by Gillian Puma, Staff Writer
The Marketing and Communication Department plays a very important role in promoting Manhattan College. The department provides services that include branding and marketing, news and media relations, multimedia and website, publications, creative services and special events.
“Marketing and Communication encompases a lot of different things,” Christine Loughran, assistant director of web communications said.
Loughran mentioned that the department is also in charge of the press releases as well as the format of the school’s website.
“We create M, the alumnae magazine as well,” she said.
The department also gives students the opportunity to participate in promoting the school.
“There’s interest, and it depends on the needs of each student worker that we work with in our department. We have all different kinds of majors here which is nice. We’ve had education majors, we’ve had business students, we’ve had communications majors as well. What’s nice about marketing and communications is that it lends itself to a lot of different things and we’ve been extremely lucky to have students from all academic disciplines,” Loughran said, praising the help she’s gotten from the student workers.
Laura Meoli Ferrigon, the senior digital media producer, has had the opportunity to work with these students one-on-one.
“Since I started here in March 2018, I have had the pleasure to work with Harriet Carino, Sara Milano and Anna Maria Calma- our student photographers,” she said. “Not only are they extremely talented with an eye for photography, but I can tell from their openness to feedback and critique that they will no doubt go very far in their careers. As senior digital media producer, I manage the photography and video content for our department. With so many amazing events and great things happening in the MC community each day, our student photographers are vital to our department being able to share all of this.”
Ferrigon also said how important it is to use professional cameras.
“Today, everyone thinks they’re a photographer just because of the amazing technology we all have in our pocket (a smartphone). This is not the case. An expensive camera or a fancy lens does not make a good photographer. It is what you do with that camera that proves your talent. Even more important than the final image is the impression you leave on a room. A good photographer can blend in and make everyone in the room feel comfortable- and that is vital when trying to capture a real moment in time,” she said.
Anna Calma graduated as a marketing major and a CIS minor in May 2018. She currently attends Manhattan College as an MBA student for general business. Calma uses a Canon Rebel T5 and learned about settings and lighting using this camera.
“My father has always been into it as a hobby, and I grew up watching him take pictures all the time at ever event. He wanted everything to be documented. So I guess I’ve always been around photography and developed an interest at a young age,”
Calma’s person experience with photography was cultivated over time.
“My first experience with photography was in the fourth grade when I entered into a photography competition and actually won. When we first got a digital camera, I would bring it with me everywhere wanting to take pictures of me and my friends or anything important to a sixth grader. My friends and I would have this competition and take a picture each of the same subject and then ask someone to pick their favorite between the two but not tell them who took which.”
Calma said that Springfest is always her favorite event to shoot. She also stated she likes to get shots of students interacting with each other and having fun.
Sara Milano is an art history major with a minor in digital media arts. She shoots with a Nikon D750 with a 24-120 millimeter lens.
“I gained an interest in photography when I received my first camera (a digital Polaroid point and shoot) for my eighth birthday. Before that, I had been doing art since I was five years old. Photography became a real passion of mine when I was finally able to start taking classes in high school,” Milano said.
One of her favorite events Milano shot was the Volleyball fundraiser game for Friends of Karen.
“This organization collaborated with the Manhattan College Volleyball team to raise money. One girl on the team, her family was helped by this organization because her younger sister was sick. They also invited another family who was helped by this organization to come to this event. It was a fun event and really demonstrated the amazing community we have here at Manhattan College,” she said.
Harriet Carino is a communication major with a digital media minor. She currently shoots with a Canon T6. However, she has stated her desire to have another camera with better quality.
“I’ve always had an interest for photography but never really took it seriously until my freshman year in college,” Carino said. She said her favorite event to take pictures at was the Latino Dinner because of the performance and the food giving off beautiful colors.
These student photographers are very important to the Marketing and Communications Department. Without them, the school wouldn’t be able to tell their stories through the photos these girls have taken.