Each semester new students step onto campus craving connection – to their peers, upperclassmen, and mentors that can bring them into the fold. The first step is always the hardest, and no one understood that better than the current student body president whose entire college trajectory branched from the first club meeting he showed up to. That’s why we focused on his story as the center of our student organization involvement campaign.
We utilized print, social media, web banners, ads, and email, adapting our message for each channel.
Instagram Story & Print Handout (front)
Ian’s story was captured for a news story earlier this fall, so I reached out to him again to ask him to gather a few friends for a photo shoot. We knew that his personality would shine through best if he was surrounded by close friends. Once we had great photos, it was a matter of drilling down into the elements of his story that would resonate with new college students most.
Print Handout (backside)
Instructional print pieces can feel obnoxious to a web savvy audience, but this particular sign up required multiple steps and a wait time. You can be in love with every word, but I never use eight words if seven will do; meaning that instructions should be concise and essential. We also brought over some basic content from the themed front side in order to carry the personal story through the whole piece.
Ads, Headers & Web Banners
Our hope was to echo our primary channel messages through secondary channels – student newspaper ads, email, and website images. When it comes to these mediums, less text is always better, so our focus was the call to action. These clickable ads took students to a landing page with more information about how to sign up.
Visual Style Guide
Great content and quality art direction sent this campaign to the next level. After the initial concept was developed, it was important to give future designers and content developers direction to carry the theme through other pieces.
Adapting Over Time
The mark of a great concept is when it lives beyond the subject, writer or designer. Humans want to see themselves in the stories of others. While this campaign centered on Ian, it is a concept that can be recycled and utilized again and again, because his story represents the return of connection on that engagement students crave.
Role call: Content strategy, writing and concept development by Hailee Tavoian. Design and art direction by Erika Clusman. Photography by Akira Jakkson. Strategy deployment by Chloe Ruffenach and Alexandria Polanosky. Ohio University brand developed by Truth & Consequences.
Alumni engagement is measured through sustained interest, involvement and/or investment in alma mater. Social media presents an opportunity to engage with alumni with low stakes and establish cross-generational connections through shared experience.
Early submissions were printed and displayed in the student center during Homecoming Week.
The association’s goal was simple: increase engagement on Instagram. This idea was successful because we focused on the why – why would an OHIO alum care to post about us, tag us, or engage with our content? The answer for me was Homecoming. The annual celebration at OHIO is like nothing else I’ve ever seen. Bobcats show up by the thousands, a little bit for football, but mostly because of the way they feel when they are back on campus. The energy is palpable, the memories are visceral, and of course, the drinks are flowing.
I knew that if we could find a way to translate that experience even slightly to our online audiences, they would be ecstatic to go back into a Bobcat state of mind and feel part of the party.
Inspired by Ernest Hemmingway’s six-word story, the #OHIO6Words instagram campaign called for participants to share their own six-word story on Instagram, coupled with an image that represented their OHIO experience. Winners were selected each day of Homecoming Week to be featured on the main @OHIOAlumni Instagram channel and were mailed various Bobcat swag for their engagement.
The outcomes far exceeded engagement goals, and received international recognition from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). It received the Silver Award in the category ‘Best Uses of Social Media for Alumni Relations,’ which recognizes innovative uses of new media by educational institutions across the globe.
Alumni Submissions
“NEXT GENERATION BEGGING TO GET IN.”
“MILES APART BUT TOGETHER IN HEART.”
“OUR SON’S MIDDLE NAME IS ATHENS.”
“YOU’RE NEVER TOO OLD TO FUNK.”
“OHIO UNIVERSITY IS MY FOREVER HOME.”
“OHIO HELPED ME SEE THE WORLD.”
“ETERNALLY GRATEFUL – SIX WORDS WON’T DO.”
“HUSBAND AND WIFE: BOBCATS FOR LIFE.”
Role call: Concept development by Katrina Heilmeier, Kate Erlewine and Hailee Tavoian. Campaign writing by Hailee Tavoian. Social media deployment by Kate Erlewine. In-person displays by Katrina Heilmeier.
Nicole is a client I worked with prior to this project, so I was familiar with her speaking style, her story, and most importantly, her vision for a world where all human beings operated with more kindness. With the publication of her book, Nicole’s public speaking engagements began to become more frequent, and she brought me on board to help tell her story and capture some speaking samples for her to share with the National Speakers Association circuit.
