Kevin Rivers comes to dhg Communications with a variet of talents, including videography, AVID editing, and writing. He comes to dhg via WHO Channel 13, where he excelled in topical promotion for more than eight years. During his tenure, he developed a promotional strategy and production technique for the Des Moines NBC affiliate. Kevin was also able to become the driving force of the station's ten o'clock news campaign "See The Difference." His work awarded him the New York Times Chariman Award, an honor given to only one employee per year for the entire New York Times Broadcast Group.
Kevin's experience also found him in Rapid City, South Dakota, where he headed up KEVN FOX 7's promotional department. In his three year stint there, he was able to freelance for companies such as Coca Cola and the Ford Motor Company. After settling down in Iowa, Kevin did some freelance camera work for the Iowa Stars, Drake University, Iowa State University, and FOX Sports.
Kevin and his wife Leann live in Altoona with their three kids, Kaitlynn, Christopher, and Matthew. He is very excited to serve the clients of dhg Communications and assist them to fulfill their goals.
December 3, 2007
Presidential Forum turns to dhg Communications
On an icy Saturday, 5000 people gathered at HyVee Hall in downtown Des Moines to vocalize their concerns to the 2008 Presidential candidates. Iowa CCI partnered with over 20 community based organizations representing more than 200,000 Iowans - many of whom are undecided on which candidate they will suupport. Citizens and concerned voters from across the United States attended the 3-hour event.
TVOne agreed to share the proceedings LIVE across the internet, while C-SPAN simulcast the event to millions of cable TV homes and internet viewers.
The challenge was to coordinate appropriate audio/video feeds to multiple media sources with various technical requirements. TVOne wanted to add their own graphics. C-SPAN wanted the ability to switch "live" on-site and still accept a clean feed. Video clips were uploaded to YouTube.com within minutes of the candidates' remarks, garnering thousands of views. Plus, a blog was created showing multiple viewpoints from the audience and viewers on the internet.
To further complicate matters, Hillary Clinton was unexpectedly unable to attend, due to security issues at her New Hampshire campaign headquarters the previous day. This required a last minute satellite uplink to connect Mrs. Clinton with the Forum audience.
The solution provided by dhg Communications included four ENG camera crews, three Final Cut Pro edit stations, nine VTRs, directors, teleprompters, switchers, as well as coordination with satellite uplink and downlink providers. At the end of the day, dhg Communications provided over 20 clips for YouTube.com, in addition to feeding the different broadcast and webcast outlets.
According to Dennis Goering, President of dhg Communications, "our 80+ hours of pre-production planning really paid off. We had one day to set up and rehears - so we had no room for error. Yet every single program delivery came off without any hiccups - which surprised a lot of people. This was a complicated live event that was fun to work."
October 10, 2007
dhg Welcomes Travis Ballstadt to the Team
dhg Communications is pleased to announce that Travis Ballstadt has joined the Production team. Travis brings a wide span of creative/production/post-production talnets to the table. Upon graduation from Iowa State University, Travis headed west, landing in San Francisco, California.
After a three year stint as a traveling photojournalist for the FOX News Channel, Travis began freelancing for clients such as ebay, Yahoo!, and Greenpeace. In 2004, Travis made the journey back to Iowa and split his time between KDSM FOX 17 and freelance clients such as Jefferson Airplane, Tesla, the Nadas, Towncrier, and GE Smith.
In addition to his musical clients, Travis has worked with many different broadcast, cable, and commercial clients. Travis created the first "The Bills" campaign spots for Community Choice Credit Union, which earned "TV Spot of the Week" honors on AdAge.com, and was the Director of Photography for "B. Original" with Michele Beschen, which airs daily on DIY Network and HGTV (Interesting side note: the show is produced and edited by Travis' wife, Elisabeth). Travis also handled post -production duties on Seasons 1 & 2 of "Outdoors Traditions," which airs weekly on FOX Sports Midwest.
Travis and his wife, Elisabeth, just purchased a 125-year-old Victorian home in Des Moines where they live with their two children, Isabell and Wilco.
