New York State Special Olympics Winter Games

In 2018, Emily Hunt and I were selected to be co-producers of RIT's coverage of the New York State Special Olympics Winter Games in Rochester, N.Y. As part of an independent study, we created and executed a plan for a smooth workflow, assigned 70 photographers, editors, and videographers, oversaw publication to a website and social media, and managed an onsite newsroom. Over two days, our team covered athletic competition, ceremonies, and more at four different locations in the Greater Rochester area. After the games, we wrote up an outline of the work we did as well as a short note to pass on to the producers for the following year. In 2019, I worked on the same coverage as a video producer.

Over winter break, Emily and I began defining our goals for the coverage, thinking about team structure, and setting up wireframes for the website. We made plans for editing remotely and began the process of setting up our own server for the event. We also finalized our workflow for the coverage including specific guides for code replacements, captioning, and tagging images in Photo Mechanic, as well as output specifications, folder structures, and naming conventions.

When we returned to school in January, Emily and I began communication with Special Olympics officials, holding information sessions for our student photographers and editors, working with RIT photo faculty and staff, and meeting with students about individual project ideas. We worked with upperclassmen to create leadership roles within the team, having them work as editors or mentor younger students while photographing. This was especially beneficial because we had several high school students and RIT freshman participating. It was amazing to see the work they ended up with by the end of the weekend.

During the games, Emily and I communicated with team leads, oversaw the publishing of content to Instagram, Facebook, and Wordpress, as well as a slideshow and pop-up print gallery during the closing ceremony. Live editors worked on-site at the convention center. We ran three Instagram accounts during the games and tailored the content to the account. The Special Olympics account was home to our main storytelling content, RIT Photo was used mostly for Behind The Scenes, and RIT NPPA was used to highlight specific moments and strong work. We had some of our younger students helping with social media as well, especially on Instagram stories.

Running the coverage of the Special Olympics Winter Games was truly an incredible experience. I got to work with a great team of students, collaborate with faculty members, and contribute to telling the story of an amazing event. I gained valuable leadership experience and knowledge of this industry. So many students from different areas of the photo school came together to do this work. I am endlessly grateful to my co-producer, Emily Hunt, and to our advisor, Josh Meltzer for being the best team I could have asked for throughout this process. View more behind the scenes.