“Working with Hailee was an enjoyable collaborative experience. Hailee listens, catches a vision quickly and works efficiently. I was so pleased with the product Hailee delivered that I ended up using her skills several more times and will continue to do so in the future.”
Nicole Phillips, owner of Kindness is Contagious, LLC
From my experience with this project I learned the value of a personable, colorful subject. Nicole’s personality shown brightly in person, so translating that to video was simply a matter of being at the ready as she engaged with people the way she always does – with love, sincerity and kindness – and capturing authentic connections.
Brand videos are not necessarily something you lead your messaging with, but it is content that should live on your site and will serve your audience when they come across it naturally.
The first lesson during a roller derby “fresh meat clinic” is how to fall.
“As a kid I remember thinking that if you fell, you were a dork,” says Amy Meeks, BSJ ’13, MA ’16. “In derby, everybody falls—it’s part of the game. How fast you get back up is what matters.”
Meeks grew up mastering roller skating in Hocking County, Ohio. The skill came in handy when she joined the region’s Appalachian Hell Betties Roller Derby Team more than 30 years later.
As a blocker, Meeks helps the scorer get past the opposition’s defense. “You need to be willing to risk going down if it means your teammate gets through,” says Meeks.
When her sister Connie showed symptoms of Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD)—a disorder that took the lives of her mother and grandmother at young ages—it wasn’t a question of if Connie would need a kidney transplant, but when.
Without hesitation, Meeks was ready to “take the fall.” “Test me,” she said. And she was a match. “I didn’t ever really stop to think about it.”
Meeks had to make peace with the risks: the donation surgery could end her career as a Hell Betty. Yet, in the end, the sport was Meeks’ saving grace. Her “derby-fit” body provided a healthy kidney to her ailing sister and made for a productive and motivated recovery.
Meeks was back on the track just 12 weeks post-op, with a few cool scars to add to the team’s collection.
My greatest challenge with this assignment was getting Amy to come out of her shell. It was fascinating to watch her have more nerves about an interview than she had before a roller derby match – and I must admit I could not relate to that at all.
Derby was a sport I knew nothing about aside from an impression that it was quite brutal. It did not disappoint in that department, but during this project I also learned about the high bar for athleticism and grace required to be a savvy competitor. Developing an understanding of the rules was critical to my team’s ability to shoot good video, and trim it together with cohesion.
All things considered, this is a sport unlike any other when it comes to capturing quality video. It moves really quickly, there is no perfect vantage point, and try as you might to line up a pretty shot, wipe outs are frequent and you need to be able to get out of the way fast. It was a fun challenge to take on.
Role call: Written story by Hailee Tavoian. Written story edited by Kelee Riesbeck. Video storyboard, production and editing by Evann Figueroa and Hailee Tavoian. Photography by Ellee Achten.
Six Bobcats found their way to the tech capital of the U.S. Their favorite thing about San Fransisco? Karl the fog [pictured in the distance].
The tech industry is male-dominated at best, and a chauvinist hub at worst. At least that’s what headlines churning about Silicon Valley would suggest.
“There’s a bad stigma right now in tech,” says Andi Teggart, BSJ ’11, Facebook. “My friends and I feel very lucky to work at companies that embrace diversity.”
That’s not to say that Andi, Melanie, Sarah, Courtney, Ali, and Aimee—six recent OHIO alumnae working at companies like Lyft, Facebook, and Imgur—haven’t witnessed first-hand the challenges working women face.
And yet, these women aren’t merely surviving in spite of the gender gap. They’re thriving.
How? They consistently support one another—exchanging advice, encouragement, and reality checks—and here, they share five tips that have led them to success.
1. Find a mentor.
“In every job, pick the person who you want to emulate…a woman, a man, an office dog,” says Melanie Goggins, BA ’12, Lyft. “Get close to that person, learn how they got to where they are, and express how you want to get there, too.”
For Courtney Baldasare, BSJ ’11, RSquared Communications, making connections with seasoned professionals and learning from their challenges and mistakes helps cultivate a progressive mindset.
“As women, we’re used to having to work so much harder for things that are just awarded (to men) in our industry,” she says. “I work at a company made up of very intelligent, strong, well-spoken, experienced women in this field. Because they’re open and willing to share their experiences, we learn from each other.”
Every member of the group agrees that she got to where she is today because a woman above her pulled her along, mentoring her along the way.
