A Day in the Life: Ed Carpenter, USF Web News Content Coordinator

Today’s “A Day in the Life” profiles Ed Carpenter, USF Web News Content Coordinator.  Ed’s name may be familiar to some of you because his byline is on all of the USF News stories (thus his title!).  Ed’s position will be of great interest to many of our majors, as he does for USF what many of you are interested in doing for a job.  Fun fact: He is also the person who decides on the USF Connect Featured Photo!  Indeed, I first got to know Ed when I e-mailed him several times (okay, I’m underestimating, it was way more than “several”) about choosing one of our Game Day pictures as the featured photo.  Luckily, he hasn’t held that against me and agreed to participate on our blog! 

Ed has been at USF more than three years.  He writes online news and makes videos about the research, service, and awards being done and won by USF students, faculty and staff.  He also highlights USF’s connections to San Francisco and the Bay Area.  The news is online at http://www.usfca.edu/newsroom/ or on USF Connect.  Ed develops USF news stories through an extensive list of contacts on campus, by monitoring the mainstream news, and by reaching out to administrators, faculty, students (including student clubs), and staff on a regular basis.  Since the launch of USF’s new website, he has also developed news ideas by monitoring blogs and other social media (I think our blog is one of them!).  Ed earned a BA in English and Philosophy from the University of Arkansas, and his MA in journalism from UC Berkeley.  Here’s “A Day in the Life” of Ed Carpenter: April 1, 2011:

6:15 Awake, clean up, iron, dress.

6:45 Change and dress one-year-old Mateo. Practice saying “stinky” with him so that his grandmother (my mom) will be duly impressed when she visits in two weeks.

7 Out the door.

7:10 Pick up riders at casual carpool.

7:35 Drop riders in downtown San Francisco.

7:45-8 Hightail it to USF.

8 Arrive. Boot computer. Make coffee (French pressed, of course), eat some yogurt, skim the San Francisco Chronicle and New York Times.

8:30 Check Google Alerts for “USF” and “University of San Francisco.” Read online news. Check email. Sign in and check USF’s social media. Review calendar/daily agenda. Review to-do list.

9:15 Prepare to publish a USF News story on Prof. Katz’s work with indigenous tribes in the Amazon: edit photo, publish using Ektron

9:45 Compose and send questions via email for interview for Prof. Gunn for story on winning National Science Board’s Public Service Award.

10 Compose and send questions related to eight School of Nursing news stories for upcoming college e-newsletter. Review the materials I’ve already received.

11 Organize sidebar story ideas for USF Magazine feature on how USF provides a Global Education. It’ll be out in May people! Look for it. Your classmate is probably quoted.

11:15 Read Higher Ed Impact, Jan/Feb, “Social Media: Uncovering Opportunities For Higher Education.” Discuss with Thomas Listerman, USF E-Communications Director.

12 Lunch at my desk.

12:30 Talk with PatchU of Patch.com about reaching out to faculty and students who might be interest in covering local news for class credit or the even more popular cash.

12:45 Check out Quara.com (mentioned in Higher Ed Impact article). Email link to media relations colleague Anne-Marie Devine for possible use down the road. I believe most of you read Anne-Marie’s Day In the Life recently.

1 Begin sidebar of USF Magazine on Israel-Palestine immersion for story on how USF provides a global education. Thanks to Celeste Wilson ’10. It’ll be out in May DONSCOMers! Look for it. Did I mention that your classmate might be quoted?

2 Blue Bottle coffee break. Can’t believe I just paid $3.50 for this tiny cup of cappuccino. Sure is good though.

2:30 Meet with colleague about gender justice award and doing a USF News story. It’s coming.

2:45 Set up meeting with Liza Locsin about A&S college e-newsletter.

3 Begin brainstorming Prof. Dube’s Zambia/Zimbabwe HIV/AIDS immersion for USF Magazine sidebar for story on how USF provides a global education. It’ll be out in May; don’t forget. Get yourself a copy. Your classmate could be quoted. Well, she’s an alum – so more like a former classmate.

3:30 Read background on Zambia Today immersion.

4 Compose and email questions to Prof. Dube.

4:15 Email initial inquiries to students who took part in the Zambia immersion last summer to gage interest in being interviewed.

4:30 Meet with USF Magazine design team

5 Flintstone’s prehistoric bird/horn sounds in the back of my head. It’s quittin’ time. Does anyone even know that cartoon these days? Instead of sliding down a dinosaur’s tale into my car and zipping home, I crawl across the Bay Bridge at 15 mph.

5:45 Arrive home

5:50 Practice soccer with Mateo in the kitchen. He yells “goal” every time he kicks the ball. Where does he get that from?

6-6:15 Anne washes Mateo. I make dinner, or start to.

6:15 Read to Mateo. Sing the ABCs (He loves that).

6:30 Anne puts him down to sleep. I finish making dinner.

7 Eat dinner. Grilled baby back ribs and sweet potato French fries with salad. Tofu doesn’t touch these lips. But, don’t hold that against me.

7:30 Wash dishes. Clean up. Talk with Anne about the hike we will take Mateo on Saturday from Presidio to the Golden Gate Bridge.

8 Hello Facebook and personal email account. Did you miss me?

8:25 Meditate on taking my new motorcycle for a drive on Saturday after hiking. Zen…

8:30 I should say I did something productive like read a groundbreaking article in the unopened Atlantic sitting on my coffee table at this point. But, it’s Friday. I vegged out and watched Champions League Soccer. While I’m watching, I daydreamed that I’ll play as good as those guys during my Sunday pick-up match. Messi, who?

11 That’s pretty much it, aside from hitting the sack. Say “hi,” if you see me around campus!

Wow!  Thanks, Ed, for giving us a glimpse behind the scenes of USF News.  Ed’s day shows all of the work involved in creating news stories about USF.  Check out Ed’s stories to keep up to date about what is going on at our university!