Students seized the opportunity to audition for a backup traffic reporter position when a panel of two female evaluators from Traffic.com visited Main Campus last Wednesday.
“I didn’t prepare and I go in, in five to 10 minutes,” said junior BTMM major Fred Breeze.
Although interested in the behind-the-scenes aspect, Breeze said he wants to familiarize himself with all aspects of television production, even being on air. Currently taking a broadcast performance class, Breeze said he has already learned how to be comfortable in front of a camera.
“We have had huge success with Temple grads and we have a bunch of former Temple students who work for us,” said Traffic.com Vice President and General Manager Margaret Cronan, one of the judges. Some of those Temple alums include CW 57’s Sean Murphy, a traffic anchor for WakeUp News, and Matt Pellman, a traffic reporter for 6-ABC.
“Knowing our successes and the intelligence of these folks and [their] drive, we decided to target Temple as one of the colleges to come [to],” Cronan said. Other local colleges where tryouts will take place include Villanova University and the University of Pennsylvania.
“I know they’re looking for the ‘wow’ factor. I hope [the judges] see it in me,” Breeze said.
But what does it take to impress these judges Cathy Caldwell, the second evaluator and executive producer at Traffic.com, said she is looking for many qualities during the audition process, including being comfortable on air, a good voice and lots of energy.
Another important element is confidence, Cronan said. “The one thing that impressed me more than anything is the confidence of the people walking into this room, and that’s a learned thing,” she said.Graduating in May, Christie Alderfer, a senior broadcast journalism major, is currently job-hunting.
And she said auditioning for Traffic.com was an opportunity she could not turn down. Alderfer said she was extremely satisfied with her performance, although initially she was nervous.
“I had a hectic morning because I had just come from anchoring the news for Temple Update and felt that my prep time for the interview was compromised a bit,” she said.
But Alderfer said she is confident she did well. “I have certainly worked hard to get here,” she said, adding that working as an anchor for Temple Update has had a huge impact on her skills. “I feel very comfortable in front of the camera now.”
By noon, about two dozen students had turned in their resumes and showed off their skills in front of a rolling camera and an imaginary road map. Meeting with each student for less than five minutes, the judges said they were impressed by those who tried out.
“We are thrilled with the turnout today and the talent,” Cronan said. “It shows Temple is doing a lot of things very well at getting the students prepared to take the next step in their careers and be ready to hit the work force.”
Anne Ha can be reached at aha.263@temple.edu.
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