On the weekend of February 12-13, 2022, I was finally able to see my oldest play a meaningful game of hockey. As I mentioned in my previously most-recent gallery introduction, the D1 Capo Coyotes lost their Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League playoff game on February 19, 2020. At the time, the team was a little more than a month away from participating in the USA Hockey National Championships.
I did not know then that the ADHSHL playoff loss would be my older son’s last high school game. He and I (and even my younger son) have gotten in some beer-league games in the time since the pandemic interrupted his playing career.
All that said, I never expected that it would be two years between meaningful games. For several months, he’s been telling me: “Dad, the boys want some pictures.”
The Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League championship games were played on Saturday, February 22, 2020 (the 40th anniversary of the “Miracle on Ice” Olympics game, by the way), at Great Park Ice. I attended and photographed the D3 game in hopes that the Capistrano Coyotes would prevail after our D1 team was eliminated on Wednesday. It was not to be, as Servite took that contest, 2-0.
Shooting the D1 championship presented a bit of an emotional challenge. After winning back-to-back D2 championships and being elevated to D1 this season, Capo fell short of making the final. It was tough seeing my oldest on his knees after the game and the disappointment remains highly present.
That said, he was at a crossroads in his hockey pursuit when he joined the San Diego Jr. Gulls back in his Bantam years. The boys and the families were (and still are) amazing. They welcomed us warmly and they invited JP to stay over quite a bit to help ease the travel up and down the 5 Freeway. Four of those boys are members of the Pacific Ridge Firebirds. So I stayed to photograph their pursuit of a championship (we beat them last year in the D2 final). I was thrilled for their opportunity to celebrate a championship. The header image here shows two of his closest teammates from the Gulls.
FivePoint Arena is very photographer friendly, and I love shooting in there. The sight lines are as good as they get in minor hockey, so I feel like I get nice clean shots.
My images below, however, are not super clean. These are essentially dumped from the storage media so that everyone involved — players, families, the teams, and the league — can enjoy them as soon as possible. As always, I am happy to clean them up for anyone who wants an image to print.
The 2020 Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League All Star Games were held on Thursday, February 6, 2020 in FivePoint Arena at Great Park Ice in Irvine. Photos by Marc S. Posner/Courtesy Capistrano Coyotes.
On Thursday night (February 6, 2020), I had the privilege of photographing the Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League All Star Game at the Rinks Great Park Ice in Irvine. I shot both the Varsity and Senior games, but unfortunately missed the Junior Varsity contest, which had a start time before I was off of work.
The Ducks — who were involved in the event with with their game-day entertainment and production teams — and the ADHSHL provided an all-access opportunity, which meant shooting from the player bench and penalty box part of the time.
The huge take away from my vantage point is how much fun the players had participating in the game with current and former teammates playing on both their own and opposing teams. As you’ll note in the featured images, goal celebrations sometimes included members of both squads.
The photos in the gallery above are limited in size and I haven’t edited them yet (this kind of volume would take me a few days to edit and post, and I don’t want to delay sharing them any longer than it took to import, convert, and upload.
My usual offer to players and parents stands: let me know what photo(s) you want and I will get you a cleaned-up, printable version.
The 2020 Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League All Star Games were held on Thursday, February 6, 2020 in FivePoint Arena at Great Park Ice in Irvine. Photos by Marc S. Posner/Courtesy Capistrano Coyotes.The 2020 Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League All Star Games were held on Thursday, February 6, 2020 in FivePoint Arena at Great Park Ice in Irvine. Photos by Marc S. Posner/Courtesy Capistrano Coyotes.
President Trump caused quite the Twitter kerfuffle on Independence Day when he talked about Revolutionary War troops wresting control of the airports from the British. The flub apparently arose from a TelePrompTer malfunction caused by rain in the nation’s capitol.
Aside from the prominence of the error (and the comedic aspect, which trended on Twitter as #RevolutionaryWarAirportStories on the 4th of July, if you care to see more), it’s relatively small picture in terms of the impact. Still, no matter the cause nor your political perspective, there is a valuable public-speaking take away.
Most of us will never speak to an audience as large as the one assembled on the National Mall. We may, however, appear in a situation in which the stakes are even higher, at least on a personal level. Consider presentations you’ve made to civic groups, elected councils and boards, or even a hiring committee.
The outcome certainly holds potential to be life altering. Likewise, the possibility of getting lost in your words or tripped up by technology is a realistic one.
