Friday, January 25, 2013


Tammy Joy Losey (Diamond)

Previously contracted, employed and published under the name Tammy Diamond

(360) 866-9076 hm / (360) 970-5975 cell 
 Email: tammyjoydiamond@gmail.com


Professional communications specialist, technical and creative team member with many years of experience working with a wide-array of clients. 
Experienced in media production and communication to audiences of all ages.
Work experiences include organizational liaison, event coordinator, print and broadcast journalist and photographer, stagehand, narrator project management and budget development for media productions, corporate meetings, cultural events, marketing, and educational outreach campaigns.


Employment and Contracts:

Icon Media
Creating and presenting information for the voice, ears and eyes. Writer, photographer, media producer and production manager. Conceptualization and coordination of multimedia productions, live events and educational materials for outreach campaigns, entertainment and documentaries. Washington State agency clients include: Liquor Control Board, Gambling Commission, Dept. of Information Services, Dept. of Health, Employment Security, Dept. of Social and Health Services, and Health Care Authority. Other clients include: Home Box Office (HBO), Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington State Pest Control Association, City of Olympia, former Secretaries of State Sam Reed and Ralph Munro, Hillside Communities, Washington Center for the Improvement of Undergraduate Education, Olympia Film Society, Mud Bay Jugglers, Thurston County Crop Walk, CBS 48 Hours. (Freelance contractor since 1986).

Diamond Photography
Documentary, commercial and portrait photographer for more than 20 years.

International Association of Theatrical and Stage Employees, (I.A.T.S.E.) 
Staging and presenting special events, cultural presentations and productions in theaters, convention centers, concert grounds and stadiums throughout the Puget Sound area. Recent projects include: President Clinton’s visit to Seattle Microsoft’s Company Meeting, Tech-Ready, Justin Timberlake, Pink, Cold Play, and theater productions at Seattle's Paramount and 5th Avenue theaters. (Project employee since 2006).


Media Producer 
Washington State Interactive Technologies (Interactive Television)
Washington State Dept. of Information Technologies (former state agency).
I was one of this agencies top contractors working as a project manager on a variety of multimedia projects. Tasks as a media producer included working with representatives of state agencies and facilitating their communication needs by creating treatments writing and editing scripts, developing and managing production budgets, casting and scheduling talent and crews, location scouting, directing, camera operator and post production services.(Contractor, 1994-2004).

Senior Event Coordinator
The Washington Center for Improving the
Quality of Undergraduate Education, located at the Evergreen State College.
My work as an event coordinator included facilitating program logistical arrangements for workshops and conferences. I was a key liaison between the center’s co-directors, institutional administrators, visiting faculty and students.

Editor and Educational Outreach 
Curriculum for the Bioregion Initiative
This initiative facilitates the creation and sharing of teaching-and-learning activities weaving environmental education and sustainability awareness into a variety of different academic courses for inclusion on websites including one hosted by the National Science Foundation. I was the sole project employee, hired with grant money, to edit and format more than 70 curriculum submissions from Puget Sound college instructors. This project showcased my ability to take complex information and present it in a more accessible format for use by wider audiences. I was the Director’s sole support staff and was responsible for administrative office duties and project management while she was gone on an educational science expedition in Russia. 

Community Information Specialist
Lacey Fire District 3
Working closely with our Board of Fire Commissioners, emergency response teams and District Administration, I managed the media and community relations activities for one of the largest fire districts in Washington State. Developing public safety campaigns, printed publications and public service announcements, redesigning social media websites, displays, and coordinating logistics for community events, grand opening celebrations, field trips and speaking engagements and increasing community awareness and strengthened voter support. 