“A wonderful thing about the mentors I have had in this area is how resilient they are,” says Aimee Rancer, BSJ ’11, Pinterest. “Not every opportunity is going to work out. People in SF aren’t moping around feeling bad for themselves because their startup failed. They’re hustling on to the next thing. That’s super inspiring to be around.”
On the flip side, they feel a collective responsibility to pay it forward.
“It’s really important for those of us in successful positions, especially as women in tech, to be voices for other women who are trying to come in,” says Sarah Schaaf, BSC ’08, Imgur (founded by her brother and fellow Bobcat, Alan Schaaf, BSCS ’10).
2. Seek personal growth.
“You have to be hungry to learn and want to be better,” says Ali Mazzotta, BSJ ’12, Marketo. “As young professionals, we need to be open to feedback and eager to pick up new skills.”
Early in her career, Melanie was eager to volunteer to help others with administrative tasks that fell outside her job description, until a female mentor pulled her aside.
“She told me to look at my male counterparts—they weren’t offering to do things for people that they could do for themselves and I shouldn’t either,” Melanie says. “Protecting your time professionally is a skill that is super important.”
If the line between constructive criticism and discrimination becomes blurred, Sarah suggests leaning on your support network to help separate truth from bias.
“All feedback is valuable, but it can be hard to discern what to take and what not to take on. It’s important to have a group of females in your same industry to bounce those things off of,” Sarah says.
Simply taking a step back to dissect a situation can make the difference between reactivity and proactivity.
“I’m a very passionate person, so I’ll write the angry email, but never press send,” Ali says. “I need that time to break down exactly what happened and cool off, then I can start to think about how to move forward in a positive way with that person.”
Often, the toughest critic is oneself. Aimee feels fortunate to have strong women around to validate and empower her.
“Andi is always reminding me to ‘feel the feelings’ and not compare myself to other people,” Aimee says. “It’s destructive behavior that so many women do, especially with the rise of social media. Comparison is the thief of joy.”
3. Call out gender bias.
“When I worked in government relations, it was pretty tough to be a woman working exclusively with men from other generations. I was very aware that they had different expectations of my behavior and capabilities,” Melanie says.
As a leader at Imgur, Sarah considers it her duty to pull employees aside and make them aware of verbal and non-verbal exchanges that cross into microaggression.
“You have to address it because people do it, and they don’t even realize that they are,” Sarah says. “Calling it out, in a respectful manner of course, is helpful to everyone involved.”
Hence the crew’s collective commitment to be a force of change, one uncomfortable-but-necessary conversation at a time.
“The best thing that we can do for future grads and women in our industry is to continue holding people accountable for the things that they do that may be unfair,” Courtney says.
In response to headlines about harassment across the industry, Sarah formed Ladies of Imgur, a support group that meets semi-regularly to discuss current industry issues and how the company can safeguard its inclusive values. Similar subgroups are forming in other tech companies, and these women are grateful for the power that comes from keeping an open dialogue.
“Growing up, I didn’t have much exposure to diversity,” Andi says. “The more I became aware of these types of issues, the more I learned about myself and I found that I have this love and openness within me.”
4. Stay true to Bobcat values.
OHIO instilled in these six alumnae more than just a commitment to inclusion.
“You have to work hard to play hard, which Bobcats do very well,” Ali says. “Everyone who I’ve met from OHIO is really fun, loving, and just a ball of energy, but they’re also really dedicated to whatever they’re passionate about.”
One passion all Bobcats seem to share is a love for alma mater.
“I can’t think of anyone else who loves their school and talks about it as much as we do,” Aimee says. “OHIO was the first place I felt like I was home away from home. It’s part of our identity.”
The Bobcat network is broad and diverse, yet incredibly personal. Wherever graduates find themselves, they always seem to find each other—and instinctively support their fellow members of the OHIO family.
“We look out for each other,” Andi says. “Anytime someone from OHIO reaches out to me online, I’ll do anything I can to help them out. I had a woman help connect me to my first job without ever meeting me, and that was just a Bobcat helping out another Bobcat, no questions asked.”
5. Take risks.
“Going into my freshman year at OHIO, I was really eager and excited, but also scared,” Aimee says. “Moving to San Francisco was the same way. You’re testing your limits while figuring out who you are or who you want to be.”
Amid life transitions—whether job searching, moving, graduating, getting let go, earning promotions, or changing marital status—agility and work ethic are paramount to success.
