For a good part of my career, I was marketing banking solutions that help families and individual power their dreams.  Desiring something more, I started slowly building websites and stayed up till the wee hours learning web code.

I recently started a new position as Director of New Media at CBS affiliate News 10 On Your Side (KWTX) serving Central Texas and KWTX.com.

Sometimes in life you find an opportunity to make a difference in something you care about, and it feels like even though you didn’t know it at the time, that the last few years have just been practice giving you the background, skills and ability to help.

My new role at News 10 kind of feels like that.  I returned to college earning web design and development degrees while working clients building online brands and communities and working heavily with content management systems (CMS).

For me, joining News 10 brings a lot of things together.  I had become interested in open source and using technology to build bridges to under-served communities.  My experience in blogging, journalism and producing on the web all come into play.

Along the way I learned about open source, coding, and the web. I was inspired by my experiences to create Code U Web Camp the summer of 2010, which uses open source methods while teaching area high students how to build websites and how to express themselves using social media tools such as Twitter and blogs.

So I joined up at News 10, because I care about the web, user experience and providing products to serve the community.  The web is the single greatest creation in our lifetime.  In my new role, I will be overseeing all of the station’s efforts in new media involving the station’s multiple-platforms, advancing the station’s social media strategies, establishing policy and developing best practices for all of KWTX’s properties.

News 10 is more than just another television station. A long time pillar in the community, the CBS affiliate helps solve community problems such as the recent 10 On Your Side  Stop Bullying Now!  News 10 brought together local educators and mental health experts to help develop community strategies to stop bullying.

A series of bullying packages examining the bullying issue preceded an on-air and online chat where in studio experts answered community questions and offered tips both online and on the telephone about stopping the widespread bullying issue that touches so many.

I feel both very excited and very fortunate to find myself in this spot, and am looking forward to doing what I can to help News 10 continue to make the web a better place to experience news while staying informed.

Tags: bullying, jay hicks, kwtx, new media director, news 10, television

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 14th, 2010 at 10:24 pm and is filed under Featured, New Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.