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Last weekend, my family celebrated 59 years of Cherry Bounce, our annual traveling family reunion/drink-making contest. Although I couldn’t be in attendance this year, this week felt like the perfect opportunity to revisit my final project for Foundations of Audio Storytelling during Communication Leadership about the event. 

Taught by our phenomenal professor Jessica Partnow, the class was an opportunity to spend 10 weeks figuring out how to tell a non-fiction story through audio. For my project, I honed in on the lore behind Cherry Bounce. You can listen to my piece below- it’s about zany traditions, and family, and the things that keep us together across time and space. And whiskey. 

If that alone doesn’t entice you, the piece also features the silvery pipes of audio extraordinaire Corey Miller, who was kind enough to read my intro/outro. 

Listen here: https://soundcloud.com/jack-berthiaume-107554006/this-wonderful-tonic-final-draft-by-jack-berthiaume

In addition to learning the technical aspects of patching together a story for the ear, working in the audio format was an excellent lesson in story structure that I’ve been able to apply to video and writing since. As someone who listens to an unreasonable amount of podcasts, it was a pleasure to have a crack at making an episode of my own- I hope that you enjoy it!

One of my first classes in Communication Leadership at the University of Washington was Professional Short-Form writing with professor John Tomasic.

At the beginning of the course, each student developed a fictional business or organization that could be as whimsical or real-world as we liked. The goal was to create a vehicle with which we could spend the rest of the quarter writing material. This included writing content for the fictional organization’s website, newsletter, social media, and more. 

The fictional business I dreamt up was “Beer, Vinyl, Coffee,” a local haunt specializing in, you guessed it, craft brews, vintage vinyl, and, well, coffee. Did I settle on this business because it’s the kind of place I’d like to hang out in real life? Absolutely yes. It seemed like a great place to spend the quarter, if only in my imagination.

It also allowed me to pursue the challenge of writing unpretentiously about topics (craft beer, vinyl collecting, fancy coffee) that historically can get very pretentious very quickly. 

My other goal was to write readable, memorable content that imbued the fictional organization with personality without undercutting BVC’s products or expertise.

By the end of the quarter, we made websites to fill with copy about our organizations in order to see how our text would look on the world wide web. You can see BVC’s here: https://jonrberthiaume.wixsite.com/beeryvinylcoffee

Also included below are some social media concepts and a sample newsletter. I had some fun with it! 

Besides being an engaging project, it was a part of a fabulous class and a perfect way to sharpen my skills, get creative, and kick off my time in Comm Lead. 

What would YOU add to the BVC menu? Let me know below!

Hi friends, it’s been a while!
 
After an exhilarating year and a half, I am ecstatic to share that I have graduated from the University of Washington Communication Leadership program with a Master’s in Communication in Communities and Networks, specializing in Storytelling. Building on the incredible foundation laid as an undergrad at The College of Wooster, this program was an opportunity to learn and experience advanced, industry-specific skills and strategies including copywriting, crisis communication, content marketing, audio and visual storytelling, remote and distributed team management, campaign planning, communication ethics, and more.
 
Beyond the specific coursework, I am so thankful for the opportunity to work with such an amazing cohort of curious thinkers, insightful educators, and generous partner organizations who compose the Comm Lead network.
 
After wrapping up my coursework and spending time hiking, traveling, and enjoying newfound free time (what was that again?), I decided to dive back into my Comm Lead portfolio and share some of my favorite tidbits with you. For the next few days, I am looking forward to sharing some highlights of the past year and a half.
 
I’d also like to extend an open invitation to anyone reading this (yes, you!) to ask me any questions you like about the University of Washington, the Seattle area, or especially the Communication Leadership at the University of Washington program. I was drawn to how groundbreaking and unique it is in the realm of advanced communication degrees and would love to chat. 
 
-Jack

As the historic events of 2020 unfolded, I was reminded of a century-old postcard I came across a couple of years ago. Here is my take on it as a Coniston alumnus:

The Missing Summer by Alumnus Jack Berthiaume

This was a blast to put together. Searching through clown websites was as much fun as you would expect. Check out the included sites & videos if you’re in need of a chuckle today!

Our Favorite Fools

Working on a recap for January has been an amazing opportunity to reflect on some January ad campaigns, particularly ReNEWal Year’s Eve 2020.

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It was an honor to moderate the career panel at this spring’s Professional Development Event hosted by YMCA Camp Coniston. Always amazed by the Coniston network!