“You have to learn to get scrappy,” Courtney says. “Education doesn’t always prepare you aptly for the real world; there are a lot of life skills that they just don’t teach in schools. You won’t get it right every single time, but it’s okay because everyone learns to navigate the world on their own.”
One by one, these OHIO women took a chance on an unfamiliar city. Together, they’ve discovered the gratification that comes from bounding into the unknown.
“A fellow blogger took me under her wing when I first got to San Francisco and I didn’t know anyone,” Andi says. “I showed up terrified with all my suitcases, and she told me, ‘Bravery and courage are always rewarded.’ I now have a wonderful life here. It’s true—when you do something for yourself and take a leap, really good things happen.”
Traveling to San Francisco to meet and interview these women and direct photography for the print issue of Ohio Today magazine was such a fun assignment because it combines all of my favorite things – travel, art, food and feminism.
I gained as much from assembling this piece as I hope my readers did. Young professionals everywhere are hungry for advice but often reluctant to ask for it. This article gave young alumnae a look into their own futures and outlined the steps to get there. I am always excited when I can add value in addition to telling a great story.
Role call: Storyboard, interviews, photography art direction and written story by Hailee Tavoian. Photography by Erin Brethauer. Research and editing by Kelee Riesbeck.Magazine art direction by Sarah McDowell.
Meet the Women
Aimee Rancer, BSJ ’11
• Creative strategist, Pinterest • Fashion and lifestyle blogger • Loves travel and French bulldogs
Sarah Schaaf, BSC ’08
• Vice president of community, Imgur • Web mogul • Connoisseur of Indian food
Courtney Baldasare, BSJ ’11
• Public relations account manager, RSquared Communications • Enjoys the outdoors • Admires Dolly Parton
Andi Teggart, BSJ ’11
• Social media and communications, Facebook • Owner, Lucky Collective • Mom to puppy Jack and 20+ houseplants
Nicole Phillips, wife of Ohio University Men’s Basketball Head Coach Saul Phillips, and their three children were floored with her breast cancer diagnosis. It came less than a year after they moved to Athens. Watch Team Phillips demonstrate how it takes an entire community to beat the odds.
For 12-year-old Jordan Phillips, her mother Nicole’s breast cancer diagnosis was a call to action. Partnering with the Susan G. Komen Foundation, Jordan has used her sewing skills to raise funds and spread awareness for breast cancer across the United States.
Cancer is a word that means many things to many people – it is simultaneously a reminder of the frailty of life and an aggressive call to action. It is a term loaded with emotion, experience, memories good and bad, and it makes for challenging subject matter. When I first met Nicole and took on the assignment of capturing her story she was newly cancer free and moving into the reconstruction phase of her recovery. She welcomed me into doctor’s appointments, physical scans and even her home during the days after her procedure. As both a writer and a videographer, it is very rare that I am able to have the level of access to the intimate moments that Nicole so generously gave me.
In between takes we talked about my experience as a young woman during my own mom’s diagnosis with breast cancer. Nicole wanted to know how I coped, how I struggled and how I felt more than a decade into her fortunate remission. This personal connection we made helped to put the entire family at ease, and resulted in a more authentic, rich story for print and online.
This was a project that I was very grateful to have both mediums to tell the story. Navigating what content was covered in my strict two-page spread word count for print is always easier when I know that the story can continue online in video form. What started as a single video merged into three – two relating to different aspects of the family’s journey through breast cancer and the third was a social media cut for promotion.
From this undertaking I learned to approach my video storytelling with still frame and written word in mind as I captured motion, audio and interactions. I also learned the importance of compromise with your editor. My initial story only had a couple of basketball puns, but my editor liked them so well he wanted to work that theme throughout the entire story with subheads and additional references to the basketball team. While I wanted the article to center on Nicole, he helped me to understand that our readers were interested in Nicole because of who she was to the Bobcat community. This process and compromise showed me that it takes diversity of thought and an editor that will challenge your perspective in order to grow as a writer and tell stories that will resonate with your audience.
Role call: Storyboard, directing, production and editing by Hailee Tavoian. Assistant production and editing by Mallory Golski.
This project was such a pleasure to produce. Our goal was to work with a student poet to fuse together their experience with words from iconic OHIO songs in a message of gratitude for alumni support. What resulted was beyond my expectations, thanks in large part to the tremendous talent of our subject and writer Yaphet Jackman.
