Master Mind behind "The Pita Pit"

The person Sam and I chose to follow for this project is Elyse Citroni, employee at Philbrook Cafe and more specifically, part of "The Pit Crew." Elyse is a Senior Management and Finance major in the Whittemore School of Business and Economics. She has been working at Philbrook Cafe for the past three years. Her cousin is the manager of Philbrook and encouraged her to pick up some shifts her sophomore year. "I was hesitant to work at the dining hall, but I have really grown to love it," said Citroni. She has spent her time making subs, coffee and snacks for Area 3 and has loved seeing familiar faces throughout her years there. Citroni has realized that most of her customers are freshman and are extremely appreciative of her work. She said, "I enjoy fueling them with coffee and subs to get through class or an exam they have coming up. In turn, they are extremely friendly and make the time go by fast."

In her spare time, the senior business student enjoys working out, cooking and spending time with her friends. She has even met some of her best friends through working at the cafe.
Citroni has seen Philbrook Cafe go through many renovations. First, it was a small cafe with subs, snacks and drinks. Then it turned into a cafe with Starbucks coffee and now it is a full coffee shop making cappuccinos, frappaccinos and lattes. Also, Philbrook Cafe has become a "Pita Pit" which allows students to make their own pita with all of the fixings, which Citroni creates herself during her shifts.

Citroni hopes with her business degree she will some day own her own bed and breakfast. She thinks the customer service skills and cooking techniques she has learned at Philbrook cafe will help her in her future.

Inspiring Multi-Media Examples According to Me

After exploring several sites with photography, audio and video I was amazed at the wide variety of stories that could be done without any writing. None of the stories I heard or watched were the same and each brought a different technique of multi-media to the table. I found myself so much more engaged with the multi-media stories as I am with print stories.

My favorite audio:

On the "Hearing Voices" website I came across a story about a young, homeless girl from Portland, Oregon. Her name was Miracle and she had been kicked out of her home and now struggles with an addiction to crystal meth.

http://hearingvoices.com/stories.php?currentPageNum=2 "Miracle on the Streets"

To hear a story about a young girl, around my age already addicted to drugs and living on the streets was extremely moving. I think this worked perfectly for an audio story because in writing, I would have never understood her life as well as I do after hearing the less than three minute clip. Homelessness is a story that could be done over and over again, but hearing Miracle speak made it seem real. Hearing her voice speak about a day in her life added another element in the story which would not be possible in print. I think this story could turn into a series about homeless teens across the country. As it is mentioned in the beginning of the clip, kids are thrown out of their house for so many reasons, and I think documenting kids in an audio story would be extremely inspirational for others to want to help these boys and girls out.

My favorite still photograph:

After looking at many still photographs, the one that stood out to me the most was from the NPPA: Best of Photojournalism website. This picture of an extremely thin man being dressed by his father and won first place for Investigative Issue Picture Story.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/3jobda/bop.nppa.org/2008/still_photography/winners%253Fcat%253DIIS

At first I was not sure what the photograph was going to be about, but it caught my attention right away. After reading the caption and realizing the photo was about the lack of medical insurance in the country and this man is dying of Cancer, I thought the picture fit perfectly with the story. What struck me was that there are no faces shown in the picture, but there is no need for them. It gives off such an eery feel and I found myself understanding how much medical insurance is really needed in America. I have very little photography skills so seeing a photograph with no faces, says a million words and is inspiring to me. The picture definitely gives me a broader idea of all the things you can do with photography.

My Favorite Multi-media:

"Five Years Later: Hurricane Katrina" was an unbelievable piece of multi-media.

http://projects.usatoday.com/news/katrina/#/prologue/epigraph/a-perfect-hurricane

It wasn't just a video of what happened and how people were affected, it took me through the process of the storm, effects of nature and rebuilding. Each segment began with a quote and was followed by a series of pictures, voice overs and videos to describe the scene and tell a story. The segment that was the most moving was the storm. It had pictures of people preparing for the storm by boarding up their windows and then pictures of people fleeing the city. The faces of the citizens in New Orleans were so moving there didn't have to be words and it brought me back to that time. Another interesting aspect of this piece was the rebuilding part and the map of the city to show where the rebuilding was and will be necessary. The ending was perfect too, it had a video of fisherman trying to get back to work after the hurricane. Instead of coming out and saying "I'm struggling after the hurricane," the video portrayed real life people and situations and their fears for the future.
There have been thousands of stories about Hurricane Katrina but this one was unlike any other. Compiling pictures and videos along with quotes from real people made it stand out. It was truly inspiring and an impact on me despite everything I have heard or read about the hurricane.

After viewing all of these websites, I am looking forward to creating a multi-media piece of my own and seeing more multi-media stories.