Media Relations and Communications Specialist
Timberland Regional Library District
I increased library use by promoting an array of services and special programs to children and adults by writing copy, taking photographs and producing multimedia presentations, news releases, feature articles, newsletters, annual reports, brochures and a variety of public outreach campaigns for radio and television. As an organizational liaison, and spokesperson for the District, I met with community groups, elected officials, local business owners, and volunteers and developed alliances with corporations and granting agencies that could assist in funding efforts for building campaigns and other special projects. The District includes 27 library branches located in Thurston, Mason, Lewis, Pacific and Grays Harbor counties. Interim Communications Director.


Event Coordinator
Copper Creek Inn
Event coordinator and marketing for this award-winning destination retreat located on a multi-acre property two miles from the entrance gates to Mt. Rainier. I directed a small staff in the aesthetic and service areas, including grounds appearance, event facilities, catering and public relations. 

Sound Art Productions
Numerous responsibilities as a subcontractor for more than 15 years including consulting, script-writing, field and studio directing, camera operator, interviewing and narrating. Multimedia projects include marketing, training, and educational videos, interactive websites and CD-Roms, radio advertising campaigns, and documentaries. 

Press Secretary / Session Writer
Washington State House of Representatives
Working as the liaison between elected officials and members of the press I handled the media and constituent relations for eight elected members of the House of Representatives by developing press kits, coordinating press conferences, coordinating the logistics for town hall meetings, writing speeches and news releases, newsletters, and feature articles. (Full-time session employee. 1987, 1988).


Director of Communications, Children’s Administration
Washington State Department of Social Health Services
Duties included supervising department staff, project management, writing, developing and implementing internal and external communication plans and overseeing the content and functionality of Intranet and Internet websites. I took an entrepreneurial approach to marketing and public outreach campaigns by networking and setting into motion the use of social media tools and interactive experiences. My goal was to provide audiences with information in order to advance educational initiatives; increase legislative and constituent support; and, expand outreach to culturally diverse audiences. 


Assistant Assignment Desk Editor
KSTW – TV, 10 O’clock News
I was instrumental in coordinating news coverage for our nightly television broadcast. By obtaining material by conducting research and interviews, monitoring emergency radio channels and wire services for breaking news, I wrote television news scripts, scheduled news crews and gave assignments for their coverage of local news events and to gather regional angles of national and international news. Co-producer of the Sunday broadcast. Teleprompter operator.

South Sound Business Examiner
City Editor, reporter and photographer recruited and hired by the Publisher and Managing Editor of the Pierce County Business Examiner to handle the news coverage focusing on stories of interest to business in Thurston, Mason and Lewis counties during the launching of their South Sound edition. 

The Olympian
As the Assistant to the Managing Editor I was responsible for being the liaison between the public and the newsroom staff. I created copy for event calendars and tabloid inserts, conducted interviews, fielded phone calls and passed on news tips to the assignment editors. As a reporter, I specialized in writing feature articles. I also wrote general news stories, sport score round-ups, obituaries and cultural reviews.

Volunteer Projects

Olympia Film Society, Capital Theater, Olympia, WA.
Board of Director, 2003-2006
Film Festival Volunteer, 1987-2006

Marshall Middle School, Olympia, WA.
Parent volunteer for several years. 2005-present.

Crop Walk, Thurston County, WA.
Fundraising Campaign, Community Relations Coordinator, 1996.

Girl Scouts of America, Olympia, WA.
Co-leader for local Girl Scout Troop with members from McLane, Garfield, Lincoln and L.P. Brown elementary schools. 1998-2001.

Economic Development Council, Thurston County, WA.
Communications Committee volunteer shoot photographs and produced multimedia presentations to attract business to the area.  1984-1987.

Education
Bachelor of Arts degree from The Evergreen State College   
Studies focused on Political Ecology, Environmental Ethics, and Communication. As a sophomore, I had a summer internship with Washington State’s Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Forest Land Management.  My senior studies were in marketing, and management with a final internship with the Port of Tacoma’s Communications Department.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Microsoft Gigs



I have worked as a studio camera operator for the Freeman Production Company. They are my employer for several of the Microsoft events.