Through audio challenges, script drafting, equipment limitations and a tight timeline, my small team was able to achieve our mission under budget without compromising quality. The piece was received with high praise by alumni across the globe, which prompted a screening during the Ohio University Board of Trustees meeting by special request from the University President Roderick McDavis.
Role call: Words and performance by Yaphet Jackman. Storyboard, production, and art direction by Hailee Tavoian. Editing and assistant production by Jarrett Lehman. Concept development by Jennifer Bowie and Hailee Tavoian.
“Hailee is a multifaceted titan with a humble heart of gold. My time with her has shown me her great attention to detail, reservoir of patience and her ability to remain calm and focused in high stress situations. Her kind spirit is an asset as a team player and leader.”
Online retail sales have exploded over the past decade, causing brands with primarily brick and mortar establishments to adapt in order to remain competitive. Our goal for The Bobcat Store was to conduct robust audience research to inform the development of a new logo, style guide and marketing strategy that balanced customer needs with store goals.
My small team analyzed website traffic, sales numbers, email response rates and social media engagement, and combed through peer and competitor online retail websites to complete a thematic analysis of existing brand overlap and niche insights. Using the existing data as a benchmark, we then collected audience feedback through a combination of in-depth interviews and customer surveys. Questions focused mainly on consumer behaviors, website functionality, website personality, and purchasing preferences.
Pictured above are two pages from the final report which articulates audience needs using a combination of metric and thematic data.
Armed with the meaningful audience research conducted during discovery, my art director and I set to work developing The Bobcat Store Audience Research and Analysis Report, which contained all data collected, as well as a comprehensive thematic analysis and specific, actionable strategies for the new brand.
In addition to the final report, deliverables included a new logo, style guide, website with new product photography and content on every page, brand positioning statement and adjectives, and design templates for email, social media, print advertising, and packaging.
Role call: Audience research, analysis, strategy and brand development by Hailee Tavoian and Kailee Slusser. Visual brand, logo, photography and web design by Kailee Slusser. Website build by Neil Mohr. Brand deployment by Kate Robey, Michele Frick and Kyle Lindner.
College students’ social lives, academic trajectory and well-being were enormously impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. When planning for a safe return to campus, among the greatest concerns for Ohio University administration was student adherence to public health and safety guidelines.
Armed with my previous experience with alcohol and sexual health education, I led a cross-team collaboration to develop a variety of content across various channels with the goal of normalizing safety practices. I was deliberate in adding a bit of whimsy and humor that have proven successful with safe sex campaigns.
Content variations were used across all channels – in-person posters, banners, digital screens, student newspaper print edition and website advertisements, and of course, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. What resulted was highest rates of engagement compared to other previously shared public health and safety direction, as well as some chatter across influencer channels and peer institutions about the cheekiness of the campaign. Our goal of garnering attention and generating peer-to-peer dialogue about the issues was achieved.
In addition to the one-liner attention grabbing content, we followed up with our email and social media audiences with student dialogue videos (both short- and long-form) that featured user-generated quality student zoom conversations about issues of health and safety on and off campus.
60-second version used on social media channels with a link to long-form video discussion below.
As many professionals experienced during the pandemic, this project was something I never thought I would do, but I feel a high level of satisfaction with the result. I was reminded of how quality work is achieved in a high pressure environment – with confidence in your team members and a level head – one step at a time.
Role call: Design by Nicole Lovins. Writing, video and art direction by Hailee Tavoian. Social media deployment by Alexandria Polanosky and Steph Fiorelli. Creative consultation by Kailee Slusser and Aaron Harden.
Anti-war rally, 1972. Photo courtesy of Ohio University Mahn Center for Archives & Special Collections
College campuses surge with activism and dialogue when national issues of the day arise, and Ohio University is no exception. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, unrest regarding race, gender, and war shook the small college town in the Appalachian foothills. This tumult, a microcosm of American society at the time, spurred dramatic change toward inclusivity and altered the lives of OHIO students then and today.
This era of disruption and growth was of particular interest to two-time OHIO graduate Frank Robinson, MA ’93, PHD ’00, whose dissertation explored issues facing women at OHIO in the 1960s-70s by interviewing 38 individuals who lived them.
Today, 50 years since their experiences on campus and 20 years since Robinson’s interviews, three of his subjects—all of whom played unique roles in the feminist movement at OHIO—reflected on the still unfinished arc of women’s progress.