If it can happen to the President of the United States — with every resource of the federal government available — it most certainly can happen to me and you. It definitely has happened to me.
So, what to do?
The answer is in proper preparation. Specifically, you must know your brand story, know your presentation message, know your audience.
Know your brand story
Your brand story ties together those things that are fundamental, core to your (or your organization’s) being. The three things I articulate about my institution are: 1) we are invested in our students’ success; 2) we are a premier institution of higher education; and 3) as a California Community College, we are the best value. In any situation, I can default to these — and, since they’re core to our identity, I should be able to pivot there easily if I get lost in my presentation and need a guidepost to lean on. This works on a personal level as well. If you look at my online presences, I articulate that I am: 1) a recovering journalist; 2) a storyteller; and 3) spokesman at Cypress College. The point here is to know both yourself and your organization well enough that it’s second nature to articulate these core story elements.
Know your message
Your key message or messages are the specific takeaways you want your audience to have at any given presentation. Of course, any well-crafted presentation will tie back to your brand story as discussed above. However, speaking opportunities typically have specific sub-messages that must be communicated. For instance, the city council might want to hear about the status of construction projects on campus. Clearly, I’m going to articulate that we’re constructing new buildings because we’re invested in our students’ success and because we are premier. I’m going to articulate that new buildings help make us a great value. But, I will also need to articulate why we selected these projects, who they will serve, and what our remaining financial needs are.
Know your audience
Who is attending your presentation and what is their shared belief or purpose? While it goes without saying that this is critical information, it may be less obvious about to use the information to get back on track. One example is to bridge with something like this: “I’m mindful that we all share a passion for education and the opportunity it brings to students to change their lives. This common belief is what brought us together today.”
At this point you can drop in a quick anecdote related to one of your key take away points.
There are a number of student stories that I can tell by heart — and I can tell them either in depth or with brevity. If the projector bulb has died, I’m likely in a situation where I’ll have to conclude without getting my multimedia presentation back at all. This will necessitate a longer ad lib. If I’ve lost my place, sharing a short anecdote from memory should give me enough time to overcome my senior moment.
So, if I’m talking to a service group who shares an interest in helping those in need, I might share Selina’s story like this:
“This seems like the perfect time for me to tell you about Selina Jaimes Davila, who has experienced booth food and housing insecurity during her studies.” The amount of detail I share would depend on if I am changing course or simply getting back onto my original path.
A variant of this is telling the story of someone in the audience or simply pausing to acknowledge or thank them. Like this:
“While I’m thinking about how invaluable community support is to the success of our students, I really want to pause and thank Walter. I don’t know if everyone here knows that he’s an alumnus of the college, but I’m certain we’re all aware of his generosity. Walt, for your decades of service on our Foundation board: thank you!”
Exiting a story is a graceful time for a reset and, in most cases, this is audiences will be forgiving if you need to shuffle notecards or turn pages at that juncture of a presentation.
The next time you’re asked to present, try adding your ad lib anecdote into your preparation routine. It’s easy to tell these types of stories as an aside while PowerPoint restarts or even an escape route that provides a strong finish if you’re never quite able to recover your words.
My wife took a pretty bad spill the other day while walking the dog. Thankfully, her doctors, nurses, and surgeon were better than Humpty Dumpty’s and she’s on the mend. But this blog isn’t about her, her broken wrist, or life with a partner who’s out of commission. It’s about wanting to thank our neighbor who helped her out after she had fallen and couldn’t get up.
More specifically, it’s about actually thanking our neighbor.
Dan (that’s our neighbor) called the paramedics, called me, and — I’m pretty sure — was late for work as a result of tending to my fallen spouse. I suspect that presented with the same circumstances he’d do the same again. But, it’s nice to know that people still go out of their way to help others.
As I finished the dog’s walk that morning before leaving to meet my wife at the hospital, I passed Dan’s house and I began mentally composing a thank you card.
“Dan, Karen and I want to thank you …”
I stopped this line of thought and scolded myself: “Don’t want to thank Dan; thank Dan.”
Wanting to thank Dan is the type of passive writing that weakens our ability to communicate with each other. I tend to do it most frequently when I’m rushing and on autopilot. Frankly, it happens more than I care to admit (and I’m certain more than I notice) in casual work correspondence.
The real problem is that it introduces an unintended air of insincerity to what is meant as genuine gratitude.