This is a photo of me taken during the intermission of a two day event held on Microsoft's Redmond Campus during the spring of 2012.

(I'm looking a little tired. 
They were long days but we got great food).


Microsoft has their own broadcasting group and this was a Going Native live webcast. I was one of two camera operators running gear that was not robotic.


This conference and webcast featured authors and explorers of C+ language. Although I am not a code writer, I still found the speakers interesting and the conference attendees, when polled, represented more than seven countries.

In the autumn of 2012, I worked on staging the productions of events launching Microsoft's Windows 8.
I assisted in the preparation of their broadcast and in the staging of several types of projectors and projection screens. I am still curious if the figure for the Big White Tent Event worked out to cost the company about $50,000 a seat for very special invited guests.

Microsoft's Tech Ready is another annual event that I usually work at in the Washington State Convention Center.  Microsoft's Company Meeting was held for several years at Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners Baseball Team. That's a BIG Company Meeting. It's pretty impressive view to enter work every day to see hundreds of people erecting a set for more than a week that will be used for one day.  It's a truly cool feeling to experience what it is like to stand near the pitcher's mound or home plate.

That's me in the photo wearing the headphones.

Tammy Joy Losey (Diamond)
directing a live 4 camera video shoot of former President Bill Clinton speaking to a large audience at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, WA., on September 15, 2012.





The video footage we captured that day was edited to create a well produced television commercial for Democratic candidate Jay Inslee. He won.  Now he is Governor Jay Inslee.

I worked with a representative of the advertising firm that produced the spot. She is pictured next to me on the right.            She's the one with the big smile.
I smiled when she sent me these photos we took using her 
cell phone.

In addition to the commercial, another client hired us to project video of the event's speakers onto screens staged throughout the room. I was working for Northwest Staging and Sound, Ron Geier and Bob Barnes.



Dateline: September 15, 2012     
An enthusiastic crowd listens while President Bill Clinton shares his many reasons for endorsing candidate Jay Inslee for governor during the Democratic campaign fundraising event inside the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle.

Sharing his goals for America, Clinton eloquently described how we can create a stronger economic climate while being environmentally sensitive by investing in education, technological innovation and sustainable businesses. His years in public speaking polished to a friendly, accessible and interesting tone.

Candidate Jay Inslee’s speech mirrored many of Clinton’s points with a localized angle and proposals for how he, as governor, can help grow Washington’s future. His mention of his connection to family life and business interests in communities both east and west of the Cascades, distinguishes him from his opponent. His service to Washingtonians as a congressman, he points out, prepares him to be an effective governor for our state.


Critique:
The composition of the camera shot being projected upon the screens was far from ideal. I did not get to direct the placement of the camera platform and was not on site to argue for a change during the set-up of the room for the event.

Tammy’s Tip:  Although some people may have strong opinions and attitudes, not everybody has the true experience of knowing what works better in visual presentations. It's worth turning on the gear to show people with conflicting ideas the reasoning behind the director’s request so they can see, first-hand, how the image through the camera lens will, or will not look, for the preferred video presentation prior to the lock down of production equipment and the start of the event.

Background Story:
Upon my arrival I noticed that the cameras needed to be moved closer to the stage in order to capture better shots of the speakers on stage. 

I quickly requested that they be moved but was told the camera platforms were set and could not be moved. I was not pleased and was curious why they had such inadequate placement. 

My AV crew described how they had been directed by management forces, other than our own; to set the camera platforms at designated spots to make room for the banquet tables and chairs. 

If you have worked with me as a producer you know that I am not afraid to ask for what will work the best for recording and projecting the subject matter for the audience. 

(They didn't ask me, or I would have told them and shown them myself, while expressing empathy for their plight as a former banquet waitress, how we could make it work for everybody, including the audience.)

I did manage, however, to reset the side camera’s platform several feet closer to the stage improving the angles for recording. Unfortunately, there was not enough time to rearrange the dining room to allow the camera getting the live footage for projection to change locations.