In response to speaker talk with Adam Wolffbrandt
By Tiana Binns
https://www.adamwolffbrandt.com/
Listening to Adam speak about his experiences and career development was very helpful and interesting. His stories and his reel are incredibly well put together. As I potentially want to go into multimedia journalism it was helpful to see his reel and how he put it together, as he said using softer, more relaxed music in his reel because many people use really energetic music and that affects the viewer in a different way. I lean a lot more towards photography than videography so getting to know the path Adam took as a more video focused career peaked my interest, such as his video focus in college and participation in the Hearst Championship.
The things that he mentioned that I resonated with the most was when he spoke about how important making connections are and the experiences he has been able to have by making good and consistent connections through various projects you may be involved in. He said he got his position at Bloomberg News by making good connections with people at work who referred him. That is especially important for freelance work like Adam does, so when people like you and the work you do they will rehire you for other jobs or refer you to other people they know. I think making connections with people is probably one of the most important pieces of advice that I have learned at Elon, as it can really create experiences for you that you didn’t know were possible as well as create lifelong friendships. He also explained how the longer he’s been in the business making these connections, the more consistent his jobs become, which is important to remember as sometimes it can be hard to get jobs as a freelancer when first starting out.
I was really interested in his time at NPR and how that job was for him. I initially wanted to work for a bigger news organization, such as NPR, National Geographic or Vice when I entered college, but after doing an internship at a local newspaper in Dublin, Ireland this past Spring, I changed my mind and decided I would rather work in local news. Adam’s experience at NPR and the work he did there was definitely something that made me consider that choice again.