Christmas Comes Early for EC’s Communication Department

Thanks to a newly formed partnership with Inspiration Ministries (INSP), home of the Inspiration Television Network, Christmas came early this year for the students and faculty of the Emmanuel College Communication Department. This opens more doors for students to learn through internships and professional experience in the growing field of Christian media as they pursue careers in television production, graphic design, or marketing.

“I am extremely excited by the opportunities this partnership has created for our students. It will give our students more real-world professional experience that will benefit them as they graduate and enter the job market,” says Jennifer Lester Benson, EC Communication Professor who teaches the video production courses.

On December 4, EC President Michael Stewart traveled with a group of communication faculty and majors to Charlotte, N.C., to meet with INSP Senior Vice President of Marketing Wendy Vinson. A 1981 graduate of Emmanuel College, Vinson says she is thrilled to be able to offer these special opportunities to students from her alma mater.

“I believe in the vision and mission of Emmanuel College. I believe God desires to raise up students from Emmanuel who will transform the airwaves. We must take back what is rightfully ours,” she says.

“The Inspiration Ministries is proud to come alongside the faculty and staff and provide opportunities for students to have some hands-on experience in the field of communication and media. We look forward to the deeper revelation of what is in the heart of God for this partnership,” Vinson says.

“The Inspiration Networks are spreading the good news of Jesus Christ around the world. During our visit it was exciting to see the possible areas for collaboration between INSP and Emmanuel. Our partnership will benefit our students, the college, the networks, and make a positive impact on the world,” President Stewart says.

Their flagship cable channel, INSP, is now supplemented with other channels and programming:

• iLife TV, the first and only inspirational lifestyles network developed for digital cable;
• LFC or La Familia Cosmovision, which is geared toward Hispanic families;
• INI or Inspiration International, a uniquely formatted Pan-European Network; and
• Inspiration On Demand, the only faith-based VOD (video on demand) in domestic digital cable.

INSP also contracts its vast resources and studios to produce content for the SPEED Channel, a motor sports cable network owned by Fox Entertainment Group.

With Vinson as their host for the day, the EC group was guided on an extensive tour of the different studios and production facilities of INSP, including Media Comm and Snap 5 as well as the network's new facility, the City of Light, which is still under construction.

Junior Communication Major Crystal Cleveland says she especially enjoyed getting to learn from professionals working with cutting edge video and editing equipment during the tour.

“The trip to INSP was a great experience for me. I feel that I learned a lot of information that will be valuable to me now and in my future. I think it will be something I will carry with me for the rest of my life,” says Cleveland, who plans pursue a career in video editing.

Cleveland represented her classmates in the EC Video Production II Class by pitching ideas for new original programs geared especially for college students to INSP executives. The class created these concepts and produced a sample video promo for INSP as a special project this semester. Managers of INSP's Steel Roots programming were receptive of these ideas and will be visiting EC to in early 2008 to discuss with students potential ways they can become involved in future college program development and production.

The EC group left Charlotte feeling confident this partnership with INSP will allow EC's communication majors new opportunities.

"The purpose of our trip was to formally recognize our desire to build a partnership with INSP for our communication majors and our college," explains Paula Dixon, Communication Department Chair at EC.

"This began a few weeks ago when one our alums, Wendy Vinson, visited our campus to share with our students. It's been exciting to see how God has been revealing His plans for this partnership to them and us.

"We appreciate the time and interest from Wendy and her team, and we also appreciate LifeSprings Resources and their Director of Marketing Charles Powell for introducing us and allowing God to create this connection through them,” she adds.

For more information about the Emmanuel College Communication Department, please visit www.ec.edu/communication. For more about INSP, visit www.insp.com.

Written by Senior Communication Major Sara Ray