Olympics skater strides her way toward the finish line during the intense competition.

COMMUNITY FOCUS

By: Jill Hammergren

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THE MEDIA PRODOGS, MUSIC, OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES, HOCKEY, AND MORE - TMP DOES FUN. When The Media Pro team gets to-gether to plan a new project there are always discussions on the right visu-al storytelling methods we’ll pursue. We are creative visionaries. We dream big and feed off each other with a va-riety of ideas for videos, TV programs, films, graphics, animations, rich me-dia content, branding campaigns, ad-vertising, public relations, newsletters,

magazines, marketing and promotional collateral, websites, e-learning options and special events to fit any customer’s needs, goals and budgets. We know how to discover and tell a good story that will connect with the right audiences. We set out with the notion that what-ever we do, it has to deliver measur-able and tangible results for our clients. The projects we’ve worked on have tak-

en us all over North Carolina, across the U.S. and around the world. Our suc-cess isn’t measured by awards, though we’ve been honored and recognized many times, but rather by the relation-ships we’ve cultivated, the stories we’ve told and the connections we’ve made. We also like to laugh, have fun, and inevitably, we share our own narratives with each other. Sometimes Susan Foote regales us with tales of dog training and agility games. Other times, Matt Jen-kins and Ken Peterson noodle around for inspiration with a song, a musical beat or even vent about the latest band drama—because if you’re in a band or you follow bands, sooner or later you’ll be caught up in some kind of drama! Jill Hammergren is likely sharing ex-periences from the sidelines as a band groupie or her life as a professional golf-er (she wishes!) and a rabid hockey fan (you bet!) We all share a love of outdoor activities, sports, travel, music, great food, tasty beverages and all things creative, inspiring and entertaining. When you enlist The Media Pro team to be a partner in your produc-tion, project, campaign or event, you always get our best efforts and we al-ways bring the three E’s with us – ex-pertise, experience and enthusiasm!

The Media Pro team often finds ways to combine our passions and our work, an ex-ample was the “Period of Purple Crying” campaign we developed in conjunction with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. This allowed us to uti-lize a wide variety of communication media to deliver a statewide message!

TRIANGLE BUSINESS

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Jill Hammergren is the owner of The Media Pro, a WBENC certified Wom-en’s Business Enterprise and a NC certi-fied HUB Firm under the North Caroli-na Historically Underutilized Business (HUB Office) the Statewide Uniform Certification (SWUC) program. The Media Pro is an award-winning agen-cy specializing in connecting audiences through visual storytelling and deliv-ering measurable results. We do that by creating engaging videos, graph-ics, animations, rich media content, e-learning and training initiatives, TV & Cable programming for networks, commercials, PSAs, documentaries, and social media. Our productions are for government, public and so-cial awareness, education, marketing, business, entertainment, health, envi-ronment, science, and technology. We develop brand identities; create audi-ence engagements; plan, manage and implement targeted media, advertising, communications and public relations strategies. We evaluate and analyze the effectiveness of those campaigns through industry research, relation-ship-building and negotiated outcomes.

Expertise:

• Dynamic Business, Marketing, Proj-ect Leader/Manager, Writer, Producer & Media Strategist

• 25+ Years’ experience in diverse me-dia relations;

• Directs people, projects, events, sponsorships, fundraisers in varied communications platforms;

• Clarifies brand vision and translates it into tactical plans;

• Develops award-winning creative direction, visual storytelling, engaging productions, trainings, commercials, e-learning products, multimedia cam-paigns and live TV, Cable and Internet programming;

• Encourages strategic alliances, builds teams, fosters relationships, and lever-ages partnerships;

University of Missouri Columbia, Missouri Bachelor of Journalism | BJ

Instant E-Training Certified Social Media Strategist Wake Technical Community College Raleigh, NC

Hollywood Film Institute Film School Hollywood, CA

• Excels at video, film, graphics, ani-mation productions, TV, radio, print, online, outdoor, out-of-home media relations, commercial and sports marketing, and social media strategy implementation.

• Creates compelling content and rich media for publications, online and mobile applications, videos, brochures, websites, business case studies, mar-keting, education, training, advertis-ing, promotions, public relations;

• Organizes and implements large and small scale events;

• Tracks and analyzes media campaigns

Qualifications:

CLASSIF IEDS

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Matt is an insightful and talented com-munications professional with 25+ years experience, inherent visual, lin-guistic and media literacy skills and a proven track record of directing suc-cessful projects. He is a high-energy, hard-working, results-oriented leader providing innovative tactics and out-of-the-box strategy, producing creative solutions aimed at building brand iden-tity and brand loyalty. An expert at con-ceptual layout and visual design across a variety of delivery platforms, he possess a talent for building cohesive teams and managing time-sensitive projects with-in budget. His ability to distill pertinent items in a persuasive strategy plan and implement the creative media necessary

to bring that plan to fruition, have de-livered measurable results for a variety of clients over the course of his career.

• Expertise in graphic design, typogra-phy, visual concepts, copywriting and print production

• Excellent problem-solving, interpre-tation and communications skills, and highly-skilled at presenting messages in creative ways

• Mastery of layout skills – to include type, illustration & photography, illus-tration and rendering skills for both traditional and digital delivery

• Possess cross-platform software skills and the flexibility to work across both Macintosh and Windows environments

Mastery Level of Adobe® Creatve Suite:Photoshop,® Illustrator,® InDesign,®Premier,® AfterEffects,® Sony® Vegas®12,Autodesk® AutoCAD,® 3D Studio Max,®Google® SketchUp,® Microsoft® Office®:to include Power Point®

Qualifications:

Old Dominion University Norfolk, Virginia

BS Communications/ Public Relations

Columbus State Columbus, Ohio

AA Graphic Design & Photography

Copywriter/Wordsmith

Designer/Art Director

4 6 1 3 H u n t e r s C r e e k L n .R a l e i g h , N C 2 7 6 0 6

( 9 1 9 ) 8 0 5 - 1 0 6 1w w w . t h e m e d i a p r o . b i z

Claire says,“The Media Pro

is Shwell!”