Archive | March, 2013

Take an RPCV to Work Day!

Last week marked 52 years since the Peace Corps’ inception in 1961, and it celebrated with a week-long series of activities carried out around the world. Three recently returned volunteers (RPCVs) – Alayna Garvin (Romania 2007-2009), Debra Howe (Malawi 2010-2012), and Kathryn Jacoby (Ghana 2008-2011) visited the BBG headquarters and Voice of America for “Take an RPCV to Work Day.”

RPCV Debra Howe and IBB Deputy Director Jeff Trimble

Kathryn Jacoby shared with us this account of her visit:

“The bustling energy of a major news agency in the morning is invigorating. We met and greeted RPCVs and VOA staff before attending the morning editorial meeting, where major news items were discussed and each department presented their stories for the day—an unusual opportunity to hear top professionals in the field discuss a day’s worth of news topics in 30 minutes.

The experience had a two-fold importance for me: I saw a bit of the around-the-clock work and the dedication to VOA’s mission that goes into producing the broadcasts that I listened to in the field; and I also saw some of the daily activities of a job in international journalism, and received warm smiles and sage advice from RPCVs who had been in my position in the past. This was a fantastic experience!

The RPCVs spent time with individuals across the BBG and VOA who had also previously served in the Peace Corps, including Connie Stephens (Niger), Kristy Hays (Belize), Stephen McGinley (Tonga), Kelsey Marsh (Lesotho), and Nancy Coviello (Namibia).

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Behind the Scenes: April Deibert

April tours Voice of America headquarters in the Wilbur J. Cohen Building,  Washington, D.C.

 

“When I first started working for the Office of Digital & Design Innovation, I was given a tour of VOA headquarters by one of my supervisors.  It was great to get a historical perspective of the agency and to see the Cold War-era building it is housed in (that still has rooms that were used as potential nuclear fallout shelters and beautiful vintage brass escalators), and to meet and interview interesting on-air staff, editors and producers.

Getting an overall feeling for how each department operated separately and then together helped shape my perspective on what ODDI’s role is to facilitate the use of innovative technologies to reach different global populations. I’ve learned that the strategy behind what appears to be a simple production to the public can go far deeper and be far more intellectual than what an information consumer may realize.  The BBG is unique because it uses research to localize social media for its many global audiences.”

April Deibert is a contractor working on multimedia blogging and production for the Office of Digital and Design Innovation.  You can find some of her work on their website.

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