Gayle Falkenthal is president and owner of Falcon Valley Group, a public relations consulting firm in San Diego. She has worked in PR for many years after spending the first half of her career as a broadcast producer, editor, writer, and on-air host in radio and television. She graduated from SDSU with a bachelor’s in radio-television and master’s in mass communication.
As a communication professional it’s imperative that you stay up to date with the latest tools, tactics and techniques – and today that means knowing how to produce a video. Falkenthal enrolled in SDSU’sDigiMedia class, Video Production for the Web I because “My clients use video to tell their stories, and whether I actually produce the end product or work with someone at a higher skill level, it’s important that I am conversant with what’s current so I can make good recommendations to my clients.”
For her class project Falkenthal created a short video for her personal trainer at his boot camp class. “I was so excited when he told me he loved the finished video. I purchased my own camera and I’m looking forward to some fun projects. Outside of my PR business, I write a boxing column for Communities Digital News at Washington Times, and now I can shoot my own interviews and post-fight video in the ring.”
Falkenthal says this about her classmates, “I enjoyed the diversity of my classmates’ backgrounds and their different reasons for taking the course. They displayed talent from unexpected directions and I’m not ashamed to admit I will be stealing a few of their great ideas and techniques.”
Regarding her instructors, Falkenthal adds, “Matt Funke and Jacob Kang have the technical skills, but what really makes the class work is the supportive and encouraging atmosphere. No matter how much trouble you might be having with a particular task, they are there to help you succeed.”