“We thought when we opened the door it would all work out, but we underestimated how deep the resentment is toward strong women,” says Beverly Jones, BSJ ’69, MBA ’75, the first female admitted to OHIO’s MBA program. “There are still a lot of men who don’t like to see women succeed, and in some cases the women in their lives feel the same way.”
After leaving OHIO a more equitable institution than she found it, Beverly Jones has pursued a career as an attorney and, more recently, an expert in leadership coaching in Washington, D.C. Photo by Susana Raab, MA ’10
During the late ’60s, gendered rules of conduct on campus were barriers for equal treatment. For instance, there were curfew hours and dress codes, and women were permitted to smoke only so long as they remained seated. Of course, none of these rules applied to men.
“The standards were so different for men and women, and no one questioned it,” Anne Goff, BA ’69, MED ’71, recalled with Robinson in 1998. “It was silly, but I don’t remember being too enraged over it.”
En Loco Parentus, the idea that the University act in the place of parents to protect its students, was accepted at the time. Jones suggested that it was OHIO’s intent to prepare young women for the pressure they would be under in the workforce.
“These rules for behavior were very common in adult life,” Jones says. “Women had to have a certain level of polish in order to even get into the room, and employers were looking for someone who knew how to be a lady.”
Change was imminent, however. Jones and Goff founded the Women’s Information Group (WIG), which gathered young women who had almost no female role models in positions of leadership on campus, to discuss women’s issues.
While women across campus eagerly joined to civilly dialogue about books and theories, the assembly seemed to make some men on campus uneasy.
LEFT: After a 24-year career with the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, where she was vice president of research, Anne Goff lives in Hendersonville, North Carolina. RIGHT: Post alumna Susan Reimer received the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism’s L.J. Hortin Distinguished Alumni Award in 2016 after retiring from The Baltimore Sun, where she reported for 36 years. Photos by Susana Raab, MA ’10
“They would look at us as a guerilla group; it amused us terrifically,” Jones remembered in 1998. “I knew there were guys waking up in the middle of the night thinking, ‘Oh my God, what are these women going to do?’ It was all bluff really—but perception is reality. We recognized it as a tool we could use to get something symbolic done fast.”
Jones sought change at the highest levels of the administration, eventually publishing at President Sowle’s request the Report on the Status of Women at Ohio University, 1972, which documented many of the inequalities of the time and influenced significant changes on campus: increased funding for women’s athletics, re-admittance of women to the marching band, and changes in attitude toward women students, faculty, and staff.
Today, President M. Duane Nellis has formed the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women, which began meeting this fall, to ensure that gender diversity and women’s issues remain at the forefront of the University’s mission.
Susan Reimer, BSJ ’73, covered all sides of women’s issues as a writer for The Post. When she started her career as a sports writer just as women were first allowed to conduct interviews in the locker room, she found her own tactics for breaking through that industry’s gender barriers.
“Clothing is camouflage,” Reimer says. “[In my role], the players resented our being there; so, I dressed like a boy. That way I could be mistaken for just another guy or at least it would be clear that there was no chance that I was there to flirt.”
Sit-in, 1970. Photo courtesy of Ohio University Mahn Center for Archives & Special Collections
All women engaged with the feminist movement differently. Some found the companionship and support of likeminded women overruled feelings of insecurity or fear. Others were simply wired for the resiliency that the spirit of feminism demands.
“I’ve always felt like I belonged, like I deserved a seat at the table,” Reimer says. “I’ve lived with my elbows out, and I never allowed a feeling of second-class citizenship to permeate me.”
Yet today, as these three OHIO women reflect on half a century of progress and setbacks, the importance of unity and support remains clear.
“When we started reaching out to others [to form WIG], it was transformational,” says Goff. “You have to find a collection of people that will understand where you are coming from and have your back.”
The article above was received with high praise cross-generationally.
From my experience with this project I learned the back-end preparation and technical aspects of podcast production during our collaboration with the National Press Club to record the audio interview, and the complexities of adapting story format for various mediums. It was a challenge to take on such a robust topic with many facets and opportunities and develop a meaningful narrative using only a fraction of the information gathered.
On a personal note, it was my sincere pleasure to speak with and learn from the lives of these remarkable women who have laid a foundation for my generation of journalists and activists to build upon.
Role call: Story by Hailee Tavoian. Content development and audio interview by Kelee Riesbeck. Editing and preliminary research by Pete Schooner. Photos courtesy of Ohio University Archives and Photo by Susana Raab.
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