While sitting at at the hospital with my wife, I re-composed the thank you card to Dan.
Dan, Karen and I deeply appreciate your help and expertise this morning …
The change in language made my sentiments heartfelt and the expression of appreciation concrete. By using active language, I communicated to Dan precisely what I was thankful for:
His assistance;
His expertise; and
The sacrifice he made by arriving to work later than intended.
Even if most readers can’t identify the difference between the passive card and the active one, they will experience the difference in the way they feel about the sincere expression you’ve shared with them.
To quote the great writer Maya Angelou:
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
I was privileged to serve as a photographer for the JCC Maccabi hockey tournament. The Orange County community hosted the annual JCC Maccabi Games and ArtFest for 2018 in conjunction with Long Beach. More than 2,500 teen athletes and artists from around the globe participated.
The games bring the community together in competition, but just as much in community.
One of my favorite moments from the tournament came on Day 2. The teams from Greater Washington and Toronto Blue played to a 4-4 draw — and then they used the “handshake line” to hug. It was a sublime hockey game as DC got out to a 3-0 lead, but Toronto responded with four straight tallies, including two in the final 5-minutes. DC tied the game with a the extra attacker on in the final minute of play. However, the post-game tradition topped it all
I am scheduled to teach JOUR 140 — Public Relations at Cypress College this fall. A few more students will put us over the top, so now is a GREAT time to enroll.
Since it’s an evening class, it should be ideal for a small-business owner. We will conduct project-based assignments, so they’ll be directly applicable.
Here is some detail about the course and what we’ll cover:
JOUR 140 C – Public Relations
Cypress College – Fall 2018
CRN: 14174
Wednesday, 7-10:05 p.m.
Students will study and practice the techniques and responsibilities of industrial, governmental, and civic public relations, with special attention to publicity writing and public relations campaign development.
Date
Lecture/In-Class
Week 1
Aug. 22, 2018
Brand Image — The big picture of Public Relations (the umbrella of integrated communication management)
Week 2
Aug. 29, 2018
Communication Management — Roles and Functions
Week 3
Sept. 5, 2018
Media: Thinking Like a Reporter (5Ws & the H; deadlines; news cycle; news outlets)
Week 4
Sept. 12, 2018
Public Opinion and Damage Control
Week 5
Sept. 19, 2018
History, Theory, Persuasion
Week 6
Sept. 26, 2018
Publics I: Stakeholders; Internal vs. External Communication; Employee Communication
Week 7
Oct. 3, 2018
Publics II: Community Relations and Public Affairs
Emotions were evident on Thursday as Dr. Bob Simpson completed a 30-year career serving students. A steady stream of visitors to the President’s Office offered their well wishes to Dr. Simpson, who spent a decade at Cypress College — and the past 5 years as president.
Published: @Cypress Online June 29, 2017.
Among the highlights was the presentation of a joint resolution of the California State Legislature. The resolution recognizes his service in higher education. It is signed by Senator Josh Newman, of the 29th Senatorial District, and Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva, of the 65th Assembly District — two advocates for the college. The resolution was presented to Dr. Simpson on Thursday morning by Christopher Aguilara, of the Hon. Quirk-Silva’s office, and Kaelin Locker, of Hon. Newman’s office. Continue reading “Dr. Simpson Lauded on Final Day as Cypress College President”
I’m sitting at my desk at a Southern California community college. It’s the best in the nation, at least from my biased perspective. But it could be any college. Or a church. Or a movie theater. Or a high school. Or an elementary school. Or a supermarket parking lot. It could be the university where I’m enrolled or a similar campus across the country.
Published: Dec 8, 2016 | Buy the Way… Insights on Integrated Marketing Communication From the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California.
In the wake of deadly events at Ohio State and USC, which book-ended the week of November 28, 2016, I decided to edit and share this piece I wrote about a year earlier. It was authored primarily as my work observed a national moment of silence for the shooting victims at Umpqua Community College.
California Community Colleges
Baccalaureate Degree Pilot Program
A degree in mortuary science is rare. In fact, there are only two public programs offering associate degrees in the field in the State of California. For those seeking to advance in the funeral services industry, a bachelor’s degree is even less common. In fact, Cypress College’s selection to offer a baccalaureate degree in funeral services presents a unique opportunity since there are no other colleges or universities offering this type of degree in the Western United States. Continue reading “1 of 15”